George Washington
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1789 Judiciary Act
Neutrality Act
Bill of Rights
Assumption Bill
Jay Treaty
Pickney Treaty
Battle of Fallen Timbers
Treaty of Greenville
National Bank
Whiskey Rebellion
Farewell Address
1789 Judiciary Act
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Initiated the development of the judicial branch.
A Supreme Court was created, headed by a chief justice and originally five associate justices, who
were chosen by the President and approved by Congress.
A network of district courts was also established.
Neutrality Act
June 5, 1794 - Congress passed the Neutrality Act, prohibiting Americans from enlisting in the
service of a foreign power; first instance of municipal legislation in support of the obligations of
neutrality, and a remarkable advance in the development of international law
Bill of Rights
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Congress sent the President ten amendments to the Constitution that became known as the Bill of
Rights; these amendments strengthened civil liberties.
Assumption Bill
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Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton has proposed that the national government assume
responsibility for paying the debts of all 13 states as well as the debts of the national government.
This is called the “Assumption” plan. The money to pay the debts will come from national revenue
Jay Treaty
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Although the Treaty of Paris (1783) ended the American War for Independence, the years
following saw relations between America and England deteriorate precipitously.
England refused to evacuate the frontier forts in the Northwest Territory; in addition, she seized
American ships, forcing American sailors to serve in England's war against France.
The United States, for her part, passed navigation laws that were potentially damaging to Great
Britain. It was apparent that a commercial war between the two countries would undermine the
health of the American economy.
The American statesman John Jay, pressed into service as special envoy, went to England to
negotiate disagreements between the two governments.
On November 19, 1794 Jay's Treaty was signed, averting the threat of war.
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The Treaty eliminated British control of western posts within two years, established America's
claim for damages from British ship seizures, and provided America a limited right to trade in the
West Indies.
Although Jay's Treaty provoked a storm of controversy (Jay was burned in effigy by mobs of
outraged Americans), President Washington pressed for ratification. The treaty passed the Senate
in June, 1795.
Among John Jay's many accomplishments — president of Congress in 1778, minister to Spain, one
of three Americans who negotiated the Paris Peace Treaty, an author of The Federalist and the
first chief justice of the Supreme Court — none was more important than his negotiation of of the
Treaty with Great Britain in 1794.
Pickney Treaty
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Often glossed over if not overlooked in many history books, The Treaty of San Lorenzo between
Spain and the United States played a major role in the expansion of the infant nation's boundaries.
Preceded by the acquisition of lands set forth by the Northwest Ordinance eight years earlier, and
soon-to-be followed by the Louisiana Purchase eight years later, the Treaty of San Lorenzo (also
known as Pinckney's Treaty) opened up the Mississippi River to American navigation.
Negotiated by Thomas Pinckney, America's special envoy to Spain, the agreement also allowed
western settlers the "right to deposit" their exports in New Orleans and to engage in commercial
transactions within that city.
This was of vital importance to the more than 100,000 westerners who lived in Kentucky and
Tennessee, and to the many thousands of settlers who lived in what is now Ohio.
Under the treaty Spain officially recognized the southern and western boundaries of the U.S. as
the 31st parallel and the Mississippi River.
The treaty thus allowed the U.S. to gain access to the area now known as the states of Mississippi
and Alabama.
The treaty was signed at San Lorenzo El Real on October 27, 1795.
Battle of Fallen Timbers
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In 1791, Washington learned that an American force had been defeated by a Native American
uprising in the Northwest Territory (present-day Ohio) that killed over 600 American soldiers and
militia.
The President ordered the Revolutionary War veteran General "Mad" Anthony Wayne to launch a
new expedition against a coalition of tribes led by Miami Chief Little Turtle.
Wayne spent months training his troops to fight using forest warfare in the style of the Indians
before marching boldly into the region.
After constructing a chain of forts, Wayne and his troops crushed the Indians in the Battle of
Fallen Timbers (near present-day Toledo) in the summer of 1794.
Defeated, the seven tribes -- the Shawnee, Miami, Ottawa, Chippewa, Iroquois, Sauk, and Fox -ceded large portions of Indian lands to the United States and then moved west.
Treaty of Greenville
After General Anthony Wayne's decisive defeat of the Ohio Indian tribes at the Battle of Fallen
Timbers, leaders of the Indian nations joined with Wayne on August 3, 1795 in signing A Peace
Treaty.
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This was an important event in the life of the infant nation since the Treaty established a definite
boundary between Indian lands and those lands open to white settlement. For the first time in its
young history the U.S. was able to govern all its territories.
It was no secret that President Washington was eager to clear the Ohio Valley of Native
Americans. By opening up the Northwest Territory to immigration the country would be able to
expand its borders, with the resulting increase in trade and commerce.
The Treaty was signed by Wayne and representatives from a dozen Indian nations and tribes at
Greeneville, northwest of the Ohio River on August 3, 1795. Specifically: "A Treaty of Peace
Between the United States of America and the Tribes of Indians called Wyandots, Delawares,
Shawanoes, Ottawas, Chipewas, Putawatimes, Miamis, Eel-River, Weeas, Kickapoos, Piankashaws
and Kaskaskias."
National Bank
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The young country had severe financial problems. There were both domestic and foreign debts
from the war, and the issue of how to raise revenue for government was hotly debated.
Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton laid plans for governmental financing via tariffs, or
surcharges on imported goods, and a tax on liquor.
Much of this revenue was earmarked for retiring war debts.
Hamilton also proposed a national bank to centralize the nation's financial base and urged the
new government to assist in developing a manufacturing sector of the economy.
He traded his support for Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson's plan to locate the nation's
permanent capital near Virginia, with Philadelphia serving as a temporary capital, for Jefferson's
support of his policies on retiring the debt.
Whiskey Rebellion
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A tax on whiskey -- production of which had increased dramatically in the 1790s -- was one of the
key elements of Hamilton's fiscal program.
This taxation enraged many citizens, and in 1794, resistance to the whiskey tax boiled over in
western Pennsylvania with attacks on tax collectors and the formation of several well-armed
resistance movements.
Washington was alarmed by the Whiskey Rebellion, viewing it as a threat to the nation's
existence.
In an extraordinary move designed to demonstrate the federal government's preeminence and
power, the President ordered militia from several other states into Pennsylvania to keep order.
He then traveled to the site of the troubles to personally oversee the buildup of troops and to
lend his encouragement to the enterprise.
The insurrection collapsed quickly with little violence, and the resistance movements disbanded.
Later, Washington pardoned the men convicted of treason in the matter.
Farewell Address
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Washington closed his administration with a thoughtful farewell address. Written with the help of
Hamilton and Madison, the address urged Americans to be a vigilant and righteous people.
"It is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national
union to your collective and individual happiness," he said. "The very idea of the power and the
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right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the
established government."
It was as if he saw the great challenges to come in the next decades and begged his fellow citizens
to remain a unified nation.
He warned his fellow citizens against "the baneful spirit of faction," referring to the party spirit
that had disrupted his administration, and he warned against "foreign entanglements."
But he could not prevent the formation of parties, nor did his warning against "foreign
entanglements" prevent his successors from engaging in active diplomacy with European nations,
often leading to de facto alliances.
To this day, Washington's farewell address is read aloud every year in both houses of Congress as
a tribute to his service and foresight.