The population was growing at a rapid rate, it was doubling about every 25 years and the first official census of 1790 recorded almost 4 million people.
All but 5 percent of the people lived east of the Appalachian Mountains, the people mostly settled in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio. (Which all became states within 14 years)
Foreign visitors looked down on the roughness and crudity resulting from ax and rifle pioneering life.
General Washington was drafted as president by the Electoral College, the only president to be nominated unanimously.
Amendments to the constitution could be proposed by either a new constitutional convention requested by two-thirds of the states or by two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress.
The first Congress also created effective federal courts under the Judiciary Act of 1789.
Hamilton wanted to build but national credit. He convinced the federal government to fund the national bank at par which meant that the federal government would pay off the debt at face value if more than $54 million.
The new government faced a lot of difficulties between the great increase of the population which was doubling every 25 years to problems still involved dealing with the constitution. Also money at this time was very difficult for the country because of the debt that was put on during the war for independence. President Washington who was nominated unanimously through congress brought a lot to the government by creating a cabinet, which was led by Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of Treasury, Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State and Henry Knox as Secretary of War. By building this cabinet of strong individuals it strengthened the government and its economic foundations.
Antifederalists who at this time were still debating the constitution due to the fact it hadnt dealt with individual rights such as freedom of religion and right to trial by jury. So this was the first problem being dealt with was the Bill of Rights. The next was dealing with Hamiltons financial system which was dealing with the funding the national debt and taking over the state debts. Also Hamilton established a Bank of the United States and imposed customs and excise taxes. Then bank brought a lot of its own problems due to the fact that it brought about controversial issues with the constitution.
During the time of the French Revolution, Washingtons Neutrality Proclamation started problems for the Republicans who wanted America aid France during the Revolution. Washington then passed the Jays Treaty in order to stay out of the war between Britain and France in order to keep the newly developed government together and also building it back up after the war for independence which America was still trying to re cooperate from.
After the XYZ affair the United States almost went to war with France but Adams sacrificed his political popularity and divided his party by negotiating peace.
Washington was also the president that established the precedent of a maximun of 2 terms per presidency.
yes but this was never a set thing. It just kind of happened that way. It was broken by FDR who had four terms before a law was made to make that impossible.
Thanks Jarred, I forgot about that. Do you think he had 4 terms because of the state that our nation was in at the time? Or just because he was so popular?
Washington said he didnt want to be reelected to President because he felt that more than two terms made it seem as if he were some new sort of monarch, and he wanted America to be a democracy, instead of turning into the same type of nation they had just fought to seperate themselves from.
I think FDR got four terms because he was so popular, and just the state that America was in at the time of his Presidency, everyone felt uneasy about giving over the government to a new man when the situation was so volatile.
The Judiciary Act of 1789 set six Supreme Court justices. One was the Chief Justice and the rest were five associate justices. The Supreme Court was given jurisdiction over civil actions between states. It created 13 judicial districts between the 11 states that at that point had ratified the Constitution.
