A Short History of the United States by Channing

by Edward Channing

  [Sidenote: The French Revolution, 1789.]

  209. The French Revolution.--In 1789 the French people rose against their government. In 1792 they imprisoned their king and queen. In 1793 they beheaded them, and set up a republic. The monarchs of Europe made common cause against this spirit of revolution. They made war on the French Republic and began a conflict which soon spread to all parts of the world.

  [Sidenote: Effect of the French Revolution on American politics.

  McMaster, 206-207.]

  [Sidenote: Federalists and Republicans.]

  210. The French Revolution and American Politics.--Jefferson and his political friends rejoiced at the overthrow of the French monarchy and the setting up of the Republic. It seemed as if American ideas had spread to Europe. Soon Jefferson's followers began to ape the manners of the French revolutionists. They called each other Citizen this and Citizen that. Reports of French victories were received with rejoicing.

  At Boston an ox, roasted whole, bread, and punch were distributed to the people in the streets, and cakes stamped with the French watchwords, Liberty and Equality, were given to the children. But, while the Republicans were rejoicing over the downfall of the French monarchy, the Federalists were far from being happy. Hamilton had no confidence in government by the people anywhere. Washington, with his aristocratic ideas, did not at all like the way the Republicans were acting. He said little on the subject, but Lady Washington expressed her mind freely and spoke of Jefferson's followers as "filthy Democrats."

  [Sidenote: Genet at Charleston.]

  [Sidenote: His contest with the government.]

  211. Citizen Genet.--The new French government soon sent an agent or minister to the United States. He was the Citizen Genet. He landed at Charleston, South Carolina. He fitted out privateers to prey on British commerce and then set out overland for Philadelphia. Washington had recently made a tour through the South. But even he had not been received with the enthusiasm that greeted Genet. But when Genet reached Philadelphia, and began to confer with Jefferson about getting help from the government, he found little except delay, trouble, and good advice.

  Jefferson especially tried to warn Genet not to be over confident. But Genet would not listen. He even appealed to the people against Washington, and the people rallied to the defense of the President. Soon another and wiser French minister came to the United States.

  [Sidenote: The Treaty of Alliance of 1778.]

  [Sidenote: The Neutrality Proclamation, 1793.]

  212. The Neutrality Proclamation, 1793.--Washington and his advisers had a very difficult question to settle. For the Treaty of 1778 with France (p. 115) gave to French ships the use of United States ports in war time, and closed those ports to the enemies of France. The treaty might also oblige the United States to make war on Great Britain in order to preserve the French West India Islands to France. It was quite certain, at all events, that if French warships were allowed to use American ports, and British warships were not allowed to do so, Great Britain would speedily make war on the United States. The treaty had been made with the King of France. Could it not be set aside on the ground that there was no longer a French monarchy? Washington at length made up his mind to regard it as suspended, owing to the confusion which existed in France. He therefore issued a Proclamation of Neutrality. In this proclamation he warned all citizens not to aid either of the fighting nations. It was in this way that Washington began the policy of keeping the United States out of European conflicts (p. 224).

  [Sidenote: Internal revenue taxes.]

  [Sidenote: The Whiskey Rebellion, 1794. McMaster, 203-204.]

  213. The Whiskey Insurrection, 1794.--The increasing expenses of the government made new taxes necessary. Among the new taxes was an internal revenue tax on whiskey. It happened that this tax bore heavily on the farmers of western Carolina and western Pennsylvania. The farmers of those regions could not take their grain to the seaboard because the roads were bad and the distance was great. So they made it into whiskey, which could be carried to the seaboard and sold at a profit. The new tax on whiskey would make it more difficult for these western farmers to earn a living and to support their families. They refused to pay it.

  They fell upon the tax collectors and drove them away. Washington sent commissioners to explain matters to them. But the farmers paid no heed to the commissioners. The President then called out fifteen thousand militia-men and sent them to western Pennsylvania, under the command of Henry Lee, governor of Virginia. The rebellious farmers yielded without fighting. Two of the leaders were convicted of treason. But Washington pardoned them, and the conflict ended there. The new government had shown its strength, and had compelled people to obey the laws. That in itself was a very great thing to have done.

  [Sidenote: Relations with Great Britain. McMaster, 207-209; Source-Book, 188-190.]

  [Sidenote: Jay's Treaty, 1794.]

  214. Jay's Treaty, 1794.--Ever since 1783 there had been trouble with the British. They had not surrendered the posts on the Great Lakes, as the treaty of 1783 required them to do. They had oppressed American commerce. The American states also had broken the treaty by making laws to prevent the collection of debts due to British subjects by American citizens. The Congress of the Confederation had been too weak to compel either the British government or the American states to obey the treaty.

  But the new government was strong enough to make treaties respected at home and abroad. Washington sent Chief Justice John Jay to London to negotiate a new treaty. He found the British government very hard to deal with. At last he made a treaty. But there were many things in it which were not at all favorable to the United States. For instance, it provided that cotton should not be exported from the United States, and that American commerce with the British West Indies should be greatly restricted.

  [Sidenote: Contest over ratification of Jay's Treaty, 1795.]

  215. Ratification of Jay's Treaty, 1795.--After a long discussion the Senate voted to ratify the treaty without these two clauses. In the House of Representatives there was a fierce debate. For although the House has nothing to do with ratifying treaties, it has a great deal to do with voting money. And money was needed to carry out this treaty. At last the House voted the necessary money. The British surrendered the posts on the Great Lakes, and the debts due to British subjects were paid. Many people were very angry with Jay and with Washington for making this treaty. Stuffed figures of Jay were hanged, and Washington was attacked in the papers as if he had been "a common pickpocket"--to use his own words.

  [Illustration: SOUTHERN BOUNDARY OF UNITED STATES 1795]

  [Sidenote: Treaty with Spain, 1795.]

  [Sidenote: Right of deposit.]

  216. The Spanish Treaty of 1795.--France and Great Britain were not the only countries with which there was trouble. The Spaniards held posts on the Mississippi, within the limits of the United States and refused to give them up. For a hundred miles the Mississippi flowed through Spanish territory. In those days, before steam railroads connected the Ohio valley with the Eastern seacoast, the farmers of Kentucky and Tennessee sent their goods by boat or raft down the Mississippi to New Orleans. At that city they were placed on sea-going vessels and carried to the markets of the world. The Spaniards refused to let this commerce be carried on. In 1795, however, they agreed to abandon the posts and to permit American goods to be deposited at New Orleans while awaiting shipment by sea-going vessels.

  [Sidenote: Washington declines a third term.]

  [Sidenote: His Farewell Address.]

  217. Washington's Farewell Address.--In 1792 Washington had been reëlected President. In 1796 there would be a new election, and Washington declined another nomination. He was disgusted with the tone of public life and detested party politics, and desired to pass the short remainder of his life in quiet at Mt. Vernon. He announced his intention to retire in a Farewell Address, which should be read and studied by every American. In it he declared the Union to be the main pillar of indepe
ndence, prosperity, and liberty. Public credit must be carefully maintained, and the United States should have as little as possible to do with European affairs. In declining a third term as President, Washington set an example which has ever since been followed.

  CHAPTER 21

  THE LAST FEDERALIST ADMINISTRATION

  [Sidenote: Hamilton's intrigues against Adams.]

  [Sidenote: Adams elected, President, 1796.]

  218. John Adams elected President, 1796.--In 1796 John Adams was the Federalist candidate for President. His rival was Thomas Jefferson, the founder and chief of the Republican party. Alexander Hamilton was the real leader of the Federalists, and he disliked Adams. Thomas Pinckney was the Federalist candidate for Vice-President. Hamilton suggested a plan which he thought would lead to the election of Pinckney as President instead of Adams. But Hamilton's scheme did not turn out very well. For by it Jefferson was elected Vice-President. Indeed, he came near being President, for he had only three less electoral votes than Adams.

  [Sidenote: Relations with France, 1796-97. McMaster, 210-212; Source-Book, 191-194.]

  [Sidenote: The French government declines to receive an American minister.]

  219. More Trouble with France.--France was now (1796-97) governed by five chiefs of the Revolution, who called themselves "the Directory." They were very angry when they heard of Jay's Treaty (p. 168), for they had hoped that the Americans would make war on the British. James Monroe was then American minister at Paris. Instead of doing all he could to smooth over this difficulty, he urged on the wrath of the Directory.

  Washington recalled Monroe, and sent in his stead General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina. The Directory promptly refused to receive Pinckney, and ordered him to leave France. News of this action of the Directory reached Philadelphia three days after Adams's inauguration.

  [Sidenote: Adams's message, 1797.]

  [Sidenote: A commission sent to France, 1797.]

  [Sidenote: The X.Y.Z. Affair, 1797-98.]

  220. The X.Y.Z. Affair, 1797-98.--Adams at once summoned Congress and addressed the members in stirring words. He denied that the Americans were a "degraded people, humiliated under a colonial sense of fear ... and regardless of national honor, character, and interest." It seemed best, however, to make one more effort to avoid war. Adams therefore sent John Marshall, a Virginia Federalist, and Elbridge Gerry, a Massachusetts Republican, to France. They were to join Pinckney and together were to negotiate with the French Directory. When they reached Paris three men came to see them. These men said that America (1) must apologize for the President's vigorous words, (2) must lend money to France, and (3) must bribe the Directory and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. These outrageous suggestions were emphatically put aside. In sending the papers to Congress, the three men were called Mr. X., Mr.

  Y., and Mr. Z., so the incident is always known as the "X.Y.Z. Affair."

  [Sidenote: Excitement in America.]

  221. Indignation in America.--Federalists and Republicans joined in indignation. "Millions for defense, not one cent for tribute," was the cry of the day. French flags were everywhere torn down. "Hail Columbia" was everywhere sung. Adams declared that he would not send another minister to France until he was assured that the representative of the United States would be received as "the representative of a great, free, powerful, and independent state."

  [Sidenote: Washington appointed Commander-in-chief. Hamilton and Adams.]

  [Sidenote: The navy.]

  [Sidenote: Naval warfare, 1798-99. McMaster, 213-214.]

  222. War with France, 1797-98.--The organization of a provisional army was now at once begun. Washington accepted the chief command on condition that Hamilton should have the second place. There were already a few vessels in the navy. A Navy Department was now organized. The building of more warships was begun, and merchant vessels were bought and converted into cruisers. French privateers sailed along the American coasts and captured American vessels off the entrances of the principal harbors. But this did not last long. For the American warships drove the privateers to the West Indies and pursued them as they fled southward.

  Soon the American cruisers began to capture French men-of-war. Captain Truxton, in the Constellation, captured the French frigate L'Insurgent. Many other French vessels were captured, and preparations were made to carry on the naval war even more vigorously when a treaty with France was signed.

  [Sidenote: Another commission sent to France.]

  [Sidenote: The treaty of 1800.]

  223. Treaty with France, 1800.--This vigor convinced the French that they had been hasty in their treatment of the Americans. They now said that if another minister were sent to France, he would be honorably received. Adams wished to send one of the American ministers then in Europe, and thus end the dispute as soon as possible. But the other Federalist leaders thought that it would be better to wait until France sent a minister to the United States. Finally they consented to the appointment of three commissioners. Napoleon Bonaparte was now the ruler of France. He received the commissioners honorably, and a treaty was soon signed. On two points, however, he refused to give way. He declined to pay for American property seized by the French, and he insisted that the treaty of 1778 (pp. 115, 166) was still binding on both countries.

  It was finally agreed that the Americans should give up their claims for damages, and the French government should permit the treaty to be annulled. John Adams always looked upon this peaceful ending of the dispute with France as the most prudent and successful act of his whole life. But Hamilton and other Federalists thought it was treachery to the party. They set to work to prevent his reëlection to the presidency.

  [Sidenote: Repressive Laws. McMaster, 211-212.]

  [Sidenote: The naturalization act.]

  [Sidenote: The alien acts.]

  [Sidenote: The Sedition Act.]

  224. Alien and Sedition Acts, 1798.--The Federalists, even if they had been united, would probably have been defeated in the election of 1800. For they had misused their power to pass several very foolish laws. The first of these laws was the Naturalization Act. It lengthened the time of residence in the United States from five to fourteen years before a foreign immigrant could gain the right to vote. This law bore very harshly on the Republicans, because most of the immigrants were Republicans. Other laws, called the Alien Acts, were also aimed at the Republican immigrants. These laws gave the President power to compel immigrants to leave the United States, or to live in certain places that he named. The worst law of all was the Sedition Act. This was aimed against the writers and printers of Republican newspapers. It provided that any one who attacked the government in the press should be severely punished as a seditious person. Several trials were held under this law.

  Every trial made hundreds of persons determined to vote for the Republican candidate at the next election.

  [Sidenote: Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions 1798-99. McMaster, 212-213.]

  [Sidenote: Jefferson and Madison on the Constitution.]

  [Sidenote: The Kentucky Resolutions of 1799.]

  225. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, 1798-99.--In the exciting years before the Revolutionary War the colonial legislatures had passed many resolutions condemning the acts of the British government (see pp.

  77, 84). Following this example Jefferson and Madison now brought it about that the Virginia and Kentucky legislatures passed resolutions against the Alien and Sedition Acts. They declared that the Constitution was a compact between the states. It followed from this that any state could determine for itself whether any act of Congress were constitutional or not. It followed from, this, again, that any state could refuse to permit an Act of Congress to be enforced within its limits. In other words, any state could make null or nullify any Act of Congress that it saw fit to oppose. This last conclusion was found only in the Kentucky Resolutions of 1799. But Jefferson wrote to this effect in the original draft of the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798. The Virginia and Ken
tucky Resolutions called the voter's attention to the Federalist abuse of power and did much to form public opinion.

  [Sidenote: Death of Washington, 1799.]

  226. Death of Washington, 1799.--In the midst of this excitement George Washington died. People forgot how strongly he had taken the Federalist side in the last few years, and united to do honor to his memory. Henry Lee spoke for the nation when he declared that Washington was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." To this day, we commemorate Washington's birthday as we do that of no other man, though of late years we have begun to keep Lincoln's birthday also.

  [Sidenote: Election of 1800. McMaster, 215.]

  [Sidenote: Jefferson and Burr.]

  [Sidenote: The election in the House of Representatives.]

  227. Election of 1800.--It was for a moment only that the noise of party conflict was hushed by the death of America's first President. The strife soon began anew. Indeed, the election of 1800 was fought with a vigor and violence unknown before, and scarcely exceeded since. John Adams was the Federalist candidate, and he was defeated. Jefferson and Burr, the Republican candidates, each received seventy-three electoral votes. But which of them should be President? The Republican voters clearly wished Jefferson to be President. But the Federalists had a majority in the House of Representatives. They had a clear legal right to elect Burr President. But to do that would be to do what was morally wrong. After a useless struggle the Federalists permitted Jefferson to be chosen, and he was inaugurated on March 4, 1801.