Alien And Sedition Dbq

The time period in American history from the end of the Revolution to about the 1830s or so is characterized by nationalism. The Revolution had just been won and now it was time to establish a viable, strong country with its own cultural heritage. American writers and painters created works reflecting distinctly American features and reflecting the growing sense of Nationalism of the time. In order to survive and thrive, the founders of this country fortified its political institutions, its economic relationships, and its place in the world both internally, through amassing territory, and internationally by standing up to those would interfere with the growth of the new country. Once the foundation had been laid in the Constitution for a strong

central government, the early administrations capitalized on the events of the time to push both the geographic boundaries of the country as well as the political boundaries of governing institutions
Before the Louisiana Purchase, Napoleon owned all of the land that would become Louisiana and most of what we now call the Great Plains and the Spanish owned all of the land that would eventually become Florida and the southern coasts of Mississippi and Alabama. At first, George Washington was unsure if buying the Louisiana Territory would be a good idea or not. The land ended up costing him 15 million US dollars and helped the US double the size of the country while also helping their relationship with the French. However, the boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase were not clearly defined. The Louisiana Purchase was not only important regarding the territory of the country. It also helped the US economically because of the access to the Mississippi River and to New Orleans. This meant that farmers would be able to ship their crops out on boats and helped the agriculture business become more lucrative. After the Louisiana Purchase, there was a lot of uncertainty about what they had just bought because it was so expansive. Lewis and Clark were assigned to map out and explore the new land and see what resources and possible dangers there were. The two men ended up traveling past the Louisiana territory and expanded to Oregon Country and the Northern Pacific coast. This accident additional exploration was influential because what they found was better than what they could have ever imagined. In addition to this, the fact that they went even farther than they intended to was helpful for the development of the country because they doubled the size of the country once again and there was more space for to settle out west. The Adams-Onis treaty, also known as the Florida Purchase Treaty was a treaty that ceded Florida for the United States and this agreement led to exceptionally high prices for land and wiping out the Native people living in the territory. The Americans had already annexed Florida but also believed that they should be allowed to have the entire peninsula and they threatened to take Florida by force. Onis came to the conclusion that he had no choice other than to give Florida to the Americans, and therefore the deal was made.
The Jay Treaty was an attempt to settle the dispute between the British Government and the United States that had not been settled since the Revolutionary War and the Independence of America.

Although the treaty was ultimately a failure, it helped to mend the bonds between the two nations and it lead to the American sovereignty over the entire northwest without any problems. The Alien and Sedition Acts were four bills passed by President John Adams and were also important regarding American foreign policy because of the amount interest from foreigners who wanted to become citizens of the new United States. The Sedition Act allowed the government to prosecute those who engaged in overtly negative speech or conduct against the government and the purpose of the Alien Act was that it placed a lot of obstacles in the way of potential American citizens. The immigrants could potentially become citizens but it was difficult. The United States had faced issues concerning foreign policy because of the risk of losing parts of the continent or their new states to the larger, more powerful European countries, who could claim parts of the land as colonies of their own. The Monroe Doctrine was crucial in preserving the nationalism in the United States because it strengthened their standing and saved them from losing their progress. President Monroe, along with the help of John Quincy Adams, created the treaty known as the Monroe Doctrine in order to solidify the United States and make

sure no one would be able to take away the land.
Alexander Hamilton was a dominant and influential during the financial development of the United States because he proposed many ideas that were significant to the growth and progress of America’s domestic and foreign relationships.

Hamilton’s plans were to initiate a national bank and create an existing public debt in order to inaugurate a powerful and enterprising economy with a strong standing within the world. The Whiskey Rebellion and Shays’ Rebellion are similar because they are examples of how taxes were unfair to the farmers in the society and how in both cases they lashed back at the tax collectors. During the Whiskey Rebellion, settlers from Vermont, Kentucky and Tennessee wanted to separate from the Union and because the government was also under construction and repair raised these issues and caused even more conflicts. During the Whiskey Rebellion the farmers refused to pay Whiskey excise taxes, there were angry mobs to protest and the farmers even started to terrorize the tax collectors. During Shay’s Rebellion, angry farmers rioted primarily in Boston along with other parts of New England because they were unhappy with the taxes. Daniel Shays issued a set of requests, which included, paper money, tax relief and the relocation of the capital; which was in Boston at the time. Shays Rebellion was a disappointment and did not work out as planned however it helped the farmers find compromise and helped the nation move in a better direction in regard to the debts

they had to face and offered the protestors tax relief.
By doubling the size of the country, asserting the national self-interest in foreign policy and strengthening our national financial situation, our “founders” fostered a formidable central government. However, as the country continued to grow, sectional difference presented additional challenges for the strong central government to overcome. Regional differences challenged the existing political, economic, and social institutions and soon began to tear apart the strong whole that had been created during the late 1700s and early 1800s.