Class on Jan 10th

I want to start by saying how proud I am of all of you with the questions that you wrote in reference to 'We Shall Remain'.  They were excellent questions! 

I also wanted to correct and clarify my comments about the Presidential pollitical parties.  I stated that the President from the time of Andrew Jackson to Lincoln was Democratic and that was not accurate.  There were a couple of exceptions that I will explain below.  It was true, however, that the Democratic party beginning with Jefferson, and strengthened by the popularity of Jackson with the general public had developed a strategy for winning the Executive office that was almost unstoppable.  This strategy consisted of keeping the southern states together and behind the same candidate as one voting block and pursuing an alliance with the northern Democrats (usually in NY and often with the selection of a northern V.P.) to gain the number of electoral votes necessary to win the election.

The first exception was William Henry Harrison (he was a Whig) in the election of 1840.  Martin Van Buren was running for re-election (remember he was Jackson's Vice President and was elected after Jackson's second term).  Jackson's 'war on the banks' set in motion a national economic depression for which Van Buren  suffered the consequences.  It was this depression which lost the Democrats the election.  Harrison won the election based on his military career as a general at the Battle of Tippecanoe and in the War of 1812.  He died after only one month in office and thus his Vice President, John Tyler, became the second Whig President, finishing Harrison's office.

James K. Polk (Democrat) was elected the next election after Tyler.  He ran on the idea of expansion (Manifest Destiny) and brought about the Mexican American War in pursuit of making this a nation that spanned from 'sea to shining sea'.  Polk had promised to serve only one term and kept that promise.  His one fear was that the Mexican American War would provide a platform for another Whig military hero President.  He allowed the Mexican War to go on longer than necessary in his efforts to keep from creating such a hero, but it was to no avail.  Zachary Taylor who did indeed become such a hero was elected President in 1848.  He too died in office just after his first year (Whig Presidents did not have much success in keeping their office it seemed) and his Vice President, Millard Fillmore, also a Whig, finished out his term.

Here is a list of Presidents and their political parties for your reference:

George Washington (no party) 2 terms
John Adams (Federalist) 1 term
Thomas Jefferson (Democratic Republican) 2 terms
James Madison (Democratic Republican) 2 terms    
 James Monroe (Democratic Repulican) 2 terms
John Quincy Adams (Democratic Republican, but his ideas were seen as more Federalist) 1 term
Andrew Jackson (Democrat) 2 terms
Martin Van Buren (Democrat) 1 term -- economic depression
William Henry Harrison (Whig) - 1 month -- military hero
John Tyler (Whig) 1 term (finished out Harrison's term)
James K. Polk (Democrat) 1 term (he did not run for re-election)
Zachary Taylor (Whig) - just over one year -- military hero
Millard Fillmore (Whig) 1 term (finished out Taylor's term)
Franklin Pierce (Democrat) 1 term
James Buchanan (Democrat) 1 term
Abraham Lincoln (Republican) 1 term -- assassinated

The Democratic-Republican Presidents are known as 'The Jeffersonians'.  The Democrats are known as 'Jacksonians'.

Madison, Jefferson, and the Separation of Church & State

Source:  Isebrand.com

I’m going to list page references in the book that you can use to help you in answering this question.  They go all the way back to chapter four:

pp 110-112 The congress under the Articles of Confederation include a couple of components that deal with this issue.  The first is at the top of the page and talks about moral education.  The second is a quote from the first article of the Northwest Ordinance.  It is important to note that this part of the Ordinance was modeled after the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom which was authored and introduced into the Virginia assembly by Thomas Jefferson.

Also in this passage you can see an excerpt of Madison’s Memorial and Remonstrance which was a response to a religious bill introduced by Patrick Henry.

p 121 On this page there is a quote from Article VI of the Constitution of the United States (this is not the Bill of Rights, but the actual Constitution itself). 

pp 129-130 This passage talks about Madison’s election to the VA ratification congress.  The Baptist pastor, Leland, mentioned here is the same pastor of the ‘mammoth cheese’ when Jefferson is elected president!  In this passage Bennett really tries to explain Madison’s belief about religious liberty. 

p 142 The first amendment of the Constitution (the Bill of Rights) written by Madison includes a reference to freedom of religion.

Now we are up to Chapter 6.

p 179 Here is John Leland again of the mammoth cheese. You need to consider what happened after he arrived to see Jefferson and pay attention to the foot notes in your text.  (You should always read your foot notes!!)

pp 179-180 The Danbury Baptists ask President Jefferson to declare a national day of fasting and prayer.  Consider Jefferson’s response and pay attention to the last sentence of the second paragraph.

Pp 180-181 What was Jefferson’s response to the Federalist’s attacks on Jefferson’s beliefs?  This is the quote from the letter to Dr. Bejamin Rush.

After you have considered all of this evidence and summarized it, ask yourself what kind of case Bennett is making and laying out regarding Jefferson’s intentions when he speaks and acts in favor of a separation between Church & State.  I think Bennett is expressing a particular point of view here and I’m asking you to consider if he is making a fair case, one that you can agree with or trust.

The Demise of the Federalist Party

To understand the Demise of the Federalist Party you need to make sure you understand how it was formed.  It was the very first American political party.  Prior political parties were actually English political parties – the Whigs and the Tories which originated during reformation era in England.  The Whigs wanted Parliament to have more power than the king, they were anti-Catholic and pro-Protestant, and called themselves the ‘Country’ party as opposed to the ‘Court’ party.  The Tories, the ‘Court’ party, were for the king and believed in his ‘Devine Right’ to rule.  They were in favor of the Church of England (the Anglican Church) and hated non-conformists all of which made the protestant Whigs think they were pro-Catholic.

While during the American Revolution I think that neither party was opposed to protestant ideas (I’m not certain of this however), the terms Whig and Tory were used to differentiate people who were for American Independence (Whigs) and people who were still loyal to the crown of England (Loyalists or Tories).

Most of the Tories fled to England or Canada or other places during the Revolution.  There was a large group who fled to Florida and later resettled in Georgia.  Some of them however stayed and suffered persecution and indignities during the war, had property ceased and confiscated, etc.  Since most of the Tory political leaders left, though, there was no longer a Tory political powerbase and because many of the Tories were wealthier citizens during Colonialism – merchants and the like, when they left it destroyed the hierarchy and class stratification that was very prominent during colonialism in New England. 

This removal of a previous power base allowed the rise of a new class of wealthy men and smaller merchants to grow in standing, but these men did not hold the same views of aristocracy and elitism as the loyalist Tories.  Their ideas were very ‘Republican’ meaning Democratic/Republican of the variety of Jefferson who saw their fellow men as equal.  Here’s an interesting quote from a rich patriot in Boston in 1779:  "fellows who would have cleaned my shoes five years ago, have amassed fortunes and are riding in chariots."

So at the end of the Revolution and the beginning of the United States there was really only one political power – the Whigs.  So how did the Federalist Party begin?  It was begun by Alexander Hamilton.  Remember that he was a member of Washington’s cabinet – he served as Washington’s Secretary of Treasury and Washington relied on his financial knowledge.  While serving under Washington Hamilton amassed a group of supporters for his fiscal ideas – remember that he urged that the Federal government assume the states Revolutionary War debts (which created our very first national debt) but he also had a plan for paying it off.  He also advocated for a National Bank, was in favor of tarriffs, and saw that we would need to have good relations with Brittain in order to survive.  In esssence they believed in a very strong, centralized Federal government that had powers above that of the states.  Do you remember Hamilton’s argument for ‘energy in the Executive’?  (This was the same argument that threatened to boil over during the writing of The Constitution, remember?  States Rights vs. Federal rights?  It was part of the reason why some states refused to ratify the constitution without a Bill of Rights.  Their ideas were laid out in detail in 'The Federalist Papers'.) 

That group of supporters that Hamilton gathered around him?  They were rich merchants and bankers and centered around larger cities and was much more prominent in New England.  John Adams allied himself with the Federalist party and was the only Federal U.S. President.  Washington was sympathetic to some of their ideas but never joined the party choosing to remain ‘independent’.  Jefferson’s followers, the ‘Jeffersonians’, came to be known as the ‘Republicans’ because they were opposed to mainly the fiscal policies of the Federalists.  Jefferson was vehemently opposed to the idea of a National Bank, and there seemed to be a sense of elitism associated with the Federalists that rankled more people than just Jefferson.  Remember that how Washington ‘held court’ while president had ranlked Jefferson and he made a pointed effort to put everyone on equal footing in the White House when he became president.  He called Hamilton and Adams and their supporters ‘Monocrats’ referring to monarchists.  (Remember the debaucle Adams had while VP over what to call president Washington?  I made up a little rhyme ‘too long gone and a royalist tone’ to describe Adams.  He had spent to much time in London and came back talking more like a Brit than a patriot!  Refer to the dinner conversation with Washington, Adams, Hamilton and Jeffeson on page 152 to see more of these ideas and how shocked Jeffeson was by them.

Jeffeson gave in to Hamilton though on this issue when he ‘log-rolled’ or voteswapped, exchaging support for Hamilton’s ideas and influencing is more southern power base to favor them in exchange fore buildig the capital on the Potomac (which put it between two slave states).  Hamilton’s Department of Treasury quickly became the largest portion of the federal governmet with close to 500 employees while all the others all together only had 22!  This idea of ‘big government’ and ‘small government’ is not a new disagreement!!   

All of this background brings you to the moment of the election of 1800 and the beginning of the demise of the Federalist party.  It began actually at the end of Chapter 5 (pp 171-176).  Here are some questions to ask yourself and help you answer this opportunity question:

            #1 Why/how did Adams lose this election?

            #2  Look at the election of 1802 on p 181.   What did they use in order to attack Jefferson and gain votes in the House during that election?  What does that say about the focus of their political ideas and actions?

            #3 On pp 184-185 look at how Federalists acted toward Jefferson sending Monroe to France to help Livingston in his dealings with Napoleon.  How did the deal that Jefferson actually made reflect on the Federalists?

            #4 Look at how the success of Jefferson as president despite their attacks on him from all sides made the Federalis feel (p 186).  These fears and ideas played out with VP Burr (pp 189-191) and influenced the results of the 1804 election.  Even after Jeffeson’s less successful 2^nd term what were the results of the 1808 election? (p. 196-197 – yes, I know this is beyond what you read this week, but I just thought I could use it to underline the point.)

Keep all of these things in mind as we continue reading this chapter.  The term ‘Federalsit’ will become almost as detested as the term ‘Tory’!

Chapter 6 The Jeffersonians

Chapter 6 is a very long and action packed chapter.  For this reason we will be spending 3 weeks on Chapter 6.  Below are your readings and assignments for the next 3 weeks.  The Google Document of these assignments is HERE.   

In the coming days I'll be making blog posts with some explanations and helps of some things in the reading.  If you have questions as you read please talk with one another and as a last resort ask me!
Chapter 6 Assignments