The years between 1789 and 1800 are crucial in the history of the United States of America. It was during the early part of this period, that the United States adopted its constitution. The time preceding this period was one of great turmoil caused primarily by the lack of real power needed for a national government due to the inherent weakness of the Articles of Confederation. The need for a strong national government became apparent to the founding fathers by 1786. A constitutional convention was convened to amend the Articles of Confederation. It must be noted that at this time, the country was in great crisis. Problems facing the country were both internal and external which included strained financial relations with other foreign governments such as England, reduced domestic trade, and a collapse of the financial structures. When the Convention opened on May 25, 1787, only eight of the fifty-five delegates present were signers of the Declaration of Independence. The majority of those represented were upper class farmers a majority of whom were both young men and lawyers. Also included in the fifty-five delegates were; James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton. The period of (1789-1800) is also known as “The Federalist Period” as it marked the formation of the federal government with individual states loosing much of their sovereignty to the federal government resulting into the United States of America” (Birkin et al. 208)
On April 30, 1789, having been unanimously elected, George Washington was inaugurated as the first U.S. President with John Adams as his Vice President. Congress created the departments of State, War and Treasury as an avenue through which the presidency could implement its policies. Secretary Thomas Jefferson, Henry Knox, and Alexander Hamilton filled these positions, respectively. The position of the Attorney-General was also created and Edmund Randolph became the first Attorney-General of the United States. These five positions constituted the cabinet. The system is still in use today although the number of secretaries has been increased. An attempt to draft the Indian treaty by the President with the help of Congress failed and the laws were changed to empower departments to draft treaties that would later on be submitted to the Senate for ratification. Laws governing tariffs, duty and the judiciary were enacted leading to the formation of among others the Supreme Court and the other junior courts with a clear stipulation of mandate and appeal method. On December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights was adopted in the Constitution to protect people’s liberties from the already established Federal Government. These included the freedom of speech and press, trial by a jury and liberty of conscience.
On the monetary front, several laws were proposed by Hamilton to Congress to curtail the increased financial strain and to boost the struggling economy. First, all debts from issuing of bonds to both foreign and domestic holders were paid off. The Federal Government then assumed individual state debts. In so doing, creditors were now required to deal with the National Government, a move that was intended to increase the individual state’s obligations to the Federal Government. Hamilton further proposed to Congress that the Bank of the United States be created. This is what is referred to, today as the Federal Reserve (Oates et al. 109). “Congress had constitutional authority to ratify a charter for the establishment of a bank. Congress also had the power to borrow money, coin money, or even implement a taxation policy for purposes of collecting taxes. Congress was empowered to undertake the proper and necessary activities to ensure that power is delegated. The constitution therefore implied congress’ right to establish a bank” (Berkin et al. 218). The banks’ purpose was to handle repository of national assets, issue paper money based on assets and source investment capital (Hofstadter 56). Hamilton further went and raised taxes on whisky. Jefferson and Madison opposed the move to create the bank claiming lack of a legal framework to cater for it.
Some of the domestic issues dealt with were “vetting of more states to joining the United States from the west. Within this period these were Vermont, Kentucky and Tennessee and revision of the policy on Indians and the land policy” (Bailey et al. 31). Foreign and defense problems facing this administration then were not limited.
During the French Revolution, American leaders changed their stand on how they related with France after the execution of the country’s leader, Louis XVI. Democratic-Republicans aligned themselves on the French side and favored war with England and Spain. The federalists viewed England as a sovereignty that was defending her rights of property from the anarchical France. Citizen Ganet went to the pro- French south and embarked on building armies to attack the then Spanish Florida and Louisiana and outsource more manpower to attack British shipping. He officially met President Washington who reiterated America’s intention to remain neutral in the wars. This increased the rifts that already existed between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans within the government.
Increasing trade and shipping disputes between America and Britain, the presence of British soldiers on American soil, and the United States neutral position in the war between the French on one side and the British and Spaniards on the other led to the signing of the Jay Treaty (1794) because America needed a firm response. In the treaty, Jay negotiated with the English to stop intercepting American merchant ships. Jay was by then the Chief Justice and having been sent by President Washington personally, gave his negotiating ability some true political weight. The war with the British was postponed and seventeen years later fought, with the Americans emerging victorious. Although the President objected to some of the treaty’s content, the Senate voted to pass it.
Americans also gained the rights to freely navigate the Mississippi river from the Pinckney Treaty (1795) which boosted their trade. The Spaniards in the Southwest were worried that the Americans would gang up with their old opponents and try to drive them out of North America. They made the offer to the Americans inclusive of solving their boarder disputes and promising to withdraw help to the Indians. Sage J. Henry in his published article, The New Republic, 28 September 2008 writes, “The treaty did not include land and when Napoleon took over as the leader of this Spanish territory a few years later, the whole of Louisiana had to be bought by the United States” (Sage par. 6).
The XYZ Affair that touched on America’s defense
In February of 1798, a French warship attacked and captured two American merchant ships near Charleston, South Carolina. The same year, congress was angered by the French demands for a bribe before negotiations on the two ships could go on and ordered a war which lasted for two years. This resulted into a peaceful agreement during the 1800 convention.
The federalists centralized the government and gave provisions for expansion of federal power that led to the current numerous numbers of states we have from the initial few. They also laid good financial structures that improved the economy and diversified revenue avenues leading to enhanced industrialization in the subsequent century. The federalists allowing for multi-party politics as soon as the republic was established promoted democracy. The democratic structures laid down then are still elusive to several modern day government especially in developing countries where military coups are still an occurrence the latest being in Niger on February 19, 2010!
Works cited
Bailey, Thomas, et al. The American Spirit. Boston: Wadsworth, 2006. Print.
Berkin, Carol, et al. Making of America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995. Print.
Hofstadter, Richard. The American Political Tradition: and the Men Who Made It. Canada: McClelland, 1948. Print.
Oates, Stephen, et al. Portrait of America. Connecticut: Wadsworth, 2007. Print.