HAMILTON VS. JEFFERSON A conflict took shape in the 1790s between America’s first political parties . Indeed, the Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, and the Republicans (also called Demo- cratic-Republicans), led by Thomas Jefferson, were the first political parties in the Western world . Un- like loose political groupings in the British House of Commons […]
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PRESIDENT WASHINGTON One of the last acts of the Con- gress of the Confederation was to ar- range for the first presidential elec- tion, setting March 4, 1789, as the date that the new government would come into being . One name was on everyone’s lips for the new chief of state, George Washington .
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RATIFICATION AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS On September 17, 1787, after 16 weeks of deliberation, the finished Constitution was signed by 39 of the 42 delegates present . Franklin, pointing to the half-sun painted in brilliant gold on the back of Wash- ington’s chair, said: 76 I have often in the course of the session
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DEBATE AND COMPROMISE The 18th-century statesmen who met in Philadelphia were adherents of Montesquieu’s concept of the balance of power in politics . This principle was supported by colo- nial experience and strengthened by the writings of John Locke, with which most of the delegates were fa- miliar . These influences led to the conviction
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CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION By the time the Northwest Ordi- nance was enacted, American leaders were in the midst of drafting a new and stronger constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation . Their presiding officer, George Washing- ton, had written accurately that the states were united only by a “rope of sand .” Disputes between Maryland
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THE PROBLEM OF EXPANSION With the end of the Revolution, the United States again had to face the old unsolved Western ques- tion, the problem of expansion, with its complications of land, fur trade, Indians, settlement, and lo- cal government . Lured by the rich- est land yet found in the country, pioneers poured over
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THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION The struggle with England had done much to change colonial atti- tudes . Local assemblies had rejected the Albany Plan of Union in 1754, re- fusing to surrender even the smallest part of their autonomy to any other body, even one they themselves had elected . But in the course of
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THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT “Every man, and every body of men on Earth, possesses the right of self-government.” Drafter of the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson, 1790 OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY 69 science, and the right of the majority to reform or alter the government . Other states enlarged the list of liberties
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THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION STATE CONSTITUTIONS The success of the Revolution gave Americans the opportunity to give legal form to their ideals as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, and to remedy some of their griev- ances through state constitutions . As early as May 10, 1776, Congress had passed a resolution advising
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THE BRITISH MOVE SOUTH With the French now involved, the British, still believing that most Southerners were Loyalists, stepped up their efforts in the Southern colonies . A campaign began in late 1778, with the capture of Savannah, Georgia . Shortly thereafter, British troops and naval forces converged on Charleston, South Carolina, the principal Southern
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