The War of 1812

This part of American history begins when Washington took office. He set some very important precedents that would continue to affect presidents to this day. They had a government planned out, and now it was time to put it into action. They had to make courts, begin taxing people, and much more. They also had to pay the 80 million dollars that they borrowed for the Revolution (this was back over 200 years ago, 80 million was huge then). They moved the Capital to the south in order for help from the southern states to pay off the debt.

Then Washington retired, and gave some last little bits of advice. He didn't want political parties or foreign affairs. However, political parties began to form. Meanwhile, there was also the French Revolution. This led to an outbreak of war in Europe, because the French might cause influence that could overthrow rulers. The United States was at first supporting them, but then they issued the Neutrality Proclamation, and wouldn't support them.

This caused American ships to be intercepted by the French and British when they were on their way to the other country. They then made a peace treaty with Britain. Also, they made a peace treaty with France, but almost ended up with war.

Then the political parties formed. There had been Federalists as well as Anti-Federalists before. Now the Anti-Federalists began forming groups and people began aligning with one of the groups. The Federalists passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which allowed the Federalist president to expel any alien that might be dangerous to the country. Also, it made it a crime to criticize the government or its officials. It also increased the number of years an immigrant must be in the country to become a citizen from 5 to 14. These were repealed when an Anti-Federalist or Democratic-Republican took office (modern day Democratic party). Then the Federalist Party began to die out around 1804 when their leader died and they split over the peace policy with France. The states couldn't cancel Federal Law.

Then, Britain and France went to war again in 1803. America took advantage of this to trade with them. However, their ships were seized to prevent the enemy from trading. This led to the passing of the Embargo Act, which prevented anybody from trading with other nations. It was soon repealed and the Nonintercourse Act instead prevented the trading with Britain or France.

Then there were a lot more debates about the rights of the State vs. Federal levels of government. The Federal government supporters said that the nation needed unity, while the State supporters said that the states had been given rights in the Constitution.

Also, there were a lot of economic barriers that were growing between the North and South states. These were mostly over cotton. Also, Native Americans continued to be pushed out of the way. Also, the Federalist party returned in the 1830s as the Whig party.