Washington and the Development of the

United States of America

Washington leads a new nation

• In1789 George Washington became the first president of the United States

• Congress and the president organized the executive branch and judicial branches of government

• Americans had high expectations for their new nation

Imagine….• If you were there….

You are a seamstress in New York City in 1789. You’ve joined the excited crowd in the streets for inauguration day. Church bells are ringing and people are cheering. Even though you were just a young child during the Revolution, Washington is your hero. How you watch as he takes the oat of office. You are proud to see that he is wearing a suit of American-made cloth.

Take a second and think about what America’s future will be like to you under the jurisdiction of President Washington…..

George Washington

• Honest leader, hero of Revolution to people in United States

• People believed he should be the first U.S. president

• Convinced by friends to run for president

Electoral College

• Body of electors who represent the people’s vote in choosing the president– Unanimously voted in George

Washington in first election– John Adams as vice president

Organizing the Government

• Washington – cabinet, different department leaders in government– Alexander Hamilton:

secretary of treasury– Thomas Jefferson:

secretary of the state– Henry Knox:

secretary of war– Samuel Osgood: post

master general

• Create policies and procedures that would determine the future of the country

• Precedent: action or decision that later serves as an example

Cabinet, 1791

Cabinet 2012

• Current United States Cabinet consists of 15 departments with various ranges of responsibility for the United States.

Judiciary Act of 1789

• Act that created three levels of federal courts and defined their powers and relationship to the state courts.– Set up federal districts– Set up circuit court appeals– President nominates federal

judges

Americans’ Expectations for the Nation

• Urban v. Rural – 5% to 95%

• By 1790 the U.S. was home to almost 4 million people

• Most Americans were farmers

• Small number of townspeople