George Washington DBQ
George Washington held the position of president of the United States for two terms from 1789 until 1996. George Washington was not interested in leading the new country, but when the United states constitution was ratified in 1788. Americans wanted Washington to fill the post. Washington was admired and respected as a result of his success and integrity as the commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and as the president of the Continental Convention. When the Electoral College unanimously elected George Washington as the first president of the new nation, he reluctantly accepted. Although many Americans and historians view George Washington eight years …show more content…
On April 22, 1793, Washington issued a statement in response to the war between Great Britain and France. American citizens did not support France but they wanted to stay neutral, the U.S. was peaceful with both Britain and France. (Doc. 5) Washington wanted to take a pubic and written stance regarding America’s involvement in foreign wars. However, not all Americans agreed with Washington’s statement of neutrality because they did not believe it was a power of the President. When western farmers rebelled and refused to pay the Whiskey Tax, George Washington made a presidential proclamation in August 1794. Washington stated that he would enforce the tax and use force if the Whiskey Rebellion did not end. ( Doc. 6) This was the first time that George Washington had to come in with the militia to stop the rebellion. This showed that Washington enforced and followed laws from the constitution. Hamilton had a plan to pay off the federal debt, he thought that if the U.S. started to tax whiskey the debt would be paid off very soon. However, this made farmers angry so they refused to pay tax and started a rebellion to remove the tax laws on whiskey. This was the first time George Washington had to use the local militia to stop the violence and rebellions. Washington enforced the laws and stopped the rebellion, this proved that the …show more content…
While working under Washington’s cabinet, it became very noticeable that they disliked each other. In Jefferson’s 1791 memo about Alexander Hamilton, he talked about how Hamilton wanted to be like the British and how he was corrupt. Jefferson spoke his own words to let Hamilton and Jefferson supports to know his opinion. (Doc. 3) Jefferson did not think that Hamilton would have a response speech but Hamilton got right into it. A few months after Thomas Jefferson explained his speech Alexander Hamilton wrote one in response to Jefferson’s. Hamilton said that Jefferson and Madison were both obsessed with France and hated Great Britain. He also said that they were both “womanish” because they were dependent on French materials and supplies. He wanted everyone to know his opinions on them. He finished his speech off by saying that Jefferson and Madison were hurting our country. (Doc.