George Washington
No Party Affiliation
(But really a Federalist)
1789 - 1797
Why is Washington’s Presidency Important?
• Washington was the first president
• He knew his actions would help to shape the
new federal government
• His actions set a precedent for future presidents
to follow
Washington’s Presidency was dominated by
three major issues:
• Defining Federalism – the scope and power of the
national government vs. that of state governments.
• Foreign Policy – The United States’ relationship with
European powers.
• Westward Expansion – Protecting Americans as they
moved west and maintaining access to vital
transportation routes controlled by European powers.
Article II of the United States Constitution
The Executive Power shall be vested in a President…
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy
of the United States…he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the
principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any
Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices…he shall
have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against
the United States…He shall have Power, by and with the Advice
and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of
the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with
the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors,
other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court,
and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are
not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by
Law.
That is A LOT for one person to be
responsible for every day!
The Cabinet
The Cabinet
Washington asked Congress to create four Executive
Departments to assist him in his responsibilities.
Those Departments were…
1. The Department of State
2. The Department of the Treasury
3. The Department of War
4. The Justice Department
Secretary of State
•
Thomas Jefferson
•
Author of Declaration of
Independence
•
U.S. Ambassador to France
•
Responsible for carrying out
Foreign Policy
Secretary of Treasury
•
Alexander Hamilton
•
Banker from New York
•
Served under General
Washington in Revolutionary
War
•
Responsible for collecting
government revenue (taxes) and
paying government debts and
obligations
•
Developed plan for paying off
U.S. debts
Secretary of War
•
Henry Knox
•
Served as Washington’s
artillery commander during
Revolutionary War
•
Responsible for coordinating
U.S. Army and Naval forces
•
National Defense
Attorney General
•
Edmund Randolph
•
Head of Justice Department
•
In charge of law
enforcement and the
nations chief lawyer
The Cabinet Today
The Cabinet Today
•
Over the years the size of the cabinet has expanded
•
National crises like 9/11 have led to the addition of new
executive departments
•
Cabinet Secretaries are appointed by the President and
confirmed by the Senate
•
The cabinet does not really advise the President today,
they carry out his policies
Judiciary Act of 1789
• Article III of the Constitution did not spell out the
details of the Judicial Branch
• Congress passed and Washington signed a law that
created federal district and circuit (appellate) courts and
set the number of Supreme Court Justices (1 Chief
Justice and 5 Associate Justices)
Pinckney’s Treaty
•
•
Spain controlled the port
of New Orleans and thus
the Mississippi River.
•
U.S. farmers living west
of the Appalachian Mtns.
needed access to the
Mississippi to transport
their crops to markets in
the east.
This treaty between the U.S. and Spain was negotiated by
Thomas Pinckney and gave the U.S. the right to use the port of
New Orleans and thus the Mississippi River.
Battle of Fallen Timbers
•
Miami Confederacy (Little Turtle) vs. U.S. (“Mad Anthony”
Wayne)
•
Miami Confederacy is defeated and the Ohio River Valley is
opened up to settlement by Americans.
Jay’s Treaty
•
Negotiated by John Jay
•
At issue was which nation, the
U.S. or Great Britain, would
control the lands west of the
Appalachian Mountains (Ohio
River Valley or Northwest
Territory)
•
The treaty gave control to the
U.S. but allowed British fur
trappers to continue their fur
trade in the region
•
This treaty angered many settlers
in the western U.S.
Neutrality
VS
•
Great Britain and France were at war with one another
•
Each nation wanted the U.S. to support them against the other
•
George Washington felt the best thing for the U.S. to do was to
take a course of neutrality
•
Neutrality – a nation does not favor one side over another in a
conflict and maintains a normal relationship with each warring
nation.
Whiskey Rebellion
•
As part of Alexander Hamilton’s economic plan to pay off the
nation’s debt from the Revolution an excise tax was imposed on
whiskey.
•
Whiskey production brought in a lot of cash for farmers in
western Pennsylvania (it was sometimes even used as currency)
•
These farmers felt victimized by the tax and refused to pay it.
•
When federal agents showed up to collect the tax the farmers
refused to pay and even physically attacked some of the agents.
Whiskey Rebellion
•
Farmers organized themselves into a militia of close to 7000
men.
•
George Washington had two options: ignore the uprising or
enforce federal law.
Whiskey Rebellion
•
Washington chose enforcement; he and Hamilton led an army of
15,000 troops into Western Pennsylvania and put down the
rebellion.
•
This established the new federal governments authority to enforce
its laws within the states, even if the states disagreed with the law.