Course: U.S. History to 1877 (HIST 1301) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Hartwell
Module: Week 7 of 16 · Fall 2026 · in-person, two 75-minute sessions
Objectives covered: Objective 5 — the Constitution and the politics of the early republic.

This file holds two pieces: (A) the Module 7 Overview page ("Start Here") and (B) the Week 7 Announcement that drips out when the module opens. Dates below assume a Tuesday/Thursday pattern with Week 7 meeting Tue Oct 13 and Thu Oct 15, with end-of-week work due Sunday Oct 18, 11:59 p.m. Adjust the day-of-week and times to match your section.

(A) Module 7 Overview — Start Here

Welcome to Week 7: The New Republic

This is your home base for the week. Read it first, then work the checklist below from top to bottom. Everything you need is linked inside the module.

The Constitution was ratified — now someone has to actually run it. This week we watch the republic try. Washington's first Cabinet split almost immediately into two irreconcilable visions: Alexander Hamilton's aggressive plan to build a financial system and a strong central government, and Thomas Jefferson's commitment to states' rights, agrarian democracy, and the French Revolution. That split gave birth to America's first party system — the Federalists versus the Democratic-Republicans — and to a decade of partisan fury that Washington himself called one of the gravest threats the republic faced.

Before Washington left office in 1796 he issued a public letter — the Farewell Address — warning against the very forces he had watched tear at the republic: political parties and permanent foreign alliances. Within a year his successor, John Adams, was dealing with both: a war scare with France (the XYZ Affair), an undeclared naval conflict (the Quasi-War), and the Alien and Sedition Acts that put newspaper editors in prison for criticizing the government. Jefferson and Madison struck back with the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. Then in 1800 came the thing no one could quite believe: a peaceful handover of power to the opposition party — the so-called "Revolution of 1800."

This week's primary source — Washington's Farewell Address (1796) — is the hinge document of the era. You'll close-read his warnings on parties and foreign policy, and then ask whether the republic he was leaving behind could actually follow the advice he was giving it.

The week's big question

"Could the new republic survive the forces — party conflict and foreign entanglement — that Washington warned against? And were his warnings wise advice or impossible idealism?"

By the end of this week, you can…

Use this as a checklist. If you can do all five out loud, you're ready for the quiz.

• [ ] Explain Hamilton's financial plan — assumption, the Bank, and the whiskey excise tax — and the constitutional debate it provoked with Jefferson.
• [ ] Distinguish Federalists from Democratic-Republicans by their core positions (strong vs. limited central government; loose vs. strict construction; pro-British vs. pro-French foreign policy).
• [ ] Describe the major crises of Washington's and Adams's administrations — the Whiskey Rebellion (1794), the Jay Treaty (1795), the XYZ Affair (1797–98), and the Alien and Sedition Acts (1798).
• [ ] Close-read Washington's Farewell Address (1796) for his warnings on parties and foreign alliances, identifying his exact phrases and what they meant in context.
• [ ] Explain the "Revolution of 1800" — why Jefferson's election mattered beyond the winner, and why a peaceful transfer of power was a genuine historical achievement.

What's due this week, and when

Work these in order — each one gets you ready for the next.

Next week is the Midterm (Week 8) — this week's work is your last preparation before the cumulative exam. Quiz 7, the Workshop, the Discussion, and the Assignment all build the knowledge and close-reading habits you'll need.

Late policy reminder: 10% off per day late. If life happens, reach out before the deadline.

How to succeed this week

• Map the party split early. Draw two columns — Federalists and Democratic-Republicans — and fill in their positions on every issue: the Bank, strict vs. loose construction, Britain vs. France, strong central government vs. states' rights. That map is most of what the quiz tests.
• Anchor every event to its year. Whiskey Rebellion 1794. Jay Treaty 1795. Farewell Address 1796. XYZ Affair 1797–98. Alien & Sedition Acts 1798. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions 1798. Election of 1800/Jefferson inaugurated 1801. Say them aloud until they're automatic.
• The Farewell Address is the week's argument, not just a source. Washington's warnings on parties and foreign alliances were direct responses to things he had just lived through. Read the document on its own terms — what had happened to make him say this?
• Don't fabricate or trust AI quotes. The Farewell Address is widely misquoted — Washington never said "foreign entanglements." The real phrase is "permanent alliances." The Primary Source Workshop asks you to catch exactly this kind of error. Verify every quote against the Avalon Project link.
• The "Revolution of 1800" was not about Jefferson's ideas — it was about what didn't happen. The transfer of power was peaceful. That, not Jefferson's policies, is why historians call it revolutionary.

(B) Week 7 Announcement

Release setting: post on the module's start day (offset = 0 days), i.e., Mon Oct 12, 2026 — not before. If your platform won't preserve the scheduled date on import, post this as a draft labeled "Release: Mon Oct 12."

Subject: Week 7 — The new republic nearly tears itself apart (and then doesn't)

Hi everyone,

We've built the Constitution. Now this week we have to run it — and it almost goes off the rails immediately.

Washington put two brilliant men in his Cabinet who disagreed on almost everything: Hamilton at Treasury and Jefferson at State. Within a few years their disagreement had produced America's first political parties (the thing Washington said would destroy the republic), an armed tax rebellion in Pennsylvania, a near-war with France, newspaper editors in prison for criticizing the government, and the most important election in early American history.

This week — The New Republic — we tackle the big question: Could the republic survive the forces — party conflict and foreign entanglement — that Washington warned against? By Friday you'll be able to map the Federalists against the Democratic-Republicans on every major issue, explain the crises of the 1790s in order, and close-read Washington's Farewell Address for what he was actually warning about (and what he was not saying).

Three things not to miss:
1. Lecture Tutorial 7 — work through the party split, Hamilton's plan, the foreign crises, and the Revolution of 1800 with one approved chatbot and submit the share link. Due Sun Oct 18.
2. Primary Source Workshop 7 — Washington's Farewell Address. Read the actual document (linked in the module from the Avalon Project at Yale), source and close-read it, and catch the AI's misquotations. Due Sun Oct 18. Note: "foreign entanglements" is not in the Address — catch the AI when it says it is.
3. Quiz 7, Discussion 7, and Assignment 7 also close Sun Oct 18 — and Week 8 is the Midterm, so this week is your final content week before the cumulative exam.

One question to bring to Tuesday's class: Washington warned against political parties in 1796. Was he right — or were parties the inevitable, maybe even healthy, result of a free republic?

See you Tuesday,
Prof. Hartwell