George Washington Dbq

In 1789 George Washington was declared the First President of the United States several years after the American Revolution had already ended, even though he never really ran for president. Before Washington was president he lived a normal life at Mt. Vernon, on the Potomac River in Virginia, and spent his time as a large plantation owner. Washington was the most popular and most respected man after the American Revolution, and most people expected him to become the United State’s first president. In April of 1789, Washington received all sixty-nine electoral votes and took place as the new head of government, the President. Although, being the first to do something can be very difficult, like using a constitution to run a newly developed government

Some protests even began to get violent with tarring and feathering tax collectors. George Washington was not happy with this and was not going to stand for it. Washington responded immediately with troops and continued to enforce the laws. He wanted to show that the new government was not going to be undermined and to show it’s strength. Since the country was under a lot of war debt, particularly the northern states. Alexander Hamilton wanted to create a national bank to pool all of the country’s debt together. This would be beneficial because the bank would be able to collect taxes, create one currency, and make loans. This grew into a problem because a national bank was not mentioned in the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson especially opposed the National Bank, and made a statement that declared “It [gave it] the sole exclusive right of banking under the National authority … [was] against the laws of monopoly … to [grant it] a power to make laws [superior] to laws of states … [is wrong]” (Document 2). It started to become controversial because many people interpreted the Constitution differently. In addition, if the National bank was established, it would give more power to the Federal Government and weaken the state’s power. Overall, it

War within the country was a large factor of making challenges for Washington. The Northwest Territory was an example. The Northwest territory was gained after a war with many Native Americans. Both the United States and the Natives claimed the land, while the British were still illegally staying on the land. The British sided with the Native Americans and helped them when Washington decided it was time to send in troops. He sent in troops to secure and gain land from other European, Spain and Britain, soldiers. Obtaining the Northwest Territory would allow citizens to settle west and furthermore expand the country. The Whiskey Rebellion was a revolt against the tax on liquor and many people had different opinions. The rebellion was made up of angry farmers whose protestings grew violent. They would tar and feather tax collectors around town, and rob them of their belongs. In response to the Whiskey Rebellion in August of 1794, Washington made a proclamation stating that “ … it [was] in [George Washington’s] judgement necessary … for calling forth the militia in order to suppress the [revolt] … and to cause the laws to be duly [enforced]” (Document 5). Washington did this to clarify to the people that the government was not going to allow rebels to revolt and disobey the laws. He continued to enforce the liquor tax to show the strength of the Federal Government. Showing the Federal