Early America
The American Revolution was a great fight for Americans who wanted to brake away from England. Now it was upon them to create a magnificent nation. The greatest advantage for the new nation was the great minds that it contained. Their first attempt at creating the law of the land, Articles of Confederation, was a failure because it was loosely constructed. Our founding fathers gathered again to revise it and came up with the Constitution which was accepted by the states. This was when the question of who will lead us arose.
Our first president, George Washington, was a brilliant man who guided our country through problems both domestic and foreign. He acted according to what was best for the country. In 1794, Washington had to put down an uprising in Pennsylvania which was called the Whiskey Rebellion. The rebellion was against the excise tax on whiskey. Washington’s success on stopping the rebellion created a new respect towards the government. Washington had a good sense of what was needed or to be avoided for the feeble nation. For example, during the war between France and Britain, Washington had enough sense to stay out of the war with the “Jay’s treaty” even though they had an alliance with France. The Americans were angered because Britain was seizing our ships and as a result Washington’s popularity sank. In his farewell address, Washington strongly advised the country to stay out of permanent alliances with any country. He has always put what’s best for the country first.
John Adams, our next president, was the last federalist president to take office. He heeded the words of George Washington and tried to keep the country out of war. France, angered by the Jay’s Treaty, started seizing American ships. The Americans took great offense to this yet Adams steered the country out of war. He sent three envoys that were to meet with Talleyrand. Instead three spokesmen approached them asking them for $250,000 just to see Talleyrand....
View Full Essay