Founding Brothers: The Silence

All the states had debt at the time; many of the southern states hadpaid a good deal of it off already however. Were the originalassumption implemented it would increase the debt that manysouthern states had to work off. The chief example in this chapter isVirginia. In this case they currently held 3.5 million dollars in debt,after assumption they would have a debt of around 5 million.At around the same time there was a great deal of debate over wherethe nation's capital should be located (residency question). Many in thesouth, notably the Virginians, wanted the capital built on the Potomac(Patowmac) and it was predicted by Jeffersonthat this could generatean additional half million dollars a year for Virginia. Others leadingcandidates were:Annapolis,Baltimore,Carlisle, Frederick, Germantown,New York,Philadelphia Susquehannaand Trenton. The ultimate resolution to the problem was this: Madison would notblock assumption and Hamilton would use his influence to make thePotomac the site of the new capital. Of course, there were a greatnumber of other deals including one to make Philadelphia the home of the temporary capital in exchange for making the Potomac the finalcapital.

Founding Brothers: The Silence

This chapter provides a vivid insight into the thoughts of the peoplewho made up the government right after the revolutionary war andtheir thoughts immediately after the revolutionary war. It names and itgives statistics state by state (p102) and in the end how the congressaccomplished very little with this forbidden subject and legislation. The whole thing started February 11th, 1790 when Quaker delegations(New York and Philadelphia) brought before the house petitions callingfor an immediate end to the African slave trade. Delegates fromGeorgia and South Carolina were characteristically unhappy about this.However since the constitution forbade such action by the federalgovernment, theQuakerswere asking for something alreadyunavailable.Madison suggested that the petition be sent to a committee "as amatter of course." and that it would go away. It did not however as onFebruary 12th, 1790 another petition arrived from the PennsylvaniaAbolition Society asking that slavery be abolished. What was mostproblematic about this petition was that it arrived under the signatureof Benjamin Franklin. This petition also pointed out that slavery wasincompatible with the "values of '76."A representative's side depended on if they based their opinions from1776 or 1787. Oddly enough, northern states tended to follow '76 whilethe states of the Deep South followed 1787's example. Virginia wassomething of a split state however when it came down to it, they were

against emancipation.Emancipation, both gradual and immediate, hadtwo major problems "How would the owners be compensated?" orrather where would the estimated 140 million dollars come from, and"Where would the slaves go?" as mentioned in Jefferson's Notes of theState of Virginia. It was agreed that the people would never accept atax sufficient to cover the 140 million dollars need to buy the freedomof all slaves and even if they were freed it was agreed thatincorporation was unlikely, even unthinkable. The only other place togo would be either a colony (like Sierra Leone which failed horribly) ora "homeland" in the western territories.In the end debate over slavery was put to an end until the civil war.Everyone was happy about this, except theQuakers, as it may havesaved the union for another 71 years. (P108-112 Franklin Bio)

Founding Brothers: The Farewell

George Washingtondied December 14th, 1799. This chapter describeshis Farewell address which was published in the form of an articlemade to "the people of the United States." this article has becomeknown as "Washington's Farewell Address" despite it being titled assuch in only one paper, the

Courier of New Hampshire

. This address was written originally to bring Washington's first term to aclose and was drafted by Madison however his advisers were able toconvince him to stay a second term. As his second term came to acloseGeorge WashingtonhadAlexander Hamiltonaid in his farewell address, this address was based upon the original drafted by Madisonpartly to show that he never wanted to run a second term in the firstplace and to help defend against critics who felt Washington wasabusing his power. The address was ultimately based wholly upon Washington's ideas,involved some of Madison's words and quite a few of Hamilton's words. The main issues in the address were those of the benefits of thefederal government, warnings against the party system, morality,religion, stable public credit, warnings against permanent foreignalliances, and that of an over-powerful military. One last thingWashington wished to stress but ultimately hardly mentioned was thatof a national university.Washington officially left office March 1797 and returned to MountVernon. Jefferson's betrayal (slander) of Washington and Jay's treaty isalso covered in this chapter. Jay's treaty eliminated British control of western posts, established America's claim for damages from Britishship seizures, and provided America a right to trade in the West Indiesin exchange for having any "outstanding" pre-revolutionary repaid andfor something of a pro-English trade situation, as opposed to a pro-French. Jefferson's claims of Washington's senility ended relationsbetween the two when a newspaper printed one of Jefferson's letters.

Founding Brothers: The Friendship

The Friendship begins with a short, hostile, correspondence betweenAbigail Adamsand President Jefferson. Which brings up the point that

Jeffersonwas the first president to actually run his own campaign aswell as that of sponsoring the smear campaign arranged throughCalendar. The Friendship then continues onto Jefferson's presidentialcareer.During Jefferson's incredibly successful first term he eliminated theunpopular tax on whiskey, cut the budget, slashed militaryexpenditures and reduced the national debt by a third. Jeffersonalsoacquired the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon in 1803, effectivelydoubling the country's size. It is important to note that the Constitutiondidn't really give Jeffersonto do this in the first place. Jefferson's second term however is regarded as a failure especially because of theEmbargo Actin 1807, which damaged