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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Chapter 4: 1789-1800

The Whiskey Rebellion: Unjust Taxation or Enforcing the Rule of Law?

“Strict” or “Loose”: Was the National Bank Constitutional?

Use this primary source text to explore key historical events.

Washington’s First Inaugural Address, 1789

The Judiciary Act of 1789

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the Treaty of New York, 1790

Thomas Jefferson on the Compromise of 1790

Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, Writings on the National Bank, 1785–1792

The Jay Treaty, 1795

Pinckney’s Treaty, 1796

George Washington, Farewell Address, 1796

Use this primary source imagery to analyze major events in history.

Cartoon Analysis: Property Protected—à la Françoise, 1798

Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, 1798–1799

Cartoon Analysis: Congressional Pugilists, 1798

Chapter 4 of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, BRI's U.S. History Curriculum Resource, invites students to explore how a nation can stay unified despite divisions.

How can a nation stay unified despite divisions?

Chapter 4: 1789-1800 Inquiry Organizer

Answer Key for Chapter 4 of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Chapter 4 Answer Key

How did the new Constitution shape U.S. politics?

Chapter 4 Introductory Essay: 1789-1800

Why did Hamilton want the U.S. to have a national bank?

Alexander Hamilton and the National Bank

Why is Madison called the "Father of the Constitution"?

James Madison and the Bill of Rights

How did Benjamin Franklin fight for the abolition of slavery?

Benjamin Franklin and the First Abolitionist Petitions

How did the cotton gin impact slavery in the U.S.?

Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin

Why did the U.S. and Native Americans fight in the 1790s?

The Battle of Fallen Timbers

How did Britain violate U.S. rights in the late 18th century?

The Jay Treaty

Explore what the Quasi-War was and its impact on the U.S.

The XYZ Affair and the Quasi-War with France

Did the Alien and Sedition Acts violate the First Amendment?

The Alien and Sedition Acts

By the end of this section, you will explain the continuities and changes in regional attitudes about slavery as it expanded from 1754 to 1800.

Robert Carter and Manumission

By the end of this section, you will explain how and why political ideas, institutions, and party systems developed and changed in the new republic.

The Compromise of 1790

By the end of this section, you will explain how and why competition intensified conflicts among peoples and nations from 1754 to 1800.

George Washington and the Proclamation of Neutrality

This Lesson can be used at the beginning of Chapter 4 to reinforce and review the key events of the American Revolution covered in Chapter 3. This activity will also introduce students to the effects the Revolution had on the world stage in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

The Global Impact of the American Revolution DBQ

Students should have a solid foundation of the regional differences in the former colonies, now states, as well as an understanding of the ratification of the Constitution. This Lesson is best used after students have read The Constitutional Convention and The Ratification Debate on the Constitution Narratives in Chapter 3. The James Madison and the Bill of Rights Narrative in Chapter 4 can be used as background for the Lesson or can be assigned as homework after the Lesson to reinforce main ideas.

Actions of the First Congress

This activity should be completed after students have completed the Actions of the First Congress Lesson, The Compromise of 1790 Decision Point, and George Washington, First Inaugural Address, 1789 Primary Source Activity. This Lesson should be followed by the Alexander Hamilton and the National Bank Narrative or the "Strict" or "Loose": Was the National Bank Constitutional? Point-Counterpoint, either of which can be completed as a homework assignment to follow this Lesson.

The National Bank Debate

Use this Lesson to have students examine how enslaved men and women resisted slavery during the late 1700s and early 1800s. 

Methods of Slave Resistance DBQ

This Lesson is best used at the end of the unit, after students have studied Washington's leadership during the Revolutionary War in Chapter 3 and the major events of his presidency in Chapter 4.

George Washington in American Art

Before completing this Lesson, students should be familiar with the societal, cultural, and economic conditions of eighteenth-century American life that sustained the institution of slavery. Anti-slavery sentiment can be explored in the Benjamin Franklin and the First Abolitionist Petitions Narrative.

George Washington’s Views on Slavery

Students should be familiar with the debates surrounding slavery in the Constitutional Convention in Chapter 3. Students should read the James Madison and the Bill of Rights Narrative and Benjamin Franklin and the First Abolitionist Petitions Narrative for context before reading this Lesson.

The Founders’ Failure to End Slavery

Students can further explore the context surrounding the Jay Treaty in the George Washington and the Proclamation of Neutrality Decision Point, The Jay Treaty Narrative, and in the excerpt from the treaty itself in The Jay Treaty, 1795 Primary Source. The Alexander Hamilton and the National Bank Narrative and The National Bank Debate Lesson provide more context on the founding of the bank.

Using Political Cartoons to Understand History

Use this Lesson as a supplement to The Whiskey Rebellion: Unjust Taxation or Enforcing the Rule of Law? Point-Counterpoint.

Be Washington: Whiskey Rebellion

Use this Lesson as a unit summary activity to have students evaluate the link between constitutional principles and the content from Unit 2. 

Unit 2 Civics Connection: An Apple of Gold in a Frame of Silver

This lesson should be used at the conclusion of Unit 2.

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Chapter 4: 1789-1800

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