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CHAPTER 7 Hammering Out a Federal Republic, 1787%u20131820 257election of 1788, winning forty-four seats in the House of Representatives; only eight Antifederalists won election. As expected, members of the electoral college chose George Washington as president. John Adams received the second-highest number of electoral votes and became vice president.Devising the New Government Once the military savior of his country, Washington now became its political father. At age fifty-seven, the first president possessed great personal dignity and a cautious personality. To maintain continuity, he adopted many of the administrative practices of the Confederation and asked Congress to reestablish the existing executive departments: Foreign Affairs (State), Finance (Treasury), and War. To head the Department of State, Washington chose Thomas Jefferson, a fellow Virginian and an experienced diplomat. For secretary of the treasury, he turned to Alexander Hamilton, a lawyer and his former military aide. The president designated Jefferson, Hamilton, and Secretary of War Henry Knox as his cabinet, or advisory body.The Constitution mandated a supreme court, but the Philadelphia convention gave Congress the task of creating a national court system. The Federalists wanted strong national institutions, and the Judiciary Act of 1789 reflected their vision. The act established a three-tiered system: it created federal district courts in each state and three circuit courts above them to which the decisions of the district courts could be appealed. The Supreme Court would then serve as the appellate court of last resort in the federal system. The Judiciary Act also specified that cases arising in state courts that involved federal laws could be appealed to the Supreme Court. This provision ensured that federal judges would determine the meaning of the Constitution.The Bill of Rights The Federalists kept their promise to consider amendments to the Constitution. James Madison, now a member of the House of Representatives, submitted nineteen amendments to the First Congress; by 1791, ten had been approved by Congress and ratified by the states. These ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, safeguard fundamental personal rights, including freedom of speech and religion, and mandate legal procedures, such as trial by jury. By protecting individual citizens, the amendments eased Antifederalists%u2019 fears of an oppressive national government and secured the legitimacy of the Constitution. They also addressed the issue of federalism: the proper balance between the authority of the national and state governments. But that question was repeatedly contested until the Civil War and remains important today.Hamilton%u2019s Financial ProgramGeorge Washington%u2019s most important decision was choosing Alexander Hamilton as secretary of the treasury. An ambitious self-made man of great intelligence, Hamilton was a prominent lawyer in New York City who had married into the influential Schuyler family, which owned land in the Hudson River Valley. At the Philadelphia convention, he condemned the %u201cdemocratic spirit%u201d and called for an authoritarian government and a president with near-monarchical powers.As treasury secretary, Hamilton devised bold policies to enhance national authority and to assist financiers and merchants. He outlined his plans in three pathbreaking reports to Congress: on public credit (January 1790), on a national bank (December 1790), and on manufactures (December 1791). These reports outlined a coherent program of national mercantilism %u2014 government-assisted economic development. Hamilton%u2019s system immediately sparked disagreement and eventually drove a wedge between him and fellow Federalists Jefferson and James Madison.Public Credit: Redemption and Assumption The financial and social implications of Hamilton%u2019s Report on the Public Credit made it instantly controversial. skills & processesDEVELOPMENTS AND PROCESSESHow did the debate over the balance between liberty and order influence the formation of political parties?Judiciary Act of 1789Act that established federal district courts in each state and three circuit courts to hear appeals from the districts, with the Supreme Court serving as the highest appellate court in the federal system.Bill of RightsThe first ten amendments to the Constitution, officially ratified by 1791. The amendments safeguarded fundamental personal rights, including freedom of speech and religion, and mandated legal procedures, such as trial by jury.exam tipConsider the ways that Hamilton%u2019s financial plan helped spur the growth of the first political party system in the United States.Report on the Public CreditAlexander Hamilton%u2019s 1790 report recommending that the federal government should assume all state debts and fund the national debt%u2014that is, offer interest on it rather than repaying it%u2014at full value. Hamilton%u2019s goal was to make the new country creditworthy, not debt-free.%u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Do not distribute.