ABSTRACT
The United States (US) faced a host of challenges in the generation after winning its independence. Many American officials, wary of the problems using state-organized militia units during the Revolutionary War, wanted the national government to control the organization and training of US armed forces. The War in the Northwest Territory resembled earlier conflicts in that American troops sought to destroy native towns and fields to induce hostile Indians to come to terms. As with the Legion of the US' victory that summer, the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion had larger implications for US military institutions. The beginning of the French Revolution in 1789 exacerbated US political tensions. What became known as the Quasi-War was an undeclared, low-intensity naval war between the US and France. By 1794, two distinct political groups had emerged in the United States: the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans, or simply Republicans.
