under the Constitution_ (7 vols., 1880-1913), and E. M.
Avery, _History of the United States and its People from their
Earliest Records to the Present Time_ (7 vols., 1904- ). The events
of the Administrations of Washington and Adams are narrated by J.
S. Bassett, _The Federalist System_ (in _The American Nation_,
vol. 11, 1906). Among the special studies of importance are D. R.
Dewey, _Financial History of the United States_ (1903); C. R.
Fish, _The Civil Service and the Patronage_ (1905); H. B. Learned,
_The President's Cabinet_ (1912); and W. W. Willoughby, _The
Supreme Court of the United States_ (1890). There are many
biographies of the Federalist leaders. Among the best are W. C.
Ford, _George Washington_ (2 vols., 1900); W. G. Sumner,
_Alexander Hamilton_ (1890); F. S. Oliver, _Alexander Hamilton; an
Essay on American Union_ (1907); J. T. Morse, _John Adams_ (1885);
W. G. Brown, _Life of Oliver Ellsworth_ (1905). Of contemporary
writings none will give a more intimate view of politics than
Senator William Maclay's _Journal_ (1890). William Sullivan,
_Familiar Letters on Public Characters_ (1834), gives some lively
sketches of notable figures, but he writes with a strong
Federalist bias.

CHAPTER IV

THE TESTING OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT

The new Government fell heir to all the unsettled diplomatic problems of
the Confederation. The political destiny of the thirteen States seemed
fixed when they ratified the Constitution; the fate of the Western
communities beyond the Alleghanies still hung in the balance. In
Kentucky, General Wilkinson still intrigued in behalf of Spain. Sevier
and Robertson, in Tennessee, were not averse to separation from the
Eastern States nor to a Spanish protectorate. From New Orleans, Mobile,
St. Marks, and Pensacola, the Spanish authorities supplied the Indians
of the Southwest with arms and ammunition, counting on these uncertain
allies to maintain their long frontier, for Spain still claimed Florida
with its most northern boundary and refused to accept the validity of
the British cession of 1783. More than this: Spain was disposed to claim
both sides of the Mississippi, at least as far north as the Ohio.

In the Northwest, British garrisons still held Michilimackinac, Detroit,
Niagara, Oswego, and other posts. The policy of Great Britain was
dictated by much the same considerations as