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As the first president of the fledgling United States, George Washington faced a daunting task. By Joanne B. Freeman. America as a new nation and America as a fragile nation: Both ideas had an enormous shaping influence during Washington's presidency, a period of his career that, oddly, doesn't usually receive much attention.
Jul 8, 2022 · George Washington Carver’s sketch of 1872 Neosho Colored School and Watkins Home (Image 4) “Aunt” Mariah Watkins sitting with children, 1903 (Image 5) Stephen Frost, teacher at Neosho Colored School, c. 1875 (Image 6) George Washington Carver as a college graduate (Image 7) George Washington Carver at Tuskegee Institute, c. 1935 (Image 8)
High School and College . TIMEFRAME: Approximately one class session . STANDARDS: · Civics · Civics Agency · Reading · Primary Source Analysis · Leadership. EAD THEME: Civic Participation (Theme 1) QUESTIONS: · How does George Washington depict his relationship with the United States?
- Overview
- Washington's presidency
- Debate over the national bank
- The French Revolution and the Proclamation of Neutrality
- The Whiskey Rebellion
- Washington's Farewell Address
- What do you think?
As the first president of the United States, George Washington set several important precedents for the federal government.
•Virginian and Revolutionary War General George Washington became the United States's first president in 1789. His actions in office set a precedent for a strong executive branch and a strong central government.
•The major political questions and conflicts during the 1790s concerned foreign policy, economic policy, and the balance of power between states and the federal government.
•During Washington's presidency, factions began to emerge that would soon form the first two political parties in the United States: the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists.
The states ratified the new Constitution of the United States in 1787, which created three branches of the federal government: Congress, the courts, and the presidency. In 1789, George Washington became the first person to hold the office of President of the United States.
As president and head of the executive branch, Washington was responsible for enforcing the government that the Constitution created. He and the rest of the First Federal Congress quickly realized that the Constitution did not have clear solutions to every problem they would face.
Coming out of the American Revolution, the United States was faced with the issue of a large national debt. After taking out loans from France to cover the expenses of fighting the war, the state debt totaled about $ 25 million. But after the Constitution brought the states under a central government, who would be responsible for the debt that the states owed? Would each individual state be responsible for paying back its debt, or would the new federal government pay?
Newly-minted Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton proposed a two-part solution: the federal government would assume the states’ debt and create a national bank. Hamilton believed a national bank would help to promote business by printing federally-backed money. There was just one problem: the Constitution said nothing about creating a national bank. However, Hamilton and his followers believed that under the “necessary and proper” clause of Article I, the Constitution gave Congress the right to create the bank to fix the debt problem.
[What is the "necessary and proper" clause?]
Thomas Jefferson and his followers disagreed with Hamilton’s argument, stating that it was a misinterpretation of the necessary and proper clause. He believed that creating a national bank would be an abuse of power by the federal government.
After much debate between these two emerging factions—the Federalists, represented by Hamilton, and the Democratic-Republicans, represented by Jefferson—the bill establishing the first Bank of the United States passed the House and Senate, President Washington signed the bill into law in early 1791.
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The American Revolution sparked several other revolutions across the world, including the Haitian Revolution and the French Revolution.
At the start of the French Revolution in 1789, the United States had just ratified its new Constitution and Bill of Rights. When French revolutionaries came to the United States asking for assistance, Washington decided to issue a Proclamation of Neutrality, guaranteeing that the United States would stay out of the war and not take anyone’s side. This was a risky decision, since France had been the United States's major ally during the Revolutionary War.
Washington's decision to issue a Proclamation of Neutrality was rooted in the fact that the United States was still dealing with a sizable debt after the American Revolution. With this act, along with the recommendations he made in his Farewell Address upon leaving office, Washington set a precedent for isolationism, or refraining from involvement in international affairs, that set the tone for US foreign policy over the next century.
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Why did Washington issue a Proclamation of Neutrality in the war between France and Britain?
Choose 1 answer:
In order to raise money to repay the debt after the American Revolution, Alexander Hamilton proposed a tax on whiskey in 1791.
For farmers in rural areas, whiskey was a form of currency. Distilled from grain, farmers found it was more profitable to sell grain to a distillery than it was to ship it across several states to be sold in the eastern half of the United States. The new tax enraged farmers.
When tax collectors came to the farmers for their payments for the whiskey, they were met with armed resistance, sometimes even tar and feathering. After about 500 men gathered and burned down the house of a tax collector in Pennsylvania, Washington ordered a force of about 13,000 troops to crush the resistance.
Although no fighting broke out, the Whiskey Rebellion had one profound impact on the future of the United States. It affirmed the fact that the federal government could handle political unrest and was much stronger than it had been under the Articles of Confederation.
Stop and consider: How did the government's response to the Whiskey Rebellion compare to its response to Shays's Rebellion? What accounts for the differences?
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Washington’s presidency was significant beyond the fact that he was the first president. His actions established a strong central government and helped put in place a plan to fix the problem of the national debt.
On his way out of the presidency, Washington delivered a Farewell Address in which he advised the country to avoid political factions, based on party or geography, and avoid long-term alliances with other countries.
Excerpt from George Washington's Farewell Address, 1796.
I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally. . . .
It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. . . .
The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none; or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. . . .
What was the most important precedent that George Washington set while in office?
Do you think the Constitution gave Hamilton the power to create a national bank? Why or why not?
Why did Washington advise the United States to pursue a policy of isolationism?
[Notes and attributions]
Expert Answers. George Washington faced a number of challenges in his youth. He was just eleven years old when his beloved father passed away, and in the following years he and his large family ...
Aug 27, 2018 · After George Washington took office on April 30, 1789, at Federal Hall in New York City, a variety of challenges, he was faced with a variety of tough challenges, both foreign and domestic.
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Oct 27, 2009 · George Washington Carver. Born on a farm near Diamond, Missouri, the exact date of Carver’s birth is unknown, but it’s thought he was born in January or June of 1864. Nine years prior, Moses ...
