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States with the right to establish branches in different parts of the country. He was the first to use the version of an “infant industry” argument: that temporary protection of new firms can help foster the development of competitive national industries. These measuresplacing the credit of the federal government on a firm foundation and giving it all the revenues it needed - encouraged commerce and industry, and created a solid class of businessmen who stood firmly behind the national government.

The Anti-federalists, led by Thomas Jefferson, advocated states’ rights and spoke for the rural and southern interests. Jefferson advocated a decentralized agrarian republic, free from a government tyranny. Hamilton feared anarchy and thought in terms of order; Jefferson feared tyranny and thought in terms of freedom. The United States needed both influences. It was the country’s good fortune that it had both men and could, in time, fuse and reconcile their philosophies. One clash between them, which occurred shortly after Jefferson took office as secretary of state, led to a new and profoundly important interpretation of the Constitution. Hamilton introduced his bill to establish a national bank Jefferson objected, arguing that the Constitution expressly enumerates all the powers belonging to the federal government. Nowhere was it empowered to establish a bank. Hamilton contended that the Constitution authorized the national government to levy and collect taxes, pay debts and borrow money, and a national bank would materially help in performing these functions efficiently. Congress, therefore, was entitled, to create such a bank. Washington and the Congress accepted Hamilton’s view - and an important precedent for an expansive interpretation of the federal government’s authority was made. Finally the Federalists and DemocraticRepublicans became the first two political parties in the U.S.A.

THE BILL OF RIGHTS

Antipathy toward a strong central government was only one concern among those opposed to the Constitution. Of equal concern to many was the fear that the Constitution did not protect individual rights and freedoms sufficiently. When the first Congress convened in New York City in 1789, the calls for amendments protecting individual rights were virtually unanimous. Congress adopted such amendments. Collectively they are known as the Bill of Rights. Among their provisions: freedom of speech, press, religion, and the right to assemble peacefully, protest and demand changes; protection against unreasonable searches, seizures of property and arrest; due process of law in all criminal cases; right to fair and speedy trial; protection against cruel and unusual punishment; and provision that the people retain additional rights not listed in the Constitution. Ten Amendments were added to the Constitution. These are called the Bill

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of Rights and guarantee of individual rights. Since the adoption of the Bill of Rights, only 16(!) more amendments have been added to the Constitution. Although a number of the subsequent amendments revised the federal government’s structure and operations, most followed the precedent established by the Bill of Rights and expanded individual rights and freedoms.

Questions for Discussion

1. How ling did the War for Independence last? 2. Who helped the revolutionists? 3. How did the Revolutionary War end? 4. Where did the Convention take place? 5. What organization was set up to work out the laws in a newly-born nation? 6. What system was worked out for adding new states to the Confederation? 7. What kind of government did the delegates want to set up: powerful or effective? 8.What powers was it essential to reconcile? Why? 9. What branches of the US government did the Convention set up? How were these branches to be checked? 10. When was the Constitution signed? 11. What was invented to protect the Constitution from hasty alteration? 12. What is the Bill of Rights?

Agree or disagree.

1.Alexander Hamilton is the Father of the US Constitution.

2.The Federalists expressed the interests of business and developing industries.

3.The Anti-federalists led by Jefferson advocated strong government.

4.The Federalists feared anarchy and thought in terms of freedom.

5.Jefferson feared freedom and thought in terms of order.

6.National bank was designed by Jefferson.

7.Rural interests were represented by Jefferson.

8.Jefferson was strongly against Hamilton’s bill to establish a national bank because the Constitution forbade it.

9.Hamilton claimed that the Constitution was entitled to create such a bank.

10. Washington declined Hamilton’s view.

Consider the Issue

1.Amendments are called that because they fix mistakes or correct omissions. Does it mean that they themselves can be changed?

2.Is the Constitution meant to be written in stone? Doesn’t it need to be “improved” and “fixed” to be relevant and keep up with time ?

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Chapter 5 Founding Fathers

Libraries’ worth of books have been penned about each of these men of genius whose extraordinary achievements and revolutionary ideas are virtually impossible to overestimate. They weren’t gods, they were men. They had flaws. And they, believe it or not, had slaves! Yes, they were accomplished: they discovered electricity, invented stoves, efficient printing presses, and swivel chair! Composing the Declaration of

Independence was hard work. God didn’t dictate it for them. Well, their purpose was to create a living document based on principles that transcended the times they lived in. And they did it. They created a blueprint for a system that would endure. They were imperfect. It was imperfect. And they expect their descendents to work as hard as they did on keep-ing what they thought was a profoundly excellent form of government supple, evolving and relevant.

Who were these upstarts, the Founding Fathers who dared challenge the might and majesty of Great Britain and Destiny itself?

George Washington (1732 – 1799)

Term : 1789-1797

Party : Federalist

Boy and soldier, in peace or strife, He loved America all his life!

From “Washington” by Nancy Turner

One of the last acts of the Congress of Confederation was to arrange for the first presidential election, setting March 4, 1789, as the date that the new government would come into being. One name was on everyone’s lips for the new chief of state – George Washington. Washington’s fidelity to the Revolution inspired others – and he was unanimously chosen president on April, 30, 1789. That time the nation’s capital was New York, but in 1790, the capital was moved to Philadelphia. In words spoken by every president since, Washington pledged to execute the duties of the presidency faithfully and, to the best of his ability, to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Until the judiciary could be established, laws could not be enforced. The Army was small and poorly equipped. Navy had ceased to exist. When Washington took office, the new Constitution enjoyed neither tradition nor the full backing of organized public opinion. Moreover, the new government had to create its own machinery.

Congress created the departments of State and Treasury, with Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton as their respective secretaries. Simultaneously, the Congress established

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the federal judiciary, establishing a Supreme Court. Secretary of war (now Secretary of Defense) and an attorney general (now Head of Federal Department of Justice) were also appointed. And since Washington preferred to make decisions only after consulting those men whose judgment he valued, the presidential Cabinet came into existence, consisting of the heads of all the departments that Congress might to create. Washington included in his first cabinet pair of political polar opposites Hamilton (who wanted to centralize power) as Treasury secretary and Jefferson (who wanted to defuse it) as Secretary of State. In realms of power, yes men (and women) are inevitable. The greatest presidents actively seek out diverse points of view. Meanwhile, the country was growing steadily and immigration from Europe was increasing. Many Americans were moving westward to settle in the wilderness. Ohio; Kentucky and Tennessee lay beyond the western boundary of the U.S.A - the Appalachian Mountains – and were Indians’. The first settlers in new areas, people who opened the way west for others were called pioneers.

The Indians fought these invaders with vengeance. Encouraged by the French or the British, who were trying to retain control of the lands, Indians attacked frontier settlements. The white settlers struck back, massacring entire Indian villages. Indian warfare quickly became a part of frontier life. It was necessary to regulate the settling of the new frontier.

Although many items were still homemade, the industrial Revolution was dawning in America. In this critical juncture in the country’s growth, Washington’s wise leadership was crucial. He organized a national government, developed policies for settlement of territories, previously held by Britain and Spain. British troops still occupied the West, British navy was seizing American ships, he stabilized the northwestern frontier and oversaw the admission of three new states: Vermont (1791), Kentucky (1792) and Tennessee (1796).

In 1793, U.S. had to sign the British-American Treaty to secure withdrawal of British soldiers from western forts. But under the Treaty of Alliance of 1778, U.S. and France were perpetual allies, and America was obliged to help France in war against Britain and other European countries. The Treaty of 1793 touched off a stormy disagreement over foreign policy between the Anti-federalists, now called Republicans, and the Federalists favored a pro-British policy because the commercial interests they represented profited from trade with Britain. The Republicans, by contrast, favored France and regarded the Treaty too favorable to Britain. After a long and heated debate, the Senate ratified the Treaty. The cornerstones of Washington’s foreign policy were to preserve peace, to give America time to recover from its wounds and to permit the slow work of national integration to continue.

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Washington retired in 1797, firmly declining to serve for more than eight years as the nation’s head. He died from the cold he had caught when riding his horse in a snowy weather. The news of his death was received with sorrow both in America and Europe. He was one of the United States great heroes. Americans celebrated Washington’s birthday while he was still alive. They were grateful to “the Father of His Country”, a strong leader who had proved that democracy was a feasible way to govern the growing country.

There are a lot of stories and legends about that remarkable personality which represent him as a highly honest man. George Washington was the only president to be elected unanimously. He is the only president to have a state named after him. The nation’s capital,

Washington, D.C., also has his name. There are cities, streets, parks, schools, bridges named after him and another great American president Lincoln; both have famous memorials in Washington, D.C., their portraits are on postage stamps, bills, coins.

Washington’s home in Mount Vernon, Virginia, has been made into a museum. Cherry pie is a traditional food for Washington’s birthday (February 22nd).

In the 1970s, Congress declared that in order to honor all past presidents of the United States, a single holiday, to be called Presidents’ Day, would be observed on the third Monday in February, as the birthday of Abraham Lincoln comes on the same month, February 12.

John Adams (1735 – 1826)

Term : 1797 – 1801

Party : Federalist

Washington’s vice-president, John Adams of Massachusetts, was elected as the nation’s head. His family was the first presidential party to live in Washington, D.C., where the nation’s capital was moved in1800. The White House was unfinished when John and his wife became residents.

Even before he entered the presidency, John Adams of Massachusetts had quarreled with Hamilton and thus was handicapped by the divided government and party. These domestic difficulties were compounded by international complications: in1798, France broke off diplomatic relations with the United States, so the war seemed inevitable. American hostility to France had risen to an exciting pitch and it led Congress to pass a number of unpopular Acts targeted at French and Irish immigrants suspected of supporting the Republicans. The Acts were met with resistance.

A Navy Department was first established during Adams’ term. Adams is sometimes called the “Father of the United States Navy.” His son, John Quincy Adams, was the USA 6th president who after serving as President, was elected to Congress and served for 17 years. He helped to establish the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.