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George Washington (served 1789-1797) 1. Judiciary Act: George Washington signed The Judiciary Act on September 24, 1789, which was presented by Congress. This was the very first act of Congress. The Judiciary Act created the Federal Court system and it created the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court acts as the head of the judiciary branch of America’s three-branched government. The purpose of creating this act was to provide structure and authority of the federal court system and created the office of attorney general. The Supreme Court consists of five Associates and one Chief Justice. . Bill of Rights added to the Constitution: The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution on December 15, 1791. The purpose of the Bill of Rights was to ratify the Constitution. It states everyone’s individual rights as an American citizen because in the original Constitution, it only guaranteed a few rights of an American citizen. The Bill of Rights contains the first ten amendments to the Constitution, which dictates that even though the federal government possesses power, it does not come at the cost of American citizens’ rights. . Cotton Gin Invented: In 1793, Eli Whitney, an American inventor, created a modern version of the cotton gin and eventually was able to patent it on March 14, 1794. The purpose of the cotton gin was to clean lint off of cotton. The invention of Whitney’s cotton gin as able to clean approximately fifty pounds of lint off of cotton per day. The invention of the cotton gin impacted the southern portion of America the most. In the South, the desire for plantations and slaves became more prominent.
Before the modern cotton gin, there were about 7000,000 slaves, but when Whitney’s cotton gin was patented, the number of slaves grew to approximately 3. 2 million slaves. 4. Proclamation of neutrality: On April 22, 1793, President George Washington announced the neutrality of America when the French was at war with Great Britain. This was known as the Proclamation of Neutrality. George Washington, and other officials, believed that a formal statement of their neutrality was in order because America was still too young and their army was too feeble to go through another war.
Also, they were afraid of choosing sides because during the Revolutionary War, France was their ally and Great Britain helped ship owners by providing them financial support. 5. Fugitive Slave Law: George Washington passed The Fugitive Slave Law February 1793. The purpose of this law was to recover escaped slaves, even if the slaves runaway to other states, this grants them the authority to seize them and be returned to their masters. If anyone disregarded this law and helped a fugitive, they were subject to doing hard time in prison and received a fine and if they helped a slave, they would only receive a fine.
In effect, this law made the slave catching industry rise, which helped return many slaves to their former owners. Unfortunately, this law caused people to seize free African-Americans and subject them into a life of slavery. 6. Jays Treaty with England: Jay’s Treaty was passed in June 1795. Even thought that the Treaty of Paris in 1783 ended the American Revolution between the United States and England, their relations began to decline. For example, American ships were seized by Great Britain and the ship owners were forced to work for England in their war against France.
This treaty was supposed to help regulate commerce and navigation. Unfortunately, Jay’s Treaty was unsuccessful because Hamilton, who secretly gave the English details of America’s bargaining strategies, thwarted John Jay’s negotiation with England. This sabotage resulted in America having to give payment to its pre-American Revolutionary War debts to Britain. Jay’s Treaty also stated that Britain would repay the lost money from their merchant ship seizures, but unfortunately the treaty did not state anything about future seizures or resupplying the Native Americans with weapons. . Neutrality Act: The Neutrality Act of 1794 made it illegal to go to war with another country that they are at peace with and it also made it illegal for war vessels, other than America’s, to be within three miles in American waters. The reason why this act was passed was because according to Section 8 of Article One of the Constitution, Congress had the power to decide to go to war, and the American citizens feared that Congress would like to go to war with a country that they have peaceful relations with. 8.
Whiskey Rebellion: The Whiskey Rebellion took place on 1794 when the government had an excise tax on whiskey. The purpose of taxing whiskey was to centralize and fund national debt. On the Western front, the whiskey tax became unpopular. On July 1794, an American marshal appeared in western Pennsylvania to make farmers who didn’t pay the whiskey tax pay. To the farmers, this was the last straw for them and approximately, more than 500 armed farmers in Pennsylvania assailed the tax inspector. Soon President George Washington retaliated by sending people to negotiate with the rebels.
But at the same time, Washington was raising an army to suppress the violence. This event showed that the government was not afraid to suppress violent resistance to its laws. 9. Treaty of Greenville: The Treaty of Greenville was signed on August 2, 1795 in Fort Greenville. This treaty was signed between the Native Americans and the United States after the loss of the Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timers to end the Northwest Indian War. The treaty stated that the Native Americans would give large pieces of land to the Americans in exchange for goods, like blankets and animals). 10.
The Farewell Address: When George Washington’s second term as about to end, George Washington had his farewell address published in newspapers across the country. Washington originally wrote his farewell address in 1792 when he was about to end his first term as president. He did not retire from his first term because of the conflicts between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republican parties would make the country crumble into pieces. In his Farewell Address, Washington asked for the citizens of the United States to avoid getting involved in European affairs, and to make permanent alliances in foreign countries.
Throughout American history, the United States had many different leaders who helped shape America today. The qualities of good leader is that he or she must have exemplary character, enthusiastic about their work, confident, needs to remain calm in times of stress, and is committed to excellence. One of America’s greatest leader’s became president in 1789; his name was George Washington. Some of his major achievements were his new laws, acts and the way he handles situations, such as his Neutrality Act and how he handled the Whiskey Rebellion. But with great achievements come with sufferable blunders.
Between the years of 1789 to 1797, Washington has made positive and negative contributions during his presidency. During George Washington’s presidency, there were many positive factors that made him an excellent president. One event was the Whiskey Rebellion. The Whiskey Rebellion was when farmers in western Pennsylvania rebelled against the excise taxing on whiskey in 1791. The excise tax on whiskey affected the farmers by eradiating their profits from the sale or barter of an important cash crop. The farmers soon began to assail on tax collectors.
Washington retaliated by sending a militia to Pennsylvania to threaten the farmers to return home. This shows that Washington was not afraid to use military force to suppress violent resistance to its laws. Another event in Washington’s presidency is Washington’s idea of neutrality. In Europe, a war was taking place between the British and the French during France’s revolution. Due to the fact that America was still young and its army was too feeble to go through war, Washington issued the Proclamation of Neutrality in 1793 and the Neutrality Act in 1794.
Washington’s decision to remain neutral during the French Revolution showed that Washington wanted to remain friendly and impartial to Britain and France. Even though Washington had his strong and positive contributions during his presidency, there were many contributions that were negative. One example was Jay’s Treaty. George Washington passed Jay’s Treaty in June of 1795. The reason why Jay’s Treaty was made was because the British ignored America’s neutrality and had British commanders of the Royal Navy kidnap American sailors from about 300 American merchant ships and supply the Native Americans with their weapons.
Unfortunately, Jay’s Treaty was unsuccessful because Hamilton, who secretly gave the English details of America’s bargaining strategies, thwarted John Jay’s negotiation with England. This sabotage resulted in America having to give payment to its pre-American Revolutionary War debts to Britain. Jay’s Treaty also stated that Britain would repay the lost money from their merchant ship seizures, but unfortunately the treaty did not state anything about future seizures or resupplying the Native Americans with weapons.
Another example of when Washington contributed negatively to the United States was the Fugitive Slave Law. The Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 was passed by George Washington to recover escaped runaway slaves within the country. The first Fugitive Slave Law was unsuccessful because this law caused people to seize African- Americans, who were legally free and had never been slaves, were captured. These two examples show that a great leader like Washington has made his share of blunders during his presidency. According to the information stated above George Washington was relatively an excellent president.
Even though he made mistakes, such as the Fugitive Slave Law and allowing John Jay negotiate with the English, he made many more extraordinary achievements like the Proclamation of Neutrality in 1793, Neutrality Act of 1794, and how he handled the Whiskey Rebellion. Some of George Washington’s achievements even affected America years later. Because of Washington’s acts of neutrality, this idea was spread throughout the centuries (for example, The Great War). On a rating from one to ten of good presidency (one being terrible and ten being extremely excellent), George Washington is an eight.