U.S. History to 1877
Lesson 1
Search For Stability
A. Washington Inaugurates the Govt.
1. Wash. is elected Pres. unanimously
a) Adams gets 2nd – Vice Pres.
2. Set up the 1st govt.
a) liked pomp and ceremony – gain respect of the office
b) created a cabinet to help him
1) Gen. Henry Knox – Sec. of War
2) Alexander Hamilton – Sec. of Finance
3) Thomas Jefferson – Sec. of State
4) Edmund Randolph – Attorney General
c) appt. John Jay as Chief Justice of Sup. Ct.
B. The Bill of Rights
1. list of unalienable rights – convinced states to ratify Const.
a) rights guaranteed to each person
b) written by James Madison
c) did not include right to vote
C. The Republican Wife & Mother
1. affection, not duty bound a wife to her husband
2. women needed education – to instruct children about citizenship
3. citizens should feel affections for leader as wife does for
her husband – therefore, neither should ever rebel.
Hamilton’s Economic Policies
A. Agriculture, Transportation, & Banking
1. Eli Whitney invented cotton gin – now cotton was booming
2. Lots of exports of crops, wheat, corn, cotton
a) created jobs in mills, etc.
3. needed roads to transport the crops
a) private companies built turnpikes (toll road)
b) many roads by 1800.
4. Banks began to sell stock and offer credit
B. Public Debt & Taxes
1. People thought the U.S. would soon be able to pay off war debt.
2. Hamilton encouraged keeping some of the debt
a) made stock holders have financial stake in success of U.S.
b) need to be credit-worthy – not debt free
c) also said U.S. should pay the debts the states had built up
C. Bank of the U.S.
1. U.S. would fund 20% - Private investors 80%
a) this bank would control credit, interest rates, currency value, etc.
b) many were opposed, but Ham. pushed it through Congress
2. Supported Am. manufacturers
a) Ham. wanted subsidies for business & high import tariffs
D. The Whiskey Rebellion
1. Hamilton put an excise tax on Whiskey – help pay the debt
a) distillers had to pay it, passed it on to consumers
b) corn farmers were hurt – price went down
2. 7000 farmers marched on Pittsburgh.
3. Pres. Wash. & Ham. with 13,000 soldiers went out to stop them
a) no shots were fired, farmers backed down
b) showed the U.S. would stand up to problems.