George Washington - Government Change and Impact on the World

 

              George Washington was the first president of the United States in the years of 1789-1797; he altered the government by implementing that the main purpose of the government should be to protect the natural born rights of individuals. In order to a government to prosper in the eyes of Washington it needs to have a balance with individual’s liberty and also how much power the government attains.  He established the administrative procedures and the branch of the new government that would help ensure the republican’s future. Washington thought that there was in need or a new reform to which he traveled to Philadelphia to attend the Constitutional Convention which was a meeting to change the Articles of Confederation. Washington with the help of Alexander Hamilton’s ideas resolved the debt crisis America had attained, he was also trying to gain peace with the Natives but the British were encouraging the Natives to fight.  Washington was against attaining two political parties in the government because there might be conflicts in the future that might lead to the government falling apart.  

               During Washington’s second term of is presidency he was mainly focusing on foreign affairs and also to seek a financial salvation. When the European war broke out in 1793 it brought problems in the American politics but Washington thought that America would be natural on the affair of the war, he was not going to pick a side and go into war. He understood that going into war would only crush the nation’s economic status, in order to increase the wealth of America Washington needed to grow westward. America had won the long Native war, the British had surrendered and then that is when Spain opened the Mississippi to America to gain more access to trading. This helped America move to the western parts to start new settlements.

                Washington was the only president that was elected by the people and still remains that way till this day. The America people believed that he was the man that was fair and would do his best to make the United States thrive, even if Washington did not want to become president he did because he saw that the majority wanted him to be in the office. However, even if he was in control of everything he was not greedy and did not turn his presidency into a dictatorship; thus, he made it a tradition that no one could rain for more than 8 years, also he made it a point to make a speech before he took office and now it is called an inaugural address.  He was one of the founding fathers of America that had made it flourish. Washington also trained about 14 thousand men for the first American colonist army.

Primary Source #1 Washington’s Inaugural Address: http://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/gw-inauguration/ (images of actual speech) and http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres13.html (translation of speech)

Author: The article is a primary source by George Washington.

Place: It was given in New York City on Thursday April 30, 1749.

Prior Knowledge: George Washington was on the first president of the United Sates but he did not want to take the title; however, he still accepted.

Audience: Washington was speaking to the American people informing them of his ideas for his presidency.

Reason: It was produced to inform Americans about what Washington planned to do for the next 4 years he was in office.  

The main idea: To explain how he will make America flourish for all the citizens.

Significance: It is important because without this speech than no one would know what to expect for the president and also it was the start of the speech tradition.

Primary Source #2 Constitution (1787):http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=9&page=transcript

Author: The article is a primary source and it was written by a group of political men such as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison.

Place: It was written in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 25- September 17, 1787.

Prior Knowledge: Before the Constitution the government was using the Articles of Confederation.

Audience: It was written for the American people to be governed.

Reason: The reason it was created was to resolve the problems of how to govern the United States.

The main idea: To express of foundation of the American government.

Significance: Engender a new form of government rather than trying to fix the old one.