Washington S Presidency 65 Pts

Name ______Per. ______

Washington’s Presidency 65 pts

When George Washington became President of the United States in April of 1789, he did not take the helm of a stable, financially sound nation. Many historians agree that what made it possible for the U.S. to survive its “infancy” was the fact that the Atlantic Ocean separated us from Europe. It didn’t hurt that most of Europe was embroiled in their own problems for the first two decades of our existence: namely the French Revolution followed by the Napoleonic Wars. Washington’s task of creating a nation stable enough to survive past his presidency was not easy. For each category, carefully and fully address each issue.

Setting up the Government

Court System / Executive Departments and Presidential advisors
Federal Judiciary Act set up federal court system with a Supreme Court with 6 justices / Set up 3 executive departments with the heads of these departments being the president’s Cabinet.
War - Henry Knox
State - Thomas Jefferson
Treasury - Alexander Hamilton

Economic Problems

Major Economic Problems / Debt owed to foreign countries
Debt owed to US citizens
Solution / How it would help solve the financial problems of the country
pay off all war debts / would win the respect of foreign nations and their citizens and would show that the US was responsible
raise government revenue / would give the government money to pay its debt with
create a national bank / a national bank would give the government a place to keep its money, loans to encourage business, place to issue government currency

Explain the national controversy over Hamilton’s financial plan, and how it was resolved.

Many southern states didn’t support the plan since they had already paid off their debts and didn’t want to help northern state pay theirs, so a compromise was reached. Jefferson would support the plan if Hamilton supported moving the capital to the south

Hamilton believed that the new tariff would help to stimulate the American economy.

What is a tariff? / Tax on imported goods
Two purposes of Hamilton’s proposed tariff. / raise money for the governments
encourage the growth of American industry

Problems at Home

Native Americans and western lands.

What problems was the country experiencing with the Native Americans in the west?

Conflict between Native Americans and the settlers trying to move in to the Northwest Territory

How was the problem dealt with?

Washington sent troops into the area and they eventually defeated the Native American confederation at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. Native Americans were forced to give up much of their land in present-day Ohio as part of the Treaty of Greenville

Backcountry Farmers

Why was whiskey an important product to many Americans?

Whiskey provided an easy means of transporting grain to market. Farmers could charge more for Whiskey than for grain. Farmers could use Whiskey as currency to buy and trade for supplies

What lead to the Whiskey Rebellion? Where did it occur?

It was Part of Hamilton’s plan was to tax whiskey. Farmers in Western Pennsylvania who relied on whiskey economically rebelled and refused to pay the tax. They threatened to attack Pittsburgh.

What was the result of the rebellion and what was the importance of that result?

Washington sent an army to Penn.to put down the rebellion. It showed that the government had the power and the will to enforce its laws

Foreign Relations Problems

Explain the nation’s official foreign policy in the 1790s.

The nation’s official policy was neutrality; The U.S. was not going to side with any of the countries fighting in Europe

Explain the issues faced with the following nations and how they were addressed.

Britain
Problems / Britain still occupied forts in the NW territory, and Britain seized American cargo ship
Solution / Jay’s Treaty, Britain agreed to pay for damages to American ships and leave the forts in the NW territory
Spain
Problems / Controlled the port of New Orleans and threatened to close it to American ships
Solution / Pinckney’s Treaty gave Americans the right to freely travel on the Mississippi River and the right to store their goods in New Orleans without paying custom duties, and the 31st parallel was the boundary between Spanish Florida and the U.S.
France
Problems / Wanted us to side with them in their revolution, when we remained neutral, they attacked our ships
Solution / No solution during Washington’s presidency

What was Washington’s greatest accomplishment as president, why?

Answers will vary, but should explain why