“The immense house was still unfinished. It reeked of wet plaster and wet paint. Fires had to be kept blazing in every fireplace on the main floor to speed up the drying process. Only a twisting back stair had been built between floors. Closet doors were missing. There were no bells to ring for service. [...]
Archive for the ‘Constitutional period (1789-1809)’ Category
“…The Best of Blessings on this House…”
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1800, Alexander Hamilton, Executive Mansion, Federalist, President John Adams, White House on November 1 | 1 Comment »
Meriwether Lewis’ Sad Departure
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1809, Grinder's Stand, Lewis and Clark Expedition, Louisiana Territory, Meriwether Lewis, Natchez Trace, Tennessee on October 11 | 4 Comments »
The death of Meriwether Lewis is generally considered by modern scholars to have been a suicide. There have been accusations of foul play, but eyewitness accounts don’t seem to bear that out. Still, there’s just enough uncertainty with his final hours to give some small amount of room for speculation.
Lewis, along with William Clark, had [...]
President Washington’s Goodbye
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1796, Alexander Hamilton, Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser, Farewell Address, President George Washington on September 19 | Leave a Comment »
There is little doubt that President George Washington could have held his position as Commander-in-Chief longer than he did. The people, to some degree, revered him. It’s true that, during his second term in office, the gloves of his political opponents had come off and a significant amount of venom had been spit at “His [...]
Treasury Island
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1789, Alexander Hamilton, Department of the Treasury, President George Washington, Robert Morris on September 2 | 2 Comments »
As you might know, I’ve been working through Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton. At my current pace, I probably won’t have it finished before the end of the year. But if I speed it up, I might have it done…by the end of the year. At better than 700 pages, it’s a bit daunting, [...]
Corps of Discovery Heads for the Undiscovered Country
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged President Thomas Jefferson, Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1803, Corps of Discovery, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, Ohio River on August 31 | Leave a Comment »
Hiking is great. I should do a lot more of it. The other day, my wife and I ventured out to a local state park that neither of us had visited. We drove through and looked around a bit. Then, on a whim, we decided to walk one of the trails. It wasn’t anything big [...]
Need the Answer? Check the Appendix
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1804, Appendicitis, Iowa, Lewis and Clark Expedition, Sergeant Charles Floyd, Sioux City on August 20 | Leave a Comment »
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were almost a year into what would become the most famous boat and hiking trip in U.S. history, and Sergeant Charles Floyd was very sick. Floyd, a 20-something from the state of Kentucky, had the distinction of being related to William Clark and serving as the expedition’s quatermaster (the man in charge [...]
Price Goeth Before a Fall
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1791, Alexander Hamilton, Bank of the United States, Carpenter Hall, President James Madison, President Thomas Jefferson, Scrip, Scrippomania, William Duer on August 11 | 1 Comment »
Today, banks are a part of everyday life. Our money is deposited there (usually via electronic transfer), we draw on it to buy stuff (usually via electronic transfer), and if there’s enough in our accounts, we might even draw a bit of income in the form of interest paid. But unless there’s a discrepancy or [...]
U.S. Congress Creates New “Tariff Sheriff”
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1790, Alexander Hamilton, President George Washington, Revenue Cutter Service, Revenue-Marine, United States Coast Guard on August 4 | Leave a Comment »
As President Washington’s first term of office got under way, the United States was pretty much broke. The Revolution, while great for the soul, had been awful on the back pocket. War loans from the French and the Dutch were hanging over the government, there were other war debts still outstanding, and there were new [...]
Madison’s “10 Commandments” of Freedom
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1789, Bill of Rights, First U.S. Congress, President James Madison, U.S. Constitution on June 8 | Leave a Comment »
The United States, now just a couple of years old, had been operating for six years under the Articles of Confederation. Its framework essentially provided the States with all the powers of government and a central government was only given the powers the States allowed it to have. And no small number of people believed that arrangement was [...]
Washington Says “Veto!”, Starts a Trend
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1792, Pocket Veto, President Franklin Roosevelt, President George Washington, President Grover Cleveland, Veto on April 5 | Leave a Comment »
President George Washington was presented with a bill concerning how representatives would be apportioned among the states. When he rejected the bill on April 5, 1792, he was casting the first Presidential veto in the county’s brief history.
It would certainly not be the last.
In the 217 years since Washington’s first veto, the 42 subsequent Presidents have exercised [...]
Go West, Young Man!!
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1804, Louisiana Purchase, Louisiana Territory, Napoleon Bonaparte, President James Monroe, President Thomas Jefferson, St. Louis on March 10 | Leave a Comment »
On the last day of April in 1803, the United States pretty much doubled in size as Robert Livingston and future-President James Monroe put pen to paper in Paris and completed the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. The acquisition, the largest single territorial expansion in the history of the country, was the culmination of several years of work [...]
George Washington Goes Postal
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1792, Benjamin Franklin, Postal Service Act, President George Washington, Timothy Pickering, United States Post Office on February 20 | Leave a Comment »
I don’t pretend to know much about our first President’s demeanor, so if I were discussing that as part of Today’s History Lesson, there’s at least a 50% chance that the title of this piece is way off the mark. But happily for all of us, I’m not writing about George Washington’s attitude nor his bouts [...]
Electoral College Gets it 100% Right
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1789, Electoral College, President George Washington on February 4 | Leave a Comment »
February 4, 1789 marks the first time that the Electoral College was called upon to do its duty: elect the President of the United States. And for one of only two times in the history of U.S. elections, the vote was unanimous. George Washington, Virginian, hero of the French and Indian War and the War of [...]
“…And Our Rights We Will Maintain”
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1791, Bill of Rights, First U.S. Congress, James Madison, U.S. Constitution on December 15 | Leave a Comment »
In May of 1787, the city of Philadelphia played host to 55 men who spent a lot of time debating, arguing, and trying to convince each other of their (and their state’s) beliefs. It had been four years since the American Revolution had officially ended with the stroke of the pen in Paris, and the Articles [...]
Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1789, Pilgrims, President Franklin Roosevelt, President George Washington, Squanto, Thanksgiving on November 26 | 1 Comment »
I watched a couple of Charlie Brown Thanksgiving specials last night, and that’s put me in the mood to talk a little about the holiday. As we probably all know, the Thanksgiving tradition goes all the way back to the Pilgrims, the Mayflower, and Plymouth, Massachusetts.
When the Pilgrims first arrived in late 1620, they barely survived that [...]
The Road to Sedition
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1798, Alien & Sedition Acts, Noah Webster, President John Adams, President Thomas Jefferson on July 14 | Leave a Comment »
Few laws passed in U.S. history have been as disgraceful and as in direct violation of the Constitution as was the passing of the Sedition Act of 1798. It was one of four measures passed, which together comprised the Alien and Sedition Acts.
However, I think it’s important to understand the context of the Sedition Act, because it [...]
Burr: I Thought He Was a Duck
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1804, Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, Duel, President John Adams, President Thomas Jefferson, Weehawken on July 11 | Leave a Comment »
Two ambitious men. Two loaded pistols. Two witnesses. If you would have been on the west bank of the Hudson River near Weehawken, New Jersey on the afternoon of July 11, 1804, that’s what you would have seen.
Holding one pistol was Aaron Burr, the Vice President of the United States, serving with President Thomas Jefferson. Standing [...]
1st in Freedom…13th in Statehood
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1790, Rhode Island, Thirteen Colonies, U.S. Constitution on May 29 | Leave a Comment »
Today’s History Lesson celebrates the addition of Rhode Island to the Union. The “Rhode” part is probably descended from the word “red”, which was the color of the soil explorers first found on the shores. The second part likely references the fact that some of the state is comprised of islands…so “Rhode Island”.
This smallest of states was one [...]
Bookworm Heaven
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1800, British Library, Library of Congress, President John Adams, President Thomas Jefferson on April 24 | Leave a Comment »
I doubt that bookworms go to Heaven, but I’m guessing that if they had their druthers, Heaven would look an awful lot like the Library of Congress. Located in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world (in terms of physical space) and, if you need a book to read, I’ll wager money that this massive [...]
Don’t Judge Me
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), tagged Burr, Supreme Court on March 1 | 3 Comments »
March 1, 1805 — Justice Samuel Chase is acquitted at the end of his impeachment trial by the U.S. Senate.
Samuel Chase, a brash, outspoken, uber-Federalist, was nominated by George Washington in 1796 in what was possibly the first head-shaking judicial nomination. As a state judge in Maryland, he had weathered two attempts to remove him from [...]
