A. PURPOSE
1. The aim of Hamilton's policies was to do the following:
• Promote economic growth
• Strengthen the new nation's finances
• Give financial interests such as Eastern merchants a stake in the new government ("A national debt," Hamilton observed, "if it is not excessive will be to us a national blessing. It will be a powerful cement to our union.")
B. PROPOSALS
1. Hamilton proposed to do the following:
• Establish a national bank
• Adopt a protective tariff to raise revenue
• Fund the national debt
• Assume state debts incurred during the Revolutionary War
• Tax distilled liquor to raise revenue
• Expand domestic manufacturing
• Subsidize domestic manufacturers (Note: Congress rejected this proposal.)
C. CONTROVERSY WITH JEFFERSON
1. Hamilton favored a "loose" interpretation of the Constitution. He used the implied powers of the "necessary and proper" clause to justify his proposals. Hamilton believed that what the Constitution does not forbid, it permits.
2. Jefferson favored a "strict" interpretation of the Constitution. He believed that what the Constitution does not permit, it forbids.
1. Washington warned Americans about the dangers of foreign entanglements.
2. "The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations," Washington advised, "is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connections as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop."
B. IMPACT ON AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY
1. President Wilson's opponents would use Washington's Farewell Address to justify their opposition to the League of Nations.
2. During the 1930s, isolationists would use Washington's Farewell Address to justify their support of the Neutrality Acts.
A. THE WARNING
TEST TIP
Washington may have been "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen," but he has not been first in the minds of APUSH test writers. With the exception of his Farewell Address, Washington has been largely ignored on the AP US History exam. In contrast, his Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, is an APUSH superstar. Almost all exams include at least one question about Hamilton's financial plans. Washington's successor, John Adams, only appears in conjunction with the quasi-war with France and the resulting Alien and Sedition Acts.
A. THE "REVOLUTION OF 1800"
1. The victory of Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans marked the end of what has been called the Federalist Decade.
2. The election of 1800 has been referred to as a revolution because the party in power gave up power peacefully after losing an election.
B. KEY TENETS OF JEFFERSONIAN DEMOCRACY
1. The yeoman farmer best exemplifies virtue and independence from the corrupting influences of cities, bankers, financiers, and industrialists.
2. The federal government must not violate the rights of the states. This principle of "states' rights" is proclaimed in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions.
3. Freedom of speech and the press are essential rights, since governments must be closely watched. The Alien and Sedition Acts violated this principle.
4. The scope and activities of the federal government should be reduced. The President should practice republican simplicity.
C. THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE, 1803
1. The Louisiana Purchase had its origins in Jefferson's desire to acquire the port of New Orleans to provide an outlet for Western crops.
2. The failure of the French army to suppress a slave revolt in Haiti played a role in motivating Napoleon to sell the Louisiana Territory.
3. Purchasing the Louisiana Territory violated Jefferson's belief in a strict interpretation of the Constitution. As a result, Jefferson had to be pragmatic and do what was in the best interest of the country.
4. Jefferson hoped to perpetuate an agricultural society by making abundant lands available to future generations.
5. The Louisiana Purchase was America's largest acquisition of territory—even bigger than Alaska!
A. BELIEF IN A STRONG CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
1. Chief Justice John Marshall believed that a strong central government best served the nation's interests.
2. Marshall opposed states' rights.
B. MARBURY v. MADISON, 1803
1. This case established the principle of judicial review.
2. The ruling gave the Supreme Court the authority to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional.
C. OPPOSITION TO STATES' RIGHTS
1. Under Marshall's leadership, the Supreme Court upheld the supremacy of federal legislation over state legislation.
2. For example, in Dartmouth College v. Woodward, the Marshall Court ruled that a state cannot encroach on a contract.
D. ECONOMIC NATIONALISM
1. Marshall was an economic nationalist who promoted business enterprise.
2. For example, in McCulloch v. Maryland, the court struck down a Maryland law taxing the Baltimore branch of the National Bank.
TEST TIP
John Marshall has cast a long shadow across both American judicial history and the APUSH exam. Most exams have a question about Marbury v. Madison and judicial review. It is also important to remember that Marshall was a proponent of a strong central government and an opponent of states' rights.
A. CAUSES
1. Causes of the war included the following:
• British impressments of American seamen
• British interference with American commerce
• British aid to Native Americans on the frontier
B. CONSEQUENCES
1. Consequences of the war included the following:
• Contributing to the demise of the Federalist Party
• Intensifying nationalist feelings
• Promoting industrialization
• Advancing the career of Andrew Jackson
A. CLAY'S AMERICAN SYSTEM
1. Internal improvements referred to transportation projects such as roads and canals.
2. Henry Clay believed that new transportation links would promote trade and unite the various sections of the country.
3. Clay's "American System" called for tariffs to protect domestic industries and fund internal improvements.
4. Because of its dependence on agricultural plantations and slave labor, the South benefited least from the era of internal improvements.
B. AN ERA OF GOOD FEELINGS OR RISING TENSIONS?
1. The demise of the Federalist Party left the Democratic- Republicans in control of Congress and the presidency.
2. The illusion of a national political consensus was shattered by such contentious issues as protective tariffs, federal aid for internal improvements, and the expansion of slavery into the new territories.
C. THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE OF 1820
1. The Missouri Compromise settled the first major nineteenth- century conflict over slavery.
2. Maine entered the Union as a free state.
3. Missouri entered the Union as a slave state, thus maintaining the balance between free and slave states in the Senate.
4. The Compromise closed the remaining territory of the Louisiana Purchase above the 36° 30' line to slavery.
TEST TIP
Feelings were not always so harmonious during the so-called Era of Good Feelings. Clay's American System and the Missouri Compromise of 1820 both generated heated debate. Both of these topics have also generated a large number questions. Make sure you review the purposes of Clay's American System and the provisions of the Compromise of 1820.
D. THE MONROE DOCTRINE, 1823
1. The Monroe Doctrine was a unilateral declaration of principles that asserted American independence from Europe in foreign policy.
2. The Monroe Doctrine asserted that the political system in the Western Hemisphere is different and separate from that of Europe. (Note that this assertion is similar to the same point in Washington's Farewell Address.)
3. It warned European nations against further colonial ventures into the Western Hemisphere.
4. It promised that the United States would not interfere in the internal affairs of European nations.
5. The Monroe Doctrine was successful because of the power of the British navy.