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Constitution signed
The Constitution creates the three branches of the national government: a legislature, the bicameral Congress; an executive branch led by the President; and a judicial branch headed by the Supreme Court. The Constitution specifies the powers and duties of each branch. The Constitution reserves all unenumerated powers to the respective states and the people, thereby establishing the federal system of government. -
Inaguration of George Washington
The inauguration marked the commencement of the first four-year term of George Washington as President and John Adams as Vice President. Sworn in by Chancellor of New York Robert Livingston during this first presidential inauguration, Washington became the first President of the United States following the ratification of the Constitution. -
Bank of the United States Chartered
The Bank was created to handle the financial needs and requirements of the central government of the newly formed United States, which had previously been thirteen individual states with their own banks, currencies, financial institutions, and policies. -
Report on Manufactures declinded by Congress
recommended economic policies to stimulate the new republic's economy and ensure the independence won with the conclusion of the Revolutionary War in 1783.
Hamilton's "Report on Manufactures" laid forth economic principles rooted in both the Mercantilist System of Elizabeth I's England and the practices of Jean-Baptiste Colbert of France. -
Genet Affair
Genêt's goals in South Carolina were to recruit and arm American privateers which would join French expeditions against the British. He commissioned four privateering ships in total. Working with French consul Michel-Ange Mangourit, Genêt organized American volunteers to fight Britain's Spanish allies in Florida. After raising a militia, Genêt set sail toward Philadelphia, stopping along the way to marshal support for the French cause. He also supported Democratic-Republican Societies. -
Proclamation of Neutrality
The Proclamation of Neutrality was a formal announcement issued by United States President George Washington on April 22, 1793, declaring the nation neutral in the conflict between France and Great Britain. It threatened legal proceedings against any American providing assistance to warring countries. The Proclamation led to the Neutrality Act of 1794. -
Jefferson Resigns as Secretary of State
Jefferson retired to Monticello in late 1793 where he continued to oppose the policies of Hamilton and Washington. However, the Jay Treaty of 1794, led by Hamilton, brought peace and trade with Britain – while Madison, with strong support from Jefferson, wanted, "to strangle the former mother country" without going to war. -
Battle of Fallen Timbers
The final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between American Indian tribes affiliated with the Western Confederacy and the United States for control of the Northwest Territory. The battle, which was a decisive victory for the United States, ended major hostilities in the region until Tecumseh's War and the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. -
Hamilton resigns as Secretary of Treasury
Forrest McDonald argues that Hamilton saw his office, like the British First Lord of the Treasury, as that of a Prime Minister; Hamilton would oversee his colleagues under the elective reign of George Washington. Washington did request Hamilton's advice and assistance on matters outside the purview of the Treasury Department. -
Jay's Treaty
"The Jay Treaty was a reasonable give-and-take compromise of the issues between the two countries. What rendered it so assailable was not the compromise spelled out between the two nations but the fact that it was not a compromise between the two political parties at home. Embodying the views of the Federalists, the treaty repudiated the foreign policy of the opposing party." -
Pickney's Treaty
Established intentions of friendship between the United States and Spain. It also defined the boundaries of the United States with the Spanish colonies and guaranteed the United States navigation rights on the Mississippi River. -
Washington's Farewell Adress
He reflected on the emerging issues of the American political landscape in 1796, expresses his support for the government eight years after the adoption of the Constitution, defends his administration's record, and gives valedictory advice to the American people. It was published almost two months before the election of 1796. -
John Adams wins Election
The Federalists wanted Adams as their presidential candidate to crush Thomas Jefferson's bid. Most Federalists would have preferred Hamilton to be a candidate. Although Hamilton and his followers supported Adams, they also held a grudge against him. They did consider him to be the lesser of the two evils. However, they thought Adams lacked the seriousness and popularity that had caused Washington to be successful and feared that Adams was too vain, opinionated, unpredictable, and stubborn to fol -
XYZ Affair
a diplomatic event that strained relations between France and the United States, and led to an undeclared naval war called the Quasi-War. It took place from March of 1798 to 1800. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
Proponents claimed the acts were designed to protect the United States from enemy aliens, and to prevent seditious attacks from weakening the government. The Democratic-Republicans, like later historians, denounced them as being both unconstitutional and designed to stifle criticism of the administration, and as infringing on the right of the states to act in these areas. They became a major political issue in the elections of 1798 and 1800. -
Quasi War
Beginning of the Quasi-War, started because of French assaults on America-to-England trade ships. -
Period: to
Quasi-War
The Quasi-War was an undeclared war fought mostly at sea between the United States and French Republic from 1798 to 1800. In the United States, the conflict was sometimes also referred to as the Franco-American War, the Undeclared War with France, the Undeclared Naval War, the Pirate Wars, or the Half-War. -
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions
Kentucky and Virginia legislatures resolved not to abide by Alien and Sedition Acts. They argued that the Acts were unconstitutional and therefore void, and in doing so, they argued for states' rights and strict constructionism of the Constitution. They were written secretly by Vice President Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, respectively. -
George Washington dies
Sometime around 3 am a Saturday morning, he awoke his wife and said he felt ill. The illness progressed until Washington's death at home around 10pm on Saturday December 14, 1799, aged 67. His last words were "'Tis well." -
Treaty of Mortefontaine
The Convention of 1800, also known as the Treaty of Mortefontaine, was a treaty between the United States of America and France to settle the hostilities that had erupted during the Quasi-War. The Quasi-War, waged primarily in the Caribbean, had existed since the American delegation to France, arriving in 1797, had been told that America had to pay $250,000 to see—not negotiate with—the French ambassador. This incident, known as the XYZ Affair, was scandalous in America, infuriating both the Ham -
Thomas Jefferson Elected as president
He tied with Burr for first place in the electoral college, leaving the House of Representatives (where the Federalists still had some power) to decide the election. Hamilton convinced his party that Jefferson would be a lesser political evil than Burr and that such scandal within the electoral process would undermine the new constitution. On February 17, 1801, after thirty-six ballots, the House elected Jefferson President and Burr Vice President.
