1783-1820

=__Timeline:__ = = = **1) 1783: Treaty of Paris:** a) The Treaty of Paris ended the US Revolutionary War with Great Britain. b) Britain had lost the war with American and was forced to end it with this treaty. c) The Treaty was very generous to America, it granted much land and many provisions to the newly created America. d) The generosity of Britain was attributed to their desire not to have America allied strongly with France. e) Set boundaires of US: Mississippi River, 31st parallel, Canada f) Secured fishing rights of Newfoundland The Treaty's development was influenced by the American Revolution, American's alliance with France, Britain's fear of the American alliance with France, America's ideas of natural rights (which were influenced by John Locke), and independence This treaty was very important in the development of the young United States; it allowed America to grow in the acquired land without fear of attack from any world superpowers. It recognized the independence of the US and was a diplomatic triumph for American negotiators.It marked the official start of a new nation. -Rayne

[]

**2) 1787: Northwest Ordinance:** a) The purpose of this ordinance was to establish the Northwest Territory as a part of The United States. b) It was one of the most significant achievements of the weak Articles of Confederation c) It established a system for creating territories in the west d) It laid out a system for the western territories to become states with the same provisions and rights as the original 13 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">e) The expansion of the United States clashed with the Native Americans already living on the land being settled. New policies had to be created in order to deal with the threat and the pioneers conflicted strongly with the Native Americans. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">f) The issue over slavery was exacerbated by the admittance of new territory into the United States, the decision of which state were to be slave or free affected the country largely in the future <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">The Northwest Ordinance's development was influenced by settlers who were attracted to the land north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi, pressure from the Ohio Land Company, Jefferson's support of westward expansion of the new nation, Land Ordinance of 1784, and pressure from land companies. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">The Northwest Ordinance influenced the development of the US by starting the westward expansion of the nation. It also set the precedent for the future issues dealing with whether each state will allow slavery or not. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">-Frank []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">**3) 1788: Constitution Ratified:** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">a) The new government in the United States recognized it must have more structure and power than the Articles of Confederation so a new constitution was written and ratified by the states in 1788 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">b) The articles of confederation, the simple constitution already in place, did not have all of the necessities of a proper constitution. It was too weak, did not allow the central government to raise wealth, or enforce laws. Many people thought a new constitution should be made. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">c) The anti-federalists were against the ratification of a new constitution, believing that a stronger central government would take away the liberty of the citizens. The federalists and anti-federalists conflicted on the course of action until a compromise was made. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">d) The constitution, at the demand of the anti-federalists, was amended to contain a bill of rights to protect the rights of citizens from a Crown-like, strong government. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">The document had many influences from Europe and early America. Some influences were the Magna Carta, Mayflower compact, Fundamental orders of Connecticut, and many other constitutions of early American settlements. It was also influenced by ideas such as natural rights from John Locke. The constitution was also wary of not granting the government so much power like the past oppressive British government. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">The constitution influenced the development of the US by shaping America thoroughly after it was put into place. It is the basis of the American government and, with its many safeguards against corruption, an effective document <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">around which to shape a government. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">-Aiwei

[]

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">**4) 1793: Eli Whitney invents cotton gin:** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">a) Slavery up until 1793 was ubiquitous in the southern states as a form of labor, but the amount of money a slave would make was not outstanding so there was not a huge amount of slaves. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">b) When the cotton gin was invented, the manufacturing of cotton boomed enormously, the amount of cotton that took hours to process by hand could be processed in minutes. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">c) This was very beneficial for the farmers, their profits also increased enormously. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">d) However, with more cotton processed per hour this meant slaves were that much more profitable, one slave being able to do the work of fifty before the cotton gin. With the much more profitable slaves, more and more were brought from Africa. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">e) The slave trade boomed anywhere that could support cotton, it was called white gold because it brought so much money. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">f) The south truly become dependent upon slavery for wealth after the cotton gin, and the whole country profited; making slavery tensions even higher because there was so much money in the trade. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">The invention of the cotton gin was influenced by the Industrial Revolution, the cotton industry, demand of cotton from foreign countries, new innovation in the time period, and pressure from plantation owners to expedite the process. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">The cotton gin influenced the development of the US by making slavery paramount in the South. The prevalence of slavery in the South would lead to the Civil War. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">-Rayne

[]

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">**5) 1793: Fugitive Slave Act:** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">a) After the invention of the cotton gin the slave trade become extremely profitable and people wanted to protect their profit <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">b) Slaves were seen as property, the immorality of slavery had not yet developed, so keeping slaves and laws concerning slaves were effectively property rights. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">c) Many slaves escaped from the Border States into the north where slavery was not legal, this angered slaveholders who lost great amounts of money with every slave. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">d) The fugitive slave act mandated that runaway slaves be returned <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">e) This law was created because the very wealthy slaveholders wanted to protect their wealth, which was dependent upon slaves. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">f) This act only created more tension between free and slave states, because many free states disobeyed the laws. This was another step towards civil war. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">The Fugitive Slave Act was influenced by the cotton gin, the profitable slave trade, the cotton industry's need for slaves, idea of slaves as property, and wealthy slave holders. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">This Act influenced the development of the US by exacerbating the tenstion between free and slave states which will lead to the Civil War. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">-Aiwei [] []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">**6) 1798: XYZ Affair:** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">a) In the events leading up to the XYZ affair, French and American tensions were growing during the presidency of John Adams <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">b) A diplomatic meeting was arranged, with three Frenchmen representing the French Republic, named, after the fact, as X,Y and Z; hence the name. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">c) During the meeting, the Frenchmen demanded exorbitant tributes: fifty-thousand pounds of silver and a personal bribe. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">d) The Americans were outraged and became extremely offended, they delivered their report to John Adams, who was equally angry. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">e) When the public learned of the affair, many were angry with the French, and the Federalist Party took the opportunity to pass the alien and sedition acts, for their personal gain of hurting the Democratic - Republican Party. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">f) The affair was the tipping point in tensions between America and France, an undeclared war called the quasi-war began, that lasted for two years. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">g) The Quasi War and in turn the XYZ affair affected America for years to come by decrementing relations with France and building relations with Britain <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">The XYZ Affair was influenced by Jay's Treaty which upset the French government, volatile relations with France, France's seizement of American ships, America trying to stay on neutral terms with Europe, and resulted in a distressed foregin policy <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">The XYZ Affair influenced the development of the U.S by starting the Quasi-War. It also was a crucial event in early foreign policy. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">-Rayne []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">**7) 1798: Alien and Sedition Acts:** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">a) Tensions between America and France were great during and before 1798 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">b) The French revolution was being waged, causing many French to immigrate to America, naturalization made many Americans angry with foreigners, the two groups quarreled and the Americans disliked the French. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">c) The XYZ Affair exacerbated the situation further, making many Americans open to anti-foreigner legislation. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">d) The Federalist and Democratic - Republican Party were also quarreling, John Adams was the Federalist President at the time and he wished to hurt the Democratic - Republican Party. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">e) John Adams and the federalists passed the Alien and Sedition acts combined to do two things: The Alien acts allowed the president to expel foreigners from the country; and the Sedition act to make publishing anti-government material criminal. Americans supported the alien acts; however, they did not support the sedition act, many thought it to be anti-free-speech. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">f) The Alien and Sedition Acts helped form America’s political system by strengthening the system of checks and balances, which was deemed more necessary after this affair. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">The Alien and Sedition Acts were influenced by threat of war with France, threat of pro-French Irish immigrants, Federalists against the Democratic-Republicans, the fact that immigrants supported the Democratic-Republicans, and the Federalist need to stop Republican criticisms. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">The Alien and Sedition Acts influenced the development fo the U.S by setting the precedent that a national government cannot become to strong before it ceases power, hence the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">-Matt



[] []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">**8) 1803: Marbury vs. Madison:** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">a) When the new constitution was ratified in 1788, the third article: about the judicial branch was relatively unformed and the precedent for many things had to be set. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">b) When John Adams had lost the presidential election of 1800 to Thomas Jefferson, Adams and the federalists attempted to fill the political system with federalists before leaving office. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">c) One man, named Marbury, was appointed as Justice of the Peace by John Adams in the last moments of Adams presidency but James Madison, a Democratic - Republican refused to deliver the appointment. Marbury brought it to the courts. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">d) The court ruled that not delivering the letter was criminal but they also declared it unconstitutional for Marbury to be appointed. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Marbury vs. Madison was influenced by the 'midnight judges', the undefined power of the courts, Federalists vs. Democratic-Republicans, constitutionality of laws, and politics. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">This ruling established and set the precedent for judicial review, the power of the courts to declare something unconstitutional. This ruling changed America’s court system for many years to come, by giving it the arguably most powerful political tool, the ability to nullify anything that went against the constitution. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">-Aiwei []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">**9) 1803: Louisiana Purchase:** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">a) In 1803, French was in a time of war and Napoleon Bonaparte was running out of money. France also still had a great dislike of Britain and wished for a large power to humble them. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">b) With the current situation, Napoleon made the decision to sell the Louisiana territory to America for an extremely low price, less than three cents per acre. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">c) Jefferson underwent great political turmoil based upon this decision, he believed in a strict interpretation of the constitution, and his interpretation did not include the power to acquire territory. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">d) However, Jefferson could not pass up the extreme opportunity to double the size of the United States for fifteen million dollars and took Napoleons offer. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">e) The acquired territory included fifteen states and was 828,000 square miles; it is now over twenty three percent of America. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">f) The added territory gave America great wealth and much more room to grow. The purchase also secured the use of the Mississippi river. It had the intended effect Napoleon wished for, greatly increasing America’s power. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">The development of the Louisiana Purchase was influenced by America's need to expand, America's need to gain power, interpretation of the Constitution, relations with the French, and Napoleon's need for money. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">The Louisiana Purchase influenced the development of the United States by adding a vast amount of land to the nation. The land acquired would eventually turn out to be 14 additional states. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">-Matt

[]

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">**10) 1812: War of 1812:** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">a) The two greatest superpowers circa 1812 were France and Britain, they were at constant war and the tension created instabilities in trade, America was very unhappy about this. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">b) British ships at the time were also involved in the practice of impressment, where British ships would forcibly take men from American ships into their navy. Something greatly disliked by Americans. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">c) Eventually tensions grew to the level where America and Great Britain declared war on each other. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">d) The war lasted until 1815, when the Treaty of Ghent was signed and Status Quo Ante Bellum was put into place, meaning everything returned to how it was before the war. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">e) Although there was no definite winner, it was considered as almost a second war of independence on Britain, where America defended themselves once again. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">f) A sense of patriotism followed the war where Americans truly felt like they were a force to be dealt with, a feeling that is still prevalent in America today. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">The War of 1812's development was influenced by Britain's seizure of American ships, trade restrictions with France, British ships taking American sailors, the Napoleonic Wars, and the French Revolution. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">The War of 1812 created patriotism in the country. Also, 'The Star Spangled Banner' was written by Francis Scott Key during this war. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">-Frank []


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">__Ten Important Figures__ **

1. **George Washington** -Rayne []
 * First President
 * Set precedents for future presidents to govern the country
 * Figure of American History throughout the Civil War and through this time period he is likely one of the most well known persons
 * He allowed the new nation of the United States to be able to prosper and grow by staying neutral from European events
 * His Farewell Address warned against European relations and supported neutrality

2. **John Adams** -Matt []
 * Second president of the United States 1797-1801
 * Founding Father
 * Framer of the United States as a member of the first and second Continental Congress
 * Served as a diplomat to France helping keep America out of war involvement
 * Represented Soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre
 * XYZ affair which was a test of his neutrality with France
 * Appointed the infamous "midnight judges"

3. **Thomas Jefferson** -Frank
 * Author of the Constitution
 * He came up with the Virginia statute of religious freedom which separated church and state
 * This issue still remains hotly debated today, and has even caused lawsuits
 * Made the Louisiana Purchase as president which was the largest single purchase and expansion of the United States Territory
 * Major Anti-Federalist/ Democratic-Republican figure

[]

4. **James Madison** -Frank []
 * Fourth president 1809-1817
 * Assisted in writing the Federalist Papers
 * Drafted the Bill of Rights
 * Marbury v. Madison - Part of this landmark case that established judicial review by his refusal to accept writs of mandamus from Marbury

5. **William Marbury** -Aiwei []
 * One of the 'midnight judges'
 * Objected the views of James Madison in the landmark supreme court case
 * Helped establish judicial review through his public outcry
 * Imagine how many unjust laws would be in place without his influence!

6. **Eli Whitney** -Matt []
 * Invented the cotton gin which caused a boom in the cotton industry and lead to the dependence on slaves in the South
 * This invention began to shape the economy of the south at the beginning of the industrial revolution
 * Resulted in a great increase in efficiency at the expense, of course, of slaves

7. **Alexander Hamilton** -Frank []
 * Major Federalist figure
 * Secretary of Treasury to the Washington administration
 * Conflicted with Jefferson on ideals of strength of the federal government
 * Influenced Washington's decision making, made him
 * Created the national bank and financial plan for the nation
 * Would be influential in the coming years
 * Removed debt through tariffs (no income tax)

8. **John Jay** -Rayne
 * Believed in strong central government and helped write the influencial Federalist Papers
 * Jay's Treaty
 * Held many implications in the expansion of United States foreign policy (explained in more detail in the timeline)
 * First Chief Justice of the United States

[] 9. **Napoleon** -Aiwei
 * Louisiana Purchase
 * Resulted in the largest territorial acquisition by the United States to this date

[]

10.**John Marshall** > -Matt []
 * Chief Justice of the Supreme Court 1801-1835
 * Set many precedents for the Supreme Court and building a strong federal government with many rulings of influential cases such as Marbury vs Madison and Gibbons vs Ogden
 * Last stronghold of Federalism within the Supreme Court
 * Held his doctrines until finally his term ended

__**Sources:**__
 * [] Archiving Early America; created by Archiving Early America; used for info about Northwest Ordinance (Event 2)
 * [] History.com; David and Jeanne Heidler; used for info on War of 1812 (Event 10)
 * [] Planet Garner; Mr. Garner; basic info which we remembered and used to write the remaining of the wiki