Our Early Presidents…

The First Three… George Washington 1789-1797 John Adams 1797-1801 Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809

George Washington- #1 Elected as our first president of United States He was a great leader and well respected hero of the American Revolution Americans felt he had a strong character, was honest, and full of patriotism. Perfect role model for new nation

Important People that helped Washington… Vice President- John Adams Secretary of Treasury- Alexander Hamilton Secretary of State- Thomas Jefferson Secretary of War- Henry Knox Attorney General- Edmund Randolph First Lady/Wife- Martha Washington

Events from Washington’s Presidency… 1789- Congress passes the Judiciary Act Creates the Supreme Court Washington makes John Jay the first Supreme Court Chief Justice (head judge)

Hamilton’s great idea… We are in debt from the war and need to find a way to cover our taxes Hamilton believes we need a National Bank to stabilize our economy and help with debt 1791- Congress agrees and charters the Bank of the United States The bank received taxes, was a place for deposits, loaned out money for development, and issued our paper money

WE ARE NOT INVOLVED… 1793- The French Revolution begins (similar to the American Revolution) French want our help…What to do??? 1793- Proclamation of Neutrality issued by Washington Told the world that the United States would NOT take sides with countries at war Washington thought this would be safe for such a young country

Should the United States have helped out the French? Think about the American Revolution and how they helped us…

Lasting effects of Washington’s Presidency… Created a Cabinet of Advisors… every president after him does this too Only serves 2 terms as president…”I am not a king, only a president. The people are the country’s true leaders”

Second President- John Adams Ran for the Federalist Party and wins a narrow victory over Jefferson Thomas Jefferson is elected as his vice president even though he is from a different political party, the Democratic-Republicans Many saw him as hard working, honest, and intelligent.

XYZ Affair… (nothing to do with pants) 1798- French officials (aka X,Y, and Z) tried to bribe our American diplomats on a peace seeking mission. Adams feared war might break out over this incident Adams does create a large navy and army but is able to avoid war over this insult French Americans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw0KcA59_8s

Alien and Sedition Acts… not from Mars or Venus In response to the incident with France and a possible war Congress passed this law in 1798 that said President could remove any foreign resident for “treasonous behavior” Made it illegal for citizens to “write, print, utter, or publish” any false/ hostile words against the government Citizens could not plot against any government actions

What is wrong with the Alien and Sedition Acts? Do you think they are fair?

Wait a minute!!! Keep thinking … How does the Alien and Sedition Acts violate the Bill of Rights?

Election of 1800- Big Issues… Adams runs for re-election, Jefferson, Burr, and Pinckney run against him. Jefferson and Burr won 73 electoral votes each while Adams won 65 and Pinckney won 64. TIE FOR PRESIDENT… WHAT TO DO???

How do we handle this??? There was nothing in the Constitution about what to do… So they sent the issue to the House of Representatives for a vote which resulted in another tie…and for 30 more times after that!! Finally, so many people refused to vote overall and Jefferson ended up winning Because of this the 12th amendment was passed in 1803 creating a separate ballot for President and Vice President to avoid ties

Third President- Thomas Jefferson Jefferson was a Democratic- Republican Party Candidate…believes in less government control over issues Wanted the people to be in charge Wanted to be fair

Important people for Jefferson… Secretary of State- James Madison Chief Justice of Supreme Court- John Marshall Rival- Alexander Hamilton

1803- Marbury vs. Madison VERY IMPORTANT CASE!!! Established Judicial Review… gave the Supreme court its power of declaring laws unconstitutional. What Happens… Marbury sues Madison saying that he Madison illegally stopped Marbury from getting his job as a federal judge as was his right under the Judicial Act of 1789 The court rules that the Judicial Act was WRONG and did not follow the Constitution therefore it was invalid or illegal This is the FIRST time the supreme court has done this

1803- Louisiana Purchase- Land anyone??? France needs money to fight a war and offers to sell us some land This DOUBLES the size of the United States and gives us the control of the Mississippi and Port of New Orleans for trade Jefferson is able to purchase the land owned by France at the price of $15 million dollars This is called the LOUSIANA PURCHASE