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Laws, Legislation, Documents Report on the Public Credit In this report to Congress, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton put forth his plans to retire debts remaining from the Revolution and put the new United States government on solid economic ground. Each component of his plan would prove to be controversial and would lead to divisions that created the nation’s first two-party system. Hamilton’s Economic Program Key aspects of Hamilton’s financial plan were funding the national debt, assuming state debts, creating a national bank and raising revenue with a tax on whiskey. Funding the national debt was wisely accepted as essential, but Hamilton’s plan to pay the current holders of national bonds, rather than the original owners (many of whom had given up on the government and sold their bonds to speculators) proved very controversial. Assuming state debts from the revolution made sense in that the war was fought by the nation, not by individual states, but the reality was that most southern states had paid their debts while most northern states had not. The national bank seemed to be advantageous to northern commercial interests. Southern and middle state farmers could see no advantage and claimed its creation was not constitutional. Finally, the tax on whiskey was a hardship to western farmers who made whiskey from corn as a way of preserving their produce and making it easier to market. Bill of Rights The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, authored by James Madison. These amendments list the most cherished rights held by Americans. Reading them one can see specific governmental abuses suffered by American colonists before the American Revolution. Washington’s Proclamation of Neutrality In 1793, knowing the nation was in no way prepared for war, President Washington issued an official proclamation declaring our neutrality in the war waging between Britain and France. Some, including Madison, saw this as a violation of our 1778 alliance with France and questioned whether the President had the power to make such a declaration under the Constitution. Excise Act of 1791 This key component of Hamilton’s economic plan raised revenue for the federal government by placing a tax on distilled spirits such as whiskey. This led to the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791. Census of 1790 The Constitution mandated a census to take place once every ten years for the purpose of determining representation in the House of Representatives. The first census of 1790 showed the nation to be primarily agrarian, with only five percent of the people living in towns and cities. Washington’s Farewell Address When he left office after two terms, Washington released a farewell speech to a Philadelphia newspaper. His words are still resonant today in their encouragement of religion and morality and their warning against intense party strife and permanent foreign alliances. Alien and Sedition Acts In 1798 the Federalists and President Adams reacted to Republican criticism of the Quasi-War with France by passing two measures designed to deflect their critics. The Alien Act made it much more difficult for immigrants to become citizens (many Republican critics were more recent immigrants) and the Sedition Act provided punishment for “false and defamatory” statements against government leaders. Clearly in conflict with constitutional liberties, the Sedition Act in particular is among the most repressive acts ever passed by the U.S. government. These measures ultimately led to a fall from power for the Federalists. They would never rule again. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions In response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, Madison and Jefferson penned the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, respectively. These documents put for the possibility that states could nullify measures of the federal government deemed unconstitutional. Jefferson in particular in the Kentucky Resolution implied that if the national government persisted, states might even leave the union. This “compact theory” held that the union was a “compact” that states had entered voluntarily and could thus leave voluntarily. This argument would be the foundation of secessionist sentiment leading to the American Civil War. Notes on the State of Virginia Jefferson’s only book, it was originally published in 1781. The book reveals the diverse interests of Jefferson in that it covers a multitude of topics relating to life in Virginia, including agriculture, botany, climate, government, and anthropology. Petition by the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery In his last public act, Benjamin Franklin, serving as president of this society, sent this petition to Congress calling for an end to the African slave trade and for Congress to work to end slavery in America. This early call for abolition was a harbinger of the debate over the issue of slavery that would only intensify in coming decades. Treaty of Alliance (1778) This treaty tied the French to the American side in the American Revolution. In the 1790s Americans debated the relevance of this military alliance as Britain and France were at war. The U.S. gained release from this alliance in the Convention of 1800. Convention of 1800 In this agreement negotiated by the Adams administration, America achieved peace with France after the tumultuous 1790s. The United States agreed to drop claims for twenty million dollars in shipping seized by the French during the Quasi-War. In return, France agreed to release the United States from the terms of the 1778 Treaty of Alliance. Bennett makes the point had President Adams instead pursued war with France as some of his own Federalist supporters desired, there is no possibility that France would have sold America the Louisiana Territory three years later. Treaty of Greenville Negotiated by General Anthony Wayne after a victory over Native Americans at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, Indians in the region turned over large parts of Ohio and the future sites of Chicago and Detroit. Jay’s Treaty Also known as the Treaty of London, this treaty averted war between the United States and Britain in 1794. At issue were American complaints that the British had not left forts in the Ohio and Great Lakes region, as promised in the 1783 Peace of Paris. The British responded that they would not leave those posts until America paid compensation for Tory property losses in the Revolution, also promised in the 1783 treaty. To avoid war, Washington sent Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay to England to negotiate a settlement. The resulting treaty provided some satisfaction for both sides (the British agreed to leave forts and the Americans agreed to Tory compensation), but it did not address issues such as British impressments of American sailors and was thus widely assailed as weak by Republican critics in Congress. The treaty barely survived ratification in the Senate and debate over the document further contributed to the formation of the first two-party system in America.