In 1789 George Washington was declared the First President of the United States several years after the American Revolution had already ended, even though he never really ran for president. Before Washington was president he lived a normal life at Mt. Vernon, on the Potomac River in Virginia, and spent his time as a large plantation owner. Washington was the most popular and most respected man after the American Revolution, and most people expected him to become the United State’s first president. In April of 1789, Washington received all sixty-nine electoral votes and took place as the new head of government, the President. Although, being the first to do something can be very difficult, like using a constitution to run a newly developed government …show more content…
Some protests even began to get violent with tarring and feathering tax collectors. George Washington was not happy with this and was not going to stand for it. Washington responded immediately with troops and continued to enforce the laws. He wanted to show that the new government was not going to be undermined and to show it’s strength. Since the country was under a lot of war debt, particularly the northern states. Alexander Hamilton wanted to create a national bank to pool all of the country’s debt together. This would be beneficial because the bank would be able to collect taxes, create one currency, and make loans. This grew into a problem because a national bank was not mentioned in the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson especially opposed the National Bank, and made a statement that declared “It [gave it] the sole exclusive right of banking under the National authority … [was] against the laws of monopoly … to [grant it] a power to make laws [superior] to laws of states … [is wrong]” (Document 2). It started to become controversial because many people interpreted the Constitution differently. In addition, if the National bank was established, it would give more power to the Federal Government and weaken the state’s power. Overall, it …show more content…
War within the country was a large factor of making challenges for Washington. The Northwest Territory was an example. The Northwest territory was gained after a war with many Native Americans. Both the United States and the Natives claimed the land, while the British were still illegally staying on the land. The British sided with the Native Americans and helped them when Washington decided it was time to send in troops. He sent in troops to secure and gain land from other European, Spain and Britain, soldiers. Obtaining the Northwest Territory would allow citizens to settle west and furthermore expand the country. The Whiskey Rebellion was a revolt against the tax on liquor and many people had different opinions. The rebellion was made up of angry farmers whose protestings grew violent. They would tar and feather tax collectors around town, and rob them of their belongs. In response to the Whiskey Rebellion in August of 1794, Washington made a proclamation stating that “ … it [was] in [George Washington’s] judgement necessary … for calling forth the militia in order to suppress the [revolt] … and to cause the laws to be duly [enforced]” (Document 5). Washington did this to clarify to the people that the government was not going to allow rebels to revolt and disobey the laws. He continued to enforce the liquor tax to show the strength of the Federal Government. Showing the Federal
As the author stated in his book that he does not have the intention to compete with other writers or historians, but his idea was to give a clear an fresh portrait of Washington that focused largely on his characters. I will recommend this book to those that are willing to known Washington and people who are unfamiliar with the founding father of United States. This biography introduces readers into the remarkable events and significant life experiences of the first president of United States in the shortest time, without
It was important for George Washington to put down the Whiskey Rebellion and enforce tax on whiskey because the rebellion was a threat to the new republic. After Washington put down the rebellion, the new government established their position and power, hopefully discouraging future law breaking of this kind. While the US was formed on rebelling against laws that were deemed unjust, the country would not have survived if citizens felt free to rebel or break every law they did not like. Further, the whiskey tax was a way for the US to gain money to help pay debts from the Revolution, which were important to repay in order to secure the country’s economic survival long term. The greatest factor that convinced colonists to pay their taxes was
For two terms, George Washington was the president of America. As the first president, Washington had to set the standards for what future presidents should do. George Washington grew up in Fredericksburg, Virginia where his first job was a land surveyor. As a young kid, Washington never thought of himself being the president one day. At the first presidential election in 1789, Washington ran against John adams.
Thomas Jefferson and the other politicians who agreed with his views (Democratic-Republicans), were inclined to believe that the American Revolution was an act of pure rebellion, only unifying with the other colonies for a common goal of independence. Such a view, if strictly followed, would mean there would have been no reason for the colonies to stay unified, and this scenario would have surely been the end of an established powerful nation. Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists on the other hand, tended toward the view of advancing the current American experiment with a few sacrifices that would cause great turmoil amongst the states but ultimately unify them. One of these great sacrifices would be to establish a national bank in which state debt would become a total sum known as a national debt. His view was that unless each state felt indebted and/or dependent toward a federal government, that the union would eventually fall apart, and what made the United States powerful and capable of claiming their own independence would fade away.
Later that year, settlers in Western Pennsylvania had revolted on a federal tax on Whiskey. This was called, "The Whiskey Rebellion". The Whiskey Rebellion was a fulfillment of the Democratic Promise offered by the Revolutionary War. However, Washington did not agree. He led a force of about 12,000 men and crushed the revolt.
Jefferson was frustrated and quoted a line from Washington’s favorite play and applied it to Washington: “a curse on his virtues, they’ve undone his country.” The event that changed Jefferson’s view of Washington was the Whiskey Rebellion, an uprising in four counties of western Pennsylvania protesting an excise tax on whiskey. According to Washington, the revolt was a direct threat to the federal government that called out a massive militia of thirteen thousand soldiers to suppress it. Jefferson remarked on Washington’s decision as a shameful repetition of Shay’s Rebellion and denounced Washington’s justification as “shreds of stuff from Aesop’s fables and Tom Thumb.” Jefferson had started orchestrating a campaign of vilification against Washington.
The Whiskey Rebellion was a rebellion that occured in early 1791 as a result of Alexander Hamilton’s domestic tax on whiskey. In the United States, this was the first tax ever on a domestic product, so the whiskey tax outraged many Americans, resulting in boiling social tension. Hamilton originally enforced this tax to recover from debt caused by the Revolutionary War. Whiskey was one of America’s most popular beverages in the 18th century, so it wasn’t long before chants of “No taxation without representation” filled the streets in
This rebellion began because of the need for paper money and tax relief. In Document B, from the Federalists Paper, Hamilton explains how the government should have a general power of taxation. It is necessary because without taxation, the government is unable to support national forces and the expense of troops and military arrangements and operations. In addition, Hamilton also includes how it’s either that people pays taxes as a way to fulfill public needs or the nation has to diminish due to the increase in debt. To the Antifederalist however, taxes were considered a threat for them because the national government can levy the taxes whenever they want and was another form of the oppression from the British parliament.
After risking his life to lead the American Revolution—often bravely putting himself directly in the line of fire—Washington shocked the entire world by voluntarily returning all his powers to the American people and their elected representatives. It was a decision that even led his recently defeated foe, King George III, to comment that Washington was “the greatest character of his generation.” In 1790 a National Bank is Created by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, with President Washington's support. They send Congress a controversial message (The Report on a National Bank) calling for the creation of an official Bank of the United States. After a hard-won approval by Congress, Washington signs the bill on February 25, 1791.
We all know that George Washington was the first president of the United States. He got elected president in 1789 by 69 members of Congress. As the former leader of the Continental Army and a chairman of the Continental Congress George Washington had the right credentials to be president. His presidency ended in 1797 and he died in 1799. The truth is George Washington was not the first president.
George Washington’s Presidency George Washington, as every American has known since around pre-school, was our nation’s first president. But what if we didn’t have a president? Maybe a king, or even a theocracy? Originally, George Washington thought that maybe a constitution may not work, and a ruling elite may even work better (William P. Kladky). The Constitutional Convention had many long and heated debates on how to best create their government to give equal power to all branches of the government, and a board of three was one of the contenders (William P. Kladky).
The Whiskey Rebellion: Effects On History The Whiskey Rebellion was one of the first accomplishment over a period of time taken to get the United States out of debt after the Revolution. (Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. History) states that “Life on the western frontier was very difficult during this period; much of the area was simultaneously claimed by both Great Britain and Spain, and settlers were also threatened by Indian wars”. The Whiskey Rebellion was caused by Alexander Hamilton who convinced congress to pass a tax on the farmers main crop Whiskey! Hamilton’s intention was to help compile the power of the new government along with bringing down the national dept.
One of the hardest parts that laid on George Washington’s shoulders was no knew what it really involve; there was no real answer either, he just had to make it up as he went along. He wrote: “ Few can realize the difficult and delicate part of which a man in my situation has to act I walk on untrodden ground. There is scarcely any part of my conduct which may bot hereafter be drown into precedent.” Washington helped create the basic aspects of being the president that would later set the standard for all
The goal was to strengthen the economic system, lower the foreign debt and to support the ratification of the constitution. Political and economic differences were to be settled through congress, who could veto the president, be reviewed by the judiciary branch, or override certain laws that differed from the constitution. Hamilton had suggested that they tax whiskey and since most products were imported, installed a tariff on those goods. But the whiskey tax became quickly unpopular because whiskey had been the most sold beverage of the 18th century so people began protesting. Hamilton had to lead an army to Pennsylvania to fight the whiskey rebellion.
The idea of the Whiskey tax was to help reduce the federal government national debt. The Whiskey rebels revealed the deep current of resentment against Federalist policies that was running through rural America, which