Chapter 8 Notes The Constitution was ratified in 1788 It was used to create a more powerful central government Skeptics in the time thought it would last no more than a few years In 1789 Americans celebrated the inauguration of George Washington the first president A New Nation o In 1789 the US reached from the Atlantic to the Mississippi and had about 4 million residents o New England was developing a manufacturing sector o The south was an agricultural region with much less diversity o There was a huge surge in cotton between 1790 and 1815 3 to 93 mil lbs Production o Invention of the cotton gin played a key role in the soaring production o In 1790 it was predominantly a rural society o Only a few cities had more than 5 000 residents 80 had some ag o African americans made up about 1 5 of the population and they lived o Indians were still there and the British were arming them and bribing in the south mostly 90 them to stop the Americans o Between 1784 and 1790 Indians killed 1500 settlers in Kentucky o Indians used Spanish supplied weapons in the south o Rapid population growth cheap land and new economic opportunities fueled the western migration o In 1790 almost half of all white Americans were under the age of 16 rapid childbirth A New Government o On March 4 1789 the new Congress met in NYC and they only had eight senators and 13 representatives o A month passed before they got quorum o George Washington was unanimously voted in to presidency 69 votes o John Adams became VP with the second highest votes 34 o Washington was nervous to serve o Life in the 1790 s had a lot of personal rivalries sectional tensions and partisan conflicts The Government s Structure o Had a larger staff at mt Vernon than he did as president o Washington named Thomas Jefferson as head of the Department of o Alexander Hamilton was chosen to be the head of the department of State Treasury o Attorney general was occupied by Edmund Randolph o These men were the origin of the President s cabinet o Congress set the number of people in the supreme court to six o Created thirteen federal district courts o Supreme court was originally more of an itinerant judges riding the circuit during most of the year o John Jay was named the first chief justice of the Supreme court The Bill of Rights o Mass NY VA and NC requested that a bill of rights be added to protect individual freedoms state s rights and civil liberties o James Madison presented the Bill of Rights to Congress in May 1789 o By the end of 1789 of the states had approved the amendments 12 approved in Sept at the time o Amendments became effective Dec 15 1791 Religious Freedom o The men who wrote the Bill of Rights were determined to protect freedom of religion from government interference o Statement in the first amendment highlighted pg 306 Raising Revenue o Raising money to operate new federal affairs is a critical task o When GW took office the finances were in shambles o James Madison proposed a tariff on imported goods for revenue o Proposed heavy duties on foreign ships with no commercial treaty o Madison s goal was to wage economic war with GB o Tonnage Act of 1789 only discrimination was between US and with the US foreign ships o Import duty of 6 cents per ton import duty American built foreign owned ships paid 30 cents and ships that were foreign built and owned paid 50 cents per ton o Tariffs and tonnage duties raised the prices on goods that Americans bought Hamilton s Vision o Hamilton had a rocky start as an orphan but he made his way to King s college Columbia and made his way to Washington s aid in the continental army o Consumed with social and political ambition o He believed that the US needed to have a vibrant economy driven by the engines of capitalism Establishing the Public Credit o Brilliant reports submitted between Jan 1970 and Dec 1971 o Hamilton insisted that the state debts from the revolution were a national responsibility o Called for funding the federal debt at face value meant that citizens holding war bonds could exchange them for new interest bearing bonds o Declared the federal government should assume state debts holders of state bonds would exchange them for national bonds o The report on public credit included a proposal for a liquor tax to o A report recommending the establishment of a national bank and a raise revenue national mint o Report on manufacturers which proposed an extensive program of government aid and other encouragement to stimulate the development of manufacturing enterprises so as to reduce America s dependence on imported goods The Emergence of Sectional Differences o Madison was troubled that speculators would become the chief beneficiaries o Madison was worried that far more of the debt was being paid off to northerners than southerners so he proposed another plan o The southern states didn t want the central government assuming state debts because they had whittled down their debts and the northern states still had huge debts to pay o In 1790 Jefferson Hamilton and Madison came to a compromise in exchange for moving the permanent national capitol onto the Potomac River Madison would get enough southern votes to pass the debt assumption plan A National Bank o He modeled a national bank by the bank of England o Wanted to provide a uniform paper currency o The bank would remain under government control but private investors would supply 4 5 of the 10 million capital and name 20 of the 25 directors o Bank would provide a stable flexible national currency o Hamilton convinced Washington to sign the bank bill lots of controversy Encouraging Manufactures o Set in place the capstone of his design for a modern national economy o Ham Believed that several advantages would flow from the aggressive development of manufactures o Hamilton proposed to use tariffs on imported foreign goods but have exemptions on raw materials needed for manufacturing o Northern and middle Atlantic states would become the chief regions for manufacturing Hamilton s Achievement o The treasury department began to retire the rev war debt and foreign capital began to flow in once again o Hamilton had established the foundations for a powerful capitalist republic o Hamilton was a consummate nationalist o The concerted opposition to Hamilton s politics and policies soon fractured Washington s cabinet and spawned the nation s first political parties The Republican Alternative o Hamilton became the leader of the federalists and