Before we launch into our discussion about our nation's Founding Moments, let's see how much we know about both our founding moments and our founding documents.

• Take the quiz at http://users.humboldt.edu/ogayle/hist110/ConstitutionQuiz.html
• Compare your answers with those of other Americans polled in 2011at http://users.humboldt.edu/ogayle/hist110/ConstitutionQuizAnswers.htm
• To read the Newsweek article "How Dumb Are We?", see http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/03/20/how-dumb-are-we.html

Now, let's take this exercise a bit further by seeing what we know and understand about the Constitution. Can I get some volunteers to tell me some things that you know and understand about the Constitution?

As we move ahead for the next two days with our discussion of the "Founding Moments" - of the first decades of the new nation, the United States of America - keep in mind that most Americans know very little about these moments or our founding documents. Our goal is to move each of us out of that "dumb" category and into the knowledgeable category.

1. To examine the politics surrounding the three founding moments in US History:
   • the 1776 declaration of American independence from England - the Declaration of Independence,
   • the political declarations of American nationhood as exemplified in the first governing structure of the United States - the Articles of Confederation, and
   • the second governing structure - the Constitution.
2. To study the beliefs of two growing political groups - the Federalists and Anti-Federalists.
3. To understand the controversies and compromises that accompanied the creation of the governmental structures under the Constitution.
4. To examine a few myths surrounding the Constitution.
5. To gain a better understanding of the first two presidencies of Washington and Adams and the domestic problems they confronted.

Goal #1: To examine the politics surrounding the three founding moments in US History

In his great book, Founding Brothers, historian Joseph Ellis claims that there were two "founding moments" in U.S. History: the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the signing of the Constitution in 1787. Today, we will learn that there were actually three founding moments during which three founding documents were produced: the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution.

Founding Moment #1: The 1776 declaration of American independence from England - the Declaration of Independence.

When the English colonists decided to break their political and economic ties with England, they announced their break with the Declaration of Independence.

“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

What are the colonists announcing?

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

What does equality mean to the colonists?  What is liberty?

“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.  That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”

• Who forms governments and what is the role of government?
• And if the government fails to keep the consent of the people, what choice do they have?
• Do you see any problems with this choice?

"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

• What did the Founders mean in this declaration?

“That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.”

But a declaration of independence was simply a statement that the British colonists wished to be free from England. It was not a legal document - it was simply a declaration of their intent to fight for independence. Thus, the Founders had to follow their first document declaring their independence with a second document creating a new government that could operate during the course of the Revolutionary War.

Founding Moment #2: The first governing structure of the United States - the Articles of Confederation.

Remember that before the War for independence, Americans were all too familiar with a dangers of a strong central government. Indeed, Britain had vetoed colonial legislation, sent armed forces to suppress political opposition, forced its will upon separate colonial governments, and imposed unfair taxes without consulting the colonial legislatures. Thus, the first governing document of the United States avoided the creation of a strong central government.

Instead, the Articles of Confederation, adopted in 1777, created a weak central government of equal states whereby "each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence," as well as all powers and rights not "expressly delegated" to the United States government. It's goal was clear - to create a weak central government that would not interfere with the stronger powers of the 13 state governments.

The new government consisted of a one-house - unicameral - central legislature called Congress. The new Congress had the "sole and exclusive powers" to:

• declare war - by requisitioning funds from the states "for the common defense or general welfare" - and declare peace;
• control foreign affairs;
• regulate trade with Indians;
• arbitrate disputes between the states;
• regulate the value of its coinage and that of the states, but not to control the emission of paper money by the states; and
• organize and control the post office and the regulation of weights and measures.

All other powers were left to the states.  The states had complete equality and the Articles placed very few restraints upon them. Each state had at least two and as many as seven Congressional representatives, all of whom were selected by the state governments.  Each delegation, however, had only one vote.  All laws had to be approved by 9 of the 13 state representatives.  Any amendment to the Articles required the unanimous approval of all 13 state legislatures.

The rules for Congressmen were rigorous and designed to restrain the political power of officeholders.

• No one could be a member of Congress for more than three out of any six years.
• No one could be president of Congress for more than one year out of any three.
• All were subject to recall at any time by the state governments that selected them

While the Articles were written in 1777 during the second year of the War, they were not ratified for 4 years because of a dispute over western lands. While the new Congress had authority over land disputes between the states, the Articles did not provide for a national domain under Congressional control. Thus, states with no claims to western lands - like Maryland and Pennsylvania - refused ratification until states with claims - like Virginia which had been based upon royal charters granting land extending in principle from "sea to sea" - relinquished them to Congress.

The Articles were finally ratified in March 1781 after the states agreed to land claims that met the requirements of 9 states.

So, how did Confederation Congress fare with its limited powers? Its most successful endeavor was the implementation of a plan to settle western land - the land known as the Northwest Territory (present-day Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin.)

• The American continent at this time had 1500 miles of coastline and a vast inland wilderness that made it one of the largest countries in the world.
• To settle the inland wilderness, Congress had two goals: to give title to western lands so they could be sold to help pay the government's expenses; and to provide for the orderly settlement of the territory and their eventual admission to the Union.

To achieve these goals, Congress passed three ordinances:

1. The Ordinance of 1784 called for the admission of 10 states carved out of the new territory as soon as their populations equaled that of the smallest state in the Union, and democratic self-governance for all free white males.
   • What is the significance of this last declaration - the granting of democratic self governance?
2. The Land Ordinance of 1785 established townships of 6 square miles, each of which was divided into 36 lots of one square mile (640 acres) as shown in this map.  The price was set at a minimum of one dollar per acre.
3. Northwest Ordinance of 1787 overturned the idea of self-governance and replaced it with Congressionally-appointed governors; stipulated that between 3-5 states could be established out of the territory; forbade slavery in the territory; and set up a 3-step process for statehood.  After 5,000 adult males were settled, people could write a temporary constitution and elect a legislature; with 60,000 settlers, people could write a state constitution subject to Congressional approval prior to statehood.
   • What is the significance of the fact that two years after democratic self governance was declared to be the governmental structure for new states, Congress decided to appoint governors? Is power becoming more centralized?

But there were problems with the Articles of Confederation. As Dr. Carol Berkin argues, while the Articles met the war goals of the Revolution, they were not able to meet the nation’s needs for a new government. This led the Founders into another discussion - and this time is was about creating a new form of government that would differ greatly from that created under the Articles of Confederation. This discussion led them into the third Founding Moment. (You might be interested in this video of Dr. Carol Berkin discussing the Articles of Confederation at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef280RNSUzo).

Founding Moment #3: The second governing structure of the United States - the Constitution

The result was the Constitutional Convention that met in Philadelphia in 1787.

• For almost 4 months, 30 of the 55 delegates worked 6 days a week, five hours a day, from May 25 to September 17 in miserable summer heat and humidity - not to amend the Articles, but to create an entirely new framework for government that has lasted to this day and was like nothing ever seen before. Indeed, it was what one historian has called "the most remarkable example of sustained intellectual discourse in American history."

Signing the Constitution above at http://teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/christy/. Learn more about the painting at http://teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/christy-about.html

• The Convention kept its proceedings completely secret, even to the extent of having the windows of its meeting room nailed shut. When it adjourned, it simply presented its work as a finished product that the people could either approve or reject.
• So what happened that made the delegates ultimately decide not to amend the Articles, but rather to create an entirely new constitutional structure?
  • Joseph Ellis tells us that it was the intellectual interaction and dedication of the "Founding Brothers" that was responsible for this founding moment - men who were but a "tiny minority of prominent political leaders from several key states" and who "conspired to draft and then ratify a document designed to accommodate republican principles on a national scale." (p. 8)
  • Their combined power, prestige, intelligence, and wisdom shaped a new legal structure that favored their vision of a developing nation

At the end of the Constitutional Convention, the delegates voted to adopt the new Constitution which created a new structure for a strong federal government with three independent branches (legislative, executive, and judicial) that would serve as a "check and balance" for one another.

• Executive.  A President presided over the Executive Branch and as such, had the power to command the armed forces, to conduct diplomatic relations, to nominate judges and officials in the executive branch, and to veto congressional legislation.  He was to be popularly elected every four years.
  • Voters in each state selected presidential electors - the number for each state decided by the total number of senators and representatives.
  • Electors belonged to the Electoral College which actually elected the president.
• Legislative.  A bicameral Congress had the power to make the laws that governed the U.S.  It consisted of:
  • The Senate with equally elected members (2 representatives from each state elected by state legislatures) who serve for 6 years; and
  • The House of Representatives elected every 2 years by popular vote determined in proportion to each state's population.
• Judicial.  A Supreme Court was vested with the judicial power of the nation.  The Supreme Court was to hear cases involving the laws of the U.S.; treaties; ambassadors and consuls; admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; and controversies between two or more states, between a state and citizens of another state, between citizens of different states, and between a state or its citizens and a foreign state or citizens. Inferior courts could also be created by Congress according to need.

• Under the Articles, the central government was decentralized and real power remained with the state governments.  The central government consisted of a unicameral legislature (Congress) that had few powers.
• Under the Constitution, the central government was centralized  and real power was vested in its three independent branches.  The central government consisted of the legislative  (a bicameral Congress), executive, and judicial branches that shared many powers.  All power not specifically vested in the central government under the Constitution was left to the state governments.

Goal #2: To study the beliefs of two growing political groups - the Federalists and Anti-Federalists

During the debates that accompanied all three of the founding moments, two political camps gradually arose and they eventually came to be known as the Federalists and Anti-Federalists

Anti-Federalists - Led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison who advocated for strong governments and were supported primarily by agrarians, westerners, and southerners.

• Favored the Articles of Confederation - states' rights.
• Believed power should be vested in state and local governments and that locally-elected representatives would be more accountable to the people.
• Distrusted a strong central government, fearing it would restore the worst features of British rule.  They believed men in power naturally lusted for more power and that restraints must be placed upon them or the liberties of the people would inevitably suffer.
• Envisioned an America ruled by an agrarian democracy of small farmers who would control the politics of their individual states.
• Favored a strict interpretation of the Constitution - the central government had only the limited powers expressly assigned to it in the Constitution.

Federalists  - Led by Alexander Hamilton, Washington's Secretary of the Treasury, who advocated for a strong central government and was supported primarily by upper class northern and mid-Atlantic businessmen and professionals.

• Favored throwing out the Articles of Confederation and replacing it with the Constitution - strong federal government.
• Believed power should be vested in a strong central government that could help them retain the political and economic structure that had been created during colonization.
• Distrusted small state governments that would be run by the masses of people who were not qualified for political office.
• Envisioned an America ruled by an informal aristocracy of elite, propertied gentlemen who would control the politics of the nation.
• Favored a loose interpretation of the Constitution - cited Article 1, Section 8 empowering Congress to make "all laws which shall be necessary and proper" to carry out the provisions of the Constitution.

If we keep this heated debate between the federalists and anti-federalists in mind, it is clear as Joseph Ellis reminds us, that the United States was founded on a debate - an argument - involving conflicting attitudes about government - about state versus federal control of government.

Goal #3: To understand the controversies and compromises that accompanied the creation of the governmental structures under the Constitution

Because debate characterized the Revolutionary Era, and the debate involved two sharply divided sides, it is clear that compromise was required in order to create a new government. Following are some of the most important compromises made during these debates.

1. The Preamble - Below is page 1 of the first draft of the Constitution printed in August 1787 as a text for the Founders during their debate:

   

   "We the People of the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennslvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, do ordain, declar and establish the following Constitution for the Government of Ourselves and our Posterity".

The Compromise. Below is the final version of the Constitution printed on September 17, 1787:

"We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

2. Congressional Representation.  The controversies were

• If they used proportional representation, states with large populations would have a great deal of power while states with small populations would have less representation.  For instance, Virginia and Pennsylvania would have one-third of the nation's political power, while Delaware would be entitled to one-nineteenth.
  • Slave-owning states could have more power than non-slave-owning states.
  • Eastern states with fixed borders could be stuck with smaller populations while those of the west with an untapped continent could host potentially enormous populations.
• If they used equal representation, each state, regardless of size, would have the same number of representatives.  Thus, seven states with only 25% of the total population could have the majority control over both houses.

The compromise - a bicameral Congress.

• Senate was based upon equal representation
• House of Representatives was based upon proportional representation.

3. Slavery. The Constitutional debate over slavery included two extreme arguments:

• New England and most Middle Atlantic delegates argued that slavery was inherently incompatible with the values of the American Revolution, that it retarded economic development in the south, and that it should be abolished in the territories.  Some argued for its abolition in the Constitution while others argued for the abolition of the slave trade.
• The Southerners argued that they should have open-ended access to African slaves and open access to slave labor in the territories, and that a provision guaranteeing the property rights of slave owners should be included in the Constitution.   They also argued that although slaves were property, they should count in terms of representation in the House.  Indeed, all southern states had  a distinct disadvantage:, at  least half of their population were slaves who, as property, could not count for voting  purposes.

  The compromise:

  • Omission of the words "slavery," "slaves," or "Negroes" in the final draft of the Constitution.
  • For purposes of representation, each slave was counted as three-fifths of a person
  • The New England states agreed to extend the slave trade for 20 years, allowing Congress to revisit the topic in 1808; in return, the Deep South agreed to a majority rather than a two-thirds vote on matters regarding federal regulation of commerce.

  The "bottom line" was that neither side got what it wanted.

  • No provisions were included for placing slavery on a road to extinction and no guarantees were included for making slavery a permanent and protected institution.
  • There was somewhat of a Southern victory - when the Southern states ratified the Constitution, they did so with the implicit and broadly-shared understanding that the federal government could and would do nothing to interfere with the existence of slavery in the South.  Many states further felt that if the federal government ever failed to honor this understanding, they had the right to leave the union.

4. Basic Freedoms. There were no inclusions of basic freedoms in the Constitution, other than the right of habeas corpus. Many of the Founders argued there was no need for "enumerated rights" - a list of rights guaranteed to all. They continued that basic rights were understood and there was no need to list them all. But representatives from the southern states insisted the inclusion of a list of rights.

The Compromise. The Bill of Rights.

• First Amendment prohibits Congress from establishing an official religion and provides for the freedoms of assembly, speech, press, and right of petition.
• The other amendments guarantee:
  • the ability to limit the government's power to quarter troops in private homes;
  • the ability to restrain the government from unreasonable searches or seizures;
  • the assurance that people cannot be denied their legal rights under the common law, including prohibition of double jeopardy, right not to be compelled to testify against oneself;
  • the guarantees that due process of the law will occur before life, liberty, or property can be taken; of trial by jury; and no excessive bail, fines, nor cruel and unusual punishment;
  • protection of the unenumerated rights of the people.
• Tenth Amendment reserves "all powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States," to the states or to the people.

This debate and compromise surrounding the signing of the Constitution contributed to decades of partisan debate about sovereignty.

• Jack Racove, a Constitutional historian from Stanford, argues that the real issue is not what the Founders actually signed in Philadelphia - but instead, what those representatives at the state level thought the Founders had signed. To most southern state legislators - who were states rights/anti-Federalist advocates - ratification of the Constitution was a contract between the sovereign states and the new federal government.
• Because they freely entered into that contract, most southerners felt they had the right to break that contract at any time they felt the government had violated the rights of the states.
• The southern legislators felt so strongly about this contract, that they also built in protections for the states via the Bill of Rights. In fact, to them freedom of speech simply met that state and federal legislators - not "we the people" - had the right to criticize the U.S. government. In reality, the Bill of Rights was originally written by the Founding Fathers to protect the states against the abuses of the federal government, NOT to secure rights for individual Americans.

Goal #4: To examine a few myths surrounding the Constitution

Myth:  The Constitution represented a radical break with the past in that the Founding Fathers, most of whom were true believers in democracy, created a true democratic form of government.

A democracy is a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly through periodically free elections.

A republic is a government in which the supreme power resides with the people who are entitled to vote - and they do so by voting for representatives who are responsible to the people. 

In reality, the Founding Fathers did not create a radical break with the past by creating a true democracy. Of the 55 Founding Fathers, all were "monied men" - merchants, slaveholding plantation owners, lawyers. They were deeply suspicious of the "masses" whom they felt were not sufficiently "virtuous" to run the nation. Thus, they, the virtuous Americans with both knowledge and education, would represent the peoples' interests. Under the Constitution

• Americans did not directly elect their President. Instead, the founders created the Electoral College whereby each state allowed a number of electors equal to the total number of senators and representatives entitled in that state. These Electors cast ballots for President and the candidate with the most electoral votes became president.
• Americans did not directly elect their Senators. Instead, Senators were elected by state legislatures. In 1913, the 17th Amendment required direct popular election of U.S. Senators.
• So, under the Constitution, were the American people given any direct election rights? Yes, white men - less than a fourth of the adult population - could elect members to House of Representatives.

Myth: The Constitution established English as the official language of the United States.

In reality, there is no mention of any official language in the Constitution.  In fact, so many Americans spoke so many different languages at the time that the Constitution was written, it would have been an absurdity to consider one language as "official."

Myth: The Constitution establishes the United States as a Christian nation and was, in fact, written to promite and prepetuate a Christian order.

While most of the Founding Fathers were profoundly influenced by their religious convictions, they were equally as influenced by Thomas Jefferson who had argued that there was a "wall of separation" between church and state. James Madison, like Jefferson, convinced the Founding Fathers that it was best for the Constitution to say as little as possible about religion, especially since state laws reflected a wide variety of positions on the topic.

Remember, too, that the founding fathers were laizzez faire advocates - they believed that government should be kept out of people's homes, out of the marketplace, and out of their spiritual lives. To them, politics was about economics and property - not about salvation and leading a moral life.

So, in the Constitution itself, there is no mention of God, Jesus Christ, or Christianity. The only mention of religion appears in Article VI, Section 3 that promises that "no religious text shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." So, the Constitution only prohibited religious requirements for holding Federal office,.

The Bill of Rights First Amendment only prohibited Congress - not the states - from passing laws "respecting an establishment of religion." Thus, the states were able to do as they pleased with religion - and many of them did.

In reality, the Founding Fathers defined government in secular terms - in terms that clearly delineated a "wall of separation" between church and state. 

Goal #5: To gain a better understanding of the first two presidencies of Washington and Adams and the domestic problems they confronted

George Washington was elected during the first federal election in 1788 and inaugurated on April 30, 1789. Washington served as president between 1789-1796. His vice president was John Adams. Washington was a federalist, a wealthy landowner, and a famous general - member of the elite.

• As President, he suggested few laws to Congress, seldom criticized opponents of governmental policy, limited public statements to foreign affairs and military matters, and generally deferred to Congressional decisions on domestic policy (only vetoed 2 measures in eight years.) His style set a precedent for presidents who followed.
• Established the first cabinet of presidential advisors who headed executive departments and gave President advice on executive policy. Constitution made no provision. Today, Senate must approve all cabinet members.

John Adams was elected in 1796 and served a president between 1797-1800. His vice president was Thomas Jefferson. Adams was a federalist, a lawyer and a middle class farmer, and a member of the elite.

• He was an intellectual with more theoretical knowledge than practical experience.
• He w as unable to unify the nation at a time when it was becoming more politically fractured.

A very short-lived spirit of unity marked the early days of Washington's administration. Federalists sought and won the overwhelming majority of seats in the new Congress and this success enabled them to work quickly and efficiently on matters that they agreed were a priority. However, within a few months of Washington's presidency, it was apparent that the founding fathers had split into two distinct groups, with two distinctly different leaders, each of whom had conflicting visions for the newly established United States.

• Alexander Hamilton, the Federalist, dreamed of transforming an agricultural America into a manufacturing, commercial society that would rival Great Britain.  He planned to achieve this goal by
  • passing tariffs designed to protect developing American industry;
  • creating governmental subsidies of financial assistance provided to new enterprises; and
  • giving economic incentives to new industries.

• Thomas Jefferson, the Republican, dreamed of making America an even more prosperous agrarian society than it had already become.  He planned to achieve this goal by
  • promoting free trade between nations without protective tariffs; and
  • encouraging the growth of an agrarian society that was complimented, not dominated by, manufacturing interests.

Given these two competing dreams for the evolution of the United States, it was clear that domestic problems would arise during the two presidencies. And the first major problem became known as The Whiskey Rebellion, which was quickly followed by various social and economic divisions.

The Whiskey Rebellion. The problem - To produce enough revenue to support the national assumption of state debts, Secretary of State Hamilton proposed an excise tax on domestically-produced whiskey. Congress passed the tax in March 1791. Problems immediately erupted in western Pennsylvania.

• To avoid high costs of shipping corn and rye crops over the Appalachians, most farmers distilled them into whiskey before transportation. A pack-horse could move only 4 bushels of grain over the mountains, but condensing 24 bushels into 2 kegs of whiskey doubled his profits. The tax greatly decreased the farmers' already small margin of profit.
• For the first several years, Pennsylvanians refused to pay, threatened tax collectors, and sometimes beat them up. In the summer of 1794, 100 men attacked a U.S. marshal serving delinquent taxpayers with court summonses. Large crowds torched buildings and assaulted tax collectors.

The excise tax required a 25% charge on all production and sale of liquor. Additionally,

• Distillers were expected to keep accurate records of production and to gauge and label each cask before shipment (a particular burden on part-time, small-scale distillers not accustomed to such strict accounting).
• Federal tax inspectors were empowered to inspect stills and search property for contraband goods and illegal distilling operations.
• Tax evaders were to be tried in federal courts at Philadelphia, a time-consuming and costly trip that could ruin a distiller financially, even if he were found innocent.

The significance - It defined all the fundamental issues and debates facing the new federal republic: federal versus states/local rights; western versus eastern interests; agricultural versus industrial interests; the nature of taxation; and the duties and rights of citizens. For Hamilton, the farmers' resistance was a direct threat to his plan for national economic expansion. If one group of citizens chose to oppose government taxes by force and succeeded, Hamilton reasoned, their success would set a dangerous precedent for other groups.

The outcome - Hamilton convinced President Washington to head an army of 13,000 men. When the rebels saw the huge army marching against them, they quickly dispersed - and the new federal government had proved its credibility. The cost for putting down the rebellion was $1.5 million - about one-third of the revenues raised by the whiskey tax during its entire life Ironically, Washington, who had led the revolt against British taxation, led this army to crush a revolt against a similar internal tax.

Social Divisions, 1789-1800. By 1800, the population of the U.S. was 5.3 million and was growing at an annual rate of 3 percent.  While the population grew, so did various divisions.

• Rich versus poor.  The gap between rich and poor widened - partly because the Federalists were in power - northern industrialists, merchants, speculators - and their policies increasingly alienated the members of the growing Republican party - farmers, westerners, and southerners.
• Free versus Slave.  In 1790, 8% of all African-Americans were free; by 1800, 11% were free.  While freedmen gained some rights in the 1780s and early 1790s - freedom of movement, property protection, enrollment in militia, voting in all but 3 states - by 1800, the social and legal distances between all blacks and whites increased.
  • Congress limited naturalization procedures to foreign whites (1790) and passed the Fugitive Slave Law (1793) - judges required to return runaway slaves to their masters; accused runaways denied jury trials and could be prevented from submitting evidence; slavesí legal status as property disqualified them from any constitutional privileges; free blacks denied all legal protections in the Bill of Rights.
  • Navy and marine corp forbade nonwhite enlistment (1798).
  • Some states denied free blacks the vote (Delaware, MD, Kentucky, NJ)
• Urban versus rural. Between 1775 to 1800, new cities arose in areas that had previously been rural farming communities. This new urbanization altered social conditions on the new frontier.
  • Mercantilism and merchants  - spokesmen for federalism - dominated frontier city society, economy, and politics - often at the expense of the farmers - the spokesmen for republicanism.
  • Living quarters were crowded; housing could not keep up with the incoming wage earners.
  • Economic, cultural and racial diversity brought about social stratification merchants
    professionals whose status was unconnected to income
    wage earners/service providers
    transients and rootless
    blacks

But the biggest division that arose during the early presidencies occurred in 1798 under President Adams - a division that led to Adams' endorsement of legislation that eventually derailed his presidency. At this time , Congress was dominated by Federalists who were alarmed over two primary issues:

• Problems that had erupted with France. France and Britain were at war and the French believed the Americans were taking sides with the British. In response, the French ordered the seizure of American ships which they accused of carrying supplies to Britain; within a year, they had plundered more than 300 U.S. vessels and had ordered that every American captured on a British ship should be hanged. Congress then cut off trade with France and authorized American privateers to seize French ships. An undeclared war with France ensued between 1798 and 1800. Many republicans were highly critical of these actions and spoke out against the government.
• The "hordes of foreigners" entering the US, especially the Irish, French, and some English radicals.

The Federalist Congress responded by passing the Alien and Sedition Acts which:

• Allowed aliens from a nation at war with the U.S. to be deported.
• Required those who wished to become American citizens to be "white" and to provide "proof" of good character, thus allowing the government to exclude "bad men."
• Forbade an individual or group "to oppose any measure or measures of the United States" and to print any statement that would bring the president "into contempt or disrepute."

Within months after the Acts were passed, 17 anti-Federalist newspaper editors and politicians were accused of sedition and 10 were found guilty and imprisoned.

1. There were essentially three "founding moments" in the Revolutionary Era of U.S. History that created three founding documents - the 1776 Declaration of American independence, the Articles of Confederation; and the Constitution.
2. The Articles of Confederation, the first American constitution, provided for a weak central government and a loose union of strong state governments.  The Articles were replaced by the Constitution which created a strong central government within a federal system of shared power and dual lawmaking between three branches of government
• The Articles of Confederation were designed to prevent the central government from infringing upon the rights of the states, whereas the Constitution was written to create a strong central government that would check the power of the states.
3. The adoption of the Constitution set off a political debate between two potent forces - the Federalists and the Republicans (Anti-federalists).  Today, the battle still rages between the forces of federalism who favor a strong central government with broad governing powers, and the forces of anti-federalism who feel the central government has usurped the powers of the people and that power needs to be devolved to the state and local governments.
4. The Founding Fathers did not create a radically revolutionary document. The Constitution did not end slavery, nor did it significantly broaden the electorate.  Rather, the Constitution represented a shift from a completely non-democratic form of government that existed prior to the Revolution, to a somewhat more democratic government.  In essence, the republic it created opened the door for true democratic involvement - a process that continues through today.
5. The Founding Fathers defined the federal government in secular terms that clearly delineated a "wall of separation" between church and state. In so doing, they enacted the only really revolutionary provisions of the Constitution.
6. Despite the Founding Fathers' intention to avoid partisan politics, by the turn of the 19th century, political, social, economic, and ideological divisions were apparent throughout the United States.
7. Many positive trends developed during the first 11 years after the Constitution was signed.
   • The nation grew geographically and economically.
   • American sovereignty was established over land west of the Appalachians via a series of treaties with Spain, England, and the American Indians.
   • Federal policy recognized American Indian tribes as independent nations.
   • Two separate political parties originated..
   • A precedent arose for collecting federal revenues by imposing duties on imported goods, rather than by direct taxation.
   • Communication between regions and among states improved with increasing number of newspapers.
8. At the same time, several divisive trends also developed:
   • The nation grew at the expense of the American Indians.
   • The nation increasingly was divided by sectionalism between easterners and westerners and between northerners and southerners.
   • Politics became increasingly partisan with Federalists aligned primarily with northern, urbanized monied classes and Republicans appealing to agrarian, western, and southern interests of the "little" people.
   • Government increasingly was divided between those who favored strong centralized control in the hands of privileged leaders and those localists who favored states rights and direct elections of the electorate as a whole.
   • The first federal laws were passed to curb opposition to government - Alien and Sedition Acts.
   • The first armed opposition to federal law - the Whiskey Rebellion - was organized, carried out, and put down with federal forces.
   • Social and economic gaps widened between rich and poor, whites and blacks.
   • Frontier urbanization brought disorder, confusion, and greater social stratification among the population of growing cities.
   • A division arose over the Founding Fathers' original intent of the Constitution -  loose versus strict constructionism.
9. The sum total of the positive and negative trends that occurred during this period represented an evolutionary step forward rather than a revolutionary departure from the past.