A Short History of the United States by Edward Channing

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[Sidenote: Internal revenue taxes.]

[Sidenote: The Whiskey Rebellion, 1794. _McMaster_, 203-204.]

213. The Whiskey Insurrection, 1794.--The increasing expenses of
the government made new taxes necessary. Among the new taxes was an
internal revenue tax on whiskey. It happened that this tax bore heavily
on the farmers of western Carolina and western Pennsylvania. The farmers
of those regions could not take their grain to the seaboard because the
roads were bad and the distance was great. So they made it into whiskey,
which could be carried to the seaboard and sold at a profit. The new tax
on whiskey would make it more difficult for these western farmers to
earn a living and to support their families. They refused to pay it.
They fell upon the tax collectors and drove them away. Washington sent
commissioners to explain matters to them. But the farmers paid no heed
to the commissioners. The President then called out fifteen thousand
militia-men and sent them to western Pennsylvania, under the command of
Henry Lee, governor of Virginia. The rebellious farmers yielded without
fighting. Two of the leaders were convicted of treason. But Washington
pardoned them, and the conflict ended there. The new government had
shown its strength, and had compelled people to obey the laws. That in
itself was a very great thing to have done.

[Sidenote: Relations with Great Britain. _McMaster_, 207-209;
_Source-Book_, 188-190.]

[Sidenote: Jay's Treaty, 1794.]

214. Jay's Treaty, 1794.--Ever since 1783 there had been trouble
with the British. They had not surrendered the posts on the Great Lakes,
as the treaty of 1783 required them to do. They had oppressed American
commerce. The American states also had broken the treaty by making laws
to prevent the collection of debts due to British subjects by American
citizens. The Congress of the Confederation had been too weak to compel
either the British government or the American states to obey the treaty.
But the new government was strong enough to make treaties respected at
home and abroad. Washington sent Chief Justice John Jay to London to
negotiate a new treaty. He found the British government very hard to
deal with. At last he made a treaty. But there were many things in it
which were not at all favorable to the United States. For instance, it
provided that cotton should not be exported from the United States, and
that American commerce with the British West Indies should be greatly
restricted.

[Sidenote: Contest over ratification of Jay's Treaty, 1795.]

215. Ratification of Jay's Treaty, 1795.--After a long discussion
the Senate voted to ratify the treaty without these two clauses. In the
House of Representatives there was a fierce debate. For although the
House has nothing to do with ratifying treaties, it has a great deal to
do with voting money. And money was needed to carry out this treaty. At
last the House voted the necessary money. The British surrendered the
posts on the Great Lakes, and the debts due to British subjects were
paid. Many people were very angry with Jay and with Washington for
making this treaty. Stuffed figures of Jay were hanged, and Washington
was attacked in the papers as if he had been "a common pickpocket"--to
use his own words.

[Illustration: SOUTHERN BOUNDARY OF UNITED STATES 1795]

[Sidenote: Treaty with Spain, 1795.]

[Sidenote: Right of deposit.]

216. The Spanish Treaty of 1795.--France and Great Britain were
not the only countries with which there was trouble. The Spaniards held
posts on the Mississippi, within the limits of the United States and
refused to give them up. For a hundred miles the Mississippi flowed
through Spanish territory. In those days, before steam railroads
connected the Ohio valley with the Eastern seacoast, the farmers of
Kentucky and Tennessee sent their goods by boat or raft down the
Mississippi to New Orleans. At that city they were placed on sea-going
vessels and carried to the markets of the world. The Spaniards refused
to let this commerce be carried on. In 1795, however, they agreed to
abandon the posts and to permit American goods to be deposited at New
Orleans while awaiting shipment by sea-going vessels.

[Sidenote: Washington declines a third term.]

[Sidenote: His Farewell Address.]

217. Washington's Farewell Address.--In 1792 Washington had been
reelected President. In 1796 there would be a new election, and
Washington declined another nomination. He was disgusted with the tone
of public life and detested party politics, and desired to pass the
short remainder of his life in quiet at Mt. Vernon. He announced his
intention to retire in a Farewell Address, which should be read and
studied by every American. In it he declared the Union to be the main
pillar of independence, prosperity, and liberty. Public credit must be
carefully maintained, and the United States should have as little as
possible to do with European affairs. In declining a third term as
President, Washington set an example which has ever since been followed.

CHAPTER 21

THE LAST FEDERALIST ADMINISTRATION

[Sidenote: Hamilton's intrigues against Adams.]

[Sidenote: Adams elected, President, 1796.]

218. John Adams elected President, 1796.--In 1796 John Adams was
the Federalist candidate for President. His rival was Thomas Jefferson,
the founder and chief of the Republican party. Alexander Hamilton was
the real leader of the Federalists, and he disliked Adams. Thomas
Pinckney was the Federalist candidate for Vice-President. Hamilton
suggested a plan which he thought would lead to the election of Pinckney
as President instead of Adams. But Hamilton's scheme did not turn out
very well. For by it Jefferson was elected Vice-President. Indeed, he
came near being President, for he had only three less electoral votes
than Adams.

[Sidenote: Relations with France, 1796-97. _McMaster, 210-212;
Source-Book_, 191-194.]

[Sidenote: The French government declines to receive an American
minister.]

219. More Trouble with France.--France was now (1796-97) governed
by five chiefs of the Revolution, who called themselves "the Directory."
They were very angry when they heard of Jay's Treaty (p. 168), for they
had hoped that the Americans would make war on the British. James Monroe
was then American minister at Paris. Instead of doing all he could to
smooth over this difficulty, he urged on the wrath of the Directory.
Washington recalled Monroe, and sent in his stead General Charles
Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina. The Directory promptly refused to
receive Pinckney, and ordered him to leave France. News of this action
of the Directory reached Philadelphia three days after Adams's
inauguration.

[Sidenote: Adams's message, 1797.]

[Sidenote: A commission sent to France, 1797.]

[Sidenote: The X.Y.Z. Affair, 1797-98.]

220. The X.Y.Z. Affair, 1797-98.--Adams at once summoned Congress
and addressed the members in stirring words. He denied that the
Americans were a "degraded people, humiliated under a colonial sense of
fear ... and regardless of national honor, character, and interest." It
seemed best, however, to make one more effort to avoid war. Adams
therefore sent John Marshall, a Virginia Federalist, and Elbridge Gerry,
a Massachusetts Republican, to France. They were to join Pinckney and
together were to negotiate with the French Directory. When they reached
Paris three men came to see them. These men said that America (1) must
apologize for the President's vigorous words, (2) must lend money to
France, and (3) must bribe the Directory and the Minister of Foreign
Affairs. These outrageous suggestions were emphatically put aside. In
sending the papers to Congress, the three men were called Mr. X., Mr.
Y., and Mr. Z., so the incident is always known as the "X.Y.Z. Affair."

[Sidenote: Excitement in America.]

221. Indignation in America.--Federalists and Republicans joined in
indignation. "Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute," was the
cry of the day. French flags were everywhere torn down. "Hail Columbia"
was everywhere sung. Adams declared that he would not send another
minister to France until he was assured that the representative of the
United States would be received as "the representative of a great,
free, powerful, and independent state."

[Sidenote: Washington appointed Commander-in-chief. Hamilton and Adams.]

[Sidenote: The navy.]

[Sidenote: Naval warfare, 1798-99. _McMaster_, 213-214.]

222. War with France, 1797-98.--The organization of a provisional
army was now at once begun. Washington accepted the chief command on
condition that Hamilton should have the second place. There were already
a few vessels in the navy. A Navy Department was now organized. The
building of more warships was begun, and merchant vessels were bought
and converted into cruisers. French privateers sailed along the American
coasts and captured American vessels off the entrances of the principal
harbors. But this did not last long. For the American warships drove the
privateers to the West Indies and pursued them as they fled southward.
Soon the American cruisers began to capture French men-of-war. Captain
Truxton, in the _Constellation_, captured the French frigate
_L'Insurgent_. Many other French vessels were captured, and preparations
were made to carry on the naval war even more vigorously when a treaty
with France was signed.

[Sidenote: Another commission sent to France.]

[Sidenote: The treaty of 1800.]

223. Treaty with France, 1800.--This vigor convinced the French
that they had been hasty in their treatment of the Americans. They now
said that if another minister were sent to France, he would be honorably
received. Adams wished to send one of the American ministers then in
Europe, and thus end the dispute as soon as possible. But the other
Federalist leaders thought that it would be better to wait until France
sent a minister to the United States. Finally they consented to the
appointment of three commissioners. Napoleon Bonaparte was now the ruler
of France. He received the commissioners honorably, and a treaty was
soon signed. On two points, however, he refused to give way. He declined
to pay for American property seized by the French, and he insisted that
the treaty of 1778 (pp. 115, 166) was still binding on both countries.
It was finally agreed that the Americans should give up their claims for
damages, and the French government should permit the treaty to be
annulled. John Adams always looked upon this peaceful ending of the
dispute with France as the most prudent and successful act of his whole
life. But Hamilton and other Federalists thought it was treachery to the
party. They set to work to prevent his reelection to the presidency.

[Sidenote: Repressive Laws. _McMaster_, 211-212.]

[Sidenote: The naturalization act.]

[Sidenote: The alien acts.]

[Sidenote: The Sedition Act.]

224. Alien and Sedition Acts, 1798.--The Federalists, even if they
had been united, would probably have been defeated in the election of
1800. For they had misused their power to pass several very foolish
laws. The first of these laws was the Naturalization Act. It lengthened
the time of residence in the United States from five to fourteen years
before a foreign immigrant could gain the right to vote. This law bore
very harshly on the Republicans, because most of the immigrants were
Republicans. Other laws, called the Alien Acts, were also aimed at the
Republican immigrants. These laws gave the President power to compel
immigrants to leave the United States, or to live in certain places that
he named. The worst law of all was the Sedition Act. This was aimed
against the writers and printers of Republican newspapers. It provided
that any one who attacked the government in the press should be severely
punished as a seditious person. Several trials were held under this law.
Every trial made hundreds of persons determined to vote for the
Republican candidate at the next election.

[Sidenote: Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions 1798-99. _McMaster_,
212-213.]

[Sidenote: Jefferson and Madison on the Constitution.]

[Sidenote: The Kentucky Resolutions of 1799.]

225. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, 1798-99.--In the exciting
years before the Revolutionary War the colonial legislatures had passed
many resolutions condemning the acts of the British government (see pp.
77, 84). Following this example Jefferson and Madison now brought it
about that the Virginia and Kentucky legislatures passed resolutions
against the Alien and Sedition Acts. They declared that the Constitution
was a compact between the states. It followed from this that any state
could determine for itself whether any act of Congress were
constitutional or not. It followed from, this, again, that any state
could refuse to permit an Act of Congress to be enforced within its
limits. In other words, any state could make null or nullify any Act of
Congress that it saw fit to oppose. This last conclusion was found only
in the Kentucky Resolutions of 1799. But Jefferson wrote to this effect
in the original draft of the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798. The Virginia
and Kentucky Resolutions called the voter's attention to the Federalist
abuse of power and did much to form public opinion.

[Sidenote: Death of Washington, 1799.]

226. Death of Washington, 1799.--In the midst of this excitement
George Washington died. People forgot how strongly he had taken the
Federalist side in the last few years, and united to do honor to his
memory. Henry Lee spoke for the nation when he declared that Washington
was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his
countrymen." To this day, we commemorate Washington's birthday as we do
that of no other man, though of late years we have begun to keep
Lincoln's birthday also.

[Sidenote: Election of 1800. _McMaster_, 215.]

[Sidenote: Jefferson and Burr.]

[Sidenote: The election in the House of Representatives.]

227. Election of 1800.--It was for a moment only that the noise of
party conflict was hushed by the death of America's first President. The
strife soon began anew. Indeed, the election of 1800 was fought with a
vigor and violence unknown before, and scarcely exceeded since. John
Adams was the Federalist candidate, and he was defeated. Jefferson and
Burr, the Republican candidates, each received seventy-three electoral
votes. But which of them should be President? The Republican voters
clearly wished Jefferson to be President. But the Federalists had a
majority in the House of Representatives. They had a clear legal right
to elect Burr President. But to do that would be to do what was morally
wrong. After a useless struggle the Federalists permitted Jefferson to
be chosen, and he was inaugurated on March 4, 1801.

[Illustration: PRESIDENT WASHINGTON, 1790. "Observe good faith and
justice towards all nations."--_Farewell Address._]

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS

CHAPTER 19

Sec.Sec. 192-194.--_a_. Describe the method of electing President employed at
first.

_b_. Describe Washington's journey to New York and the inaugural
ceremonies, and compare them with the inauguration of the last
President.

Sec.Sec. 195, 196.--_a_. In whose hands do appointments to federal offices
lie?

_b_. What was the great difference mentioned in Sec. 196? Why was the
difference so great?

Sec.Sec. 197, 198.--_a_. Why was Washington "stiff and aristocratic"?

_b_. Would Washington have accepted the title of king? Give the reasons
for your answer.

Sec.Sec. 199-202.--_a_. Give the reasons for the different views expressed in
Congress as to customs duties. What are customs duties?

_b_. Explain how slavery influenced the views of the Southern members.

_c_. Compare the extent and population of the United States in 1791 with
the extent and population to-day.

_d_. What two new states were admitted in 1791-92? What was their
attitude on slavery? What changes would their admission make
in Congress?

Sec.Sec. 203, 204.--_a_. Explain carefully Hamilton's plan. What were its
advantages? What is meant by the phrase "public credit"?

_b_. What is meant by the phrase "assumption of the state debts"?

Sec.Sec. 205, 206.--_a_. What question arose concerning the site of the
national capital? How was it settled? Was this a good way to settle
important questions?

_b_. Why did Hamilton want a Bank of the United States? Was this bank
like one of the national banks of to-day?

CHAPTER 20

Sec.Sec. 207, 208.--_a_. Compare carefully the principles of the Federalists
and the Republicans. Which party would you have joined had you lived
then? Why? Which ideas prevail to-day?

_b_. Discuss Jefferson's views as to the value of newspapers.

Sec.Sec. 209-212.--_a_. Why did the Republicans sympathize with the French
Revolution?

_b_. How was the action of the Republicans regarded by Washington? By
Hamilton?

_c._ Why did Washington issue the Proclamation of Neutrality?

Sec. 213.--_a_. What is the difference between a tax laid by a tariff on
imported goods and an internal revenue tax?

_b_. How was the rebellion suppressed? Compare this with Shays's
Rebellion.

Sec.Sec. 214-216.--_a_. State the reasons for the trouble with Great Britain.
How was the matter settled?

_b._ Explain the trouble over the traffic on the Mississippi.

_c_. How was this matter settled?

Sec. 217.--_a_. Why did Washington decline a third term?

_b_. What are the important points in his Farewell Address?

_c_. How far has later history proved the truth of his words?

CHAPTER 21

Sec. 218.--_a_. How did Hamilton set to work to defeat Adams? Do you think
his action justifiable?

_b_. What was the result of Hamilton's intrigues?

Sec.Sec. 219-221.--_a_. To what was the refusal to receive Pinckney
equivalent? Describe the X. Y. Z. Affair.

_b_. What is a bribe? How must bribery in political life affect a
government?

_c_. How was the news of this affair received in America? What does this
show about the feeling of both parties toward the government?

Sec.Sec. 222, 223.--_a_. Describe the preparations for war. Why was a Navy
Department necessary?

_b_. Why was France wise to make peace with the United States?

_c_. How was the matter finally settled?

Sec.Sec. 224, 225.--_a_. Describe the Naturalization Act.

_b_. What power did the Alien Act give the President? What danger is
there in such power?

_c_. What is sedition? Compare the Sedition Act with the First
Amendment.

_d_. What were the theories on which the Kentucky and Virginia
Resolutions were based?

Sec.Sec. 226, 227.--_a_. What position does Washington hold in our history?
Why is it deserved? _b_. Describe the election of 1800. Why was it
fought so bitterly? _c_. Why should disputes as to elections for
President go to the House? _d_. How was it known that Jefferson's
election was the wish of the voters?

GENERAL QUESTIONS

_a_. Write an account of life in the United States about 1790, or life
in Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Charleston.

_b_. Prepare a table of the two political parties mentioned, with dates
and account of origin. As you go on, note upon this table changes in
these parties and the rise of new ones.

_c_. On an Outline Map color the thirteen original states and then fill
in, with dates, new states as they are admitted. Write on each state F.
for free or S. for slave, as the case may be.

TOPICS FOR SPECIAL WORK

_a_. Early life of Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, or Hamilton.

_b_. Washington's Farewell Address.

SUGGESTIONS

In this period we meet two questions, which are still important, tariff
legislation and political parties. In connection with the Tariff Act of
1789 (Sec. 200), touch upon the industries of the different sections of the
country and explain how local interests affected men's actions. Show how
compromise is often necessary in political action.

It is a good plan to use Outline Maps to show the important lines of
development, as the gradual drifting apart of the North and the South on
the slavery question.

Illustrate by supposed transactions the working of Hamilton's financial
measures. By all means do not neglect a study of Washington's Farewell
Address. Particular attention should be given to the two views of
constitutional interpretation mentioned in Sec. 207, and considerable time
should be spent on a study of Sec.Sec. 224 and 225.

[Illustration: THE UNITED STATES IN 1800.]

VIII

THE JEFFERSONIAN REPUBLICANS,
1801-1812

Books for Study and Reading

References.--Higginson's _Larger History_, 344-365; Scribner's
_Popular History_, IV, 127-184; Schouler's _Jefferson_.

Home Reading.--Coffin's _Building the Nation;_ Drake's _Making the
Ohio Valley States;_ Hale's _Man Without a Country_ and _Philip
Nolan's Friends._

CHAPTER 22

THE UNITED STATES IN 1800

[Sidenote: Area.]

[Sidenote: Population.]

228. Area and Population, 1800.--The area of the United States in
1800 was the same as at the close of the Revolutionary War. But the
population had begun to increase rapidly. In 1791 there were nearly four
million people in the United States. By 1800 this number had risen to
five and one-quarter millions. Two-thirds of the people still lived on
or near tide-water. But already nearly four hundred thousand people
lived west of the Alleghanies. In 1791 the centre of population had been
east of Baltimore. It was now eighteen miles west of that city (p. 157).

[Sidenote: Philadelphia.]

[Sidenote: New York.]

[Sidenote: The new capital.]

229. Cities and Towns in 1800.--Philadelphia was the largest city
in the United States. It had a population of seventy thousand. But New
York was not far behind Philadelphia in population. Except these two, no
city in the whole United States had more than thirty thousand
inhabitants. The seat of government had been removed from Philadelphia
to Washington. But the new capital was a city only in name. One broad
long street, Pennsylvania Avenue, led from the unfinished Capitol to the
unfinished White House. Congress held its sessions in a temporary wooden
building. The White House could be lived in. But Mrs. Adams found the
unfinished reception room very convenient for drying clothes on rainy
Mondays. A few cheaply built and very uncomfortable boarding-houses
completed the city.

[Sidenote: Roads, coaches, and inns.]

[Sidenote: Traveling by water.]

230. Traveling in 1800.--The traveler in those days had a very hard
time. On the best roads of the north, in the best coach, and with the
best weather one might cover as many as forty miles a day. But the
traveler had to start very early in the morning to do this. Generally he
thought himself fortunate if he made twenty-five miles in the
twenty-four hours. South of the Potomac there were no public coaches,
and the traveler generally rode on horseback. A few rich men like
Washington rode in their own coaches. Everywhere, north and south, the
inns were uncomfortable and the food was poor. Whenever it was possible
the traveler went by water. But that was dangerous work. Lighthouses
were far apart, there were no public buoys to guide the mariner, and
almost nothing had been done to improve navigation.

[Illustration: THE "CLERMONT," 1807.]

[Sidenote: The first steamboat]

[Sidenote: Fulton's steamboat, 1807. _Higginson_, 241-242.]

231. The Steamboat.--The steamboat came to change all this. While
Washington was still President, a queer-looking boat sailed up and down
the Delaware. She was propelled by oars or paddles which were worked by
steam. This boat must have been very uncomfortable, and few persons
wished to go on her. Robert Fulton made the first successful steamboat.
She was named the _Clermont_ and was launched in 1807. She had paddle
wheels and steamed against the wind and tide of the Hudson River. At
first some people thought that she was bewitched. But when it was found
that she ran safely and regularly, people began to travel on her. Before
a great while steamboats appeared in all parts of the country.

[Sidenote: Western pioneers.]

[Sidenote: Settlements on the Ohio. _Eggleston_, 232-234; _Higginson_,
243.]

232. Making of the West.--Even before the Revolutionary War
explorers and settlers had crossed the Alleghany Mountains. In
Washington's time pioneers, leaving Pittsburg, floated down the Ohio
River in flatboats. Some of these settled Cincinnati. Others went
farther down the river to Louisville, in Kentucky, and still others
founded Wheeling and Marietta. In 1811 the first steamboat appeared on
the Western rivers. The whole problem of living in the West rapidly
changed. For the steamboat could go up stream as well as down stream.
Communication between the new settlements, and New Orleans and
Pittsburg, was now much safer and very much easier.

[Sidenote: Cotton growing.]

[Sidenote: Beginning of exportation, 1784.]

233. Cotton Growing in the South.--Cotton had been grown in the
South for many years. It had been made on the plantations into a rough
cloth. Very little had been sent away. The reason for this was that it
took a very long time to separate the cotton fiber from the seed. One
slave working for a whole day could hardly clean more than a pound of
cotton. Still as time went on more cotton was grown. In 1784 a few bags
of cotton were sent to England. The Englishmen promptly seized it
because they did not believe that so much cotton could be grown in
America. In 1791 nearly two hundred thousand pounds of cotton were
exported from the South. Then came Whitney's great invention, which
entirely changed the whole history of the country.

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