 The debate between “strict” and “loose” construction of the Constitution started with Hamilton’s National Bank  The power to create a national bank was not in the Constitution however, Hamilton felt the implied powers of the elastic clause allowed him to  However, strict constructionists favored a narrow interpretation of the Constitution which meant that the gov’t could only do what the Const. specifically says it can  People like James Madison and Thomas Jefferson used this view to oppose the Bank  Loose Constructionists used a freer reading to allowed the government more room to act  Hamilton used this to create the bank

 The Constitution didn’t give many details on how to the gov’t would actually work  Structure of Government  Constitution only set up a Supreme Court so Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1789 which set up the federal court system  Set up the first 5 executive departments: State, Treasury, War, Attorney General, & Postmaster General  Today 15 departments and 200 independent agencies  In 1789, Congress started sending bills to committees  This started the committee system we know today where committees review all bills before sending them to the floor of either house

 Customs in Congress have led to lobbying which people are paid to represent special interest groups  These people are called lobbyists and are used to influence legislation and help get people elected who support their group  There are regulations against lobbying but it is allowed by the 1 st amendment

 From 1789 to 1815, Europe was in constant warfare as a result of the French Revolution that was taking place  There was a lot of pressure because of this and Washington and other presidents tried to protect the country  Washington supported the very unpopular Jay’s Treaty which was an agreement designed to resolve the conflicts with Great Britain and keep the US out of war  In 1793 Washington made a Proclamation of Neutrality that said the US would not take a side in the warfare (including with France, US’s ally)  Also in his farewell address in 1796 Washington set a tone for the US with by warning of the danger of entangling alliances and urged the country to continue with a policy of neutrality

 After serving only 2 terms, Washington turned down the opportunity to serve a third as president  This tradition stayed until the 1940 and 1944 with FDR  People upset about this led to the passing of the 22 Amendment that limits the President to 2 terms

 John Adams was the first Vice President and second President  He was a Federalist  He followed Washington’s goal of trying to keep the US out of war  He avoided expanding an undeclared naval war with France  This upset his own party because the Federalists supported Britain and helped lead to his not winning a second term  By avoiding war and ending the alliance with France from the Revolution, Adams kept the country in peace

 Due to the public reaction to the French Revolution (supported by Democratic-Republicans) the Federalists passed the Alien and Sedition Acts  These were designed to weaken the Republicans  The Alien Acts made it more difficult to become a citizen and easier to arrest and deport non citizens  The Sedition Acts made it easier to arrest someone for criticizing the government  These were incredibly unpopular and Jefferson and Madison wrote the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions saying the laws were dangerous to civil liberties and representative government