Chapter 9 The Federalist Era 1789-1800

Lesson 2 Early Challenges

The Whiskey Rebellion

• Part of Hamilton’s financial plan was a tax on whiskey
• 1794
• Tax on whiskey angered frontier farmers
• Farmers also had trouble taking their crops to market because of bad roads
• They decided to make their grain into whiskey

More of the Whiskey Rebellion

• Whiskey would be easier to carry
• They often used whiskey like money to buy salt, sugar, nails, and ammunition
• Did not have money to pay taxes
• The whiskey tax seemed as unfair as British taxes had been
• Some feared more taxes would follow

Results of the Whiskey Rebellion

• Farmers in western Pennsylvania refused to pay the tax
• Farmers took up arms and chased away the tax collectors
• Hamilton convinced Washington that troops should be sent to put down the rebellion
• 13,000 soldiers went into western Pennsylvania
• The rebels fled before a fight
• Showed that the National Government had the power and will to enforce laws

Who convinced Washington to send troops to put down the Whiskey Rebellion?

1. Martha Washington
2. Thomas Jefferson
3. John Adams
4. Alexander Hamilton

Struggle Over the West

• Washington worried about European ambitions for the Northwest Territory
• Washington signed treaties with the Indians
• He hoped that this would lessen the influence of the British and Spanish on them
• American settlers ignored the treaties and moved onto Indian land
• Fighting soon broke out

Washington Sends an Army

• Washington sends in General Arthur St. Clair
• He was to restore order in the Northwest Territory
• November 1791, St. Clair’s forces were defeated by Little Turtle, chief of the Miami people
• More than 600 American soldiers died in the battle by the Wabash River

Alliance With France?

• Many believed an alliance with France would help them defeat the British, Spanish, and Indians in the West
• The possibility of French involvement prompted Britain to take action in the West
• The British urged Indians to destroy American settlements west of the Appalachians
• The British began building a new fort in Ohio

More Fighting

• The Native Americans demanded that all settlers north of the Ohio River leave the territory
• Washington sent another army under Anthony Wayne
• 2,000 Indian troops planned to ambush Wayne’s smaller force
• Wayne’s troops moved closer to Fort Miami

The Battle of Fallen Timbers

• Wayne knew that it was an Indian custom not to eat before battle
• The warriors waited three days for Wayne’s force
• Grew weaker and hungrier
• Wayne soundly defeated the Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers

After the Battle of Fallen Timbers

• Indians fled to Fort Miami
• British closed the gate on them
• British would not help them
• Battle of Fallen Timbers crushed the Indians’ hope of keeping their land
• Indians signed the Treaty of Greenville- agreeing to surrender their homelands in what is now Ohio

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The Treaty of Greenville made the Indians surrender land in which state?

1. Ohio
2. Virginia
3. South Carolina
4. New York

Problems with Europe

• Many Americans cheered the French Revolution, but it soon grew bloody
• France and Britain went to war and Washington hoped to maintain neutrality
• The French sent diplomat Edmund Genet to recruit American volunteers
• Washington then issued a Proclamation of Neutrality
• French and British warships were also barred from American ports

The British Fight Back

• British warships captured American ships that traded with France
• The British forced American sailors to join the British navy (impressment)
• Washington sent John Jay to negotiate peace with Britain, and Jay’s Treaty was signed
• Britain agreed to leave American soil
• It said nothing about the impressment or British interference in trade

Section 2

1. A
2. B
3. C
4. D

Jay’s Treaty was an agreement with what country?

A. Spain

B. France

C. Britain

D. Russia

Treaty With Spain

• Spain feared the US and Britain would work together against them in North America
• Thomas Pickney was sent to Spain to settle the differences
• 1795- Pickney’s Treaty gave the Americans free navigation of the Mississippi River and the right to trade at New Orleans

Washington Leaves Office

• Washington doesn’t seek 3rd term
• Washington's Farewell Address
• urged citizens to “observe good faith and justice to all nations”
• yet also “steer clear of permanent alliances”
• Would influence foreign policy for 100 years
• Washington also warned against political parties

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During the Whiskey Rebellion, farmers peacefully protested a special tax.

1. True
2. False

Washington served three terms as president.

1. True
2. False

Alexander Hamilton's taxes led to rebellion in

1. the Oregon country.
2. western Pennsylvania.
3. Virginia.
4. Boston.

French and British warships were barred from American ports by the

1. Declaration of War.
2. Treaty of Britain.
3. Treaty of Paris.
4. Proclamation of Neutrality.

What did George Washington consider a grave danger to the new nation?

1. settlers moving west
2. national taxes
3. growth of political parties
4. France's influence