Key ID Chapter 9

Question 1

Judiciary Act of 1789

Answer 1

The Judiciary Act organized the Supreme Court (with a chief justice and five associates) as well
as federal district and circuit courts. It established the office of Attorney General. John Jay
became the first chief justice.

Question 2

Tariff of 1789

Answer 2

This was the first tariff law; it was very low, just 8% on the value of dutiable imports.
It was passed to raise revenue for the federal government and was to protect infant industries.

Question 3

Bill of Rights

Answer 3

Several states ratified the Constitution with the proviso that a bill of rights be added to protect
the rights of individuals from the power of the new federal government. In the first session of
Congress, Representative James Madison introduced a set of amendments that were submitted
to the states for ratification. Ten were approved in 1791.
Note that until 1925 when the Supreme Court began the process known as selective
incorporation, the Bill of Rights did not apply to the states, only to the federal government.

Question 4

Excise Tax on Whiskey

Answer 4

1791
This was designed to raise revenue for Hamilton’s funding and assumption program.
The tax was paid chiefly by farmers in the West where bad roads made it hard to transport bulky
crops such as grain; they distilled the grain into more condensed and easily transported whiskey.

Question 5

Funding Bill

Answer 5

1790
The Funding Bill regarded the nation’s domestic debt. Speculators had purchased government
bonds from their original owners at prices far below face value. The original owners (and those
who would be paying the taxes to repay the debt, e.g., western farmers) protested that repaying
the domestic debt in full would enrich the speculators. Hamilton successfully argued that the
measure was necessary to establish the nation’s credit.
The term funding “at par” meant that the federal government would repay the bonds at face
value plus accumulated interest.
By doing this, Hamilton hoped to make the wealthy (who had purchased the bonds) financially
interested in the success of the new government.

Question 6

Assumption Bill

Answer 6

1790
Hamilton argued that the federal government should assume and repay the Revolutionary War
debts of the states. By doing so, he hoped to bind the states more closely to the federal
government.
Southern states that had already taxed themselves and paid off their debts objected. Hamilton
brokered a deal that located the national capital in the South in return for Southern support for
his plan.

Question 7

Bank of the United States

Answer 7

Alexander Hamilton, the first secretary of the treasury, proposed the Bank of the United States.
This Bank would issue paper currency, sell government bonds, and assist in tax collection.
Thomas Jefferson opposed this idea, pointing out that Congress was not specifically authorized
to establish a national bank by the Constitution.
Hamilton pointed out that the Bank was “necessary and proper” for carrying out the delegated
power “to coin money” and “regulate the value thereof.” George Washington, who signed the
bill chartering the bank, accepted Hamilton’s loose interpretation of the Constitution.
This conflict between Hamilton and Jefferson over the Bank led to the development of
competing political parties.

Question 8

Loose Construction (in a constitutional sense)

Answer 8

Loose interpretation allows the government to do anything that the Constitution does not
specifically forbid it from doing.
Its constitutional basis is the elastic clause in Article I, Section 8.

Question 9

Strict Construction

Answer 9

Strict interpretation forbids the government from doing anything except what the Constitution
specifically empowers it to do.
Its constitutional basis is the Tenth Amendment.

Question 10

First Party System

Answer 10

1796 – 1828
The framers of the Constitution hoped there would be no permanent political parties and
Washington even warned against the dangers of parties, but the fight between Jefferson and
Hamiltonover the Bank of the United States led to what became known as the First Party
System (or Era).
Jefferson and Madison were the leading figures for the Democratic-Republicans (also known as
the Republicans, the Democrats, the Jeffersonians, and the Anti-Federalists). They formed the
basis of what eventually became today’s Democratic Party.
Hamilton and John Adams were the leading figures for the Federalists. This partycontinued
through the War of 1812, but the Hartford Convention and the shift in population away from
New England resulted in their demise.
With the disappearance of the Federalists, the country entered what became known as the Era
of Good Feelings, a period with only one political party.

Question 11

Federalist Party

Answer 11

Led by John Adams and Alexander Hamilton.
Favored a strong central government and a loose interpretation of the Constitution. Feared the
excesses of democracy.
Supported Hamilton’s economic program.
Supported by merchants, bankers, and large landowners.

Question 12

Democratic-Republican Party

Answer 12

Led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
Favored states’ rights and a strict interpretation of the Constitution. Feared the tyranny of a
strong central government.
Opposed Hamilton’s economic program.
Supported by farmers, shopkeepers, and urban workers.

Question 13

Whiskey Rebellion

Answer 13

1794
Farmers in Pennsylvania rebelled against Hamilton’s excise tax on whiskey, and several federal
officers were killed in the riots caused by their attempts to serve arrest warrants on the
offenders. The army, led by Washington, put down the rebellion.
The incident showed that the new government under the Constitution could react swiftly and
effectively to such a problem, in contrast to the weakness of the government under the Articles
of Confederation.

Question 14

Treaty of Greenville

Answer 14

1795
Encouraged by the British, Native Americans in the Ohio Valley had successfully pushed back US
military efforts to control the area. But at the Battle of the Fallen Timbers in 1794, General
Anthony Wayne defeated the Indians.
The treaty opened the Ohio region to white settlement and, for a time, ended hostilities in the
region between the US and Native Americans.

Question 15

Neutrality Proclamation

Answer 15

1793
Washington urged Americans to be impartial in the conflict between Great Britain and France.
He feared American involvement in the European war would be dangerous for the young nation.
Washington also feared that America would be called on for military assistance because of the
Franco-American treaty of 1778.
This was a beginning for the American tradition of isolationism.

Question 16

Citizen Edmond Genêt

Answer 16

France’s ambassador to the US, Genêt was swayed by the pro-French enthusiasm of the
Democratic-Republicans. Defying Washington’s Proclamation of Neutrality, he outfitted
privateers in American harbors and commissioned them to raid British and Spanish ships and
colonies.
Fearing that Genêt would involve America in the war, Washington ordered Genêt to halt his
activities and eventually requested Genêt’s recall by the French government.

Question 17

Jay’s Treaty

Answer 17

1795
Britain seized American merchant ships bound for French ports, impressed American seamen
into British naval service, and still held posts in the Northwest Territory (despite the promise to
evacuate those forts made in the Treaty of Paris).
The treaty provided that Great Britain would withdraw her troops from the American
Northwest. It also created commissions to settle financial claims of the two nations against each
other.
This treaty was highly unpopular (Jay was burned in effigy) because it did not guarantee
freedom of the seas or halt the seizure of American ships and impressment of American
seamen. Nonetheless, the treaty did secure peace with Britain.

Question 18

Pinckney’s Treaty

Answer 18

1795
In 1784 Spain closed New Orleans to American goods shipped down the Mississippi River. This
meant that 100,000 Americans who lived west of the Appalachians could only move their goods
to market by crossing the almost-roadless mountains. Talk of secession was heard. In addition,
Spain and the US disputed the southern and western American boundaries.
Jay’s Treaty led Spain to fear a secret Anglo-American alliance to seize Spanish territories. So
Spain agreed to negotiate disputes it had with the US.
The resulting treaty established the Mississippi River as the westward boundary and the 31 st
parallel as the southern boundary of the United States, guaranteed the Americans free
navigation of the Mississippi River, and the right of deposit in New Orleans. (The right of deposit
was the right to transfer of goods from riverboat to ocean boat without paying a tariff to Spain.)

Question 19

Washington’s Farewell Address

Answer 19

1796
In foreign affairs, Washington urged developing of commercial relations with all nations but
avoiding political entanglements. He stated that America should steer clear of any permanent
alliances with any portion of the foreign world but that temporary alliances were acceptable for
extraordinary emergencies.
This address helped to solidify the policy of isolationism.

Question 20

French Revolution

Answer 20

The Democratic-Republicans supported the French Revolution. They believed that the French
were fighting for democracy; they had overthrown their king, written a declaration of the rights
of man, and proclaimed democratic ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity.
The Federalists were unsympathetic toward the French and in the war between France and
England generally sided with England. Federalists saw in the excesses of the French Revolution
the lesson that it was dangerous to give too much power to the common people.

Question 21

XYZ Affair

Answer 21

1797
Seeking to ease tensions with France, President Adams sent a delegation to Paris. The US
delegation was told by three French intermediaries (known as X, Y, and Z) that if they wanted to
meet with the French foreign minister, they would have to pay a huge bribe and make a $12
million loan to France.
Americans were outraged. South Carolina Congressman Robert Goodloe Harper captured the
national mood with his statement, “Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute.”
 Republicans attempted to excuse French behavior; Federalists condemned the French and rode
a wave of patriotism to victory in the 1798 elections.

Question 22

The Quasi War

Answer 22

Undeclared Naval War with France—1798-1800
The US still had a treaty of alliance with France (1778), but Washington’s Neutrality
Proclamation and Jay’s Treaty created tension with France.
French warships seized hundreds of American merchant vessels. The US established a
Department of the Navy, built warships, and captured over a hundred French vessels.
Despite demands for war, President Adams relied on negotiations with Napoleon. The two sides
agreed to end the naval conflict and to abrogate the 1778 treaty of alliance.

Question 23

Alien Act & Alien Enemies Act

Answer 23

1798
These laws, along with the Sedition and Naturalization acts, were purportedly designed to deal
with alien, especially French and Irish, agitators. In reality, they were Federalist efforts to
weaken the Democratic-Republicans.
The Alien Act empowered the president to arrest and deport dangerous aliens during
peacetime.
The Alien Enemies Act allowed for the detention and deportation of individuals from countries
at war with the US if those persons were thought to be spies or saboteurs.
Neither of these two laws was invoked by Adams.

Question 24

Naturalization Act

Answer 24

1798
The Naturalization Act increased the waiting period for an immigrant to become a citizen from
five to fourteen years.
The Federalists passed this law because most immigrants, once citizens, became supporters of
the Democratic-Republicans.

Question 25

Sedition Act

Answer 25

1798
The Sedition Act made it illegal to publish defamatory statements about the federal government
or its officials.
This law, unlike the other three, could be used against US citizens. Ten Republicans including a
member of Congress were convicted under the Sedition Act.

Question 26

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

Answer 26

1798
Kentucky and Virginia passed resolutions drafted by Jefferson and Madison condemning the
Alien, Alien Enemies, Sedition, and Naturalization acts as unconstitutional.
The resolutions presented the states’ rights doctrine claiming that 1) the federal government
was created by the states to serve as their agent and 2) state legislatures could declare laws of
Congress unconstitutional and 3) since there are no legitimate implied powers, these acts were
therefore null and void.