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George Washington February 22, 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia – December 14, 1799 in Mount Vernon, Virginia Political Party: None Terms: April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797 (Two terms) Vice President: John Adams American identity was pretty much unknown when Washington was president because the nation was just starting, but by the end of the presidency Americans had a new identity to live by and a new thought process even. One major development of this theme was during the ratification of Bill of Rights. These ten amendments were very important in contributing to American identity because it meant that the nation would have many freedoms that were not enjoyed almost everywhere. The American identity turned into something that was defined as having a free life where hard work could mean a great living. It could be done by anyone, regardless of religion or origin, so long as you were not African. The pressures of keeping with this free lifestyle were big because it changed the way people were usually governed. People’s rights were now thought about when a law was passed, instead of a king just doing whatever he pleased. It could have changed the way Americans thought because now they would get a little more comfortable with their government in knowing that it was there for the people and not for themselves.
 * Thematic Context **

Another event that developed American identity was the Proclamation of Neutrality. This event was important because it changed the American identity into being peaceful for a certain period of time. This was done purposely so that America could get back on its feet without adding to the already problem of debt. The United States would not be entering any wars for a good amount of time, and this proclamation gave that impression to, not only the citizens, but to the rest of the Europe as well. This impacted the presidency because they had to tread lightly on any sort of grounds that could lead to violence. This is clearly shown when France sends over the ambassador Genet. Even though this person is a complete annoyance to anyone in the States and particularly the government, Washington and the administration tolerated him as to not upset France and cause tensions. They could have easily kicked him out and sent him back to France for causing such disruptions in the nation, but they instead ignored him because of the new pressures of staying peaceful. The new, temporary American identity changed the whole plan of the government. This could have changed the thought process of the Americans because the tolerance of the obvious hindrance of Genet would have sent a message to the citizens saying that there is a reason that the government is letting him stay here, and the citizens would have to trust in their government to do the right thing. These developments could have forced a larger amount of trust in the government. This clearly shows how the American identity largely changed during the Washington presidency.

George Washington is an iconic and celebrated figure in American history. He is one of the first individuals that all children are taught, and his name is known everywhere in the United States. However, this recognition was not earned easily. Washington and his administration deserve an A for their contributions to the country. There is no harder thing in this world than being the first, and being that for the most important position to a country just makes it even more difficult. He handled it brilliantly and set many precedents that are used today. He also handled the President’s relationship with Congress very well. Even though many presidents would have tried to sway Congress to view things their way, Washington was extremely good at collaborating with them for the correct amount of time. Although he was definitely not perfect, he did marvelous with the situation he was dealt.
 * Thesis **

In the first Inaugural Address in 1789, Washington had one very common theme. This was if young America wanted to survive and prosper, then all of the citizens were going to have to work together as one country, not thirteen different states. An example of him trying to accomplish this was when he announced his Proclamation of Neutrality in 1793. This said that the United States would choose to remain neutral in the war between France and England. He did this because he did think that his new country was stable enough to handle another war. They had just gotten out of one and if they entered another one right away, they probably would not have survived. When he decided this he was hoping that all of the states would understand why he was doing this and would not go against him. He was trusting in the union of the then fifteen states to not assist the one that their government was worthy of helping, and if any one of the states helped either France or England then a war could be started with the one we did not help. Another one of his goals to let it be known that foreign policy was a job for the president. He was supposed to control the foreign policy, with Congress only passing the treaties or any legislature that would be needed. The Proclamation of Neutrality also supports this goal. He decided that The United States were to remain neutral in that war. The state governments did not decide this individually, it was all up to Washington. One thing that really stuck out from the address was that he never put himself on a pedestal. He used the phrase “fellow-citizens” quite frequently. This sent a message to the people that just because he was a president, they were every bit as much of a citizen as he was. Washington proved this by something else that he requested in his address when he said he did not want to earn a salary. His reasoning for this was that he did not think that he should get paid for his duties to his country. This proved that he was really only doing this for pure love of America, and it sent a great message to all of the citizens. This generosity also proves why he deserves the grade of an A.
 * Goals **

Washington had a very constitutional relationship with Congress. This means that even though it was initially susceptible to Washington’s direction, he did not take advantage of that and actually let Congress make the decisions by themselves, for the most part. Due to the fact that it is stated in the Constitution that the President should advise Congress in some circumstances, Washington did counsel Congress on some occasions. However, he did not become a nuisance by being extremely persistent. Instead, he stated his ideas and then left Congress to make the decision. This clearly shows his personal interest to the country and proves his well deserved grade of and A. It was not only Washington himself who advised Congress though, as his cabinet also gave assistance to Congress when they found necessary. Some of them acted on that more than others, but overall they were more of an asset to Congress than a hindrance. In 1789, political parties were not officially formed in the United States yet, but there were two political factions. These factions were the Pro-Administration and the Anti-Administration. These parties are not commonly known, but the Pro-Administration were people who supported the Washington administration and the Anti-Administration were people who did not support the Washington administration. The majority in the Senate was the Pro-Administration (19 seats to 7), and in the House of Representatives, the majority was also the Pro-Administration (37 seats to 28). This means that Washington did have the support of both sides of Congress, and this is extremely helpful in getting things accomplished. This was not the only reason that a lot got accomplished during his presidency though. However, in his second terms, there were two different parties. Those were the Democrat-Republican party led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and the Federalist Party which was lead by Alexander Hamilton. Since Washington was the first president, the restrictions and rules in the Constitution were very broad. This is why in the beginning of his presidency Congress passed many little legislatures that did not have a huge affect on the country. An example of these was Washington’s own salary of $25,000 that, although he did not deem necessary, was still passed by Congress.
 * Relationship with Congress **

While there were many small legislatures passed, there were many large ones passed as well. An example of this is the Judiciary Act of 1789. This was the act that established a Supreme Court and all other courts in America, and it also created the Attorney General. This was a legislature that addressed the third major branch in the Constitution, the judicial branch. This created that branch and all of the rules are regulations that are to be followed by them. While it has been revised over time, many of those same rules are used today. Another major event was the passing of the Bank Act of 1791. This created the first national bank and was one of the most controversial acts ever passed at the time. It was proposed by Alexander Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury on Washington’s cabinet, and it was supposed to stabilize America’s credit and also handle all of the nation’s financial business. There were many who were opposed to this though, like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. They argued that the act was completely unconstitutional by giving the central government too much power. They were not only talking about the bank though. The national bank was only one of three parts in Hamilton’s plan to get the United States to be financially stable. The other parts were the establishment of a national mint (Coinage Act of 1792) and federal tariffs (Tariff Act of 1789). Jefferson and Madison were also opposed to these two ideas, saying that these ideas were not considerate to the southern, plantation bearing colonies. Although there was some resistance by outside factors, the Bank Act passed quickly through the House and Senate, as did the Coinage Act and Tariff Act. Washington then passed both of these acts and highly offended Jefferson. These decisions lead to him later resigning from his position as Secretary of State. This risk that he took to make the national bank paid off and even further proves why he deserves the grade of an A.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">One positive event that came from the Washington presidency was the Bank Act. The point of this act was to deplete the national war debt that had piled up because of the Revolutionary War. They would do this by investing two million dollars of the bank lent money to the government into stock and then have the United States pay that money back to the bank in ten annual payments. There was also going to be eight million dollars available to the public. There was also another rule that said the bank would only have a charter of twenty years. Another amount of money was necessary to fund this, and that came from a tariff on whiskey. This was the only bad thing about the bank. These taxes caused some of the colonists to get extremely unhappy with the government and they rebelled. At the end of these twenty years, Congress would decide if they wanted to reinstall this phenomenon. This had the best outcome from the presidency because this was passed during the time that the young nation was still trying to just get onto its feet. It was plagued by debt and the citizens were still only thinking for themselves and not as a country that had to work together in order to accomplish anything. Many people resisted this act because they thought it was unconstitutional. There were so many people who felt like some of the acts were unconstitutional already that the Democrat-Republican party was created. The fact of the matter was that a resolution was needed to the debt problem. This is why Hamilton created the act in the first place, and that is what it was meant to do. This is why it was a success. It was created to solve a problem that was present and it did just that. The war debt was extinguished completely and the young America could now worry about economically prospering and becoming the power they would soon become. Since they did not have any more debt, many citizens felt like it was not necessary to have anymore. Thus, at the end of the twenty years, Congress opted to not reopen the bank.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Positive Event **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">The one decision that Washington’s administration made that had a negative impact was the tax that they placed on whiskey in 1791. They placed a 25% tax on the excise of whiskey and this met monstrous opposition by all citizens, none more so than in Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, they made a living off the whiskey, but with this tax they would not be able to make enough profits to pay for their expenses. In 1974, they could not take it anymore. They organized themselves and would not pay the tax. When the tax collectors tried to collect the money, they would be tarred and feathered. The federal government tried to negotiate with them, but that would not work. Instead, the Americans, outraged that a federal soldier defending a tax collector shot a rebellious farmer, burned the house of that tax collector. At that point, the federal government would not take anymore, and they resorted to force. An army of 12,000 men, led by none other than George Washington in his famed Revolutionary War attire, marched into Pennsylvania to stop the rebellion. By this time, most of the rebels had dispersed from the sheer presence of Washington and the large army. This imprinted the supremacy of the federal government above the states, and that was a mistake. The nation was only in its fifth year of unity of a country, and they needed the equality of the state and federal governments, not the supremacy of one over another. This is not necessarily what Washington meant to do when he used the large army, but that is how many of the citizens interpreted this act. This was especially bad considering the fact that they had almost just separated from England, who had used this federal supremacy quite frequently, and that is what caused a lot of the anger in the first place. This mistake was not fatal, but it definitely did not have a positive outcome.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Negative Event **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">One thing that is not controversial at all about its success is the creation of the President’s cabinet. This was first established by Washington during his first term. Congress then added two positions to this cabinet, in the Attorney General and the Postmaster General. These cabinet members provide assistance to the President when he needs it. This becomes extremely helpful to him because a second or even third opinion can be extremely helpful when deciding on something particularly controversial. Washington did not have the precedence of how to use the cabinet or how much to use them, he had to set it himself. This was an extremely important precedent set by him that is still used by the presidents today. Washington used his cabinet members very frequently, especially Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. He loved to ask their opinions because they both had completely different viewpoints on everything. Since they were polar opposites, Washington then got both sides to every conflicting issue. This greatly helped him to make the decision that he felt was the right one. The way this affects the future presidents is extremely obvious in the fact that holding one of the cabinet positions is a highly honorable position and most people agree that the Secretary of State is the third most powerful person in America. While this is the most influential impact he had, almost everything that Washington did was influential to the future presidencies. This is because he was the first one, so it was up to him to create most of the precedents that are used today. When he took over the position of president, the Constitution just outlined what the president does; there were no real specific guidelines to go by. Washington was the one who really gave that Constitutional outline a shape; he cleared the blurriness for all the future presidents to come.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Influential Decision **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Concisely, the country was much better off then when Washington became president, and this is why he deserves an A. Not only was he loved by the people, but he became an icon of American history. Although the citizens disagreed with him a few times, overall, he could do no wrong in their eyes. He gave everything he had to his country, as he died just a couple years after his farewell address. When Washington took the job, the United States was a young nation overwhelmed with debt and just a framework to live by. He and Congress took that framework, and formed it into rules and regulations for all future governments to go by. By the time that he left, not only was that done, but the national debt was well on its way of being extinguished (which would be completely gone a few years after he leaves). That means that the two main problems when he took office were taken care of by the time he left. This is why he left the country in such a better state than when he started. He did not get an A+ because nobody can be perfect in such a high authority position and because he did make a couple mistakes. However, these were not fatal, so they were not an enormous problem. Overall, Washington fixed all of the present problems, established many important precedents, and accomplished his goals earning him and his administration the grade of an A.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Conclusion **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">"Causes And Effects Of The Whiskey Rebellion." //Essortment Articles: Free Online Articles on Health, Science, Education & More...//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Sept. 2012. <http://www.essortment.com/causes-effects-whiskey-rebellion-20880.html>.
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