RichieNgo

Wolf16
HonorsEssay#3:TheVirginiaDynasty

George Washington was the CommanderinChief of the Continental Army and later the first
president of the UnitedStates. Washington remainsa very prominent iconintheUnitedStates. Hewas
popular among the people for many reasons. For example, Washington had a stellar reputation.
Washington was a very reputable leader in the Revolutionary War. He was also known for having
presence. Washington looked like a natural leader and that was illustrated whenever he walked into a
room.Althoughheidentifiedas beingprimarily aFederalist, hewasverybipartisanandlistenedtoboth
sides.BothpartiestrustedWashingtonbecausehewasntbiasedtowardseitherside.
Alexander Hamilton was the Secretary of Treasury under Washingtons presidency, hes also
considered a Founding Father of the United States. He was a very hard worker known for beingvery
persistent and diplomatic.Hamiltondidntgrow upin awealthy family,hehadanillegitimatebirthand
was raised in theVirgin Islands. Hewas aselfmademanwho worked hard togainhisresponsibilities.
Hamilton identified asbeing aFederalist, wrotemany of the FederalistPapers,andwasa framer forthe
Constitution. As the SecretaryofTreasuryhetookmanyprocedurestobenefitthenationsfinancialstate.
Hamilton founded the U.S. mint and National Bank, a federal reserve that controlled currency. He
imposed taxes, a system of tariffs, and created Federal Bonds to pay off debt from the Revolution.
Hamilton convincedthe wealthymen to paytaxesensuringthatwhatevertheypaidwillbepaidbackwith
interest.HewasknownforbeingveryproBritishandencouragedtradewiththem.
Thomas Jefferson was a Founding Father of the United States as well as being the principal
author oftheU.SConstitution.UnderWashingtons cabinet he served astheSecretaryof State. He was
veryantifederalist andopposed Hamiltons nationalbank.Jefferson supportedtheWhiskeyRebellion,a
response to the tariffs Hamilton placed because he disagreed with taxes. He felt that Hamilton was

mimicking the British government byplacingtaxesoncommonitemsandwaspushingprogressfromthe

Revolution backwards. Hedubbedthefamousquote Thetreeoflibertymust be refreshedfrom timeto
time,withthebloodofpatriotsandtyrants.Jeffersondidnotbelieveinabigcentralizedgovernment. He
had a very pastoral and rural vision of America, he envisioned the United States as a small localized
governmentbasedonagriculture.
Washington served two terms as president. He only served twice becausehedidntwantto be
seenas aking. DuringhisFarewell Address he warned the United States againstinvolvementinforeign
affairs,havinga standing army,andhavingpoliticalparties.Washingtonwarnedagainstgettinginvolved
in foreign entanglements because he thought that we should be more focused on our own nation. He
forewarnedthatgetting involvedinforeign politicswas very problematic andthat warswouldjustcause
unnecessary debt. Washington discouraged astanding army infavorofsmallmilitias. He thought that a
standingarmywould be toothreatening,he fearedthatifothercountriessawthat the United States was
raisinga hugearmythey wouldbegin toform their own.He alsorepressed theideaofmultiplepolitical
parties. Washington warned about having opposing parties because they would lead to gridlocks. He
believedthata dividedstatewouldget nothing doneandthatpeopleshouldremainloyaltoAmerica,not
justpolarizedopinions.
John Adams served as the vice president under Washingtons presidency. He laterbecame the
second president ofthe United States after Washingtonsfarewelladdress. Adamswasknown forbeing
very prickly and pompous. People didnt like him as much as they liked Washington, granted he had
Washingtons shoes to fill. He was very biased and didnt have the countrys best interests at heart.
Adams operatedonhisownagenda.Hewasverycompetitiveandlikedtohavehisway.Adamsprovedto
be very unpopular to the masses. His actions during his presidency were very contentious and led to
conflict.

Adams was very concernedabout globalconflict. TheBritishnavybegantakingAmericanships

at sea and impressing them. To avoid further conflict Adams sent John Jaytobroker atreatywith the
British.Hamilton,whowasknown forbeingproBritish,heardaboutthisandrevealedinformationtothe
British that compromised Jays ability to forge an agreement in favor of the Americans. This treaty
became formally known as Jays Treaty. The treaty did not make the French, who had conflict with
Britain, happy.InordertorestoregoodrelationswithFrance,Adamssentambassadorstomeet withthree
Frenchambassadors. This eventwasdubbedtheXYZAffairbecauseX,Y,andZweretheinitialsofthe
three French diplomats. The French refused to listen to the American ambassadors unless they were
bribed.ThisledtoamassiveoutcryagainsttheFrench.SincetheFrenchwouldnt cooperatewithoutafee
torestorerelations,ithurttheAmericansprideasanewnation.
After Jays Treaty and the XYZ Affair, Adams lost a lot of populace.The unwanted attention
marred his reputation and hurt his pride. It was during this time that Jefferson, who was Adamsvice
president, began toorganize his ownpoliticalcampaign. ThoughJefferson didnotpubliclyannouncehis
disapproval,hediscreetlybeganto undermineAdams. Outoffearofnotbeingreelected,Adams passed
the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Alien Act gave the power to expel foreigners who were plotting
against the United States and made it hard for immigrants togaincitizenship.Immigrantsweretypically
AntiFederalist so passing the Alien Act was Adams way of suppressing them. The Sedition Act
prohibited the mediafrom publishing negativefeedbackofthefederalgovernment.Adamspassedtheact
in order to prevent public opposition of him,whichgrewalong withFederalist support..The acts were
highly controversial, many people thought of them as unconstitutional and violating the First
Amendment.ThisbecamefuelforJeffersontobuildhiscampaign.
Jeffersonwas the thirdpresidentoftheUnitedStates.Hewasknownforbeingasomewhattimid
character. Jeffersondidntlikepublicspeaking, he wasknownforbeinga shy member ofCongressthat
preferred to contribute to politics with his pen. Along with James Madison, he cofounded the

DemocraticRepublicanParty.Jeffersonsupportedstaterightsand republicanism,hepromotedtheidea of
liberty and individual rights. He was a supporter of the common man. Jeffersons ideal America was
agrarianandasmalllocalizedstate.
TheVirginiaandKentuckyResolutionswaswritten byMadison and Jefferson.Thepaperswere
documents of state legislatures that disproved the Alien and Sedition Acts as unconstitutional. Since
Jefferson was still Adams vice president at the timeofits publication, Jeffersonhadto secretlyghost
write thedocuments alongwith Madison.Thedocuments helped Jeffersonscampaignforpresidencyby
criticizingAdams.
Thepresidential election in1800 wasbetweenAdams,Jefferson,andAaronBurr.Adamswasa
weakcontenderfortheelectionbecause ofhisfailureserving his previoustermaspresident.Becauseof
this,competitionforoffice wasprimarily between Jeffersonand Burr.AlexanderHamiltonwasstrongly
opposedto Burr because ofa personalgrudge. Hamiltonintervenesby spreading rumorsabout Burrand
convincing the Federalists that Jefferson was a lesser political evil. He accused Burr of having an
illegitimate relationship with his daughter, which sparked massive controversy. Burr consequently
challenged Hamilton to a duel. Whether it was inadvertent or not, Hamilton was killed by Burr. An
apology note addressed to Burr was later found in Hamiltons clothes which ruined hisreputation.He
subsequentlylosttheelectionbylosingpublicfavorfromkillingHamilton.
JohnAdams wasstillbitterfrom allthesubsequentevents. As alasthurrah,beforehe leftoffice
he appointed many Midnight Judges to Congress. These judges were Federalists whowould support
him in federal court to go against Jefferson. They were dubbed Midnight Judges because all of the
paperworktoappointthem werepassedthenightbeforeAdamsleftoffice,allbutone.WilliamMarbury
wassupposed tobeappointedasoneofthemidnightjudges,butfor somereasonhispaperworkdidnt go
through in time. Jefferson stated that Marbury couldnt be appointed unless the paperwork was there.
Marbury was very upset and consequentially sued James Madison, who was the Secretary of State in

chargeof the paperwork, claimingthathestillhadtherighttobeappointedasajudge.Thecasemadeits

way to the Supreme Court where it was reviewed by John Marshall. Marshall ruled thatMadison and
Jefferson were right. He further claimed that Marburys decision to bring the case up to the Supreme
Court was unconstitutional, going against the third article of the Constitution. Consequently this
established judicial review,which gavetheSupremeCourt the rightto declarelawsasunconstitutional.
ThisallowedtheSupremeCourttokeepchecksandbalanceswithinthefederalgovernment.
TheLouisianaPurchase was afamouseventthatmarkedthe beginning ofWestwardExpansion.
In 1803, Thomas Jefferson purchased 828,000 square miles fromtheFrench whichdoubled the sizeof
Americaslandmass. Jeffersonwasabletopurchasethe landatabargainbecausetheFrenchwereindebt
from their recent revolution against the British. The event was ironic because Jefferson had a small
localized, agrarian vision of America. His notion was counter intuitive because Jefferson wanted more
farmland for farmers to grow crops, but by doubling Americas landmass he created a larger federal
government.
JamesMadison becamethefourthpresident of the United States.HesconsideredtheFatherof
theConstitutionandbelievedinabalancedfederalgovernment.Madisonintroducedtheideaof thethree
branches of government with checks and balances. Unlike previous presidents, Madison didnt have a
sizablepresence.Hewasvery studious,cautious,andthoughhewasconsideredagoodjudgeofcharacter
andissueshewasalsoindecisive.MadisonwasantifederalistandknownforbeingproFrench.
Madisons indecisive natureledto the War of1812. The war had threemaincauses,Madisons
bias for the French, British conflict, and pressure from the Warhawks. Because of his overcautious
character Madison blocked off all trade with France and England.Theembargoplaced onbothparties
tolled ontheAmericaneconomy.ConsequentlytheembargowasliftedforFrancebut notEngland. The
Britishwere very upset which had itsconsequences. It wasdiscovered the the Britishweretradingwith
the Indians. The support the British gave the Indians angered the Warhawks, who fought against the

Indians. The Warhawks were knownforescalating situations andsupporting war.They putpressureon

Madison to engage in a second war against the British because they encouraged the Indians to attack
them. These reasons consequentially caused Madison to go against the original foreign policy which
WashingtonwarnedagainstduringhisFarewellAddress.
JamesMonroe wasthefifthpresidentoftheUnitedStates. HewasaFoundingFatherandthelast
of the Virginia Dynasty. Monroe identified himself as an antifederalist. Although he was an
antifederalist,hewasgenerally welllikedbybothparties.Itwasthistimethatthetwoopposingpolitical
parties entered a period of harmony. ItwascalledtheEraof GoodFeeling, where conflictbetweenthe
opposing parties lulled due to the Children of the Revolution dyingout.Antifederalists werebeganto
adapt to federalistviews. Monroeusedtheideaof unity andeliminating parties tocampaignaround for
presidency.
The Monroe Doctrine was ushered by Monroe during his presidency. The doctrine isfamously
known for shaping our modern foreign policies. It explicitly declared that Europewas prohibitedfrom
interfering withAmericanaffairs.ThishelpedWestward Expansion becausethe British couldnolonger
supporttheIndiansfrom AmericansconqueringIndianterritories.Thedoctrinepavedthewayformodern
exceptionalism. What the Americans subsequently did wasclaim aninvisible entitlement tothelandin
whichtheytook fromthe Indians,anexampleofhowmoderndayweexert ourprivilegeasAmericans.
A notion of superiority has been ingrained into our American identity, and it has shaped the way our
foreignpolicyhasevolvedovertime.Throughouthistorywehavealways