We read about the Election of 1796 and reviewed vocabulary terms (caucus and sedition). We learned that Adams beat Jefferson in a close election and that they were former friends who became bitter rivals. We briefly touched on the Alien and Sedition Acts and related these controversial laws, which allowed the president to deport or imprison immigrants in wartime. We discussed current events in America.

We picked up where we left off yesterday, reading about the formation of the first political parties in America. We saw how the Democratic-Republican party, supported by Jefferson and Madison, was favored in the South and we listed its main ideas which supported the ideas of Republicanism. Other ideas supported included the ideal of a nation of small farmers, reliance on agriculture, a strict view of the Constitution, and sympathy for the French. The Federalist party (Hamilton) was named after those who supported the Constitution from the beginning, and supported a strong, central representative government, a loose view of the Constitution, reliance on trade (especially with England), and the importance of urban merchants. We spent time comparing and contrasting the two.

Ben read about the practice of Impressment of Seamen and Jay's Treaty, when the British agreed to pay for the losses over seized warships. We examined the benefits that resulted from the treaty. During this period, Washington announced he wouldn't be running again and warned against forming political parties (factions) or "permanent alliances" with foreign nations. We read that in spite of Washington's warning, the first full-fledged political parties in American politics developed. Ben asked to work on his art homework during the remaining minutes of class, so we'll continue our discussion of the formation of political parties when we reconvene for class tomorrow.

We picked up where we had left off in yesterday's lesson after having discussed that tariffs were levied, in the late eighteenth century, to generate revenue to help the US pay off its huge war debt. This was proposed by Alexander Hamilton in his role as the first secretary of the treasury. We also discussed that Hamilton also encouraged Congress to pass a tax on whiskey, which resulted in a rebellion by farmers who saw the tax as an attack because it cut into the profits they lived off. President Washington led an army to stop the rebellion which proved that the government was powerful and would use force if people did not follow the law. We found it interesting to learn that the Whiskey Rebellion, as it came to be known, was the only time in U.S.history that a sitting president has personally commanded an army.

Ben was permitted to research more about the Haitian Revolution. We listened and watched a clip on Extra History, a YouTube channel, about the War of the Knives, between a black ex-slave who controlled the north of Saint-Domingue, (modern-day Haiti), and his adversary, a mixed-race free person of color who controlled the south. Ben is interested in the subject of slavery so this was relevant to our study of American history. Ben was very engaged in the clip and apologized for sleeping in class the other day.

Ben was very fatigued today and fell asleep during class.

After a brief discussion about the formation of the cabinet, to reactivate prior knowledge, we read about the establishment of the judicial branch and the Supreme Court. We also read about Alexander Hamilton and the national economy. We read the details of Hamilton's plan to reduce the huge war debt and how he ran into a lot of opposition, primarily from the south. Whereas Hamilton seemed to favor businessmen and a small central government, Jefferson and Madison supported small farmers and local and state governments. Ben and I found it interesting to note that this disagreement laid the foundation for the first political parties in the U.S. We ended today's lesson learning how and why Washington D.C became the capital of the U.S.

Ben turned in his homework assignment.As it was due yesterday, I sent him a digital copy and he completed it in its entirety and answered the questions exceptionally well. I requested he send a copy to my email, which he did after we reviewed his answers. We then watched a video about the cotton gin, whose moral was that technology, while often used to better man, can also yield unintended consequences. Ben commented that he likes to learn history that is not sugar coated as is customarily done in his textbooks. We closed by viewing a video about the Haitian uprising, an anti-slavery revolt against colonists, led by enslaved peoples in the French Saint-Domingue colony - now modern-day Haiti.

We started a new unit discussing George Washington and reviewed some precedents he established as the first president, such as being called "Mr. President" (instead of "Your highness," Your Excellency, or " Your High Mightiness (Ben found it interesting that someone actually suggested that). We then discussed the establishment of the Electoral College and Ben found it to be a natural assumption that Washington was the first president to win all the electoral votes. We read how the electoral college was established and that although it's changed a lot since it was first established, it is still in use today.

Ben and I reviewed the amendments to the Constitution and grouped it as follows: Amendment 1: Protects individual rights and minorities from majority rule; Amendments 2-4: addresses mistakes made in the Revolutionary War; Amendments 5-8: guarantees rights to people charged with crimes; and Amendments 9-10: maintains the rights of states and citizens. I gave Ben a mnemonic device to remember the main principles of the Constitution and the fact that Rhode Island was the last state to ratify.