Washington’s New Government

Elected President

• Unanimous decision by Congress• Choose George Washington• War hero• Virginian

1st cabinet

• Vice President: John Adams• Secretary of State: Thomas Jefferson• Secretary of War: Henry Knox• Treasury Secretary: Alexander Hamilton• Attorney General: Edmund Randolph

Judiciary Act of 1789

• Set up the circuit courts (13 district courts)• Supreme Court, final say in Constitutional

issues• John Jay, 1st Chief Justice

Hamilton’s Bank Plan• Plan to create a national

bank to handle the nations debt and finances

• Felt that the federal govt. should absorb colonial debt.

• Angered many states who had already paid off their debts.

• New excise taxes and tariffs• Mostly ended up taxing

American merchants and farmers

Whiskey Rebellion• Western Pennsylvania• Transporting was hard over

mountains so turned their grains into whiskey

• More profitable• New Hamilton taxes reminded

them of British taxation• Resisted and intimidated tax

collectors• Washington puts Hamilton in

charge and leads a force himself to put it down and does

• Jefferson clear about opposing it.• Showed new Constitution could

enforce its laws and taxes.

2 parties emerge

• Federalists– Still strong central govt.– National bank– Hamilton’s plan– nationalism

• Democratic – Republicans– Former Anti-Federalists– State and local

government power– individualism