Washington Takes Office Washington’s Cabinet of Advisors

The First President After Washington took office, Congress passed laws to help him manage the executive branch This included 3 new departments: – Department of State – Department of the Treasury – Department of War

Washington’s Secretaries Secretary of State – Thomas Jefferson Secretary of War – Henry Knox Secretary of the Treasury– Alexander Hamilton

The Nation’s First Economic Crisis Money the U.S Owed: $81.5 Million Money the U.S Receives: $4.4 Million The U.S owed a lot of money to American and foreign bond holders Many Americans lost money after selling the bonds to speculators The U.S had no real way to pay its debt

Hamilton’s Financial Plan Alexander Hamilton came up with a 3 step plan to solve the U.S financial problems: – 1. The U.S government would assume all federal and state debt to pay it off – 2. The U.S would create a national bank for depositing government funds – 3. The government would impose high tariffs

The Whiskey Rebellion To make more money, Hamilton suggests a new tax on whiskey Farmers are outraged, say the tax is just like Great Britain Farmers in Pennsylvania rose up in a rebellion Washington sent in 13,000 militia men to put down the “Whiskey Rebellion” Washington exercised strong executive power