WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. (FIRST PRESIDENT—TWO TERMS 1789-1797)
WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION (April 30, 1789).—In the choice of the first President of the United States, all hearts turned instinctively to Washington. With deep regret, he left his quiet home at Mount Vernon for the tumults of political life. His journey to New York was a continual ovation. Crowds of gayly-dressed people bearing baskets and garlands of flowers, and hailing his appearance with shouts of joy, met him at every village. On the balcony of old Federal Hall, New York City, he took the oath to support the Constitution of the United States. Difficulties beset the new government on every hand. The treasury was empty, and the United States had no credit. The Indians were hostile. Pirates from the Barbary States attacked our ships, and American citizens were languishing in Algerine dungeons. Spain refused us the navigation of the Mississippi. England had not yet condescended to send a minister to our government, and had made no treaty of commerce with us. We shall see how wisely Washington and his cabinet met these difficulties.
[Footnote: New York was only temporarily the capital. At the second session of Congress the seat of government was transferred to Philadelphia, where it was to remain for ten years, and then (1800) be removed to the District of Columbia, a tract of land ten miles square ceded for this purpose by Maryland and Virginia. Here a city was laid out in the midst of a wilderness, containing only here and there a small cottage. In 1800 it had eight thousand inhahitants. The "Father of his country" laid the cornerstone of the capitol (1793). The part of this District on the Virginia side of the Potomac was (1846) ceded hack to that State.]
[Footnote: George Washington was born February 22, 1732; died December 14, 1799. Left fatherless at eleven years of age, his education was directed by his mother, a woman of strong character, who kindly, but firmly, exacted the most implicit obedience. Of her, Washington learned his first lessons in self-command. Although bashful and hesitating in his speech, his language was clear and manly. Having compiled a code of morals and good manners for his own use, he rigidly observed all its quaint and formal rules. Before his thirteenth year he had copied forms for all kinds of legal and mercantile papers. His manuscript school-books, which still exist, are models of neatness and accuracy. His favorite amusements were of a military character; he made soldiers of his playmates, and officered all the mock parades. Grave, diffident, thoughtful, methodical, and strictly honorable, such was Washington in his youth. He inherited great wealth, and the antiquity of his family gave him high social rank. On his Potomac farms he had hundreds of slaves, and at his Mount Vernon home he was like the prince of a wide domain, free from dependence or restraint. He was fond of equipage and the appurtenances of high life, and although he always rode on horseback, his family had a "chariot and four," with "black postilions in scarlet and white livery." This generous style of living, added perhaps to his native reserve, exposed him to the charge of aristocratic feeling. While at his home, he spent much of his time in riding and hunting. He rose early, ate his breakfast of corn-cake, honey, and tea, and then rode about his estates; his evenings he passed with his family around the blazing hearth, retiring between nine and ten. He loved to linger at the table, cracking nuts and relating his adventures. In personal appearance, Washington was over six feet in height, robust, graceful, and perfectly erect. His manner was formal and dignified. He was more solid than brilliant, and had more judgment than genius. He had great dread of public life, cared little for books, and possessed no library. A consistent Christian, he was a regular attendant and communicant of the Episcopal Church. A firm advocate of free institutions, he still believed in a strong government and strictly enforced laws. As President, he carefully weighed his decisions, but, his policy once settled, pursued it with steadiness and dignity, however great the opposition. As an officer, he was brave, enterprising, and cautious. His campaigns were rarely startling, but always judicious. He was capable of great endurance. Calm in defeat, sober in victory, commanding at all times, and irresistible when aroused, he exercised equal authority over himself and his army. His last illness was brief, and his closing hours were marked by his usual calmness and dignity. "I die hard," said he, "but I am not afraid to go." Europe and America vied in tributes to his memory. Said Lord Brougham, "Until time shall be no more, a test of the progress which our race has made in wisdom and virtue will be derived from the veneration paid to the immortal name of Washington." Washington left no children. It has been beautifully said, "Providence left him childless that his country might call him Father.">[
[Illustration:
JEFFERSON. KNOX. RANDOLPH. HAMILTON. WASHINGTON.
WASHINGTON'S CABINET.]
[Footnote: Three executive departments were now established—the
Department of Foreign Affairs (now the Department of State), the
Department of War, and the Department of the Treasury. The heads of
these departments were called Secretaries, and, with the
Attorney-General, formed the President's cabinet.]
[Footnote: Questions on the Geography of the Fourth Epoch—Names of
places in italic letter may be found on map, Epoch VI. Locate New York
Philadelphia Baltimore Boston Washington Detroit York St Johns
Montreal Plattsburg Fort Schlosser Sackett's Harbor Frenchtown
Chappewa Stonington New Orleans Charleston Sacramento San
Francisco Palmyra Santa Fe Nauvoo Mount Vernon Queenstown
Heights Chrysler's Field Horseshoe Bend Lundy's Lane
Locate Fort Malden Fort Erie Fort Meigs Fort Stephenson Fort Mimms
(Mims) Fort McHenry Fort King Fort Brown
Describe the Maumee River Hudson River Tippecanoe River Niagara
River St Lawrence River Raisin River Thames River Columbia
River Rio Grande River Nueces River Locate Sandusky Bay Lake
Champlain Tampa Bay
Locate Palo Alto Point Isabel Resaca de la Palma Matamoras Monterey
Buena Vista Vera Cruz Puebla Cerro Gordo The Cordilleias Contieras
Mexico Cuba Havana]
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS.—Finances.-By the advice of Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the treasury, Congress agreed to assume the debts contracted by the States during the Revolution, and to pay the national debt in full. To provide funds, taxes were levied on imported goods and the distillation of spirits. A mint and a national bank were established at Philadelphia. By these measures the credit of the United States was put upon a firm basis.
[Footnote: The credit of these plans belongs to Hamilton. Daniel Webster has eloquently said of him, "He smote the rock of the national resources, and abundant streams of revenue burst forth. He touched the dead corpse of public credit, and it sprang upon its feet.">[
Whisky Rebellion (1794).—Great opposition was made to raising money by taxation. In western Pennsylvania it was agreed that no tax should be paid on whisky. The rioters were so numerous and so thoroughly organized that fifteen thousand of the militia were ordered out to subdue them. Finding the government in earnest, the malcontents laid down their arms.
[Illustration: ALEXANDER HAMILTON]
Indian Wars.—Two armies sent against the Indians of the northwest were defeated. At last General Wayne—"Mad Anthony"—was put in command. Little Turtle, the Indian chief, now advised peace, declaring that the Americans had "a leader who never slept." But his counsel was rejected, and a desperate battle was fought on the Maumee (Aug. 20, 1794). Wayne routed the Indians, chased them a great distance, laid waste their towns for fifty miles, and at last compelled them to make a treaty whereby they gave up all of what is now Ohio and part of Indiana.
[Footnote: He told them, it is said, that if they ever violated this agreement he would rise from his grave to fight them. He was long remembered by the western Indians.]
FOREIGN AFFAIRS.—England.—Hardly had the war closed when complaints were made in England that debts could not be collected in America. On the other hand the Americans charged that the British armies had carried off their negroes, that posts were still held on the frontier, and that our seamen were impressed. Chief Justice Jay was sent as envoy extraordinary to England. He negotiated a treaty, which was ratified by the Senate (1795), after violent opposition.
[Footnote: This treaty enforced the payment of the English debts, but did not in turn forbid the impressment of American seamen. Its advocates were threatened with personal violence by angry mobs. Hamilton was stoned at a public meeting. Insults were offered to the British minister, and Jay was burned in effigy. The more quiet people expressed their indignation by passing resolutions condemning the action of the Senate.]
Spain and Algiers.—The same year a treaty was made with Spain, securing to the United States the free navigation of the Mississippi, and fixing the boundary of Florida, still held by that nation. Just before this, a treaty had been concluded with Algiers, by which our captives were released and the Mediterranean commerce was opened to American vessels.
France.—The Americans warmly sympathized with France, and when war broke out between that country and England, Washington had great difficulty in preserving neutrality. He saw that the true American policy was to keep free from all European alliances. Genet (je-nay), the French minister, relying on the popular feeling, went so far as to fit out, in the ports of the United States, privateers to prey on British commerce. He also tried to arouse the people against the government. At length, at Washington's request, Genet was recalled. But, as we shall see, the difficulty did not end.
POLITICAL PARTIES.—During the discussion of these various questions two parties had arisen. Jefferson, Madison, and Randolph became leaders of the republican party, which opposed the United States Bank, the English treaty, and the assumption of the State debts. Hamilton and Adams were the leaders of the federalist party, which supported the administration.
[Footnote: John Randolph of Roanoke was not prominent in the republican party until a later administration, being elected representative in 1799. He was a descendant of Pocahontas, of which fact he often boasted, and was noted for his keen retorts, reckless wit, and skill in debate. His tall, slender, and cadaverous form, his shrill and piping voice, and his long, skinny fingers—pointing toward the object of his invective—made him a conspicuous speaker. For thirty years, says Benton, he was the "political meteor" of Congress.]
[Footnote: The federalists favored the granting of power to the general government, which they thought should be made strong. The republicans, fearing lest the republic should become a monarchy and the President a king, opposed this idea and advocated State rights. In this election the republicans were accused of being friends of France, and the federalists of being attached to Great Britain and its institutions. The republicans declared themselves to be the only true friends of the people, and stigmatized all others as aristocrats and monarchists.]
Washington having declined to serve a third term, now issued his famous farewell address. So close was the contest between the rival parties that Adams, the federalist candidate, was elected President by a majority of only two electoral votes over Jefferson, the republican nominee.
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