Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/826

UNITED STATES. of treason and of usurpation. Yet his action was justified by the revival of commerce that followed the ratification of the Jay Treaty.

The other noteworthy events of Washington's second administration were the fortunate and effective assertion of the authority of the Federal Government in the suppression of the so-called (q.v.) in Pennsylvania (1794), the adoption of a plan for internal taxation (1795), the unsuccessful expeditions under Harmar and Saint Clair against the Western Indians in 1790 and 1791, the defeat of the Indians by Wayne at Fallen Timbers in 1794, the cession to the United States in the following year of 25,000 square miles of Indian lands, and the negotiation of a treaty with Spain in 1795, whereby the United States secured the free navigation of the Lower Mississippi, the right of deposit, for a limited period, at New Orleans, and a partially satisfactory settlement of the Florida boundary. The year 1793 was marked by the invention, by Eli Whitney, of the cotton gin, which was destined to bring about an industrial revolution in the South and profoundly to affect the question of slavery. In June, 1796, Tennessee, hitherto a part of North Carolina, was admitted to the Union as a new Commonwealth. On September 17th of the same year Washington delivered his historic “Farewell Address.” As he declined again to be a candidate, the two great parties waged an open warfare for the election of his successor. The Federalist candidate, John Adams, received 71 votes, and the Republican, Thomas Jefferson, 68 votes, and in accordance with the constitutional provisions then operative, John Adams became President, and Thomas Jefferson Vice-President.

III. . Cabinet.—Secretary of State, Timothy Pickering, continued; John Marshall, Virginia, May 13, 1800. Secretary of the Treasury, Oliver Wolcott, continued; Samuel Dexter, Massachusetts, January 1, 1801. Secretary of War, James McHenry, continued; Samuel Dexter, May 13, 1800; Roger Griswold, Connecticut, February 3, 1801. Secretary of the Navy, George Cabot, Massachusetts, May 3, 1798; Benjamin Stoddert, Maryland, May 21, 1798. Attorney-General, Charles Lee, continued; Theophilus Parsons, Massachusetts, February 20, 1801. Postmaster-General, Joseph Habersham, continued. At first the prospects of the new Administration and of the Federalist Party seemed extremely bright. The insolent action of the French Directory, then at the head of affairs in France, in demanding of the American commissioners a bribe in return for a favorable hearing, inspired everywhere in the United States the most intense indignation. (See .) War seemed imminent; indeed, hostilities actually began (1799) on sea, and General Washington was again summoned to command the army, with Hamilton as the actual head until the outbreak of hostilities. But a change in the French Government made possible a reconciliation, and in 1800 a treaty removed the immediate cause of complaint.

Such popularity as the Government had secured by its firm attitude toward France was

soon lost by the passage, in 1798, of the unwise ‘’ (q.v.). These acts were generally felt to be opposed to those principles of the Constitution which assured the rights of individuals and of the States, and they brought the Government into great disrepute. Congress, however, was still largely controlled by the Federalists, and hence the Republicans were obliged to protest against the new enactments through the medium of the State Legislatures. Resolutions of protest drawn by Jefferson and Madison were passed by the Legislatures of Virginia and Kentucky, and became known as the ‘' (q.v.). These resolutions expressed the extreme Anti-Federalist doctrine, and precipitated an immediate agitation against the obnoxious laws, which helped to cause the defeat of the Federalist Party in the Presidential election of 1800. During Adams's administration the seat of the government was changed, in 1800, from Philadelphia, which had been the temporary capital for ten years, to Washington, in the newly constituted District of Columbia, and John Marshall, who was destined to influence profoundly the constitutional law of the nation, became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In the election of 1800, 73 electoral votes were cast for Thomas Jefferson and the same number for Aaron Burr, also a Republican, while Adams had 65. There being thus no choice, the election was thrown in accordance with Article II. of the Constitution into the House of Representatives, each State having only a single vote. After balloting for six days the House of Representatives elected Jefferson, who received the votes of ten States, while four States voted for Burr, and two voted in blank. Thomas Jef- ferson was thus chosen President, and Aaron Burr Vice-President.

IV. and V. . Cabinet.—Secretary of State, James Madison, Virginia, March 5, 1801, Secretary of the Treasury, Samuel Dexter, continued; Albert Gallatin, Pennsylvania, May 14, 1801. Secretary of War, Henry Dearborn, Massachusetts, March 5, 1801. Secretary of Navy, Benjamin Stoddert, continued; Robert Smith, Maryland, July 15, 1801. Attorney-General, Levi Lincoln, Massachusetts, March 5, 1801; Robert Smith, Maryland, March 3, 1805; John Breckinridge, Kentucky, August 7, 1805; Cæsar A. Rodney, Pennsylvania, January 20, 1807. Postmaster-General, Joseph Habersham, continued; Gideon Granger, Connecticut, November 28, 1801.

The election of Jefferson marked the complete triumph of the Republicans. He made a number of removals from office without cause, although chiefly of those whom Adams had appointed in the last hours of his administration and hence known as ‘midnight appointments.’ (See .) Jefferson professed only to desire to maintain an equal distribution of offices between the parties, and to consider only an applicant's capability and honesty. He felt free, however, to join in undoing the work of Adams by aiding in the repeal of the law creating new judicial offices to which Federalists had been