USH: 3.1: Launching the Nation

DRILL: Pardon & Apportionment 
Pardon: Freedom from punishment 
Apportionment: Distribution of representatives in the House of Representatives 

Objective: Students will be able to identify the problems President Washington faced at home and abroad by analyzing the nation’s economic problems and challenges he faced during his presidency.

Notes: 
1. After the Revolutionary War, the United States faced problems at home and overseas
2. In 1789 George Washington was elected president, with John Adams as vice president. 
3. Alexander Hamilton - As secretary of the treasury, he paid off the nation’s debts by selling bonds (certificates that represent money owed to citizens). 
4. Congress organized the executive branch, creating departments that specialized in different areas of national policy. 
5. Judiciary Act, creating the federal court system.
6. Strict Construction—that the government could only do what the Constitution specifically said it could do

Odds & Ends
1. The southern states agreed to have the federal government pay most of the Revolutionary War debts of the states in exchange for moving the national capital to Maryland and building a new city, Washington DC.
2. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison advocated the principle of strict construction for interpreting the Constitution. 
3. War between Britain and France prompted President Washington to issue a statement of neutrality.
4. An American Indian, Little Turtle fought the United States over the issue of new settlers pushing into the Northwest Territory.
5. In the election of 1796, John Adams a Federalist was the elected presidential.
7. Relations between the United States and France deteriorated after the XYZ Affair, in which French agents demanded a bribe from U.S. diplomats.
5. Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts in an effort to cut off Republican criticism of the federal government, in 1798.
6. The presidential election of 1800 resulted in a tie in the Electoral College between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, which led the states to ratify the Twelfth Amendment in 1804. He also killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
7. In 1800, political power transferred peacefully from the Federalist Party to the Democratic-Republican Party with the election of Thomas Jefferson as President
USH: 3.1: Launching the Nation

1. Judiciary Act 				7. XYZ affair
2. Washington, D.C. 			8. Alien and Sedition Acts
3. strict 				
4. Neutrality Proclamation		9. Aaron Burr
5. Little Turtle 				10. Democratic-Republican
6. Federalist

11. Washington had to raise money to pay the nations debts, stop the Whiskey Rebellion and keep the US out of the war in Europe.
12. As secretary of the treasury, he paid off the nation’s debt by selling U.S. government bonds—certificates that represent money owed—to citizens. The government would then promise to buy the bonds back later at a higher price.
13. President Adams tried to improve relations with France and his administration become involved in the XYZ affair.

PRIMARY SOURCE
1. Ramírez’s main problem is that the Mexican army does not have the resources to fight the superior American forces.
2. He sees guerrilla warfare as a desperate measure that has little support from the Mexican people and has not proved effective in battle.
3. The American advantage is that they have money to purchase necessary supplies to fight against the Mexicans, who have few supplies.
4. Mexicans have come to perceive the Americans as a superior force that cannot be beaten.
5. Ramírez thinks Mexico will face anarchy and how to deal with the numerous soldiers when the Mexican War is over.

Summary: In today’s lesson we identified the problems President Washington faced; we also analyzed the nation’s economic problems.

Homework: Judiciary Act & Loose Construction
Judiciary Act, creating the federal court system in 1789.
Loose Construction, meaning that the federal government could take reasonable actions that were not listed in the Constitution.

Name __________________________ Class _______________ Date _______________
USHX: 3.1 The Nation Expands- Launching the Nation

FILL IN THE BLANK 
For each of the following statements, fill in the blank with the appropriate word, phrase, or name.
Judiciary Act, Washington D.C, XYZ affair, Democratic-Republican, strict, Little Turtle, Aaron Burr, Neutrality Proclamation, Alien and Sedition Acts, Federalist

1. Passed by Congress in 1789, the _______________________ set up the federal court system.
2. The southern states agreed to have the federal government pay most of the Revolutionary War debts of the states in exchange for moving the national capital to _______________________ .
3. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison advocated the principle of ______________________  construction for interpreting the Constitution. 
4. War between Britain and France prompted President Washington to issue the _______________________ on April 22, 1793.
5. An American Indian confederation led by _______________________ fought the United States over the issue of new settlers pushing into the Northwest Territory.
6. In the election of 1796, John Adams was the presidential candidate of the
_______________________ Party.
7. Relations between the United States and France deteriorated after the _______________________ , in which French agents demanded a bribe from U.S. diplomats.
8. In 1798, Congress passed the _______________________ in an effort to cut off Republican criticism of the federal government.
9. The presidential election of 1800 resulted in a tie in the Electoral College between Thomas Jefferson and _______________________ , which led the states to ratify the Twelfth Amendment in 1804. He also killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel.
10.With the election of 1800, political power transferred peacefully from the Federalist Party to the _______________________ Party.
11. What problems did President Washington face at home and abroad?

12. How did Alexander Hamilton help solve the nation’s economic problems?

13. What challenges did John Adams face during his presidency?

Identify:
Alexander Hamilton 
Judiciary Act 
Strict Construction

3.1 PRIMARY SOURCE READING/ A Mexican Views the War
During Mexico’s war with the United States, José Fernando Ramírez wrote several letters that examined changes in Mexican life and politics brought on by the war. In the selection below—which includes excerpts from a letter dated April 25, 1847— Ramírez describes the condition of the Mexican army and the fear that gripped Mexicans as American armies marched toward victory.  e compares the American attacks with another historic invasion  of Mexico, the conquest led by Hernán Cortés in the 1500s. In the final  sentences, Ramírez refers to potential conflicts between regions of Mexico  as it faces defeat. As you read the selection, consider the reasons that Ramírez gives for the failure of the Mexican army.
When a nation gets to such a point of financial distress it does it no good to have a large army or to have a patriotism great enough to build an army if there were no means to support it. What happens 
3.1 PRIMARY SOURCE READING/ A Mexican Views the War ……Continues
then when a nation cannot count either upon a large army or upon patriotism? Yet this is precisely the wretched condition we are in. Strictly speaking, the army does not exist. What today bears that name is only a mass of men without training and without weapons. The men assembled at San Luis have disappeared as if by magic, thanks to the scandalous [disgrace l] desertions. . . . How then can we get  o t of o r predicament?
The Government has at last p t all its hopes in a plan that is supposed to save the country. . . . This is the one calling for guerrilla warfare, the last hope of peoples overwhelmed by superior forces. . . Unfortunately, it has only produced excitement without making any progress as far as o r convictions are concerned. The guerrilla bands . . .  are not  getting any recruits. . . . Government spies and private communications bring  s news that depresses  s and makes  s feel the shame of it all. Here is the gist [main idea] of it.
The Yankees have at their disposal some 7,000 men and an immense artillery train for their military operations. They have 2,000,000 pesos in their coffers [treasury] and pay cash for their subsistence [needs] and transport, threatening dire [terrible] punishment for anyone who refuses to sell his produce to them.  n contrast with this situation is the one o r troops are facing. They have nothing and se force in obtaining what they need, either paying nothing at all or paying grudgingly. Groups of soldiers like those of Cortés inflict terrible punishment for the death of any Yankee. The mayor of a town is made  responsible, and his own private property is confiscated [taken] if it can be proved that such an act occurred with his knowledge. Or guerrilla troops have been denied the benefits of h man rights and have been declared highwaymen [bandits].
 	Their accomplishments, however, do not give ca se for high hopes. They take  p their positions in the woods and after firing their muskets they r n away. Up to now they have been able to seize only one agon. . . . The wounded in Jalapa are suffering the greatest privations [hardships] and misery.   impelled [moved] by the urgency of the situation, they leave the hospitals and perish in the open country, where the ground is strewn [littered] with corpses and cast-off war equipment. . . . The troops have come back very much depressed. The leaders and officers declare that the Yankees are invincible, and the soldiers are telling  terrible tales that bring to mind the Conquest. Some say that the enemy  soldiers are such huge, strong men that they can c t an opponent in two with a single sweep of their swords.  t is also said that their horses are gigantic and very fast and that their muskets discharge shots which, once they leave the g n, divide into fifty pieces, each one fatal and well-aimed. Let  s say nothing about their artillery, which has inspired fear and terror in all o r troops and is  undeniable proof or o r backwardness in military art. 
The question of the war has ass med a frightening aspect.  f we go on fighting we shall s rely be conquered, and if we s e [ask] for peace we can-not expect any good from the people of the interior of the country. . . . What are we going to do with the numerous, filthy remnants of the army? What shall we do with this host of leaders and officers? And what shall we do about the anarchy [lawless confusion] and disorder now enthroned [made ruler] and masked beneath the mantle [cloak] of the federation?
From Mexico During the War with the United States by José Fernando Ramírez, edited  by Walter V. Scholes, translated by Elliott B. Scherr, 1970. 

UNDERSTANDING WHAT YOU READ 
1. What does Ramírez consider to be the main problem facing the Mexican army?
2. Why does Ramírez have little faith in the government’s plan to rely upon guerrilla warfare?
3. What advantage do the American forces have over the Mexican army?
4. What do the rumors concerning the size of the American soldiers and the deadliness of their equipment reveal about Mexican attitudes toward the war?
5. What problems does Ramírez think Mexico will face when the war is over?

In your own words, summarize today’s lesson.