The Early Republic, 1789–1815

1. The Early Republic, 1789–1815 Washington, Hamilton, and shaping of the national government Emergence of political parties: Federalists and Republicans Republican Motherhood and education for women Beginnings of the Second Great Awakening

2. The Early Republic • Following the ratification of the Constitution, much work remained to put the government it created into action. The situation was quite grim-the new nation was saddled with debt, starved for revenue, and rightly concerned for its security in the face of the European revolutions and wars of the late 1700s/early1800s. • During this period of the early republic, several important themes of American history emerged and evolved: • The inaugural government under Washington and the First Congress bolstered the authority and reach of the new national government. • A “two-party” political system was born and the peaceful transfer of political power was tested. • The role of women in American society was refined in this era, and the stage was set for the most widespread religious revival in US history. • The nation doubled its territory, and a flood of western migration met renewed challenges from Native Americans in the paths of settlers. • Slavery was further entrenched as the plantation economy extended westward, while free Black communities continued to develop in the Chesapeake and northern states. • And finally, American military capability was tested by the British in the War of 1812- with the added result that the experience of the war shaped strong nationalist sentiments

3. Washington, Hamilton, and shaping of the national government • George Washington, hero of the Revolution, was the unanimous choice to be the first person to grace the office of president. His firm leadership and unimpeachable integrity helped to steady the new government. • Washington faced a number of serious issues – persistent Indian threats on the frontier, diplomatic struggles abroad, and financial woes at home. • One important development under Washington was the evolution of an executive cabinet- heads of the executive departments- regularly meeting to advise the president. The first three cabinet members were Thomas Jefferson (Secretary of State), Alexander Hamilton (Secretary of Treasury), and Henry Knox (Secretary of War). • As first Secretary of Treasury, Alexander Hamilton played a particularly important role in shaping the national economy. He was among the most ardent Federalists, and he crafted policies designed to strengthen the role of the federal government. One such approach was the assumption of states’ debts- over $21 million- Hamilton’s idea was that the debt would help to bind state governments to the national government- while building the credit of the federal treasury. • The centerpiece of Hamilton’s financial plan was the creation of a national bank. He believed a central bank was essential to strengthen the credit of the government and provide the basis for a stable paper currency. Congress chartered the Bank of the United States in 1791, setting off a firestorm of controversy over the constitutionality of the bank, which led to the hardening of political factions over the extent of federal power.

4. Emergence of political parties: Federalists and Republicans • No formally organized political parties existed during the Washington administration, and Washington himself was strongly opposed to what he saw as the “baneful effect” of organized political factions. • Despite his admonishment, the same basic divisions that emerged in the ratification process were again stirred up with the debate over Hamilton’s bank. Inevitably, political lines began to be drawn around some central questions: Is the Constitution to be interpreted literally or more loosely? More to the point: How much power did the states retain under the Constitution, and what is the true constitutional limit of the national government’s power? • Hamilton was clearly the leader of the emergent Federalist party, while Jefferson and James Madison led the opposition, called Republicans in their day- but also sometimes known as the Jeffersonian Democrats, or Democratic-Republicans. • The Republicans’ problem with Hamilton and the Federalists was that they believed their policies had no constitutional basis, diminished the rights reserved to states, and tended to favor the moneyed commercial interests over those of regular people. In Jefferson’s view, the republic itself was at risk from being hijacked as a tool of the wealthy. As such, Jefferson’s party attracted far more “regular folk”- primarily small-landholding farmers, with most support coming from the south and west. The Republicans also took issue with the handling of the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion- a tax revolt in western Pennsylvania- and especially the negotiation of the Jay Treaty with Great Britain- which favored the interests of northern merchants over those of southern and western farmers. • Washington retired at the end of his second term, and with control of the executive branch at stake, the gloves came off for the election of 1796. Hamilton and the Federalists supported John Adams for president, while Jefferson led the Democratic-Republicans. The campaign was especially nasty, but in the end, the Federalists were able to elect John Adams by a narrow margin. Undeterred, Jefferson and the Republicans opposed the Federalist Adams administration at every turn- setting up an equally nasty presidential election in 1800.

5. Republican Motherhood and education for women • During the Revolutionary and Early Republic era, new sentiments arose regarding the place of women in American society, and in particular their role as models of civic virtue. • “Virtue” in this sense means a kind of selfless awareness of the public good, and an enlightened interest to fulfill one’s responsibilities as citizen. The founding generation advocated civic virtue in part to counter the widely held belief that a large republic (in both size and population) was doomed to failure. If the citizens were informed and virtuous in their civic duties, the republic would thrive. • It follows that the creation of virtuous citizens begins with family, and as guardian of family values, mothers raising children at home were the natural purveyors of this republican virtue. One effect of the idea of Republican Motherhood was increased educational opportunities for women, in the form of female “academies.” These schools trained girls and young women in- what one might call today- advanced home economics and child rearing. • So while the idea of Republican Motherhood helped to define and reinforce the prescribed role of women in the home, it also invested that role with much more substance and importance than was historically afforded to the “women’s work” of caring for the home and raising children.

6. Beginnings of the Second Great Awakening • In the early 1800s, a tremendous upwelling of religious fervor began to take the frontier by storm. A new kind of American Protestantism was emerging- one that more closely matched the energetic, emotional, and egalitarian character of regular American folk in the backcountry. • Travelling Baptist and Methodist preachers (among other denominations) began attracting enormous crowds at “camp meetings,” where thousands would gather for days of highly emotional preaching and repenting. One such camp meeting in 1809, at Cane Ridge, KY attracted tens of thousands, and is often seen as an important early event of the Second Great Awakening. • Many more meetings of this magnitude followed, as the spirit of religious revival spread from the frontier to affect nearly every area of the United States. The movement lasted decades- peaking through the 1820s and 1830s- and its impact on American social development is tremendous.