“I shall only say that I hold with Montesquieu, that a government must be fitted to a nation, as much as a coat to the individual; and, consequently, that what may be good at Philadelphia may be bad at Paris, and ridiculous at Petersburg [Russia].”
- Alexander Hamilton, 1799
I. Setting the Stage
A. A Necessary Evil
B. Challenging Times
II. Growing Pains
A. Population Explosion
III. Washington for President
A. A Unanimous Selection
B. Creating the Cabinet
IV. The Bill of Rights
A. Heading the List of Imperatives
B. Organizing the Courts
V. Hamilton Revives the Corpse of Public Credit
A. A Key Figure Emerges
B. Hamilton’s Plan
VI. Customs Duties and Excise Taxes
A. Debt: A National Blessing?
B. Where is the Money?
VII. Hamilton Battles Jefferson for a Bank
A. Hamilton Calls for a Bank
VIII. Mutinous Moonshiners in Pennsylvania
A. The Whiskey Rebellion (’94)
B. Washington Responds
IX. The Emergence of Political Parties
A. Hamilton’s Success Creates Political Liabilities
X. The Impact of the French Revolution
A. The “Global” Revolution
B. The Reign of Terror
XI. Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation
A. The Revolution Hits Home
B. Neutrality Proclamation (’93)
XII. Embroilments with Britain
A. A Decade of Defiance
XIII. Jay’s Treaty and Washington’s Farewell
A. A Desperate Gamble
B. Washington’s Farewell
XIV. John Adams Becomes President
A. Who Should Succeed?
XV. Unofficial Fighting with France
A. French Condemnations
B. The XYZ Affair
XVI. Adams Puts Patriotism Above Party
A. France Backs Down
XVII. The Federalist Witch Hunt
A. The Alien and Sedition Acts
XVIII. The Virginia (Madison) and Kentucky (Jefferson) Resolutions
A. Jeffersonian Do Not Back Down
XIX. Federalists Versus Democratic-Republicans
A. Two Parties Crystallize
B. Jefferson – A Bundle of Inconsistencies
C. Foreign Policy Issues
XX. State of the Nation
A. A Nation in Peril?