The first administration of the United States was led by the first president of the United States, George Washington. The administration had to set a precedent for the next administrations of the United States. The administration faced many problems internally and externally. The administration dealt with many problems such as tax protests and disagreements between internal government officials. If the Washington administration was not successful in dealing with its conflicts than the government of the United States would have collapsed and the union would have broken up.
Washington’s ability to lead a successful administration is what set a precedent for the future administrations.
One problems that Washingtons administration had dealt with was conflicts with European nations. Britain and France were on the verge of war. The United States government was just recently created and was weak, so they wanted to remain neutral and not take any sides with France or Britain. The United States favored France for their similar revolution to the American Revolution.
On the other hand the United States also favored Britain for commerce. The problems in Europe were minor compared to the problems within the United States that the administration had to compromise and/or solve.
An important problem that the United States government faced was conflicts within the Northwest Territory. Native Americans were fighting with American settlers in the Northwest of the United States. The Native Americans were supported by the Canadians in there attacks because the Canadians did not want to be invaded by the Americans later on.
This resulted in the defeat of the Americans in a battle between an American militia and the Natives. Washington sent General Wayne to fight the Native Americans. At the Battle of Fallen Timbers General Wayne defeated the Native Americans. After the Native Americans were defeated they signed the Treaty of Greenville. The treaty stated that the Native Americans had to sell of their land west of the Ohio River. These were the least of the problems the United States dealt with.
Hamilton established a national bank because he believed it would increase the power of the national government. Jefferson opposed this idea because he thought it would make the national government too powerful. Hamilton got his way as usual and established the national bank anyway. The United States was weak industrially, and people preferred British made products. In order to avoid “dumping” Hamilton set tariffs on all imported products to remain in a stable and competitive economy. In 1794 farmers in Pennsylvania protested against the government over the taxes that were set on whiskey.This became known as the Whiskey Rebellion. Washington set this tax to show the people the power of the government and it’s capabilities.
All nations face internal and external conflicts, but being successful with compromising and solving conflicts seperates powerful nations from weaker nations. George Washington as a president set a precedent for the future presidents and other members of the administrations to come. Washington’s administration was the epitome of a successful administration and proved so by conquering internal and external conflicts that the administration faced.
Foreign Policy
Political parties are an essential aspect of a democratic government. Political parties represent the thoughts, opinions, and beliefs of a group of people. However, conflicts among political parties may lead to unstability within a government. The creation of political parties such as the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans led to the divisions over foreign policies that created the poisonous atmosphere that produced both the Alien and Sedition acts, and the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions.
The main conflicts between the political parties were over foreign policies. The Federalists wanted to maintain stong ties with Britain. The Federalists argued that ties with Britain were important for a successful and growing economy that the United States needed to develop. Countering the federalists, Democratic-Republicans wanted to maintain strong ties with France. The Democratic- Republicans sympathized with France because France helped them achieve independance from Britain and now they owed France their suppors. The Democratic-Republicans also argued that France was fighting for a similar cause of the American Revolution.
To weaken the Democratic-Rublicans Federalists passed the Alien and Sedition acts. The Naturalization Act was one of the acts that was passed which increased the time an alien would have to live in the United States in order achieve citizenship. The act was passed to keep aliens from supporting the Democratic-Republicans cause. The Democratic-Republicans responded to these acts by passing resolutions to overcome the acts.
The Virginia and Kentucky state resolutions were passed by the Democratic-Republicans. These resolutions enabled people to ignore acts that were unconstitutional. These resolutions resulted in other states ignoring the unconstitutional acts that were passed by the Federalists. The resolutions powerfully overcame the acts that were passed by the Federalists, and this angered the Federalist party very much.
The acts and resolutions passed by each party resulted in conflicts within the internal government. The division over foreign policies created conflicts within congress and a poisonous atmosphere in the government. This poisonous atmosphere resulted in acts and resolutions that were not accepted since they were unconstitutional.
Justice Marshall
Justice Marshall believed that a strong national government and Supreme Court were essential for the United States government to be successful and constitutional. Justice Marshall stated that the creation of a Supreme Court is necessary to interpret the law, and a strong national government was essential to enforce the law. Marshall’s arguement that a strong national government was necessary, resulted in the increase of power that the Supreme Court had.
The Gibbons versus Ogden case was a case that strengthened the power of the Supreme Court. Ogden owned a ferry service in the state of New York. The state of New York made Ogden’s service a monopoly by creating it the only ferry service in the state of New York. Basically, people had to choose between Ogden’s ferry or no ferry service at all. Gibbons made an effort to create another ferry service. His efforts failed when he was rejected by the state. Gibbons responded to his rejection by appealing to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, under Marshall ruled that it was unconstitutional to create a monopoly service in any state, and his decision overruled the decision of the State of New York. This decision made the Supreme Court even more powerful, and it also strengthened the power of the national government which the Supreme Court is a part of.
Another case which gave the Supreme Court and national government more power of states was the McCulloch versus Maryland case. The McCulloch versus Maryland case started because a state law was issued that allowed the state to tax the national bank. Soon more and more states began taxing national banks within their state. The national bank reacted by taking this case to the Supreme Court. Marshall ruled that the national bank is not to be taxed because it is a federal institution. Marshall stated that Maryland’s law was unconstitutional because the establishment of a national bank is constitutional since it is “necassary and proper”. Marshall’s ruling made the Supreme Court more powerful, and the national government also because it showed that federal laws are more powerful than state laws.
The Marbury versus Madison case is a perfect example of the power that the Supreme Court contained. The case was created because Secretary of State James Madison refused to deliver a justice of the peace appointment to Marbury. Marbury responded to his rejection by asking for a writ of mandamus, which is a court order that states that one has the right to perform his duty. This resulted in the cancellation of the Judiciary Act since it was unconstitutional. Instead, the federal courts were given the power to issue writs of mandamus. This decision increased the power of the Supreme Court.
Justice Marshall strongly believed that a strong national government and a Supreme Court was needed in order for the United States to be successful. He proved so through his rulings, that the national government and Supreme Court are more powerful than states. Through Justice Marshall the power of the Supreme Court and national government increased greatly.
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase was a large territory that was sold to the Americans from the French. The land contained many resources from water to fertile land for farming, and plains for building cities. The Louisiana Purchase was sold to the Americans for far less than its potential value, and along with benfits comes consequences.
The Louisiana Purchase resulted in positive and negative political consequences. Another consequence was that there was no Constitutional provision for land purchase, and some wanted an amendment to be added to it. Since there was no constitutional provision for the purchase of land this did raise some controversy in congress and throughout the United States. Many people did want to add more territory to the United States, but they considered if it was constitutional to do so. The constitution does state that anything that is necessary and proper needs be done if it is needed. According to many in the United States it was necessary and proper to purchase this land and add it to the United States. The economic consequences however would outweigh the political consequences.
The Louisiana Purchase was a huge piece of land. It had almost every type of terrain, ranging from flat plains to mountains. The plains would be ample territory for farm land, because of its flatness. The flatness would allow many different types of crops to grow and it would allow the southern farmers to expand their operations to this new territory and grow even more crops. It would also allow much more diversification of crops because of the land in this area was great for many types of crops. Another trait of land that was of significant value was the rivers that ran through it. Many of these rivers could be used to transport the many goods people needed throughout the land quickly and efficiently. With this sheer efficiency many cities could grow to outstanding levels and constantly be supported via river. Finally, the vast lands would have to have some resource that would be of tremendous value to people. One of the most famous resources was beaver hide, which later in United States history, would be very fashionable and profitable for use in clothing.
With the purchase of the Louisiana territory, the United States not only opened a door of opportunity, they blew it wide open. The United States doubled its territorial claims, had a huge land full of resources, and finally had more territory for their ever expanding population.
The War of 1812 was a time of great national pride for Americans. Slowly, but surely, Americans were finally realizing that they were part of one nation, under one flag. No longer was a person from a certain state, but they were from one nation, this nation was the United States. Being a nation of one, the United States entered into a war with Britain. This war was the War of 1812, which contributed too many things within the United States and had many causes.
Al-Sarraf 9
One of the main causes of the war was the British impressments of American sailors. The British would seize many American ships and proclaim all the sailors on the ship to be British and force them into service in the British navy. This enraged many Americans because their sailors were being captured by the British and it was considered an act of war to actively take a person from another country and force them to serve for another. But this wasnt the only cause of war and the war hawks also contributed to the cause of the war.
Another cause of the war was the election of the war hawks. The war hawks (formally Calhoun, Clay, and many others) advocated war with the British and the Native Americans. They found it insulting that the Natives didnt allow frontiersmen to settle within the newly acquired land. The British would also encourage the behavior of the Natives and thus further damaging the settlement of the new territory. Trade between the United States, Britain, and France would also be one of the causes of the War of 1812.
Trade between the three countries had flourished before Napoleon. Since Napoleons rise to power the British have always been in a constant war with France. This lead to the British blockade of France, and the French were enraged because of this. Since the United States traded with both countries it helped them both France and Britain. Since France and Britain wanted to hurt each other economically France wouldnt allow US ships to enter Britain and vice versa. This drastically hurt trade between the nations and hurt the United States the most and led to the War of 1812 with Britain. All wars always have consequences and the War of 1812 was no exception.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
