The Formation of a National Government

The Formation of a

National Government

1776-1812

The Declaration of

Independence

-The Declaration of Independence is a document adopted by the Continental Congress that declares the independence of the thirteen colonies from the British Empire

-Virginia was a model state declaring such rights as speedy trail by jury and freedom of press while others states added freedom of speech along with the right to bear arms

-Also the equal protection under the law

The Constitution laid out the structure of the government being the three different branches-executive, legislative, and judiciary

Problems

-with the end of the Revolution many people were moving westward establishing there own government

-this made it difficult to provide a genuine national government

-states had began declaring there own law ...for example New Jersey men could no longer cross the Hudson river to sell they vegetables in New York with out be fined heavy entering and clearance fee

-they had went as far as nine out of the thirteen states organizing there own armies

-member from each state gathered on May 1787 to draft amendments to the Articles of Confederation, but they set that aside and started building a hole new form of government

-they know that there had to be two different powers local control and power of central government...adopting the idea of the balance of power

-this power was spread of though three branches-legislative, executive, and judicial (by doing this there was no way one could have complete control)

-everything has to be cleared though all parts the President, Congress, and the Senate

-On September 17, 1787 after 16 weeks of deliberation the Constitution was signed

George Washington

-Washington became the first president of the United State of America on April 30, 1789

-during his time of power many of the industries in the US began to grow

-but some thought that since Washington was such a good leader in war that his leadership was crucial when running the country.... he was daring and brave and inspired respect and trust

-a feud between Jefferson and Hamilton in which he wanted to pass a bill to start a national bank though Jefferson did not agree helped to make the Union financially secure

-France declares war with Great Britain and Spain and the US think they shell help France, so there Minister came to the US but abused some privileges while there and was sent back home creating a feud between the US and France

-Washington then retired in 1797 making his Vice President John Adams the next leader of the US

Jefferson

-the people were tired with Adams and were ready for change and Jefferson was a born popular leader

-he encouraged agriculture and westward expansion

-he reduced debt to less then $60 million and also worked with Napoleon to gain the Louisiana purchase of more then 2,600,000 square kilometers for $15 million

Second War with Britain

-Jefferson had persuaded Congress to pass an Embargo Act forbidding foreign commerce

-this hurt the south and the west farmers very badly for they could no longer ship there gain, meat, and tobacco

-they then changed the Embargo act to just apply to Britain because Napoleon announced that he had abandoned this measures

-By this time James Madison has became the new president of the US and things were only becoming worse with Britain

-1812 the US declared war on Great Britain with the south and the west favored war, New York and New England opposed it

-many battles were fought between the US and Britain-one of the more famous battles was on Lake Champlain where Thomas Macdonough won a point-blank gun duel with a British flotilla, but this war soon came to an end with the treaty of Ghent which would bring restoration of conquests, and a commission to settle boundary differences

-"The war has renewed and reinstated the national feeling and character which the Revolution had given and which were daily lessening. The people have now more general objects of attachment, with which their pride and political opinions are connected.They are more American;they feel and act more as a nation;and I hope that the permanency of the Union is thereby better secured."-Albert Gallatin (Secretary of the Treasury)

BY:

Mackenzie Cater, Frederik Drelicharcz, and Ann Sophie Kragelund

The Construction of the Constitution