Challenges Washington Face In The 1700s

“…thirteen powerful, independent, disunited States are in the habit off…refusing to obey our national Congress…I pray that we can act in time to prevent the bad things we fear may happen.” George Washington wrote this in a letter to John Jay (Doc 3). Even the man who is immediately thought of when talking about the start of our nation thought that without a new set of guidelines to run our country by, the young country would eventually break apart and the fighting of the higher powers would begin again. The reasons George thought this way was because of how week the Articles of Confederation actually were, also because all the different foreign problems that the country as a whole faced, and another big

Between the years of 1789 – 1800, there were two people given the job of being the President of these United States of America, George Washington, the first president, and John Adams, the second president. Between the years of 1789 – 1800, the United States of America was a very young country who was searching for its identity, a leader, and an economic basis on which to run the country. Before, 1789, when George Washington took office, the Constitution of the United States was a very new document. It had just been ratified 1 year earlier, which meant that the Articles of Confederation, which ruled the country between the years 1783 – 1788, was thrown

In the books The Quartet and Thomas Jefferson, Joseph Ellis and Joyce Appleby discuss their thoughts on two important moments in American history and how they believe them to be revolutionary. The Quartet describes the political situation of the United States immediately following the American Revolution and how it made the transformation from a confederation into a republic. To do this, it follows the actions of four prominent men – George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison – as they work toward their goal of bringing about a new national government and discusses nationalism, issues such as economics and expansion, and arguments about personal, state, and federal powers. He argues that the debate over the Constitution was between “nationalists” and “confederationists”, that the second Revolution was a by-product of the first in that it took the systems of the newly-independent states and reworked them into a coherent national collective, and that without this change, the United States couldn’t have become a modern model of government.

He has first gained public notice when he went to persuade the French the leave the Ohio Valley as they threatened to drive out the English (“George Washington”). This began to what is known as the Seven Year’s French and Indian War. After this war, many taxes were created to pay for the debt of Britain Protection. New Englanders felt the taxes were an abuse of power and began an American Revolution at Lexington and Concord in which Washington joined the Continental Congress and was named the Commander in Chief of the Continental forces. He led the forces to a moral boosting victory at Valley Forge against the British. After the war, he became the most important man in the country (“George Washington”). Washington retired from the army and became elected the first president of the United States after the new government was formed. When he retired from office he had given his ‘Farewell Address’ speech that included two main priorities for the success of America: no political parties and no foreign affairs (Williams). Although tensions between the French and British were inevitable, Washington was vital in the victory of the later Revolutionary War from the military knowledge he gained from the Seven Year’s War. Washington was extremely influential; thus, without him the ratification of the Constitution would not have been possible. The checks and balances system would not have been created resulting

On July 3rd, 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously declared the independence of the thirteen United States of America from Great Britain. Determined to unify the thirteen colonies, the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, the first constitution of the United States, on November 15, 1777. However, ratification of the Articles of Confederation by all thirteen states did not occur until March 1, 1781. Although the articles did not prevent the United States from winning independence, the innate flaws of the articles became apparent in the years following the revolution. The problems of the weak, purely legislative national government became too prevalent for agents of the revolution, such as James Madison and George Washington. Madison and Washington were strong supporters of a federal, or national, constitution, and on June 21, 1788, congress ratified the Constitution of the United States. And in doing so, violated the “Revolutionary Ideology” and the will of the American people.

In 1789 George Washington was elected as the First President of the United States of America under the Constitution. In the following years after George Washington's administration was John Adams and succeeding him was the Third President of the United States Thomas Jefferson. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson's' administrations contributed to establishing a stable government after the adoption of the Constitution. They strengthened the national government by passing important legislature, peaceful international affairs and economic plans.

The United States would lose its name and stand divided if the Constitution did not bring the thirteen colonies into one body. Within this governing body, fears arise from the difficulty of controlling power in a central government, while still trying to keep unity between the states. Understanding that the United States was formed based on the people’s irritation with the corruption of the control of power in England, the Constitution reassured the people that their freedoms were going to be kept, but it required their trust. The founders of the United States Constitution established a just government through encompassing equal representation, with the people as the foundation, and protecting the injustices that could arise with the misuse of power.

When George Washington became the first president of the United States in 1789 the young republic faced many pressing issues. The state needed to build a sound economy, create a stable polotical system and preserve national independence. .

As Washington left office in 1797, he left America with parting words that have been repeated by many other presidents throughout history: “so help me god”. This illustrates the impact Washington had on America. He truly was a president upon a hill in that he had no reference of how to run a stable democratic republic where every citizen would be satisfied. He had to make difficult decisions that were both necessary and proper to further the nation as a whole and gain international trust. He had the help of his cabinet members to solve the nation’s economic problems, stop rebellions, and avoid potentially dangerous alliances. Washington’s presidency helped bridge the new nation together by appropriately dealing with tasks at hand and preventing unnecessary involvement in

During the 1790s, the young republic faced many of the same problems that confronted the newly independent nations, such as Africa and Asia in the 20th century. The United States faced the challenge of building the sound economy, preserving national independence, and creating a stable political system which provided a legitimate place for opposition.

Washington’s preferred title and choice of terms strayed away from the ideas of a monarchy and he was aware of the fact that he needed to set these precedents in order to make sure the presidency would run effectively. These precedents began to form the U.S. government and set the powers of the president and his cabinet in

Washington faced a challenge when looking to hear the opinions of the public. In the twenty-first century, there is the luxury of polls and media, whereas in the late eighteenth century, word of mouth and mail were the main mediums of communication. Oftentimes, in order to gather information about his people, Washington would send out his staff to directly ask citizens for their opinions on what they desired for their country (when the constitution did not fill in the blanks for him). Washington made this time-consuming and tedious effort because of his commitment to leading his country well. He understood the background of the nation’s citizens.

The Constitution placed a great deal of power back into the hands of a strong, central government much like that of a monarchy. “The extraordinarily powerful national government that emerged from Philadelphia possessed far more than the additional congressional powers that were required to solve the United States’ difficulties” (Wood 151). The U.S. government was extremely revolutionary though, in the way that it viewed and handled sovereignty. “Unlike the British in relation to their House of Commons, the American people never surrendered to any political institution…their full and final sovereign power” (Wood 160). Throughout the entire American struggle to establish a suitable government, the citizens maintained their ability to influence policy in a way that the British never could.

Most people have realized that our country has changed over the last 220 years, but most have not realized that the issues our country is facing today are issues that were recognized by our Founding Fathers during the beginning of our country. After careful researching George Washington’s prodigious address to the citizens of America at the end of his second and final term, I believe that his ideas on issues that plague our current government were spot on, and if we had listened to them, we may not be in the position that we are currently

When Washington was asked by his fellow founding fathers to become the new King of the United States, his reaction must have been priceless. After fighting the revolution for many long hard years, to get away from a monarchy, and now they wanted to create another one. Washington had his reasons why he did not wish to be king because, “He was driven by Ameri-can nationalism years before independence was declared, and for eight long years after 1775 he sacrificed as a soldier to bring the American na¬tion into being. He emerged from retirement to search for a means of safeguarding a national Union imperiled by sectionalists and localists, and with considerable misgivings he agreed to take on the presidency in an attempt to establish an energetic national government and a robust and truly independent United States.” Washington did not wish to be King, he wished to have what he fought in the revolution for, a government that was governed by the people not a monarch. America’s founding fathers, were at the helm of the