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The Constitution Was Created
The Articles of Confederation sent the country into a panic, so the founding fathers met together after the war to make a new national government. The Constitution created three branches of government; the executive, legislative, and judicial to deal with presidency, lawmaking, and court power respectively. The new government has much more power over the states, which were no longer sovereign, and had a Bill of Rights to protect the people from the government. -
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Early Stage of Government
The first era of the new republic set the foundation for the great democratic power that was to come. The Constitution established three branches of government that had more power over the states than the Articles ever had given the federal government. The new government passed acts such as the Alien and Sedition Acts that banned speech against the government, but was soon repealed. -
The Louisiana Pruchase
President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million. Jefferson had strict-constitutional views, but there was loose constitutional interpretation in the acquiring of land. He did however go against his views even though it did not say in the Constitution that a President can buy land from another country. Jefferson expanded presidential power over the other branches and expanded the role of the federal government. -
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Civil War Era
During this time, Abraham Lincoln and the Republican party greatly expanded the federal government. Once elected, the Southern states seceded from the Union. He responded by not letting them leave the Union, entering the country into a Civil War. Lincoln stopped habeas corpus, the right of due process, asserting that the fed had the right during the time of war. He also freed that all slaves in the Southern confederacy under the Emancipation Proclamation. -
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Reconstruction
During this time, regulations were made to help newly freed slaves adjust into society. This marked one of the first times the government had to intervene in general public lifestyle. Andrew Johnson, president after Lincoln's assassination, tried to continue Lincoln's idea of reconstruction, but did not succeed. His ideas conflicted with those of the parties, and during his midterm election, the Radical Republicans came into Congress. They overrode Johnson's vetoes and set up a new South. -
Articles of Confederation
During the Revolutionary War, the second Continental Congress established a committee to create a new government in favor of the states. The new Constitution created a stronger federal government with an executive (the president), courts, and taxing abilities. This new government did not have the power over interstate commerce, regulation of taxes, or the sovereignty of the states. -
The Federal Reserve Act
President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the most important economic legislation between the Civil War and the New Deal. The Federal Reserve Board regulated a nationwide system of 12 regional reserve districts, with its own central bank. It also helped manage currency by releasing paper money and lent money to banks and acted as the "Banker's Bank." This law helped carry the United States through the economic turmoil of WWI and created significant progress toward a modern economic age. -
The 100 Day Legislation
Many acts of President Roosevelt's New Deal was passed in the first 100 days of his tenure in office. Roosevelt called a four day bank holiday and also passed the Emergency Banking Act, which permitted healthy banks to reopen and help failing banks. Many public works projects were established by job organizations created in the New Deal, which created new job opportunities for thousands of people.
