Washington to Adams Discussion Board Assignment July 8

    The Articles of Confederation was the first government system that placed power in the states; see http://www.usconstitution.net/articles.html and http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h361.html. This government had numerous problems and in 1787 in Philadelphia a group of wealthy men wrote the second government system that is our present government. There now occurred a fierce debate on state levels concerning the adoption of this new government. Those in support of the new government were called Federalists and they put out a series of papers called the Federalist Papers. Here are the Federalist Papers, read the first few to get an idea of the arguments in support of the new government: http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/federalist/ and here is the constitution of the United States: http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html.

     One of the first priorities of the new government was the election of the first president that took place in New York City in April, 1789. George Washington of Virginia was elected the first president. Here is the life and times of George Washington: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/gw1.html and http://sc94.ameslab.gov/TOUR/gwash.html and http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/education/life/life1.html . Washington came to New York City, the first capital, and began to make a series of administrative decisions that eventually became traditions in the establishment of this new government. One of the initial decisions he made was to give an inaugural address: here is his first inaugural address – http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/wash1.htm . Many administrative decisions in establishing a new government were made in his first term. His second term was filled with controversy, foreign policy problems, and the handling of the Whiskey Rebellion; here is his statement on that rebellion: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/proclamations/gwproc03.htm. Many decisions in his second term were not popular and he became anxious to leave office and gave his farewell address: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/washing.htm. Here is an excellent site on the life and times of Washington with numerous links: http://www.presidentsusa.net/washington.html.

     John Adams, who had been vice president under Washington, became the second president. Here are a series of biographies of John Adams: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ja2.html and http://www.colonialhall.com/adamsj/adamsj.asp and http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/2328/ja.htm. Here is Adams' first inaugural address: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/adams.htm . Adams was the first and only Federalist president and is considered a partisan president who went along with Hamilton's plan to handicap and destroy the Democratic Party. One of the most partisan acts of Adams was the support of the Sedition Act; here is that law – http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/sedact.html . Here is an excellent site with a series of links to various aspects of the life and presidency of John Adams: http://www.presidentsusa.net/jadams.html.