1784-1800 Sample Project

Michael Siegenthaler

April 2006

AP U.S. History

Thesis Statement

Although great change and outstanding progress was made economically and

socially in the years from 1784-1800, the greatest change and accomplishments of this decade and a half came politically as

the new nation began to cement its government in the Constitution, institute its

own political parties, pass revolutionary legislation, and establish itself as a

prominent world power.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

The Northwest Ordinance, one of the

greatest achievements under

the Articles of Confederation,

guaranteed trial by jury, freedom of

religion, freedom of excess punishment,

and abolished slavery in the Northwest

Territories.

The Constitution

In 1787 a convention was held to draft our modern constitution built on the principle of checks and balances between three

different braches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial.

(A Bill of Rights was added in 1791 to

appease anti-federalist concerns.) Signing of the Constitution

Major Political Leaders

George Washington and John Adams, the two first presidents of the United States, made incredible accomplishments in both

the domestic and foreign sector, setting long lasting precedents for our future political greatness as a nation.

WashingtonAdams

Jay Treaty

In 1794 John Jay, negotiated a treaty

with England regarding free trade in

America; however, the treaty failed to

address the concerns of impressment or

outstanding debts of some loyalists.

Emergence of Political PartiesThe appearance of the first

political parties in the U.S. were the result of a feud

between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson over

the constitutionality of a National Bank and the

interpretation of the constitution.

• Jefferson– strict constructionist– Democratic-Republicans

• Hamilton– loose constructionist– Federalists

The XYZ Affair

The XYZ affair, which occurred when three

French diplomats requested a bribe to

continue peace negotiations with the U.S.

(regarding attacks on American ships), aroused

great anti-French sentiment and would

have sparked a war if not for the diplomacy of President Adams.

The XYZ Affair (1797)

The Alien and Sedition Acts

The Alien and Sedition Acts, which allowed for

the expulsion of foreigners and jailing of newspaper editors who spoke out against the government, were a

Federalist action countered by Jefferson and Madison with the Virginia and Kentucky

Resolutions which argued for nullification.

“… That whenever there shall be a declared war between the

United States and any foreign nation or government… all

natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of the hostile nation or

government, being males of the age of fourteen years and upwards, who shall be within

the United States, and not actually naturalized, shall be

liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and

removed, as alien enemies. “

– Alien and Sedition Acts

Gender Roles

Although it was still believed that a

women’s place was in the home, the

revolution elevated women to a role of defenders of the

national conscience.

Republican Motherhood

Abigail Adams was thought to be a great example of this

new concept

Influence of the Youth

Although public education would not flourish in the U.S. until the nineteenth

century, a great deal of attention was

focused on trying to educate and instill

proper values in the youth who would

become the future leaders of the nation.

"Of all the views of this law [for public education],

none is more important, none more legitimate,

than that of rendering the people the safe as they

are the ultimate guardians of their own

liberty."

--Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia Q.XIV, 1782.

ME 2:206

Art1789 marked the beginning

of the Federal Period in American art, furniture, and architecture which was characterized by a

new sense of nationalism and a return to the

principles of classicalism.

Literature

During the closing years of the eighteenth century,

most of American Literature remained

focused on politics but satires, epics, ballads,

and the “nature poems” of writers such as Philip

Freneau were becoming more popular.

Philip Freneau

Minorities

Slavery was dying out in the south at the

close of the eighteenth century;

however, the invention of the

cotton gin created a increased need for labor and renewed

the demand for slaves.

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton, the most famous Secretary of Treasury in U.S. history, developed a

financial program to help deal with the war debt that

included: the funding of the national debt, the assumption

of all state debts, and the imposition of a tax on liquor.

The Bank of the United States

Another crucial part of Hamilton’s financial

program was the establishment of the controversial First Bank of the United States which would

help to control the war debts and establish a

standard form of currency.

Cotton Gin

The Cotton Gin was invented by Eli

Whitney in 1793 and established cotton as the major crop of the south, revolutionizing southern agriculture

and the national economy as the U.S. became the world’s largest exporter.

Interchangeable Parts

Eli Whitney made another significant contribution to the

American economy with his invention of

interchangeable parts for muskets in 1798, which would go on to revolutionize mass production and the

assembly line.

Samuel Slater

Samuel Slater, the father of American industry, secretly

brought knowledge of English textile factories to Rhode

Island and helped to establish one of the first factories in

America sparking the Industrial Revolution in the

Western Hemisphere and the emergence of a working class.

Social Class Developments Resulting from Economic Change

The economic changes of the decade

seemed to favor a widening gap

between the rich and the poor; for example, the financial programs

of Hamilton clearly favored wealthy

bankers over your average farmer.

Conclusion

The time period from 1784-1800 was a dynamic and rapidly evolving era in our

nation’s history, socially and economically; however, in the field of politics the change occurring was the most revolutionary as the nation completely revised its form of government and established itself as an

entity on the world stage.

Works Cited• http://www.law.msu.edu/students/wlc/the_caucus_march02.html

• http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1370.htm

• http://www.bibliomania.com/2/3/270/frameset.html

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay's_Treaty

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XYZ_Affair

• http://www.ushistory.org/tour/tour_1bank.htm

• www.google.com/images

• Cracking the AP U.S. History Exam- Tom Meltzer and Jean Hofheimer Bennett

• The American Pageant- Thomas A. Bailey, David M. Kennedy, and Lizabeth Cohen