“I walk on untrodden ground”

George Washington was inaugurated (or sworn in as) President in April of 1789

His Vice-President was John Adams.New York City would serve as the nation’s first

capital under the Constitution.

Washington faced a difficult task everything that he did would be watched.

His actions as the first president would set precedents (or examples) forall those that followed him.

Articles One and Three of the Constitution allowed CongressTo establish the Federal Court System. The first

Congress did this through the passage of the Federal Judiciary Act of 1789

Setting up the Courts

Congress established three departments to helpPresident Washington run the country. Washington

chose talented people to run these departments.

Secretary of State: Thomas JeffersonSecretary of War: Henry KnoxSecretary of Treasury: Alexander Hamilton

Washington chose Edmund Randolph as hisAttorney General to advise him on legal matters.

The United States faced huge financial problems.The national debt from the Revolutionary War and

after was more than $52 million dollars.

Alexander Hamilton as head of the TreasuryDepartment had to come up with a plan toget the country’s finances in good shape.

U.S. debt from 1790 in today’s dollars,comparing wages of unskilled work force,

is equal to:

$25,100,000,000.00

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Alexander Hamilton’s Financial Plan

Hamilton’s Plan: Alexander Hamilton knew that the new governmentneeded to pay off all debts in order to obtain credit and respect from

other countries.

He proposed a four point plan:

1. The national government would pay off all foreign and national debt.

2. The national govt. would assume and pay off all state debts.

(another 21.5 million in debt)

1. Charge an excise tax on whiskey in order to raise funds.

2. Establish a federally chartered Bank of the United States.

1. Be a deposit for all federal funds2. Receive tax funds paid by the people (IRS)

3. Loan $ to the government and business aiding in the dev. of the economy4. Issue paper money backed by hard currency (gold based)

A National Bank would:

Jefferson was in favor a “strict interpretation” (construction) of theConstitution.

Hamilton was in favor of a “loose interpretation” of the Constitution.“The Elastic Clause”

On page ______ in your ISN, you need to compareand contrast Alexander Hamilton’s plan to aid the

economy of the U.S. in 1789 with the federal bailoutof 2008/2009. You may write a paper (one page),

create a content frame or Venn diagramor any other approved method of comparing two items.

This needs to be complete and in your ISN byMonday, January 12th.

You need to create an illustration of George Washingtonon page ________ in your ISN. This illustration should

point out the problems that he faced as our first presidentof the United States. You can use thought bubbles

or illustrations.