Why the Articles of Confederation Had to Be Replaced with a New Federal Constitution - Essay Example

?Part ONE: Confederation and Federalist Republic: Tell me why the Articles of Confederation had to be replaced with a new federal constitution? What compromises were necessary to create and ratify the Constitution? What critical roles did Washington and Hamilton play in making the new federal government work? What issues soon divided Americans into Hamiltonian Federalists and Jeffersonian Republicans? Why was John Adams a one-term president and the 1800 election so important? The Articles of Confederation were brought in for the new United States after the revolution, but had several problems that meant that they were swiftly replaced by the new federal constitution. Firstly, the Articles had no separation of powers (Brinkley, 201). Another problem with the Articles is that there was no strong form of central government (with a President) as seen today, as much of the power rested with the States themselves (Brinkley, 208). Bearing this in mind, it was very difficult to change the Articles because any amendment to them had to have universal approval from the 13 states and any law passed had to be approved by at least 9 (Brinkley, 211). The original Constitution did not have a bill of rights, so the first major amendment was to add this in 1789, with many states ratifying the Constitution before this date on the premise that this would be added to protect citizens (Brinkley, 220). The Federalists also acknowledged that to make the more centralized system work would require that the central government would need to take on existing debt, which would create a very large national debt (Brinkley, 220). Washington and Hamilton played large roles in making the new federal government work. Hamilton founded the federal bank to ensure that there was a developed banking system in the United States (Brinkley, 225), which was needed to tackle the aforementioned problems of national debt. Hamilton was also the founder of the first U.S. political party (the Federalists) which made him an important player in developing the U.S. political system as we know it today. Washington played a role in securing national identity and developing the constitution, as seen by his role in the Whiskey Rebellion (Brinkley, 243). Despite this initial strong start for the Federalists, there was a split between this group and so-called Anti-Federalists (or Republicans), partly because of some of the dangers that were posed by a one-party state. The Republicans opposed the Federalist structure because they felt it resembled British structure (Brinkley, 243), which was evidently not popular and believed to be corrupt. Additionally, Republicans like Jefferson were believed in the need for independent farmer citizens (Brinkley, 235). After Washington retired, the next President was John Adams. There was increasing tension during his rule between the U.S. and France, partly because France wanted Jefferson to be president (Brinkley, 235) and the Washington and Adams both wanted to stay out of European conflicts (Brinkley, 240). The Quasi-War with France had led to the passing of the Alien and Sedition Acts (Brinkley, 240), which led to more fighting between Federalist and Republican parties. The 1800 election was important because it was one way of figuring out the divide and coming to some sort of resolution between the two political parties (Brinkley, 249). The votes for Jefferson and Burr were tied so Congress had to choose a winner (Brinkley, 250). Evidently, Jefferson won the 1800 election which began an important time for Democratic-Republicans in the United States and allowed some of the more important founding features of the era to come to the fore in politics. Part TWO: From Jefferson to Jackson: Tell me how Jefferson’s vision of America contrasted with the Federalist one. How did Louisiana, Marbury vs Madison, the North African war and strained relations with Britain modify Jeffersonianism in practice? How did the War of 1812 become a Second War of Independence? What was the war’s impact? Tell me how the nation grew and was transformed between 1815 and 1828. Describe the settlement of the Old Northwest, the rise of the Cotton Kingdom and the growth of manufacturing in New England. Tell me about the Market Revolution and the rise of democracy. How did the Federalist Party die? How Madison and Monroe modify their Jeffersonian principles? Tell me how the Missouri Compromise indicated sectionalism and slavery were becoming issues. One of the central visions of Republican America under the influence of Jefferson was for free and excellent education which was required to found the United States in the way that Jefferson envisioned (Brinkley, 270). In 1815, there were no state-funded schools and only the elite could have an educated, which went against the principles of the Founding Fathers (Brinkley, 270). Women in the early 19th century were also encouraged to have a limited amount of education because this was seen as required to bring up the next generation of healthy and intelligent Americans (Brinkley, 271). It was also seen as necessary to gain a cultural society which was independent from that in Europe but was equal or greater in influence and sophistication. There were, however, elements of the Jeffersonian era that meant that these tenets of education and culture and visions for acceptance were altered. Louisiana, for example, was under the influence of Napoleon, who had aims to start gaining influence in the American continent (Brinkley, 278). This alarmed Jefferson, who felt uneasy with having such a close European influence as there were strong dreams of having a totally independent nation, which led to the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, going against Federalist wishes (Brinkley, 176). The case of Marbury vs Madison was also influential because it gave the power for a judicial review, but Jefferson disagreed with the new ruling because he felt that it would give the Judiciary too much power and it would be an oligarchy limited to those with wealth and power (Brinkley, 276). This went against his desires for equality and education in the U.S. The war of 1812 was another war between the U.S. and the British Empire. The main achievement of the war is to settle many of the issues that had not been resolved in the War of Independence (Brinkley, 280). It occurred in response to many things occurring in Europe, including the continual British fighting with the French, the Chesapeake affair which was seen as British insults towards the U.S., and increasing impressment (Brinkley, 285). It resulted in the Rush-Bagot Treaty which called for the demilitarization of many British bases in the U.S., which led to a higher feeling of independence for the United States (Brinkley, 286). The Federalist Party began to decline because of the negative feelings towards Britain as a result of the 1812 war (Brinkley, 287), as the Federalist party was more favourable towards Great Britain. Following this was the era known as the Era of Good Feelings and the rise of Nationalism, in which the country grew. There was less in the way of partisan politics and the Americas were declared free from European involvement after the Monroe Doctrine (Brinkley, 290). The Black Hawk War was one waged against the Native Americans living in the area, and led to the settlement of the Old Northwest. It is significant because it exemplifies the white use of violence against Native Americans in an unnecessary way, including the use of violence after surrender (Brinkley, 290). Cotton became increasingly important because it would force Europeans to support the Confederacy due to the European reliance on the cotton trade. The Market Revolution occurred after 1793, and indicated a change in the way manual labour was used in the South, particularly the change in technologies, transport and communication. This improved the way that the U.S. was able to operate as an international trade entity (Brinkley, 294). 1820 saw the Missouri Compromise which indicated that the issues of slavery and sectionalism were becoming more important, particularly because it separated those states which were pro- and anti-slavery in a very definite way (Brinkley, 301). Part THREE: Jacksonian America: Tell me about the Second Great Awakening and the rise of nationalism and abolitionism in the North and the growing defence of slavery in the South. Tell me about the background of the Nullification Crisis of the early 1830’s. How did Jackson and Calhoun each interpret Jeffersonianism? Describe Jackson’s war with the Bank of the United States and the Panic of 1837. How did the Whigs update Hamiltonianism and become a political force in 1841 and 1844? Why was the 1844 election so important? The Second Great Awakening refers to a time in U.S. history when Protestantism became more prominent in America, with many people joining Methodist and Baptist churches. As a result of this growing membership, there was also the evolution on many new denominations in the U.S. Christian sector (Brinkley, 312), which led to the multi-denominational America that we see today. The Jacksonian era also saw the rise of nationalism because Jackson believed in the power of the people to lead to a great nation. He believed that the common man should hold more power, and that there was no need for aristocracy or oligarchy in the U.S. (Brinkley, 318). It was also during this time that many Americans, particularly in the North, started recognizing the wrongness of the enslavement of African Americans and this led to a growing abolition movement (Brinkley, 318). However, many people in the South believed in the tradition of slavery as well as relying on this type of labour for the growing cotton trade which was important in placing America strongly into international trade (Brinkley, 322). The Nullification Crisis occurred in the 1830s, when South Carolina declared that certain federal Tariffs were unconstitutional and therefore null and void within that area (Brinkley, 340). The U.S. had experienced some economic strife prior to the Crisis which many in the South felt was due to the policies of the national tariff, designed to promote American manufacturing (Brinkley, 345). Jackson himself moved more towards the Jeffersonian tenets of equality and education, and called for a widening of opportunity (Brinkley, 346). Calhoun more strongly followed the lead of Jefferson in the way of Republicanism, focusing more on using economic funds to improve U.S. economy and manufacturing (Brinkley, 346). The Panic of 1837 was a period of financial crisis which occurred shortly after an economic boom started by the early presidents of the United States. There was a raise in interest rates by the banks which contributed to the panic. Additionally, Jackson refused the bill to recharger the BUS (Bank of the United States) which was central to the U.S. economy (Brinkley, 360). He felt that as a central bank, they controlled too much and was unconstitutional. Removing federal funds from the bank as a result made the country financial unstable. The destruction of the bank ultimately led to the formation of the Whig Party, which was founded by dissenting members of the Democratic Party who disagreed with Jackson’s war with the bank (Brinkley, 366).The Whigs grew as a political force because they supported the idea of a market economy, an economic ideal which was appealing to both cotton growers in the South and manufacturers in the North (Brinkley, 367). The election of 1844 was important because it was the first in which the Whigs had an important candidate and each of the candidates discussed important issues that had arisen in recent years, such as the changing lines of the Oregon territory as well as the growing issue of slavery (Brinkley, 367). Read More