The Federalist was a collection of papers first published in the Independent Journal of New York City, by Hamilton, Madison and Jay, from October, 1787, until March, 1788. They were eighty-five in number and appeared under a joint signature, A Citizen of New York at first, and afterwards Publius. The first of these essays appeared immediately after the adoption of the American Constitution. They were in explanation and defence of the new system of government. Gouverneur Morris was also invited to take part, but was prevented by private business. Jay wrote five, Hamilton fifty-one, Madison twenty-six and their joint effort contributed three, by the most probable conclusions. These papers did much toward securing the ratification of the American Constitution, and form one of the most important commentaries on the American Constitution. Research Federalist
In America, the Federal Party was the first political party which had control of the Federal Government. When the Constitution of 1787 was before the people for ratification, those who favoured its adoption took the name of Federalists, giving to its opponents that of Anti-Federalists. In the First Congress, definite party divisions were not found. Before the second had ended, there was a definite division between Federalists and those who called themselves Republicans or Democrats. Hamilton was the leader of the former, Jefferson of the latter. Hamilton's financial measures had been acceptable to those who desired strong government, the commercial classes, those who wished to see the Union drawn still more closely together, still further in the direction of centralization and national consolidation. Their opponents stigmatised them as monarchists. Beside Hamilton and Vice-President John Adams, the party's chief leaders were Fisher Ames, Cabot, Sedgwick, Strong, Pickering and Quincy, of Massachusetts; Ellsworth, Tracy, Griswold and Hillhouse, of Connecticut; Rufus King, Jay and Gouverneur Morris, of New York; Dayton, of New Jersey; Bayard, of Delaware; Marshall, Henry Lee, of Virginia, and C. C. Pinckney, of South Carolina. George Washington was more inclined to this party than to the other.
The Federal Party's strength was always greatest in New England. When war broke out between England and France in 1793, the Federalists, conservative and averse to the French Revolution, favoured Great Britain. In 1796 they elected John Adams President, but failed to elect Thomas Pinckney Vice-President. In 1797 they tried to bring the country into war with France, but Adams, never so extreme as the bulk of the party, prevented this; the result was a schism in the party. In 1798 the party passed the Alien and Sedition laws, which forever destroyed their popularity. In the election of 1800 Adams and Pinckney were decisively defeated by Jefferson and Burr; the causes were, the acts mentioned, internal dissensions, and the indifference of intellectual and acute leaders to popular feelings. During the administrations of Jefferson and Madison the party dwindled. As an opposition party, it took strict-constructionist ground. Some of its leaders engaged in projects for a disruption of the Union. Finally, its unpatriotic course in the War of 1812 and the odium excited by the Hartford Convention destroyed it utterly. Holding the Government during the critical years 1789-1801, it had given it strength, but it distrusted the people top much for permanent success in America. Research Federal Party
Jay's Treaty was a treaty negotiated in 1794 by the American statesman and jurist John Jay and the British foreign secretary BaronWilliam Grenville. The agreement was intended both to settle long- standing differences between the USA and Great Britain and to secure American neutrality during the time of the French Revolution in Europe. Anglo-American differences arose in part from violations of the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which had ended the American Revolution. The Jay treaty provided for the evacuation of British posts on the north- western frontier of the USA and for the appointment of arbitration commissions to define boundaries between the USA and Canada. It also provided for a commission to determine America's compensation from Britain for the illegal seizure of ships and for the payment by Americans of pre-war debts owed to British merchants.
The treaty failed to resolve a dispute over American trade with the British West Indies, and provisions granting Britain most-favoured-nation status prevented the USA from strengthening its own commerce by restricting British shipping and goods. The treaty aroused great opposition among the public and in the Congress. It was ratified by a very narrow margin in the US Senate in June 1795; the House of Representatives then waged a lengthy, but unsuccessful campaign to withhold appropriations for its implementation. Its ratification was critical in the formation of the first national political parties. Despite its unpopularity, the treaty has long been regarded as the best the US could have obtained under the circumstances. American neutrality was preserved and commerce flourished under its terms until it expired in 1805. Research Jay's Treaty
The Treaty of Versailles was a treaty of peace concluded at Versailles between commissions representing the United States and Great Britain. It was arranged in 1782, and was formally ratified on September the 3rd,1783. Jay, Adams, Franklin and Laurens formed the American Commission. By this treaty the absolute independence of the United States was recognized. Florida was returned to Spain; the Americans relinquished their pretensions to the territory north of Lake Brie; the St Lawrence river system, from the western end of Lake Superior to the forty-fifth parallel, was made the boundary; from the forty-fifth parallel to the sea, the boundary followed the highlands after an uncertain fashion, and was long a matter of bitter dispute; British right of navigation of the Mississippi was yielded, England according in return the American right of fishing on the Canadian and Newfoundland coasts; Loyalists and Tories were to be protected in America; English troops were to be withdrawn without destroying any property, or taking away any negro slaves belonging to Americans. This treaty was in reality signed in Paris, but is generally known by the above name, which properly belongs only to the treaty between England and France. Research Treaty of Versailles
The babbler is a family of birds (Timaliidae), of about 233 species which occur throughout the warmer areas of Asia, some of the species extending to Africa and Australia. Ranging from sparrow-sized to jay-sized, they are a very diverse family. Most species are brown, but some have brightly coloured patches. The Pekinrobin, Leiothrix lutea, is greyish above and red and yellow underneath and on the wings. The white-crested laughing thrush, Garrulax leucolophus, one of about forty-five laughing thrushes, is mainly brown but with a striking white head and chest, a black eye-stripe, and bright red eyes. Other groups within the family include parrotbills and the African rockfowl. Most are insectivorous, catching their food with a long, thin beak. Some of the tree-babblers have strongly curved beaks which they use for probing into soft wood and leaves. Many species live in groups of six to twelve and defend a joint territory. The name also applies to the five species of Australo-Papuan babblers, Poma tostomidae. Research Babbler
The jay (Garrulus glandarius) is a colourful bird of the crow family noted for its black and white wings with a chequerboard patch of blue black and white. Research Jay
The nutcracker is a Jay-like bird of the genus Nucifraga, in the crow family Corvidae, order Passeriformes. There are two species: one in the Old World and one in the New World. The Old World nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes) is found in areas of coniferous forest in Asia and parts of Europe, particularly in mountains. About 30 centimetres long, it has a brown back, with a long white spot on each feather, dark brown head, white tipped outer tail feathers, black feet and a powerful black bill. It feeds on conifer seeds. The nest is a big, clumsy structure, and in it about three eggs are laid, which are very light green, spotted with pale brown. Irregularly, there is a mass migration of nutcrackers from Siberia to western Europe. Research Nutcracker
Benjamin Franklin was an American statesman and scientist. He was born in 1706 at Boston and died in 1790. The son of a tallow-chandler and soap-boiler, he was apprenticed to his elder brother, a printer, and developed an eager fondness for books and writing.
At seventeen he ran away to Philadelphia, where, in 1729, he established a newspaper. His public spirit, his talents as a writer and the fame of his scientific discoveries advanced him in prominence. In 1753 he was appointed deputy postmaster-general of the British colonies. In 1754, being a member of the Albany Convention, he proposed an important plan for colonial union.. From 1757 to 1763, and again from 1764 to the American War of Independence, he was agent of Pennsylvania in England; part of the time, also, for Massachusetts, New Jersey and Georgia.
In 1773, acting as agent for the political leaders in Massachusetts, he sent over to them the correspondence of Hutchinson, Oliver and other Massachusetts loyalists with a confidant of the British Ministry. The publication of the letters aroused great excitement in the colonies, and brought down upon Benjamin Franklin violent abuse on the part of the ministerialists, and dismissal from his office of postmaster-general.
In 1775 seeing that reconciliation was impossible, he returned to Pennsylvania, and was at once chosen a delegate to the Continental Congress. In 1776 he was one of the committee of five who drew up the Declaration of Independence,, and in the autumn was sent to join Arthur Lee and Silas Deane in the mission to France. In Paris he was received with great enthusiasm. He succeeded in obtaining from the French Government not only the treaty of 1778, but also large sums of money supplied in secret before that government declared war on England and openly afterward. Benjamin Franklin had a leading part in the beginnings of negotiation with Great Britain for peace and independence. In respect to the actual manner in which the treaty was concluded, he was overruled by John Adams and Jay, who deemed it best, contrary to the instructions of Congress, to negotiate apart from France and make separate terms. Benjamin Franklin played an important part in the arrangements of the treaty, especially those respecting the loyalists. After the Treaty of Versailles had thus been signed on September the 3rd, 1783, Benjamin Franklin negotiated a favourable treaty with Prussia.
In 1785 Benjamin Franklin returned to America, and was chosen president of Pennsylvania, and again in 1786 and 1787. He was an influential member of the Convention of 1787, and died at Philadelphia a few years later. Beside his eminence as a statesman and as a philosopher and scientific discoverer, Benjamin Franklin was noted as a shrewd and practical philanthropist, and was one of the best of English writers. He was renowned for his identification of lightning with electricity, but also wrote widely criticising corruption, philosophising and even describing Harvard College as a place where money was valued above intelligence. Research Benjamin Franklin
Jay Gould was an American railway tycoon. He was born in 1836 and died in 1893. First engaged in surveying, he entered the brokerage business in 1857 and amassed an immense fortune through railway speculations. Towards his death he was said to control nearly one-eighth of the railway mileage in the United States. Research Jay Gould
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Abbreviations
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