George Washington

1. George Washington • 1789 Judiciary Act • Neutrality Act • Bill of Rights • Assumption Bill • Jay Treaty • Pickney Treaty • Battle of Fallen Timbers • Treaty of Greenville • National Bank • Whiskey Rebellion • Farewell Address

2. 1789 Judiciary Act • Initiated the development of the judicial branch. • A Supreme Court was created, headed by a chief justice and originally five associate justices, who were chosen by the Presidentand approved by Congress. • A network of district courts was also established.

3. Neutrality Act • June 5, 1794 - Congress passed the Neutrality Act, prohibiting Americans from enlisting in the service of a foreign power.

4. Bill of Rights • Congress sent the President ten amendments to the Constitution that became known as the Bill of Rights; these amendments strengthened civilliberties.

5. Assumption Bill • Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton has proposed that the national government assume responsibility for paying the debts of all 13 states as well as the debts of the national government. • This is called the “Assumption” plan. The money to pay the debts will come from nationalrevenue

6. Jay Treaty • Although the Treaty of Paris (1783) ended the American War for Independence, the years following saw relations between America and England deteriorate precipitously. • England refused to evacuate the frontier forts in the Northwest Territory; in addition, she seized American ships, forcing American sailors to serve in England's war against France.

7. The American statesman John Jay, pressed into service as special envoy, went to England to negotiate disagreements between the two governments. • On November 19, 1794 Jay's Treatywas signed, averting the threat of war. • The Treaty eliminated British control of western postswithin two years, established America's claim for damages from British ship seizures, and provided America a limited right to trade in the West Indies.

8. Pickney Treaty • Pickney Treaty opened up the Mississippi Riverto American navigation. • Negotiated by Thomas Pinckney, America's special envoy to Spain, the agreement also allowed western settlers the "right to deposit" their exports in New Orleans and to engage in commercial transactions within that city. • The treaty thus allowed the U.S. to gain access to the area now known as the states of Mississippi and Alabama.

9. Battle of Fallen Timbers • In 1791, Washington learned that an American force had been defeatedby a Native American uprising in the Northwest Territory (present-day Ohio) that killed over 600 American soldiers and militia. • The President ordered the RevolutionaryWarveteran General "Mad" Anthony Wayne to launch a new expedition against a coalition of tribes led by Miami Chief Little Turtle.

10. Wayne spent months training his troops to fight using forest warfare in the style of the Indians before marching boldly into the region. • After constructing a chain of forts, Wayne and his troops crushed the IndiansintheBattleofFallen Timbers (near present-day Toledo) in the summer of 1794. • Defeated, the seven tribes -- the Shawnee, Miami, Ottawa, Chippewa, Iroquois, Sauk, and Fox -- ceded large portions of Indian lands to the United States and then moved west.

11. Treaty of Greenville • After General Anthony Wayne's decisive defeat of the Ohio Indian tribes at the Battle of FallenTimbers, leaders of the Indian nations joined with Wayne on August 3, 1795 in signing A Peace Treaty. • This was an important event in the life of the infant nation since the Treaty established a definite boundary between Indian lands and those lands open to white settlement.

12. It was no secret that President Washington was eager to clear the Ohio Valley of Native Americans. By opening up the NorthwestTerritory to immigration the country would be able to expand its borders, with the resulting increase in trade and commerce. • The Treaty was signed by Wayne and representatives from a dozen Indian nations and tribes at Greenville, northwest of the Ohio River on August 3, 1795.

13. National Bank • Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton laid plans for governmental financing via tariffs, or surcharges on imported goods, and a tax on liquor. • Hamilton proposed a national bank to centralize the nation's financial base and urged the new government to assist in developing a manufacturing sector of the economy. • He traded his support for Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson's plan to locate the nation's permanent capital near Virginia, with Philadelphia serving as a temporary capital, for Jefferson's support of his policies.

14. Whiskey Rebellion • A tax on whiskey-- production of which had increased dramatically in the 1790s -- was one of the key elements of Hamilton's fiscal program. • This taxation enraged many citizens, and in 1794, resistance to the whiskeytax boiled over in western Pennsylvania with attacks on taxcollectors and the formation of several well-armed resistance movements. • Washington was alarmed by the WhiskeyRebellion, viewing it as a threat to the nation's existence.

15. In an extraordinary move designed to demonstrate the federal government's preeminenceand power, the President ordered militia from several other states into Pennsylvania to keep order. • The insurrection collapsed quickly with little violence, and the resistance movements disbanded. Later, Washington pardonedthe men convicted of treason in the matter.

16. Farewell Address • Washington closed his administration with a thoughtful farewell address. Written with the help of Hamilton and Madison, the address urged Americans to be a vigilant and righteouspeople. • It was as if he saw the great challenges to come in the next decades and begged his fellow citizens to remain a unified nation.

17. He warned his fellow citizens against "the baneful spirit of faction," referring to the partyspirit that had disrupted his administration, and he warned against "foreignentanglements." • To this day, Washington's farewell address is read aloud every year in both houses of Congress as a tribute to his service and foresight.