Paul G. E. Clemens Development of the United States

 Theme: Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, was both a traditionalist and a modernizer. He was a traditionalist in that he believed that only the elite could lead the American people; ordinary people were incapable of improving their own lot or fully governing themselves. He was a modernizer in that he tried to create a strong central government and a capitalist economy in which money would replace inherited privilege as a measure of worth. Opposition to Hamilton's financial program, and reaction to the French Revolution and the outbreak of war between England and France, polarized American politics, created two national political parties (Republicans and Federalists), and brought America to the brink of a second revolution.

The Election of 1800: The Second American Revolution

I. America at the Crossroads, 1789

A. The French Way
B. The English Way
C. A Fragile Nation and Divided People

II. Sources of Conflict

A. Hamilton's Political Economy

1. Funding and Assumption of the War Debt
2. Excise Tax
3. National Bank
4. Standing Army
5. Manufacturing

B. Foreign Policy

1. French Revolution, 1789, and the Haitian Revolution, 1791
2. Jay's Treaty

III. The First American Party System: Federalists and Republicans

A. The Federalist Persuasion
B. The Jeffersonian Alternative
C. Organizing a "Loyal" Opposition
D. Alien and Sedition Acts
E. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
F. The Politics of Paranoia

Epilogue: How Hamilton Failed

Vocabulary: Federalists, Republicans, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Jay Treaty, Alien and Sedition Acts, Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, Election of 1800.

Question from Chapter 8: What issues separated the Jeffersonian Republicans from the Hamilton Federalists?  How serious was the division?

 Identifcation from Chapter 8: George Washington, Bill of Rights, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton,  Whiskey Rebellion, Jay Treaty, Cherokee Peoples, Gabriel's Rebellion