Sign up to access the complete lesson and track your progress!
Unlock This CourseBy 1790 the United States had a Constitution, but people did not agree on what it allowed. The Constitution lists the powers of Congress, the lawmaking body. The big question was this: can the government do only what the Constitution clearly says, or can it also do other things that help it do its job?
Key terms:
Alexander Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury, in charge of the nation's money. In 1790 he proposed a national bank to hold government money, lend to businesses and help to pay the country's debts. Congress passed the law and in February 1791 President Washington signed it.
The Constitution does not mention a bank. But Congress is allowed to make laws that are "necessary and proper" for carrying out its powers, such as collecting taxes and paying debts. Hamilton argued that a bank was a sensible way to do this. His Federalist supporters wanted a strong national government.
Jefferson, then Secretary of State, said that the Constitution gave Congress no power to create a bank. He pointed to the Tenth Amendment, which keeps other powers for the states or the people. He feared a bank would help rich merchants and city people more than farmers. James Madison agreed with him.
Washington sided with Hamilton. The argument shaped the two parties of the 1790s: the Federalists around Hamilton, and the Democratic-Republicans around Jefferson and Madison.
In 1798 a Federalist Congress, under President John Adams, passed the Alien and Sedition Acts. They allowed the government to deport some foreigners and made it a crime to publish false or hostile writing about the government. Democratic-Republican newspaper editors were among those prosecuted.
Jefferson and Madison thought these laws broke the Constitution. They secretly wrote protests, which were passed by the legislatures of two states: the Kentucky Resolutions (Jefferson) and the Virginia Resolutions (Madison). They argued that the states had made the Constitution, so the states had the right to judge whether a national law was unconstitutional. The Kentucky Resolutions said such a law was void. No other state backed them, but the idea of States' Rights stayed alive and returned in later arguments, including over slavery.
In the 1800 election Jefferson stood against the Federalist President, Adams. Jefferson and his running mate Aaron Burr each won 73 electoral votes, so the choice went to the House of Representatives. After 36 ballots, in February 1801, the House chose Jefferson. Adams accepted defeat and no one used force. After the crisis, the Twelfth Amendment (1804) made electors vote separately for President and Vice-President.
This was the first time that power passed peacefully from one party to its opponents. Jefferson later described it as a revolution in the principles of government, which is why it is known as the '1800 Revolution'. In his speech on 4 March 1801 he tried to calm things, saying "We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists."
Thirteen states, joined loosely under the Articles of Confederation. A weak Congress that could not tax directly. No president. No political parties. Slavery legal.
Seventeen states under a Constitution with a stronger national government, a President and a Bill of Rights. Taxes and a national bank. Two rival parties and a peaceful change of power. Slavery still legal.
What changed, and what stayed the same? The nation had a far stronger government and a working system of parties. But the argument over national power against the states had not ended, and slavery was still part of life in the South.
This is a Paper 2 Section B (a) question. You need two ways, and each one must compare BOTH sides, using specific facts about each period. One way alone cannot score more than half marks.
Explain TWO ways in which the national government of the USA in 1809 was different from the national government in 1783. [6 marks]
(In 1783 the USA was run under the Articles of Confederation, with a Congress that could not tax directly and no president.)
One difference is in raising money. In 1783 Congress could only ask the states for money, and often did not get it. By 1809 the Constitution let Congress raise taxes and customs duties itself, and Hamilton had set up a national bank in 1791, so the government had far more control of its finances.
A second difference is leadership. In 1783 there was no president, and no party contest for control of the national government. By 1809 there was a President, and in 1801 power had passed peacefully from the Federalist John Adams to Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans, whereas the old system had nothing like this.
What lifts it to the top level: two different differences, each with a precise fact about 1783 and about 1809.
Use "whereas" or "but by 1809" in every paragraph. This forces you to put a fact about each period side by side, which is what Level 3 needs.