A newspaper war broke out in Philadelphia between two papers over Alexander Hamilton’s financial...
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Transcript of A newspaper war broke out in Philadelphia between two papers over Alexander Hamilton’s financial...
• A newspaper war broke out in Philadelphia between two papers over Alexander Hamilton’s financial ideas– The Gazette of the United
States generally supported Hamilton’s financial ideas
– The National Gazette, which had been established with the help of Thomas Jefferson, opposed Hamilton’s ideas
• A NATION DIVIDED
• THE FRENCH REVOLUTION– France had been experiencing economic
difficulties during the 1700s• Ordinary French people had suffered the most
from these hard times through greater taxes• High unemployment and crop failures
(resulted in food shortages)• Many French people felt that Louis XVI and
Marie-Antoinette, their King and Queen, did not care about their problems
• THE FRENCH REVOLUTION:– July 14, 1789 French revolutionaries stormed the
Bastille, a royal prison that was a hated symbol of oppression – turning point in French Revolution
– The French Revolutionaries proclaimed their goals in the ringing cry “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” but soon the rebellion turned into a bloodbath
– During the period known as the Reign of Terror (1793-94), the Revolutionaries beheaded thousands of men and women, including Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette
• AMERICANS AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION:
– Americans had mixed feelings about the events occurring in Europe
1. Some were pleased
2. Some were not pleased and were shocked that French liberty depended on the beheading of large numbers of people
• AMERICANS AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION:
– The European conflict disrupted American trade and threatened to draw the United States into war
– France and Britain ignored the U.S. declaration of neutrality and seized American vessels bound for enemy ports
– Britain’s policy of impressments, or kidnapping, of American sailors to force them to serve in the British navy caused hostility
• They took 10,000 American sailors
• THE FRENCH REVOLUTION:
– Edmond Genet, a young French diplomat, arrived in the United States where he hoped to organize “revolutionary clubs,” and persuade Americans to honor their 1778 military alliance treaty with France
– George Washington knowing the United States was unprepared for war, refused to give in to pressure. He issued a proclamation of neutrality forbidding U.S. support for any nation at war
• NEGOTIATING PEACE (199):– Supporters of the French Revolution accused the
United States of favoring Britain – THIS IS NOT TRUE
– Jay’s Treaty:• In the Northwest Territory of the United States,
the British had been providing American Indians with weapons from their forts
–The existence of these forts were a violation of the Treaty of Paris (the treaty that ended the Revolutionary War) – This further strained relations between the United States and Britain
• NEGOTIATING PEACE (199):– Jay’s Treaty:
• President Washington sent John Jay to Britain in 1794 to negotiate a settlement with the British
• Jay’s Treaty set the terms for an agreement between Britain and the United States and said that the British agree to abandon their Northwest forts in exchange the United States agreed to pay the debts owed to the British
– Britain, however, did not stop arming the Native Americans, impressing American sailors, or seizing American ships.
» Many Accused John Jay of selling out to the British» Despite the opposition to the Treaty, the Senate
ratified it –
• NEGOTIATING PEACE (199):–Pinckney’s Treaty: Jay’s Treaty
came just as Spain shifted alliances, joining France against Britain. Spain feared that a US alliance with Britain could threaten Spanish territory in North America – Thus Spain moved quickly to settle it’s disputes with the United States
– The Result was Pinckney’s Treaty which recognized the southern boundary of the United States with Spanish Florida as the 31st Parallel. The Treaty also guaranteed U.S. Navigation rights on the Mississippi River and its westward-flowing tributaries, such as the Ohio River, to move their produce to the port of New Orleans
– From the Port of New Orleans goods were shipped to the world.
– Pinckney’s Treaty gave Americans the Right of Deposit – the right to temporarily unload goods at New Orleans without paying a duty, import tax, to Spain
• The Election of 1796: (199-202)
–In 1796, President Washington, who was re-elected easily in 1792, announced that he would not seek a third term
–In his farewell address, Washington warned against the dangers posed by political groups and regional interests
• The Election of 1796: (199-202)• The Rise of Political Parties:
–Debates over whether to stay neutral or side with Britain or France had deepened political divisions – Such debates led to the creation of American Political Parties
–Sectionalism, or loyalty to a particular part of the country, further contributed to the emergence of TWO political parties
–The Federalist Party (led by Alexander Hamilton and John Adams) – were mostly merchants, manufacturers, lawyers and church leaders from New England and the Atlantic seaboard •John Adams called the Federalist Party the rich, the well-born, and the able
– The Democratic-Republican Party (led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison)• Later shortened to the Republican Party• Made up of planters, small farmers, wage
earners, artisans, workers, and trades people• Strong on frontier, the south and Midwest• The party’s main goal was to protect states’
rights and feared a strong national government
• Tended to support the French and not the British
• The Election of 1796: (199-202)• Federalists v. Republicans (201)
– Presidential election of 1796: John Adams and Thomas Pinckney faced off against Republicans Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr.
– Alexander Hamilton tried to stop John Adams from being victorious
– According to the Constitution at this time, whoever won the most electoral votes became president and the person who came in second became vice president
• John Adams is president• Thomas Jefferson is Vice President• Even though, Adams and Jefferson
were opponents
• FOREIGN and DOMESTIC CONFLICTS(202-203):– President Adams faced many foreign-policy challenges
• The French view Jay’s Treaty and U.S. neutrality in the war with France and Britain as a sign of pro-British sentiments
– In response the French begin to seize American ships bound for Britain
• FOREIGN and DOMESTIC CONFLICTS(202-203):– In 1797, John Adams sent diplomats to France to
negotiate a new treaty• Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Pegigord, France’s
foreign minister, sent three agents to present France’s demands to US diplomats.
• HE WANTED:
1. The United States to apologize publicly for anti-French remarks made by President Adams
2. Grant France a Million Dollar Loan
3. And pay him a $250,000 bribe
• FOREIGN and DOMESTIC CONFLICTS(202-203):–THE XYZ Affair–In response to Charles-Maurice de
Talleyrand-Perigord demands President John Adams published the demands and called Talleyrand’s three French agents X, Y and Z
–Americans responded with fury, rallying around the slogan, Millions for Defense, but not one cent for the Tribute (bribery)
• FOREIGN and DOMESTIC CONFLICTS(202-203):– THE XYZ Affair– President Adams
responded to the XYZ affair with a flurry of war reparations
1. US created the Navy Department where they built warships, fortified harbors, and strengthened the army
• FOREIGN and DOMESTIC CONFLICTS(202-203):
• With the Conflict with France occurring the United States passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which is a series of laws intended to protect the nation and weaken the Republicans.– The Alien Act authorized the
president to imprison or expel “all such aliens (foreigners) as he shall judge dangerous to peace and safety of the United States
– The Sedition Act targeted US Citizens. Anyone who wrote, said, or printed anything “false, scandalous, and malicious” about the government, the Congress, or the president “with intent to defame” could be fined and jailed
• FOREIGN and DOMESTIC CONFLICTS(202-203):– The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions
– denounced the Alien and Sedition Acts
– Jefferson and Madison argued that the acts went beyond the powers granted to the federal government and interfered with the powers of the state governments. The most important aspect of these resolutions was their support of the right of state governments to challenge the federal government
• Thomas Jefferson wrote the Kentucky Resolutions
• James Madison wrote the Virginia Resolutions
