The first US President, Virginian George Washington (1789-1797), established the tradition of a cabinet of advisors. He signed into legality the first copyright law, issued the earliest Thanksgiving Proclamation and put down the Whiskey rebellion. He was also a strong champion of religious toleration as was evident in his speech at the Touro Synagogue in Rhode Island.
Unlike other US presidents he never lived in the White House but did support the Residence Act (1790) that would set aside a region around the Potomac to be the territory for the future capital of the United States of America (the soon to be District of Colombia). Washington’s decision to step down from the Presidency after two terms helped ensure the viability of the office in the face of what could have been an authoritarian impulse.
Massachusetts lawyer and patriot John Adams (1797-1801) was the country’s second President and before that the nation’s first Vice-President (under Washington). He was also the only President from the Federalist party (Washington was somewhat of a Federalist but he was technically unaffiliated). The party saw a strong role for the central government which naturally placed it on a collision course with those seeking more State autonomy.
While he only served a single term in office Adams ‘ greatest challenge was to ensure American neutrality in the conflict between Britain and France. Adams had some success here but relations between France and the United States did deteriorate to the point that between 1798 to 1800 the two countries were unofficially at war with one another.
The black mark against the John Adam’s presidency is his association with the Aliens and Sedition Acts that sought to curtail the action of foreign residents in the United States. The Act had the net effect of restricting Freedom of speech and that of the press.
John Adams, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson source: zazzle.com
Another Virginian Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809), the drafter of the Declaration of Independence, was the Third American President. He was also the nation’s First Secretary of State and second Vice-President. Jefferson was one of the co-founders of the Democratic-Republican Party that championed State’s Rights and local government in the face of Federalist opposition. In this light Jefferson stood against the strong federalism of Alexander Hamilton and John Adams (who Jefferson defeated in the 1800 election).
As President Jefferson secured the Louisiana Purchase from France which added 820,000 square miles of territory to the fledgling United States (the region that the US acquired stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border and was bounded on the East-West by the Mississippi River and Rocky Mountains respectively).
Territory of the Louisiana Purchase source: britannica.com
Jefferson also sponsored the exploratory missions of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark into the North American interior. While the Napoleonic Wars raged across Europe, Jefferson - who had somewhat of a French bias - tried somewhat unsuccessfully to maintain neutrality. After push back from both the French and the British he implemented the unpopular Embargo Act which was intended to punish the European powers for their harassment of American shipping but instead served to harm the US economy by closing American ports to foreign shipping.
The Expedition of Lewis and Clark source: createwebquest.com
Nevertheless he is considered to be one of America’s greatest Presidents as the country strengthened itself both geographically and politically during his term of office. The US increased its sphere of influence even waging a navy campaign against the Barbary pirates who harassed American shipping in and around the Mediterranean sea.
Picture. The Fight against the Barbary pirates took place between 1801-1815. source: uswars.net
Philosophically Jefferson expounded on principles that would become known as Jeffersonian Democracy. These ideals sought to expand the forces of grass root democracy within the framework of the constitutional republic. Jeffersonians stood against aristocratic elitism and the banking classes in favour of the so-called ‘plain folk’. While somewhat populist in nature it would serve as the forerunner to the more adversarial type of Jacksonian Democracy. Both sentiments continue to play a key role in contemporary American politics.
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