Tasks of the First Congress The First Congress had the tasks of raising money, creating a bill of rights, setting up the executive departments, and organizing the federal judiciary. B. Madison and the First Congress James Madison persuaded Congress to adopt the Revenue Act of 1789. Madison also took the lead in presenting the constitutional amendments that came to be called the Bill of Rights. C. Bill of Rights The states ratified ten amendments, which became part of the Constitution on December 15, 1791. D. Executive Branch Congress organized the executive branch with three main departments¾War, State, and Treasury¾and granted the President the authority to dismiss appointed officials.
This would strengthen the national credit in the small Treasury department. He then convinced Congress to take on the states' debts. There were many states with large debts that were happy with the pitch Hamilton made, like Massachusetts, but states with small debts, like Virginia, did not want the government to take on their personal debts. One thing Virginia did agree upon is that if the Congress put the Federal District to be closer to them. So Virginia made a deal with the government which was the government would take on state debts if the District of Columbia was placed on the Potomac River.
The Articles of Confederation were created as a new central government form after the American Revolution. The Articles still consisted of problems, specifically financial ones. Hamilton proposed a plan that would put U.S. finances on a stable foundation. He planned to lower national debt and strengthen the national credit because he believed that "a national debt was a national blessing". However, some people, such as Jefferson and small farmers opposed his ideas, because they believed in states' rights and a strict interpretation of the constitution, which led to the split of two different political parties.
In the early 1790’s Washington was elected for president and Alexander Hamilton came along with him. Hamilton quickly established himself as a huge influence in every domestic affair and used his role as Secretary of Treasury to institute controversial plans. While Hamilton’s reports did repay the United States’ debts, they forced tensions between the north and south in terms of state money assumption. He also came up with the idea of a national bank, which he believed would help pay off all the debts America owed to other countries. He assumed that if they did not repay their dues to the other countries, then in time of need they will not come support and help them.
The Federalist led by Alexander Hamilton favored a strong central government. The Federalist were one of the first political parties in the United States along with the Anti-Federalist led by Thomas Jefferson. The Anti-Federalist favored a more decentralized weak government. The Federalist thought that people like themselves should be in charge of the government. The Federalist were more aggressive in the media, they produced the federalist papers which were newspaper articles to try to convince the people to support the ratification of the Constitution.
Alexander Hamilton stepped up in this crisis and put together a financial plan. His idea was to have the federal government pay for all national debt and assume the debt that each individual state had built up as well. In this idea, the national government of the United Sates owed approximately $75 million. Hamilton saw this to be outrageous but gained the partnership with Thomas Jefferson to pass the financial plan through congress. After a lot of debating, Hamilton’s plan was carried out and passed in 1790.
The revolutionary era for the American Colonies began around 1763 after the British removed the military threat of the French from North America during the French and Indian War, which resulted in substantial economic debt for the British Empire. The debt was due in large part to the British desire for victory, as stated by William Pitt, the acting Prime Minister during the war, “No matter what the cost, our goal is to win.”(Straus Notes. Fall 2008). As a result, the British Government adopted the policy that the colonies should pay an increased proportion, if not all the costs associated with keeping the North American Colonies secure from the French, Indians, and other nearby threats. As a result, Parliament and Prime Minister George Grenville passed the Proclamation of 1763, which stated that settlers were not allowed beyond the Appalachian Mountains as well as stationing ten thousand British soldiers strategically along the Appalachian Mountains.
Outline Although the founding of the Constitution was a revolutionary, positive turning-point in American history, the US Constitution has a few unconstitutional and democratic shortcomings. Introduction In order to understand the shortcomings of democracy of the US Constitution, is it is important to know the background of its’ founding and how each article serves our country. Federalist No. 10, written by James Madison, asserts the importance of having the image of a democracy without its real substance. There seems to have been a very strong opposition towards democracy at the Constitutional Convention, although the framers were in the midst of creating democratic principles to appeal to the majority of the country.
This power caused principles in Jacksonian Democracy including Manifest Destiny. The idea of Manifest Destiny basically is the belief that America has the power to expand its borders to the western land and all of America from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. This is destiny that was given to America from God supposedly and Jacksonian Democracy completely defends it. Also, Jackson believed in a limited federal government even though he wasn’t satisfied on the idea of a strong state government. Jacksonian’s agree with a “hands-on” approach to the economy meaning that the government to strong control over the countries economy.
Jefferson, however, argued that since the Constitution didn't state that it would allow a National Bank, it shouldn't be created. This is one example of how Hamilton and Jefferson felt that something should be changed, however, show differences in their opinions as to how to fix the problem. Another strong difference Hamilton and Jefferson have is their view on form of government. Alexander Hamilton is a strong Federalist, in which believed in strong government, similar to today's Democrats, while Thomas Jefferson was a strong Anti-Federalist, meaning he was against big government, which is like today's Republicans. This, again, indicates another example of how these two are so similar in views of things to change in government, however, have different visions on how to improve those things.