George Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States in New York City in 1789. He worked to define the role of the presidency and established important precedents, such as creating the first presidential cabinet. Washington faced challenges in uniting the new nation and establishing its financial system. [END SUMMARY]

1. Turn and Talk
What qualities does a good leader
need to possess?
Be able explain at least 3 qualities a leader must
possess.

2. LAUNCHING A NEW
REPUBLIC
April 30, 1789- George Washington’s arrives in New York City
This Presentation accompanies the 8th Grade United States
History Textbook: Creating America-Chapter 9

3. Washington’s Inauguration
•George Washington knew that he
would be setting the example for
all President’s after him.
•Crowds lined the street on April
30, 1789. Washington made his
way to his inauguration ceremony
in New York at Federal Hall.
When finished, the crowd yelled
“God bless our President”.
•Washington defined the the role
of the office of the President.
Presidents today still follow many
examples he sat down.
Washington Meets with Foreign
Visitors to America
Click on the Federal Hall Memorial
as it looks today to view a 13 minute
presentation on George Washington
as President of the U.S.

4. DUTIES OF FIRST PRESIDENT
• The first duty of Washington was
to “fill in the blanks” of the
constitution.
• The constitution does not focus on
all of the details of the
government.
• The first focus was put on the
Supreme Court. Congress passed
the Judiciary Act of 1789 which
declared that the Supreme Court
would consist of 5 justices and a
chief justice.
• This law also set up several other
federal courts.
John Jay
First Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court

7. PRESIDENTIAL
CABINET
•Congress created three
departments to help the
President. The head of each of
those departments, plus the
attorney general made up
Washington’s Cabinet.
Dept. of State: Thomas Jefferson
Attorney Gen: Edmund Randolph
Dept-Treasury: Alexander Hamilton
Department of War: Henry Knox
(Clockwise from top left)

8. Washington’s Cabinet
• Attorney General (Edmond Randolph) to advise
the government on legal matters.
• Secretary of the Treasury (Alexander Hamilton) to
manage the government’s money.
• Secretary of State (Thomas Jefferson) oversee the
relations between the U.S. and other countries.
• Secretary of War (Henry Knox) oversee the
nation’s defenses.

9. •The Constitution does not mention
the President’s cabinet, but
Washington gathered these men to
help advise him, just as Presidents do
today.
•The presidential Cabinet has grown
from 4 to 15 today. The newest
cabinet position was the Homeland
Security Department.
•Each president chooses how much to
use the cabinet. Andrew Jackson
called together his cabinet only 16
times in 8 years. However, Presidents
today meet usually every week.
Abraham Lincoln and his
Cabinet during the Civil War
George W. Bush meets with
Advisors in September 12, 2001

10. The U.S. government and many states still owed a lot of
money from the Revolutionary War.
HAMILTON GOES TO WORK
•George Washington turned to his new Secretary
of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, to deal with
the nearly $52 Million in debt.
•Hamilton developed a 3 step plan to improve the
new country’s finances:
1. Pay off the debt
2. Raise government revenue
3. Creating a national bank

11. HAMILTON’S ECONOMIC SYSTEM
• Hamilton’s philosophies on economics were
developed from the teachings of Adam Smith in his
book, “The Wealth of Nations”.
• Smith’s writings about the Free Enterprise System
were based on the idea that people are free to buy
and sell as the market drives the need. In other
words, the government does not interfere with it’s
people’s right to buy and sell unless public safety is
threatened or Capitalism is threatened.
• After rebelling against the British Mercantilism, the
new United States was naturally set up for free
enterprise.

12. PROTECTIVE TARIFFS
•A tariff is a tax on an imported good.
•Another part of Hamilton’s plan depended upon
the use of protective tariffs.
•These taxes on imported goods from other
countries raised money for the government and
encouraged citizens to buy American made goods.

13. On Your Own
Read page 279 -281 ‘Hamilton’s Financial Plan’
Why did Hamilton favor imposing high tariffs on
foreign goods and creating a national bank?

14. HAMILTON’S PLAN & JEFFERSON’S RESPONSE
• Hamilton believed that all of the new country’s debt should
be paid off. He attempted to combine the state and
federal debt into one bond to be paid off all at once.
• Hamilton knew that this plan would only pass with
southern support, which was unlikely because much of the
south had already paid off its debt. Hamilton turned to a
political enemy, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was leading
Democratic-Republican in the government.
• Jefferson (and the south) eventually supported Hamilton’s
plan because Hamilton promised to support the move of
the capital out of New York and into the south. (Wash.
D.C.).

15. ALEXANDER
HAMILTON
• Washington appointed Alexander
Hamilton as the first Secretary of
the Treasury, and his influence
on the United States economic
system can still be seen today.
• Hamilton’s philosophy was based
on the idea that American
success depended upon
businesses. Therefore he often
favored businesses over farmers
or artisans
• Hamilton subscribed to a “loose
constructionist” view of the
constitution, and he felt that the
Federal Government should be
much stronger than the states.

16. • Thomas Jefferson was the first
Secretary of the Department of
the State. Like George
Washington, he was a Virginian
and well liked by many in
Congress.
• Jefferson was well schooled in
agriculture He felt that the future
of the United States was in its
agricultural base.
• Unlike Hamilton he subscribed to
a “Strict Constructionist” view of
the Constitution, and he felt the
states should maintain as much
power as possible over any federal
government.
THOMAS
JEFFERSON

17. Interpreting the Constitution
• STRICT CONSTRUCTION: only what the
Constitution clearly states – favored by
Jefferson and Madison.
• LOOSE CONSTRUCTION: the Constitution
should be flexible to meet the needs of the
country (Elastic Clause) – favored by Hamilton
and Adams.
Jefferson and Hamilton argued these points
on the creation of the National Bank.

18. NATIONAL •During Washington’s Presidency, a
split between those in the government
BANK DEBATE
slowly developed based on beliefs about
the power of the Federal government.
•Alexander Hamilton’s attempts to
develop a National Bank were argued
against by Strict Constructionist such as
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
They believed the Constitution did not
allow for the creation of such a bank
and the Federal government did not
have power to create the bank.
•George Washington agreed with
Hamilton and the National Bank was set
up in 1791.

19. • The British had never truly removed
their forts from the Ohio valley
after the Revolution.
• Jay’s Treaty attempted to create a
new treaty with Britain. After the
American victory over a large Indian
force at Fallen Timbers, the British
agreed to leave the Ohio Valley and
allow Americans to trade in the
West Indies.
• The U.S. also organized a treaty
with Spain. Pinkney’s Treaty
guaranteed the U.S. the right to
have boats on the Mississippi river
and Spain agreed to American
borders.
NATIONAL
SECURITY
“Mad”Anthony Wayne
Leader of the victorious
American forces at the
Battle of Fallen Timbers

20. WHISKEY
REBELLION
• In 1793, Alexander Hamilton had proposed a tax on
Whiskey sold and made in the U.S.
• Farmers in Western Pennsylvania began to attack tax
collectors and revolt against local authority.
***There was never actually a fight, the rebels ran back
home and gave up before the troops arrived,
but these federal Troops proved that the federal
government had the power and will to enforce its laws.

21. • Many Americans were in favor of
allying with a European power.
They felt it would be in America’s
best interest to be associated with
a strong power from Europe.
• George Washington was in favor of
maintaining neutrality, however,
when the French Revolution
began, American neutrality was
put to the test.
• Many well know Americans had
spent time in France such as
Thomas Jefferson and Ben
Franklin. None the less, America
was able to stay committed to
neutrality for the next 150 years.
Foreign Policy
and the French
Revolution
An executioner, during
the French Revolution

22. WASHINGTON SAYS GOODBYE
•George Washington choose not to
serve as President for a 3rd term.
He believed that it was appropriate
for a President to serve no more
than 8 years. As Washington was
leaving office, he gave a speech
that has come to be called,
“Washington’s Farewell Address”.
In the Address, Washington ask 3 things of the county:
1. Try to avoid political party politics.
2. Avoid influences of foreign governments
3. Avoid any permanent alliances with other countries.

23. WASHINGTON’S RETIREMENT
•Washington Retired to his
home at Mt. Vernon, Virginia,
with his wife Martha and the
rest of his family. He died in
1798.
Want to see what Washington really
looked like? Click Mt. Vernon.
•Washington had set
examples (or precedents) for
American Presidents that
came after him. His ideas
such as America remaining
neutral, using a cabinet, and
serving only two terms lasted
well over 100 years.

24. BIRTH OF POLITICAL PARTIES
•Even as Washington argued against political parties, they
continued to grow in strength during and after his
Presidency. Leaders emerged for each and those in the
government take sides based on their political beliefs.
Leaders of the Federalist
HAMILTON
ADAMS
Leaders of the Dem. Republicans
MADISON
JEFFERSON
**Political parties, in America, were born out of
disagreements about the power of the Federal government
and disagreements over foreign policy.

25. Political “Platform” of the First Political Parties
•
•
•
•
Federalist Party
Leaders: John Adams and
Alexander Hamilton
Typical Followers: Business
owners from the Northeast
Philosophy: Strong central
government benefits the
economy / The federal
government should maintain
most of the power.
Constitutional View: Loose
Constructionist
Democratic Republican Party
• Leaders: Thomas Jefferson and
James Madison
• Typical Followers: Farmers and
Artisans
• Philosophy: Low Taxes and
Small Government / The states
should control the majority of
government.
• Constitutional View: Strict
Constructionist

26. John Adams
• John Adams, Vice President under
Washington was victorious in the
election of 1796. Thomas
Jefferson, who had the second
most votes, became the Vice
President
• John Adams was the first President
to live in the White House. He also
had to avert a full scale war with
France.
• Adams would only be president 1
term before he would be defeated
by his own Vice-President, Thomas
Jefferson, in 1800.

27. XYZ AFFAIR
• President John Adams sent peace envoys to France to deal
with some diplomatic problems. After weeks, 3 men (later
called X, Y, and Z) ask for a bribe and for the US to “loan”
France $10 million.
• When Adams, Congress and the American people found out,
they were furious. Congress cancelled its Treaties with
France and prepared for war. America and France began
fighting an “Undeclared War” on the ocean. The U.S. was
very successful, and by 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte had
taken control of France. He wanted peace with the US.
• The Agreement of 1800, secured peace for the US and
France to travel on the oceans.

28. N
spa
ew
r
pe
W
r
ite
r
m
lia
l
Wi
,
n
ua
D
o
ed
s
ccu
A
f
e
n
tio
i
ed
S
ALIEN AND SEDITION
ACTS 1798
•1798 the Federalist controlled
Congress passed the Alien and
Sedition Acts, despite
opposition of the Democratic
Republicans.
• It now took, 14 years to become a citizen instead of 5,
which hindered much of the immigrant's Republican
voting power. It also made it illegal for ANY person to
speak against the government (SEDITION).
• Jefferson and Madison fought against these acts. By the
time, Jefferson became President in 1800, the law was
weak enough to be eliminated.

29. Peace with France
•The two political parties were arguing and “fighting”
for power at home. Adams attempted to make peace
with France, even though it made him many enemies
in both parties.
•France and the U.S. signed the Agreement of 1800
which led to peace on the oceans. Adams felt that
avoiding this war was his most important act as
President.

30. Election of
1800
•In election of 1800, old
friends, Jefferson and
Adams, insulted and
criticized each other
the likes of which the
country had never seen.
•Jefferson was
eventually the winner
of the election, but it
was so close that bitter
and often insulting
campaigns became a
part of American
politics that still remain