In this essay I will analyze the presidencies of George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. I will describe the good and bad decisions made during their terms and if they had a successful presidency and benefited america the best they could.
After the American Revolution, George Washington was unanimously voted our young nation's first president. George Washington knew he wasn’t the smartest person in the room, so he appointed Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State and Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of Treasury. Both Jefferson and Hamilton had contradicting views on how the nations should be ran. Jefferson seeing a self-sufficient, farm-owning, low-government, nation while Hamilton saw a nation powered
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Later, the Whiskey Rebellion breaks out. Washington hears of the rebellion and personally leads his army to pennsylvania to prevent it before it grows out of hand. The rebels hear of their former general coming and stop the rebellion themselves. George Washington serves two terms and acts as an example for all the presidents later to come.
After Washington leaves office after two terms, John Adams wins the presidential election of 1796 and Thomas Jefferson becomes the vice president. Adams plans to pursue his plans of big cities full of business powering the nation's economy. The French Revolution, which started in Washington's presidency, puts a hold in his plans for now. America wants to trade but France keeps destroying ships heading to England and vice versa. This forces Adams to make a decision. The North wants to to attack France and the South wants to attack England but Adams realizes that America has no money, army, or
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Jefferson comes to Hamilton to influence the house to give him the presidency in return for not touching what Alexander has done with the economy. However, Jefferson later repeals the Whiskey Tax and the Alien and Sedition Acts to try and pursue his vision of America, but later realizes that his vision is unrealistic and gives up. In 1803, Thomas offers Napoleon 15 million dollars for the port of New Orleans. Napoleon instead offers all of Louisiana for that price which Jefferson gladly accepts. While America’s relationship with France is decent, the relationship with England is less than perfect. England began destroying our ships in response to their Orders in Council. America is losing ships and sailors fast. In response, Jefferson passes the Embargo Act of 1807 which prevents trade with all foreign countries therefor ruining America’s
banned the foreign slave trade January 1, 1808. The first problem in Jeffersons international affairs was the war with the barbary pirates. Recently the UnIted States had paid bribes to the Barbary States to keep them from Harassing with American merchants. Thomas Jefferson stopped paying the Bribes which led to a war. Jefferson tried using the navy to create a complete blockade around Tripoli. Jefferson ended up paying a last time fee of 60,000 dollars and made him build up the navy because of the weakness it showed. When Jefferson learned that Spain had given France the Louisiana territory it made him nervous. He believed that another battle for America was going to arise and he did not want to face the brilliant military mind of Napoleon. Thomas Jefferson sent two diplomats James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston to negotiate a purchase of Louisiana. Napoleon who desperately needed money to fight his european battles agreed to a price of fifteen millions dollars amounted to about four cents per acre for 828,000 square miles.. The United States obtained the land from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains which more than doubled the size of the nation. Napoleon next declared war on Great Britain. Both countries than banned Almost every American commerce with the other country. The British Navy then began impressing AMerican sailors
When Thomas Jefferson took office in 1801, after an intense realignment of the majority of office holders from Federalist to Anti-Federalist in the “Revolution of 1800”, there were many policies headed by former Treasurer Alexander Hamilton that were still in place. Instead of doing what would have been expected of him by his peers, and taking steps
In the history of America, Thomas Jefferson, the Secretary of State, and Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, were two of the greatest leaders of our country. Although they both lead the country, that's where the similarities end as they had opposing views on everything. Jefferson was a republican while Hamilton was a federalist. Jefferson had been opposed to all of Hamilton's ideas, such as his financial plan, his interpretation of the powers of the government, his foreign policy, and his vision for the future of America. Jefferson was against Hamilton's views because his financial plan would ultimately destroy democracy in America, his interpretation of the powers of
Though both Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson served as members of President Washington’s cabinet, the two held very different views on the newly founded U.S. government, interpretation of its constitution, and the role of the “masses” in that government. These conflicting views would develop in two political parties, the Federalists led by Hamilton and the Democratic-Republicans led by Jefferson. Although both political parties presented enticing aspects, Hamilton’s views were much more reasonable and fruitful when compared Jefferson’s views; idealistic and too strict in reference to the constitution.
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
Before the Revolutionary War had occurred, many people were coming to the new colonies to start a new life; one of the people was Alexander Hamilton. He had come to the colonies after impressing people in the Caribbean and who then sent him to America to get a better education (“Alexander Hamilton”). Hamilton was an important figure in American history, but very few today remember who he was and what he did. Alexander Hamilton took a stand against traditional government by writing against and battling the British, fighting for the new U.S. Treasury, and arguing for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
In 1789, an event that would change and mark the start of using something new was the inauguration for the United States 1st president. Everyone in America celebrated this event because it had finally made us feel like we had things in order and our government was progressing. George Washington was too fond of the idea of being president, but the public summons him to become president. In this paper I going to discuss George Washington’s accomplishments, his failures, and how it effected the federalist.
Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were key Founding Fathers of America who contributed to its freedom and independence. Both men were influential leaders of their time whose visions for the future of the country were clearly contrasting. Hamilton believed for a strong federal government and an economy based on banking. While Jefferson desired for a nation to be controlled by the states and its people. Their competing visions for the United States are still in debate until this day. Although Jefferson’s ideas were significant to America, many of Hamilton’s philosophy still holds in today’s government.
Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were very different in their methods to try and develop America as a nation. The two were very much alike because they both were avid Americans, and wanted to see the nation succeed. Both men were very involved in the U.S. Government and tried to voice their opinions on
Alexander Hamilton, the Secretary of Treasury, proposed a plan that the federal government pay both the foreign and domestic debt acquired by the former central government and take over the states' war debts as well. Hamilton was a leader of the Federalists, those who envisioned a strong national government with centralized authority, a complex commercial economy and a proud standing in world affairs. He believed that a financially reliable and responsible government would improve
Many people often think about who was the one president who really did our country justice. Who was the one president who, out of all forty-two, beats everyone and takes the gold for best president in the history of American presidents? Not everyone who agrees with these thoughts is going to agree with the answer each other gives. However, I bet many of those same people would argue that George Washington was the best president out of all of them.
Even though Jefferson was very opposed to loose interpretation of the constitution and judicial expansion under John Marshal, he did discard his strict principles from time to time when it became necessary. “Self-preservation—the first law of nature and nations—took precedence over the constitutional limitations that he scrupulously observed in peacetime.” This is especially true in the case of the Louisiana Purchase. Americans were expanding westward and needed a port for transport on the Mississippi, so Spain allowed them to use New Orleans. In 1801 Louisiana was ceded to France by Spain. France was not as cooperative as Spain and closed the port of New Orleans to the U.S. Therefore, a sudden disruption in trade was a legitimate cause for tension between the U.S. and France, and many people believed that a war would break out if the Americans did not buy New Orleans. Thomas Jefferson himself thought troubles were
Many of Hamilton and Jefferson's differing political views stemmed from their general attitudes toward human nature. Hamilton believed political leadership was best left to a wealthy, well-educated minority, feeling politics were beyond the scope of the common people, while Jefferson believed in the power and integrity of the general public who comprised the great majority of American citizens. Although the two never saw eye-to-eye on many political issues, both were extremely intelligent men who worked towards their images of a better nation and helped shape the foundation of
George Washington as America's Greatest Leader An independent country requires a strong, wise and dignified administration to guide a highly emotional population through a tough phase while establishing a stable relationship with other nations. At the same time, the first president, guided by his administration, must create a charter to govern the nation. Being the first president of the United States of America and a new face on the world stage, George Washington along with his administration created an excellent blueprint for the recently formed nation. Washington was successful as the first president because his administration maintained peace and neutrality in European affairs, consisted of men
George Washington was born February 22, 1732. He was elected as the first president by the Electoral College unanimously in 1789. Washington is commonly called the "Father of his country" since he played a major role in fighting for independence and helped form the government we now have. Many of his leadership practices became the template for the way politics have proceeded following his terms. For example his use of a group of counselors known as a "cabinet" is still in practice today. He only served for two terms and then stepped down which became, for the most part, the accepted norm for future presidents. George Washington is associated with some folklore tales such as being widely known for admitting to his father that he chopped