History Discussion 1.

US I - LESSON THREE

This lesson contains my ideas about US History. It is meant to give you information, and to get you to think. The lesson is drawn from various sources and may or may not agree with concepts and ideas from your textbook. 

Compromise – Initially things did not look promising. Only a small minority of the population wanted a federal government and even they could not agree among themselves. Large states wanted representation based on population (Virginia Plan) while small states wanted representation equal for each state (New Jersey Plan). Slave states wanted slaves counted for representation while Free states did not want slaves counted at all. In the Great Compromise we agreed to a two-house legislature with the upper equal and the lower based on population. In the Three-Fifth Compromise we agreed to count three-fifths of the slaves for representation. Most important, they agreed on a powerful executive. The final proposal called for a bicameral legislative, strong executive, and a judiciary. A majority of the nation was opposed to having any strong government, so ratification was far from assured.

Ratification – The first important decision was that as soon as nine states ratified the new constitution the government would begin operation. They had learned an important lesson from unanimous requirements under the Articles. You are seldom going to get everyone to agree, so very little will be accomplished. They also emphasized separate branches and separation of powers through checks and balances including presidential veto and Congress' impeachment powers. Hamilton, Madison, and Jay wrote The Federalist Papers that explained how the new government would work.

Hamilton, Madison, and Jay – Let’s digress for a moment and look at these three men and their writings. The Federalist Papers are used in many government classes, so this book is still in print and is easy to obtain. Walk into any large book store and ask the clerk to order it and the response will be "Why? It's right there on the shelf." As you read the writings of these three men you will notice a difference. Madison and Hamilton are brilliant; Jay is good. In fact Madison and Hamilton were probably the two most brilliant men of the age. Jay is just there. Why does he get so much credit as a founding father then? He is over-rated. His contribution to the Federalist Papers does not compare with those of Madison and Hamilton. He was also first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and negotiated the Jay Treaty. We will see how he did with these shortly. For now back to ratification.

George Washington – He was the Federalist's strongest weapon. He was the most popular and most respected man in America, and he supported a federal constitution. Finally the Bill of Rights was added to quell the fears of people concerned that the constitution said nothing about freedom of speech, freedom to bear arms, states rights, etc. After reading the Bill of Rights, the Federalist Papers, or hearing that George Washington supported Federalism, it took less than one year for nine states to ratify the constitution and the new government was in business.

Washington's Administration – We seldom hear anything about the first two elections. Why? Washington ran unopposed for President and Adams ran unopposed for Vice President, so they were very bland elections. Washington unfortunately was not as good a president as he had been a general. Although he refused to become dictator or king he wanted to be treated like one. He came up with a mile long title that Adams had to talk him out of. Adams suggested, and Washington finally agreed to be called "Mr. President." He did realize the executive was something new and the extent of its power had to be established. To that end he set up a Cabinet and brought the best men available into it including Jefferson and Hamilton. Unfortunately he then only made general suggestions and sat back to watch these two men fight for supremacy within his administration.

Change of Administrations – By 1796 Washington's popularity had slipped to just above 50%. It would be a good time to leave. Washington said two terms were enough and anointed Adams as his successor. But, this time there would be a fight. Jefferson, Madison, and like minded people had formed an opposition. Jefferson challenged Adams. Hamilton, realizing he couldn’t control Adams tried to steal the election by getting Pinckney elected President. Adams won the Presidency and Jefferson the Vice Presidency. How was this possible and how did Hamilton think Pinckney could get elected? In those days elections were a free-for-all. Although Adams was the Federalist candidate for president and Pinckney for vice president, while Jefferson was the opposition candidate for president, they won based on their electoral votes. There were no "tickets."? Everybody ran separately. Adams got the most electoral votes and became president, Jefferson came in second so became vice president even though he was actually running for president, and Pinckney came in third so got nothing.

Adam’s Presidency – Just before Adams took the oath of office Washington made a major blunder. He went to Adams and said he was giving Adams his entire cabinet because they were loyal. The problem was they were loyal to Hamilton. Adams owed his election to Washington, so he could not decline the "gift." The problem was that now Adams would meet with his cabinet and tell them what to do. They would then go to Hamilton for their "real" orders. Adams was caught between the rock and the hard place. If he fired them he risked Washington's wrath. If he kept them Hamilton would run the government for another four years. He chose to keep them. In an ill advised attempt to maintain power, Adams and the Federalists were responsible for passing some of the most infamous legislation in American history, the Alien and Sedition Acts. Luckily for democracy these acts were too little and too late. The Federalists would lose both the executive and legislative branches in the 1800 elections.

The Election of 1800 – There have been several strange presidential elections including the 2000 election. This one was even stranger and caused a revising of the constitution. Jefferson and his running mate, Burr tied for the presidency. Instead of stepping aside, Burr challenged Jefferson but lost when Hamilton told the Federalists to support Jefferson as the lesser of two evils. A constitutional amendment ensured this would never happen again. This change of administration is sometimes referred to as a Revolution, and it may have been one for the time. Remember, Adams kept Washington's administration. Jefferson would remove Federalists and bring his own Republican people in. By the way, why Republican? Jefferson had set up the first real political party by 1800. Initially they were called Republicans, then Democratic Republicans, and finally by 1840 Democrats. It was just name changes over a 40-year period.

The Judiciary – In those days the outgoing administration had five months before giving up power, so the Federalists were busy. They created many new judicial positions and filled them with young Federalists. They may have lost the executive and legislative branches but they would ensure control of the judiciary for many years. Jefferson even tried to impeach and remove Federalist judges. To their credit his own party refused to impeach judges based on party affiliation. If they had they would have made a joke of the constitution. Only one judge was removed, and his removal was more than justified. He had made a mockery of the court, even appointing his horse as a court official. Most of the others would remain except for a few whose appointments were cancelled. How could they be cancelled? John Marshall, the Secretary of State and Chief Justice designate had forgotten to give them their appointments.

Jefferson's Presidency – Marbury v. Madison, the Louisiana Purchase, Indian relations, and the Embargo Act were of particular interest. Marbury, one of the Federalists whose appointment had been cancelled wanted his judgeship. He took his case to the Supreme Court. Jefferson the second smartest man in America sent Madison the smartest man in America to argue the case. John Marshall now demonstrated that maybe they were not as smart as they thought. But wait a second. Wasn't Marshall the guy who caused this problem by forgetting to deliver judicial appointments in the first place? That was not very smart, or was it? In his decision Marshall made the judiciary equal to the other two branches. Basically the court was asked to determine the constitutionality of a law. Marshall ruled it unconstitutional. He then reminded everyone that our judicial system is based on precedence and we had just set one. The Supreme Court had been asked to rule on the constitutionality of a federal law. Now they could continue doing this in the future. Judicial Review had been established

Louisiana Purchase – This was almost a comedy of errors. We were trying to buy the mouth of the Mississippi while France was trying to sell the whole thing. When our negotiators realized this, they were concerned. They had no authorization to buy the whole territory. If they went home and asked for permission France might change her mind. So they took a chance, the right one it turns out, and bought it. We then sent two expeditions to explore it. Lewis and Clark went north and successfully found a land route across the continent. Pike went out ostensibly to explore the southern part of the purchase. He "got lost" and managed to explore much of northern Mexico instead. The Spanish were not amused. They caught Pike and escorted him to the border. Pike's exploration showed that we were already eying parts of Mexico as early as 1806.