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| Acts passed by a Federalist Congress raising the residency requirement for citizenship to fourteen years and granting the president the power to deport dangerous foreigners in times of peace. |
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| Transfer of debt from one party to another. In order to strengthen the union, the federal government assumed states’ Revolutionary War debts in 1790, thereby tying the interests of wealthy lenders with those of the national government. |
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| Bank of the United States (1791) |
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| Chartered by Congress as part of Alexander Hamilton's financial program, the bank printed paper money and served as a depository for Treasury funds. It drew opposition from Jeffersonian Republicans, who argued that the bank was unconstitutional. |
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| Popular term for the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The amendments secure key rights for individuals and reserve to the states all powers not explicitly delegated or prohibited by the Constitution. |
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| Agreement to formally dissolve the United States' treaty with France, originally signed during the Revolutionary War. The difficulties posed by America’s peacetime alliance with France contributed to Americans’ longstanding opposition to entangling alliances with foreign powers. |
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| Tax on goods produced domestically. Excise taxes, particularly the 1791 tax on whiskey, were a highly controversial component of Alexander Hamilton’s financial program. |
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| Battle of Fallen Timbers(1794) |
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| Decisive battle between the Miami confederacy and the U.S. Army. British forces refused to shelter the routed Indians, forcing the latter to attain a peace settlement with the United States. |
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| George Washington's address at the end of his presidency, warning against "permanent alliances" with other nations. Washington did not oppose all alliances, but believed that the young, fledgling nation should forge alliances only on a temporary basis, in extraordinary circumstances. |
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| Payment of debts, such as government bonds, at face value. In 1790, Alexander Hamilton proposed that the federal government pay its Revolutionary war debts in full in order to bolster the nation’s credit. |
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| Treaty of Greenville(1795) |
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| Under the terms of the treaty, the Miami Confederacy agreed to cede territory in the Old Northwest to the United States in exchange for cash payment, hunting rights and formal recognition of their sovereign status. |
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| Negotiated by Chief Justice John Jay in an effort to avoid war with Britain, the treaty included a British promise to evacuate outposts on U.S. soil and pay damages for seized American vessels, in exchange for which, Jay bound the United States to repay pre-Revolutionary war debts and to abide by Britain's restrictive trading policies toward France. |
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| Organized the federal legal system, establishing the Supreme Court, federal district and circuit courts, and the office of the attorney general. |
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| Neutrality Proclamation (1793) |
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| Issued by George Washington, it proclaiming America's formal neutrality in the escalating conflict between England and France, a statement that enraged pro-French Jeffersonians. |
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| Signed with Spain which, fearing an Anglo-American alliance, granted Americans free navigation of the Mississippi and the disputed territory of Florida. |
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| Reign of Terror (1793-1794) |
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| Ten-month period of brutal repression when some 40,000 individuals were executed as enemies of the French Revolution. While many Jeffersonians maintained their faith in the French Republic, Federalists withdrew their already lukewarm support once the Reign of Terror commenced. |
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| Enacted by the Federalist Congress in an effort to clamp down on Jeffersonian opposition, the law made anyone convicted of defaming government officials or interfering with government policies liable to imprisonment and a heavy fine. The act drew heavy criticism from Republicans, who let the act expire in 1801. |
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| Tax levied on imports. Traditionally, manufacturers support tariffs as protective and revenue-raising measures, while agricultural interests, dependent on world markets, oppose high tariffs. |
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| Virginia and Kentucky resolutions (1798-1799) |
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| Statements secretly drafted by Jefferson and Madison for the legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia. Argued that states were the final arbiters of whether the federal government overstepped its boundaries and could therefore nullify, or refuse to accept, national legislation they deemed unconstitutional. |
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| Popular uprising of Whiskey distillers in southwestern Pennsylvania in opposition to an excise tax on Whiskey. In a show of strength and resolve by the new central government, Washington put down the rebellion with militia drawn from several states. |
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| Diplomatic conflict between France and the United States when American envoys to France were asked to pay a hefty bribe for the privilege of meeting with the French foreign minister. Many in the U.S. called for war against France, while American sailors and privateers waged an undeclared war against French merchants in the Caribbean. |
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| The second president of the United States, whose Federalist enemies and political weaknesses undermined his administration |
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| Washington’s secretary of state and the organizer of a political party opposed to Hamilton’s policies |
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| Brilliant administrator and financial wizard whose career was plagued by doubts about his character and his beliefs concerning popular government |
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| Skillful politician-scholar who drafted the Bill of Rights and moved it through the First Congress |
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| Body organized by the Judiciary Act of 1789 and first headed by John Jay |
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| Hamilton’s aggressive financial policies of paying off all federal bonds and taking on all state debts |
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| Bank of the United States |
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| Institution established by Hamilton to create a stable currency and bitterly opposed by states’ rights advocates |
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| A protest by poor western farmers that was firmly suppressed by Washington and Hamilton’s army |
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| Political party that believed in a strong government run by the wealthy, government aid to business, and a pro-British foreign policy |
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| Political party that believed in the common people, no government aid for business, and a pro-French foreign policy |
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| General Anthony Wayne’s victory over the Miami Indians that brought Ohio territory under American control |
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| Harsh and probably unconstitutional laws aimed at radical immigrants and Jeffersonian writers |
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| Ten constitutional amendments designed to protect American liberties |
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| Washington’s Farewell Address |
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| Message telling America that it should avoid unnecessary foreign entanglements—a reflection of the foreign policy of its author |
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| Secret code names for three French agents who attempted to extract bribes from American diplomats in 1797 |
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