In the 1700’s, America gained its independence after the Revolutionary War. While independence seemed like a blessing, it left America with a lot of problems. They created a new government under the Articles of Confederation, but they created a very weak central government. It couldn’t create an army to defend itself, pay the debt to foreign countries, and this would lead to foreign countries losing their respect for the new nation. All these problems lead the people to get rid of their government and create a new one that was more successful. This new Constitution was an outline for the government to follow. One task was to elect a president to lead them. Washington was elected for the job, but was put in a situation where there was a lot of …show more content…
Challenges Washington faced during his presidency included foreign policies, political division and economy. The first problem that Washington dealt with was Foreign Policy. It included the debt that needed to be repaid, the respect from other countries and the War between Britain and France. After the Revolutionary War, the debt needed to be paid back to foreign countries including Holland, France and New Spain. This led to many of foreign countries disrespecting them and were not taking them as a serious country. Many countries did not respect America because they were in a lot of debt that they owed to foreign countries. They were also disrespected because after the Revolutionary war, Britain signed the Treaty of Paris which says the British can’t have forts in America, but they disregarded that and maintained their forts in the Ohio River Valley. The French Revolution was in response to our Revolutionary War. Washington had to deal with this by sending pro-British Chief Justice John Jay to negotiate a treaty with Britain. The French citizens tried to take over their government and then fought the British. The war between Britain and France began in the 1790’s. Washington
George Washington was a general in the French and Indian War to our first president of the United States, he is a power figure in history. Firstly, It all started in the French and Indian War where he was sent by Virginia’s governor to deliver an ultimatum to the French. In addition, Britain and France were fighting over the Ohio River Valley, and George Washington’s family and along with other political allies were very supportive and had economic interests in the Ohio River Valley. After learning about Fort Necessity, George Washington set up his troops in the Great Meadows of Fort Necessity. The French easily outnumbered the Colonials and then Washington surrendered at Fort Necessity. Next, When faced with the French again they used there
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.
The United States faced many problems during Washington’s administration. Washington was responsible for setting a firm foundation after the new government was formed. Washington could’ve easily set up a monarchy. But, by opposing this form of government, Washington set the U.S. up on the path to becoming a democracy instead of a nation ruled by dictators and strongmen. One of the first challenges Washington faced was the argument between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton over a bank for the nation. Hamilton created the bank because he wanted to increase the power of the national government, but Jefferson opposed the idea because he believed it was unconstitutional, would benefit wealthy merchants, and it gave the national government
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.
“…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
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. .
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 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.
To begin, Washington created an effective government. When President Washington was elected, there was no government at all. He and Congress then decided that the new nation needed a executive branch. The executive branch would include the president, vice president and cabinet members. Also, the government
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
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
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
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.
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
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.