Download Washington`s Presidency

Washington’s Presidency
I. How is a President Elected?
A.
Despite popular belief,
the President is elected
by the Electoral
College, not by the
popular vote
B. The Electoral College
consists today of 538
electors who indirectly
chose the President of
the United States.
C. The Amount each state
gets depends on the
amount of
Representatives and
Senators each state
has.
D. The candidate that wins
the popular vote in the
state will then receive
that amount of votes for
the Electoral College
Today’s Electoral College
A. The First Acts
A. George Washington
became the first
president of the
United States on
April 30th, 1789.
1. John Adams became
his vice-president
B. Washington was
careful to act because
he knew he would
establish precedents,
or traditions for others
to follow
1. “No slip will pass
unnoticed.”
http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=nMzdAZ3Tj
CA
C. Congress and Washington set up departments and
offices in the Executive Branch that became known as the
cabinet
1. State Department –
handled relations
with other countries
a. First Secretary of
State was Thomas
Jefferson.
(today it is John
Kerry)
2. Department of
Treasury – handled
financial matters.
a. First Secretary of
the Treasury was
Alexander Hamilton.
(today it is Jack Lew)
3. Department of War
(Defense) – provides
for the nation’s
defense
a. First Secretary of
War was Henry Knox.
(today it is Chuck
Hagel)
4. Edmund Randolph
was chosen as
Attorney General to
handle the
government’s legal
matters. (Justice
Department)
(today it is Eric
Holder)
II. The Country’s Economy
A. While Washington was
dealing with foreign
affairs and military
issues, Alexander
Hamilton was left to
deal with economic
problems
1. The countries national
debt – the amount of
money it owed- was
growing.
B. Hamilton’s Plan
1. As a way to establish
good credit, Hamilton
proposed to pay off the
millions of dollars owed to
other countries and to
citizens. Hamilton wanted
the federal government to
pay the debts of the
states for fighting the
Revolution.
C. Interpretations of the
Constitution
1. Hamilton’s Plan (Federalists) believed in
a Loose Interpretation of the
Constitution, which believes that the
federal Government has the power to do
anything not specifically forbidden to it in
the Constitution.
a. Hamilton believed this gave him the right to
create a National Bank
2. Leader of the opposition to Hamilton’s
plan was Thomas Jefferson (Democratic
Republican) who believed in a Strict
Interpretation of the Constitution, which
argues that the Federal government only
has the power specifically written out in
the Constitution.
D. Compromise
1. Many people and states
were opposed to this
plan, so a compromise
was made to locate the
new capital in the South.
a. This new district was laid
on the banks of the
Potomac River between
Maryland and Virginia.
E. The National Bank
1. Hamilton wanted to
create a national bank
to help build a strong
economy.
2. There were 8 banks in
the U.S. all established
by the states.
3. Madison and Jefferson
opposed it believing it
would benefit the
wealthy and said it was
unconstitutional.
4. Washington agreed with
Hamilton and created
the Bank of the United
States.
F. Taxes and Tariffs
1. Hamilton wanted to
create an American
economy based on
manufacturing not
agriculture.
a. He proposed a tariff- or
tax on imports – to
protect US industry from
foreign industries
b. The South opposed it
because they had little
industry
2. Hamilton also got
Congress to pass a few
taxes to pay off the debt.
One of those taxes was a
tax on whiskey.
3. Jefferson and Madison
greatly opposed these
measures because they
feared a STRONGER
central government