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Election of George Washington
The election of 1789 was very clear to all Americans. As an inspiring man and a Revolutionary War hero, President George Washington was the only man for the job and he preved it from his first day in office in 1789 until the day he left in 1797. The US couldn’t have possibly survived as a new country without his help and his many precedents to the job. Washington helped the new country flourish and without him, we wouldn’t be here today. -
Bill of Rights Added to Constititution
The Federalists and Anti-federalists debated for a long time about if they should include a Bill of Rights to the Constitution. The federalists believed that the government could easily take advantage of the rights if they weren’t listed in the Constitution. However, the Anti-federalists believed it would limit the rights of the people because you can’t possibly list them all. The came to a conclusion and the Bill of Rights (the first 10 amendments) were added to the Constitution in 1791. -
Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey tax prices blew through the roof on October 1,1794 by the federal government. All farmers of Pennsylvania tried everything to lower the price of the tariff because it eliminated their cash crop. Finally on August 4, 1794, President Washington issued a proclamation, demanding the prices on the tariffs to decrease. And they did but not enough to please the farmers. -
XYZ Affair
American ships were being seized by the French so John Adams sent three diplomats to negotiate with Talleyrand in 1797. They were confronted by three French representatives the wouldn’t reveal their names so they referred to them as X, Y, and Z. X, Y, and Z wanted America to pay them a bribe, but the US refused. We said, “Millions for defense but not one cent for tribute.” -
Alien Act
The Alien Acts of 1798 were supposed to help the government, but it blatantly went against the Constitution. The Alien Act was passed on June 25th, 1798. It authorized the President to deport foreigners that are a “danger to the peace and safety of the United States”. Many people argued over it and the law was later abolished due to it’s unconstitutionality. -
Sedition Act
The Sedition Act was passed because foreigners were coming into America, and it was worrying Government. Mainly because they saw that they were not protected, so this Act said punishments will be granted for those who come into our country, and aren’t citizens. July 14, 1718 was the official date the Act was signed. Most Americans were happy but other countries were furious, but they eventually understood. -
Election of Thomas Jefferson
The election of 1800 consisted of a battle between James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson ran with Aaron Burr as his “vice president”. Their “ticket” received the most votes and the people got to decide which one of them would be President. They each had 73 votes, so now the House of Representatives got to decide. Alexander Hamilton made a very intense campaign that let Jefferson win by 35 votes On December 4,1800. Burr now challenged Hamilton to a duel. And Aaron Burr died, in -
John Marshall Appointed
John Marshall was appointed Chief Justice on January 31,1801 by President John Adams. He was very significant and through the cases of Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, and Gibbons v. Ogden, he dramatically increased the power of the Supreme Court. He single handedly game new power to the Constitution. -
Marbury v. Madison
John Adams had signed commissions on his last day of office to appoint Supreme powers, but they weren’t delivered in time. Jefferson wanted to ignore them. John Marshall, as Chief Justice, decided to create the Judiciary Act of 1802. This gave the Supreme Court more power by allowing them to declare things unconstitutional. On February 24, 1803, Marshall delivers the decision. -
Louisiana Purchase
A treaty was signed with France on April 30, 1803. This allowed the US to double their territory by buying over 2 million sq km for $15 million. The territory was bordered by the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River. This also allowed America to begin fulfilling the Manifest Destiny. -
Lewis and Clark Expedition
Jefferson sent explorers Lewis and Clark into the new western territory in May of 1804. They traveled along the Missouri River, across the plains, over the Rocky Mountains, and to the Pacific. While on their way, they ran into Sacagawea, a native Indian. She helped guide them through their journey and back home to St. Louis. -
Embargo Act
The Embargo Act was passed on December 21,1807 by the U.S Congress. This was the answer to British attacks after we decided to go neutral during the War of 1812. This was passed so foreign ships couldn’t go near American ports to attack or steal products. A couple of years later this Act was replaced with the Non-Intercourse Act in 1809. -
Election of James Madison
The election of James Madison took place on December 7, 1808. Madison was a strong supporter of the Central Government and stayed neutral with the federalist and anti-federalist. Over the years Madison became close to Jefferson and they decided to run the election together and take Hamilton down. Madison served eight faith full years to Jefferson, and was rewarded with winning the next election. Madison had won by a land-slide. -
Non-Intercourse Act
In the very last few days of Jefferson’s term the Congress replaced the Embargo Act of 1807 with the Non-Intercourse Act of March 1,1809. The Act lifted embargoes on American shipping except for those who were bound of the French and British ports. The purpose was to hurt their economies but it just led to the War of 1812, and debt for America. It cost a lot of damage to America’s economy also because then we lacked in markets and goods. -
War of 1812
The United States declared war on September 11,1812 because of the French and British. Both sides wanted to the U.S to support them but we decided to stay neutral. However, the French and the British both ignored the rights of neutrals and captured any ship trading with the other side and forced their crews to work. So the United States went to war against the British and the France to stop the raiding. -
James Monroe Election
James Monroe won the election of 1817. He was the last Founding Father to become president. His time during presidency was known as the “Era Of Good Feelings”. He also issued the Monroe Doctrine, which prevented colonization of the Western Hemisphere. -
Expanded Suffrage to all White Males
Jackson believed that voting rights should be extended to all white males. Before this, voting rights were only given to white males the owned a piece of land. These new voting rights began on March 5, 1820. The percentage of white males voting went up from around 25% to over 50% in just four years. This began the long effort to make all citizens have the right to vote. -
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was created by James Monroe on December 2, 1823. It warned Europe nations to stay away. We weren’t going to put up with them colonizing on the growing nations. It separated the Americas so that they had time to grow and become independent before becoming involved in the world’s conflicts. -
Gibbons Vs Ogden
Aaron Ogden was given a special license for navigation by Robert Livingston and Robert Fulton. Thomas Gibbons was another navigator that operated in the same waters. Ogden sued Gibbons for being in the same waters as him. Gibbons won the case, the case limited commercial power -
McCulloch vs. Maryland
On March 6, 1824 people couldn’t decide if the States or Federal Government should regulate the commerce trade. The Supreme Court expanded the meaning of the word commerce to increase the national governments power.The Commerce clause gave the national government the authority to control all areas of economic activity in the United States. But the people thought the Federal Government Government had to much power, and the States didn’t have enough. -
Election of 1824
John Quincy Adams became president on February 9, 1825. He ran against Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and William Crawford. Even though Jackson got the most votes from the people, Adams had a “Corrupt Bargain” with Henry Clay, who gave his vote to Adams, then became his Secretary Of State. He only had one term until Jackson beat him in 1824. -
The Election of Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson won the election of 1828. He called himself the speaker for the common man. He was called Old Hickory for his hardened attitude.His election sparked the creation of the Democratic party. -
Indian Removal Act
On May 28,1830 The Indian Removal Act had begun. The Indians were everywhere this was heir homeland, but not for much longer.Settlers from the United States expanded lower South, causing problems. U.S settlers were aer to grow cotton, but they would have to get through the Cherokees first. Andrew Jackson sent military forces to attack and get rid of the Indians.After years of fighting in court and in the field, Supreme Court banded Indians from coming East of the Mississippi River. -
Worecester vs. Georgia
The Cherokee Indians were holding distinct sovereign powers. The Worcester v.Georgia case said that the Cherokee Indians were being unconstitutional, so they tried to remove them from the Southeast territory, but it did not protect the Americans in the Southwest. Some states, such as, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia, were being held at their borders. So the Worcrster v. Georgia case came into play, and stopped the Cherokee Indians on March 3,1832. -
Closing of the U.S. Bank
Jackson strongly disproved the idea of the national bank. He believed that it falsely showed people that business owners had more of an influence than the common people. He also greatly despised the bank owner.Jackson won and the bank’s charter expired on 1836.
