“‘The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security… in the absolute power of an individual’, “ (George Washington, The American Journey, page 266). George Washington is well-known as America’s marvelous first president, but fewer know the struggles he faces during his two terms as the country’s leader. While in office, George Washington sets a multitude of precedents that help shape the country in its early stages but, his actions meet repercussions. Washington must deal with the nation’s crippling war debt; however, the people reject many of Washington’s choices. To keep the new country alive, George Washington has to overcome the challenges he encounters, and every decision he makes influences America forever.
As America’s first president, George Washington creates multiple precedents or traditions he knows will stick. While giving the first Inaugural Address before taking office, he adds the famous line “So help me God,” at the end. Now sworn in, Washington spends his days working and his evenings at parties with other political figures. He assembles the first cabinet to help him and ensures the separation of powers between the three branches
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To small farmers, whiskey is equal to money; even priests occasionally get paid in whiskey. The tax is not on drinking whiskey but on making whiskey from the grains farmers grow. In July, 1794, all the issues come to a head in western Pennsylvania. Farmers gather holding weapons and form a mob, attacking tax collectors and burning buildings to the ground. George Washington and his advisors must make a hard decision: should they use force to put silence the firebrands? The government exemplifies their right to use force to maintain peace and use soldiers to end the violent protests. Later, masses will recognize this event as the Whiskey Rebellion, just another small complication during Washington’s two
In the beginning when there was only but a mere 13 colonies, we couldn’t agree on anything. But despite all odds, we fought the most powerful country and developed into a strong nation, known today as The United States of America. It truly couldn’t have been done without 3 first presidents who laid the ground work for our new nation. Those three presidents and there three administrations included the Washington Administrations, Adams Administration, and Jefferson Administration. Though those three were of equal importance, one that stood out among them was the Washington’s Administration, and here was its significance to our nation.
Slaughter divides The Whiskey Rebellion into three principal sections entitled Context, Chronology, and Consequence. The first section begins with a comprehensive assessment of the anti-excise tradition which follows late seventeenth-century British philosophy and traces its progression from Walpole's excise battle in 1733, through the Stamp Act crisis of 1764 and on through the Anti-Federalist account of the tax provisions of the Constitution of 1787. In the second section, Slaughter details the debate over the excise, its implementation and the outbreak of both peaceful and violent opposition to it; opposition that occurred not only in Pennsylvania but along the entire frontier. In his final section, and with a trace of personal bias, Slaughter describes the outbreak of violence in the summer of 1794 for which he holds John Neville largely accountable. Slaughter continues in the final section with Hamilton and Washington deciding to make an example of western Pennsylvania despite the fact that the excise had gone uncollected all along the frontier, and the Watermelon Army fiasco which the Federalists
Towards the end of the 16th century, the United States government experienced continuous changes in laws(taxes) and several problems(battling and removal of Indians) associated with westward expansion. Conflict was created in response to the rising taxes issued by the government on goods such as whiskey. Most affected by the heavy taxation were the creators and distributors of whiskey - the average poor white farmer. An incident that occurred in 1794 involving enraged farmers in western Pennsylvania, threatened the tax collectors lives as well as the authority of the government. This incident came to be known as the Whiskey Rebellion.
In 1791, under the advisement of Alexander Hamilton, congress passed the whiskey tax. This tax, put a twenty-five percent tax on whiskey. Hamilton created this tax in hopes of the federal government gaining more money to help pay of the nation’s debt. However, in doing so, this angered many people, especially farmers in western Pennsylvania, because they distilled the extra grain they had to make whiskey and sell it to make extra income. These small operations in western Pennsylvania rebelled by erecting liberty poles and taring and feathering tax collectors. George Washington, who was president during this time, saw the outburst and decided to take action against the angered farmers. Washington gathered about 13,000 men from the militia to put an end to this rebellion. In doing so, Washington showed that the government help the power over the citizens. In The Whiskey Rebellion, by Thomas Slaughter, he describes different consequences that arise from the whiskey tax. Slaughter presents three main points, which include conflicts between the east and west, two political systems that begin to develop, and the actual rebellion.
In the book “Shays’ Rebellion: Authority and Distress in Post-revolutionary America”, Sean Condon shows us his outlook on how he saw post-revolutionary America to be within the late 1770’s and 1780’s. This book was released in 2015 by John Hopkins University Press, and was also made in a continuing book series by Peter Charles Hoffer and Willamjames Hull Hofer called Witness to History. The story takes us "Throughout the late summer and fall of 1786, farmers in central and western Massachusetts organized themselves into armed groups to protest against established authority and aggressive creditors. Calling themselves "regulators" or the "voice of the people.”” [1] Condon succeeds by prosing an appealing idea in an upfront style that shapes
John Adams (1735-1826) has the historically unfortunate position of being president between two American icons, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. His presidency is often overlooked by scholars and even occasionally viewed as an undeserving president who won the office out of early American political maneuvering (McCullough 2001, 29). Nonetheless, he led the young nation during the end of the French Revolution and the emergence of Napoleon Bonaparte, a globally tumultuous period. The nation, and the world, has changed dramatically since the end of the eighteenth century. However, the domestic and foreign concerns that Adams had to manage and attempt to resolve are still relevant to current circumstances. Even though Adams only served one term over 200 years ago, through an analysis of his background, personality, presidential leadership and managerial style, and his interactions with Congress and the American people, a twenty-first century incoming president is able to learn from Adams’ mistakes and triumphs.
As the Revolutionary War ended, the United States faced a completely new set of challenges. Now the United States had to shift focus from gaining independence from England to gaining their own financial security. The newly formed country had to figure out a way to pay for the war debt incurred by the colonies. In order to do this, the Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, convinced congress and the president that a tax on whiskey would be able to provide the revenue needed to repay the debts. However, the tax on whiskey was met with heavy resistance. To Hamilton, the tax was only “a few dollars a year for the average small distillery” but for the Frontiersmen it was an attack on their way of life. The resistance to the tax, the
We all know that George Washington, the first President of the United States, is on the one dollar bill. But did you know that he was the commander-in-chief of the US Continental Army during the Revolutionary War? George Washington sure had a very impressive resume, from his rise in the Virginia militia, to fighting in the French and Indian War, serving in the US Continental Army and pursuing a political future. George Washington has a major impact on US history but most people don't know about his own very exciting life.
George Washington was born on February 22, 1732 in the town of Westmoreland in Virginia. His mother was Mary Ball Washington, father was Augustine Washington. At the time of his birth he had two brothers on his dad's side. His father died when George was just eleven years old. There isn’t that much information available about George’s early
On September 19, 1796, George Washington, the first president of the United States, delivered his farewell address to the American people. In his address, he informed Americans that he would not run for a third term as president, but that he cared about America and would care about America until the day he died. Since he cared, he decided that he would deliver advice for the future on what the American people should and should not do. The advice he gave the American people could have helped them with problems they would face in the future. Based on President George Washington’s experiences, he advised Americans to stay united as a nation, follow the constitution, and stay neutral, because he predicted that these three issues could be a problem for the new nation and future Americans.
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
There are many individuals in American History, whom we as Americans regard for their courage and audacity in shaping our nation. We learn in our history classes the great accomplishments of our founding fathers such as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Ben Franklin. One other great founding father and our First President, George Washington was one whom we learned much about. We learn in school that he is as a prime example of leadership, citizenship, and overall individual achievement for his many contributions to our nation’s earliest struggles. But although we are taught that George Washington was this man of great disposition, no man is without his flaws. Many scholars have sought to enlighten individuals to these cracks in the Nation’s
The Whiskey Excise Tax hit rural farmers especially hard, and they started crying foul almost immediately after passage. It was criticized for being an “unreasonable economic hardship and as an ominous intrusion by central authorities into local affairs” (Gould, 1996, 405). These “westerners” felt as if they were being unjustly victimized by this tax. Most farmers during this period in American history worked extremely hard just to make ends meet, so operating a whiskey distillery offered them a source of extra income. In the minds of these western farmers this tax left them at a competitive disadvantage with eastern farmers. Western small-time farmers generally had small whiskey distillers. These frontier distillers could not run as efficiently as the larger distillers in the east, so their tax burden was much greater. For this reason many of the western farmers felt that Secretary Hamilton had set up a system that was giving tax-breaks to the larger eastern-based distillers. This sentiment is often echoed in today’s world- that the federal government promotes “big business” (Holt, 2004, 30). The cause of much of this rile and frustration, however, stems from the age-old
An Analysis of George Washington's Farewell Address Carmen Williams Liberty University: GOVT 200-B102 Professor Edward Soto George Washington's Farewell Address is one of the most eloquent pieces of literature delivered. It's content and intent constitutes that of a man who was not only prophetic, but a sage. His Farewell Address was printed in the Philadelphia American Daily Advertiser on September 19, 1796. The Address was not merely a statement of resignation, but an open letter of advisement exemplifying unity, in addition to warning the American people about their long-term freedom and pursuit of happiness. There are twenty key points in Washington's Farewell Address; however the focus will be on five of these: (1) The Preservation of the Union. (2) The Danger of Factions. (3) Religion and Morality. (4) Preservation of Public Credit. (5) America's Role in the World. The Preservation of the Union. Washington's persistent theme throughout the Farewell Address is the preservation of the Union as the crux of American Nationhood. In paragraph 9 Washington notes the Union, "is the main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home; your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize." Washington warns of those, internally and externally, who would covertly work to destroy the foundation on which America was built. In paragraph 10, Washington accentuates the far greater significance
The United States has a very rich and eventful history dating from the first settlers to arrive at Jamestown to the present day. Within this time frame, many leaders have emerged to add their own personal achievements and successes to this rich history. One is particular is our first President George Washington. Washington is well known for his tenacious personality, his drive for freedom against Brittan, and finally is desire to keep newly liberated United States unified. Washington shows all of this in his Farewell Address once he stated that he would not run for a third term. In this address he advises the country to abandon a party system, beware of foreign alliances, and establish a country based on religion and morality.