1.
Pennsylvania Packet
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The Pennsylvania Packet, or the General Advertiser was an American newspaper founded in 1771 that, in 1784, became the first successful daily newspaper published in the United States. The paper was founded by John Dunlap as a paper in late 1771. It was based in Philadelphia except during the British occupation of the city in 1777–1778, claypoole eventually became a partner with Dunlap. As of September 21,1784, the paper was issued as the Pennsylvania Packet, on September 21,1796, it was the first to publish George Washingtons Farewell Address. In 1800, Zachariah Poulson purchased the paper and renamed it Poulsons American Daily Advertiser, in 1825, the Marquis De Lafayette granted an interview to Poulsons Advertiser during his famous visit to the United States. Poulson ran the paper for almost 40 years, and at end of 1839 sold out to the owners of the recently founded North American, the North American featured the 1771 founding of the Packet as its heritage. To the extent it can honestly be traced past this point, the final successor of the Packet can be said to be The Philadelphia Inquirer
2.
Wikisource
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Wikisource is an online digital library of free content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project, the projects aims are to host all forms of free text, in many languages, and translations. Originally conceived as an archive to store useful or important historical texts, the project officially began in November 24,2003 under the name Project Sourceberg. The name Wikisource was adopted later that year and it received its own domain name seven months later, the project has come under criticism for lack of reliability but it is also cited by organisations such as the National Archives and Records Administration. The project holds works that are either in the domain or freely licensed, professionally published works or historical source documents, not vanity products. Verification was initially made offline, or by trusting the reliability of digital libraries. Now works are supported by online scans via the ProofreadPage extension, some individual Wikisources, each representing a specific language, now only allow works backed up with scans. While the bulk of its collection are texts, Wikisource as a whole hosts other media, some Wikisources allow user-generated annotations, subject to the specific policies of the Wikisource in question. Wikisources early history included several changes of name and location, the original concept for Wikisource was as storage for useful or important historical texts. These texts were intended to support Wikipedia articles, by providing evidence and original source texts. The collection was focused on important historical and cultural material. The project was originally called Project Sourceberg during its planning stages, in 2001, there was a dispute on Wikipedia regarding the addition of primary source material, leading to edit wars over their inclusion or deletion. Project Sourceberg was suggested as a solution to this, perhaps Project Sourceberg can mainly work as an interface for easily linking from Wikipedia to a Project Gutenberg file, and as an interface for people to easily submit new work to PG. Wed want to complement Project Gutenberg--how, exactly, and Jimmy Wales adding like Larry, Im interested that we think it over to see what we can add to Project Gutenberg. It seems unlikely that primary sources should in general be editable by anyone -- I mean, Shakespeare is Shakespeare, unlike our commentary on his work, the project began its activity at ps. wikipedia. org. The contributors understood the PS subdomain to mean either primary sources or Project Sourceberg, however, this resulted in Project Sourceberg occupying the subdomain of the Pashto Wikipedia. A vote on the name changed it to Wikisource on December 6,2003. Despite the change in name, the project did not move to its permanent URL until July 23,2004, since Wikisource was initially called Project Sourceberg, its first logo was a picture of an iceberg
3.
George Washington
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George Washington was an American politician and soldier who served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797 and was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and he is popularly considered the driving force behind the nations establishment and came to be known as the father of the country, both during his lifetime and to this day. Washington was widely admired for his leadership qualities and was unanimously elected president by the Electoral College in the first two national elections. Washingtons incumbency established many precedents still in use today, such as the system, the inaugural address. His retirement from office two terms established a tradition that lasted until 1940 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term. The 22nd Amendment now limits the president to two elected terms and he was born into the provincial gentry of Colonial Virginia to a family of wealthy planters who owned tobacco plantations and slaves, which he inherited. In his youth, he became an officer in the colonial militia during the first stages of the French. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress commissioned him as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, in that command, Washington forced the British out of Boston in 1776 but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the Delaware River in the middle of winter, he defeated the British in two battles, retook New Jersey, and restored momentum to the Patriot cause and his strategy enabled Continental forces to capture two major British armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781. In battle, however, Washington was repeatedly outmaneuvered by British generals with larger armies, after victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned as commander-in-chief rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to American republicanism. Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which devised a new form of government for the United States. Following his election as president in 1789, he worked to unify rival factions in the fledgling nation and he supported Alexander Hamiltons programs to satisfy all debts, federal and state, established a permanent seat of government, implemented an effective tax system, and created a national bank. In avoiding war with Great Britain, he guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795 and he remained non-partisan, never joining the Federalist Party, although he largely supported its policies. Washingtons Farewell Address was a primer on civic virtue, warning against partisanship, sectionalism. He retired from the presidency in 1797, returning to his home, upon his death, Washington was eulogized as first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen by Representative Henry Lee III of Virginia. He was revered in life and in death, scholarly and public polling consistently ranks him among the top three presidents in American history and he has been depicted and remembered in monuments, public works, currency, and other dedications to the present day. He was born on February 11,1731, according to the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar was adopted within the British Empire in 1752, and it renders a birth date of February 22,1732. Washington was of primarily English gentry descent, especially from Sulgrave and his great-grandfather John Washington emigrated to Virginia in 1656 and began accumulating land and slaves, as did his son Lawrence and his grandson, Georges father Augustine
4.
Ancestry of George Washington
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This table sets out the ancestry of President George Washington for five generations, numbered according to the Ahnentafel genealogical numbering system. Bibliography of George Washington Ancestry of Thomas Jefferson
5.
Military career of George Washington
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The military career of George Washington spanned over forty years of service. Washingtons service can be broken into three periods with service in three different armed forces, Virginias Royal Governor, Robert Dinwiddie, appointed Washington a major in the provincial militia in February 1753. In that year the French began expanding their control into the Ohio Country. These competing claims led to a world war 1756–63 and Washington was at the center of its beginning, the Ohio Company was one vehicle through which British investors planned to expand into the territory, opening new settlements and building trading posts for the Indian trade. Washington delivered the letter to the local French commander, who refused to leave. Governor Dinwiddie sent Washington back to the Ohio Country to protect an Ohio Company group building a fort at present-day Pittsburgh, before he reached the area, a French force drove out the companys crew and began construction of Fort Duquesne. The French responded by attacking and capturing Washington at Fort Necessity in July 1754 and he was allowed to return with his troops to Virginia. The experience demonstrated Washingtons bravery, initiative, inexperience and impetuosity and these events had international consequences, the French accused Washington of assassinating Jumonville, who they claimed was on a diplomatic mission similar to Washingtons 1753 mission. Both France and Britain responded by sending troops to North America in 1755, in 1755, Washington was the senior Colonial aide to British General Edward Braddock on the ill-fated Braddock Expedition. This was at the time the largest ever British military expedition ventured into the colonies, the French and their Indian allies were able to ambush the expedition, mowing down over 900 casualties including the mortally-wounded Braddock. The Virginia Regiment was the first full-time American military unit in the colonies, Washington was ordered to act defensively or offensively as he thought best. In command of a soldiers, Washington was a disciplinarian who emphasized training. He led his men in brutal campaigns against the Indians in the west, in 10 months units of his regiment fought 20 battles, and lost a third of its men. Washingtons strenuous efforts meant that Virginias frontier population suffered less than that of other colonies, in 1758, Washington participated in the Forbes Expedition to capture Fort Duquesne. He was embarrassed by a fire episode in which his unit and another British unit thought the other was the French enemy and opened fire. In the end there was no fighting for the French abandoned the fort. Upon his return to Virginia, Washington resigned his commission in December 1758 and he closely observed British military tactics, gaining a keen insight into their strengths and weaknesses that proved invaluable during the Revolution. He demonstrated his toughness and courage in the most difficult situations, including disasters and he developed a command presence—given his size, strength, stamina, and bravery in battle, he appeared to soldiers to be a natural leader and they followed him without question
6.
George Washington in the American Revolution
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George Washington commanded the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War, and was the first President of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. Because of his role in the founding of the United States. His devotion to republicanism and civic virtue made him a figure among early American politicians. Washington played a military and political role in the American Revolution. His involvement began as early as 1767, when he first took political stands against the acts of the British Parliament, after the war broke out with the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, his role became military with his appointment as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. He appeared before the Second Continental Congress in military uniform, signaling that he was prepared for war, Congress created the Continental Army on June 14, the next day it selected Washington as commander-in-chief. At the end of the year in both 1775 and 1776, he had to deal with expiring enlistments, since the Congress had only authorized the existence for single years. In 1777 Washington was again defeated in the defense of Philadelphia, Washingtons activities from late 1778 to 1780 were more diplomatic and organizational, as his army remained outside New York, watching Sir Henry Clintons army that occupied the city. His attention was drawn to the frontier war, which prompted the 1779 Continental Army expedition of John Sullivan into upstate New York. When General Clinton sent the turncoat General Benedict Arnold to raid in Virginia, the arrival of Lord Cornwallis in Virginia after campaigning in the south presented Washington with an opportunity to strike a decisive blow. The army was disbanded after peace in 1783, and Washington resigned his commission as commander-in-chief on December 23,1783. Born into a well-to-do Virginia family near Fredericksburg in 1732, Washington was schooled locally until the age of 15, the early death of his father when he was 11 eliminated the possibility of schooling in England, and his mother rejected attempts to place him in the Royal Navy. Thanks to the connection by marriage of his half-brother Lawrence to the wealthy Fairfax family, Washington was appointed surveyor of Culpeper County in 1749 and its investors also included Virginias Royal Governor, Robert Dinwiddie, who appointed Washington a major in the provincial militia in February 1753. Washington played a key role in the outbreak of the French and Indian War and he closely observed British military tactics, gaining a keen insight into their strengths and weaknesses that proved invaluable during the Revolution. He demonstrated his toughness and courage in the most difficult situations, including disasters and he developed a command presence—given his size, strength, stamina, and bravery in battle, he appeared to soldiers to be a natural leader and they followed him without question. Washington learned to organize, train, and drill, and discipline his companies, from his observations, readings and conversations with professional officers, he learned the basics of battlefield tactics, as well as a good understanding of problems of organization and logistics. He gained an understanding of strategy, especially in locating strategic geographical points. He developed a negative idea of the value of militia, who seemed too unreliable, too undisciplined
7.
Valley Forge
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Valley Forge was the military camp 18 miles northwest of Philadelphia where the American Continental Army spent the winter of 1777–78 during the American Revolutionary War. Starvation, disease, malnutrition, and exposure killed more than 2,500 American soldiers by the end of February 1778, General George Washington sought quarters for his men with winter almost setting in, and with greatly diminishing prospects for campaigning. Washington and his troops had fought in early December what was the last major engagement of 1777 at the Battle of White Marsh and he devised to pull his troops from their present encampment in the White Marsh area and move to a more secure location for the coming winter. Several locations were considered for the winter quarters, but Washington selected Valley Forge. Valley Forge was named for a forge on Valley Creek in Whitemarsh. It was not the best place to set up camp for the Continental Army. This location also left the vulnerable under-supplied army in striking distance of the British, the area was close enough to the British to keep their raiding and foraging parties out of the interior of Pennsylvania, yet far enough away to halt the threat of British surprise attacks. The densely forested plateau of Mount Joy and the adjoining two-mile-long plateau of Mount Misery made the area easily defensible and it also provided abundant forests of timber that were used to construct thousands of log huts. Seventy-eight of the huts in the camp housed the soldiers, on December 19,1777, Washingtons poorly fed, ill-equipped army staggered into Valley Forge, weary from long marches. Winds blew as the 12,000 Continentals prepared for winters fury, only about one in four of them had shoes, and many of their feet had left bloody footprints from the marching. Grounds were selected for brigade encampments, and defense lines were planned, the first properly constructed hut appeared in three days. One hut required 80 logs, and timber had to be collected from miles away and it went up in one week with the use of only one axe. These huts provided sufficient protection from the cold and wet conditions of a typical Pennsylvania winter. By the beginning of February, construction was completed on 2,000 huts and they provided shelter, but did little to offset the critical shortages that continually plagued the army. Washington ordered that two windows should be cut into each hut during the springtime, as the climate grew considerably warmer, mud was also chipped between the logs to improve ventilation. The soldiers received inadequate supplies of meat and bread, some getting their only nourishment from firecake, occasionally, there would be pepper pot soup, a black pepper-flavored tripe broth. So severe were conditions at times that Washington despaired that unless some great, starve, dissolve, or disperse, in order to obtain subsistence in the best manner they can. Snow was limited and small in amounts, the layer of snow was often too thin to be collected and melted into drinking water
8.
Battle of Trenton
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The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal battle during the American Revolutionary War which took place on the morning of December 26,1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. After a brief battle, nearly the entire Hessian force was captured, the battle significantly boosted the Continental Armys flagging morale, and inspired re-enlistments. The Continental Army had previously suffered several defeats in New York and had forced to retreat through New Jersey to Pennsylvania. Because the river was icy and the severe, the crossing proved dangerous. Two detachments were unable to cross the river, leaving Washington with only 2,400 men under his command in the assault, the army marched 9 miles south to Trenton. The Hessians had lowered their guard, thinking they were safe from the American army, Washingtons forces caught them off guard and, after a short but fierce resistance, most of the Hessians surrendered. Almost two thirds of the 1, 500-man garrison was captured, and only a few troops escaped across Assunpink Creek, despite the battles small numbers, the American victory inspired rebels in the colonies. With the success of the revolution in doubt a week earlier, the dramatic victory inspired soldiers to serve longer and attracted new recruits to the ranks. In early December 1776, American morale was very low, the Americans had been ousted from New York by the British and their Hessian auxiliaries, and the Continental Army was forced to retreat across New Jersey. Ninety percent of the Continental Army soldiers who had served at Long Island were gone, men had deserted, feeling that the cause for independence was lost. Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, expressed doubts, writing to his cousin in Virginia. At the time a town in New Jersey, Trenton was occupied by three regiments of Hessian soldiers commanded by Colonel Johann Rall. Washingtons force comprised 2,400 men, with divisions commanded by Major Generals Nathanael Greene and John Sullivan. Washington had stationed a spy named John Honeyman, posing as a Tory, Honeyman had served with Major General James Wolfe in Quebec at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham on September 13,1759, and had no trouble establishing his credentials as a Tory. Honeyman was a butcher and weaver, who traded with the British and this enabled him to gather intelligence, and also to convince the Hessians that the Continental Army was in such a low state of morale that they would not attack Trenton. Shortly before Christmas, he arranged to be captured by the Continental Army, after being questioned by Washington, he was imprisoned in a small hut, to be tried as a Tory in the morning, but a small fire broke out nearby, enabling him to escape. The American plan relied on launching coordinated attacks from three directions, General John Cadwalader would launch a diversionary attack against the British garrison at Bordentown, New Jersey, to block off reinforcements from the south. General James Ewing would take 700 militia across the river at Trenton Ferry, seize the bridge over the Assunpink Creek and prevent enemy troops from escaping
9.
Mount Vernon Conference
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The Mount Vernon Conference was a meeting of delegates from Virginia and Maryland held March 21–28,1785, to discuss navigational rights in the states common waterways. On March 28,1785, the group drew up a thirteen-point proposal to govern the two rights on the Potomac River, Pocomoke River, and Chesapeake Bay. Ratified by the legislature of both states, the compact helped set a precedent for later meetings between states for discussions into areas of mutual concern. The conference, initially scheduled to begin March 21,1785 in Alexandria, Virginia, was a meeting of delegates from Maryland, Samuel Chase, none of Virginias delegates were present when Marylands arrived for the meeting. The conference reconvened at Mount Vernon on March 21,1785 with Washington presiding, Marylands representatives were empowered to discuss with Virginia shared concerns involving the Potomac and Pocomoke Rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay. To the contrary, the Virginia legislatures instructions to its appointees focused solely on the Potomac, nonetheless, common ground was found and on March 28,1785, a final report was prepared for the two state legislatures. The report contained 13 clauses and was ratified by both Maryland and Virginia and it declared the Potomac, which was under Marylands sole jurisdiction, to be a common waterway for use by Virginia as well. It also provided for reciprocal fishing rights, dividing the costs of constructing navigation aids, cooperation on defense and it also called for commissioners to deal with any future problems that might arise. Political leaders in Pennsylvania and Delaware were invited to join the agreement as well, the circumstances that led to the conference began as the country emerged victorious from the Revolutionary War. Lacking an effective central government under the Articles of Confederation, the states quarreled among themselves and some even established proprietary regulations, tariffs, and currency. This awareness led to the chartering of the Potomac Company to make improvements to the Potomac River, the companys goal was the linking of the East Coast with the trans-Appalachian northwest. The Mount Vernon Conference became a model of interstate cooperation outside the framework of the Articles of Confederation and its success encouraged James Madison to advocate for further discussions on constitutional issues facing the states. He had little to show for efforts to get Virginias delegates in the Continental Congress to seek expanded powers to deal with trade issues, instead, he introduced a proposal in the Virginia General Assembly to act on the suggestion of the Compact commissioners for further debate of interstate issues. With Marylands agreement, on January 21,1786, Virginia invited all the states to attend another meeting on commercial issues, delegates from five states gathered to discuss ways to facilitate commerce between the states and establish standard rules and regulations. As a result of the gathering, commissioners called for there to be another constitutional convention at which possible improvements to the Articles could be discussed, the desired convention took place in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787. There, Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania made oblique reference to the success of the Mount Vernon Conference, in 1908, a government commission would associate these related events more closely
10.
Constitutional Convention (United States)
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The Constitutional Convention took place from May 25 to September 17,1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The delegates elected George Washington to preside over the Convention, the result of the Convention was the creation of the United States Constitution, placing the Convention among the most significant events in the history of the United States. Most of the time during the Convention was spent on deciding these issues, while the powers of legislature, executive, once the Convention began, the delegates first agreed on the principles of the Convention, then they agreed on Madisons Virginia Plan and began to modify it. A Committee of Detail assembled during the July 4 recess eventually produced a draft of the constitution. Most of the draft remained in place, and can be found in the final version of the constitution. After the final issues were resolved, the Committee on Style produced the final version, before the Constitution was drafted, the nearly 4 million inhabitants of the 13 newly independent states were governed under the Articles of Confederation, created by the Second Continental Congress. It soon became evident to all that the chronically underfunded Confederation government. As the Articles of Confederation could only be amended by unanimous vote of the states, in addition, the Articles gave the weak federal government no taxing power, it was wholly dependent on the states for its money, and had no power to force delinquent states to pay. Once the immediate task of winning the American Revolutionary War had passed, the states began to look to their own interests, another impetus for the convention was Shays Rebellion. A political conflict between Boston merchants and rural farmers over issues such as property seizures for tax debts had broken out into an open rebellion. This rebellion was led by a former Revolutionary War captain, Daniel Shays, himself a farmer with tax debts. The rebellion took months for Massachusetts to put down completely, in September 1786, at the Annapolis Convention, delegates from five states called for a Constitutional Convention in order to discuss possible improvements to the Articles of Confederation. The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia on May 14,1787, Rhode Island, fearing that the Convention would work to its disadvantage, boycotted the Convention and, when the Constitution was put to the states, initially refused to ratify it. James Madison arrived first, and soon most of the Virginia delegation arrived, while waiting for the other delegates, the Virginia delegation produced the Virginia Plan, which was designed and written by James Madison. On May 25, the delegations convened in the Pennsylvania State House, George Washington was unanimously elected president of the Convention, and it was agreed that the discussions and votes would be kept secret until the conclusion of the meeting. Although William Jackson was elected as secretary, his records were brief, Madisons Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787, supplemented by the notes of Robert Yates, remain the most complete record of the Convention. Throughout the debate, delegates constantly referred to precedents from history in support of their position, most commonly, they referred to the history of England, in particular the Glorious Revolution, classical history, and recent precedents from Holland and Germany. Outside the Convention in Philadelphia, there was a convening of the Society of the Cincinnati
11.
Presidency of George Washington
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The presidency of George Washington, began on April 30,1789, when he was inaugurated as the 1st President of the United States, and ended on March 4,1797. Washington took office after the 1788–89 presidential election, the nations first quadrennial presidential election, as specified by the newly ratified Constitution, the President was chosen by the Electoral College. In this election, the method for selecting electors was decided by each state legislature–by public vote in some states, each elector was given two votes to cast for President. Washington received the support of one of the electors, each of whom cast one of the two ballots for him. John Adams, who received 34 votes, was the runner-up and was named vice president. President Washington was re-elected as President, again unanimously, in 1792, in 1796, he refused to run for a third term, establishing the customary policy of a maximum of two terms for a president, which later became law by the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. Washington reluctantly accepted the presidency, and he never enjoyed being President, nonetheless, he proved an able administrator. An excellent delegator and judge of talent and character, he held cabinet meetings to debate issues before making a final decision. In handling routine tasks, he was systematic, orderly, energetic, solicitous of the opinion of others but decisive, intent upon general goals and his leadership guaranteed the survival of the United States as a powerful and independent nation, and set the standard for future presidents. Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States on April 30,1789, near New York Citys Wall Street and he was sworn in by Robert Livingston who administered the presidential oath of office. Borrowing a British robe in which the British monarch would address Parliament annually and he insisted on having Barbados Rum served after the swearing in ceremony. Washingtons second inauguration occurred in the Senate Chamber of Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 4,1793 and he was sworn in by Associate Justice William Cushing, who also administered the oath of office. Washingtons inaugural address was incredibly brief at just 135 words, the 1st United States Congress voted to pay Washington a salary of $25,000 a year—a large sum in 1789, valued at about $340,000 in 2015 dollars. Washington faced financial troubles then, yet he initially declined the salary, upon taking office, Washington initially focused on the establishment of the federal judiciary and executive departments. When Washington assumed office, the government of the United States had not yet been developed, aside from the constitutionally established offices, no other agencies existed and no courts had yet been established. Instead of focusing on the branch, Washingtons first acts were to establish the judiciary. Through the Judiciary Act of 1789, Washington established a six-member Supreme Court, the court was composed of one Chief Justice and five Associate Justices. Under the Supreme Court, the Judiciary Act created 13 judicial districts within the 11 states that had ratified the Constitution
12.
First inauguration of George Washington
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The first inauguration of George Washington as the first President of the United States was held on April 30,1789 on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City, New York. The inauguration marked the commencement of the first four-year term of George Washington as President, chancellor of New York Robert Livingston administered the presidential oath of office. With his inauguration, the branch of the United States government officially began operations under the new frame of government established by the 1787 Constitution. The first term of John Adams as Vice President commenced on April 21,1789, when he took the vice presidential oath of office. The first presidential term started on March 4,1789, the set by the Congress of the Confederation for the beginning of operations of the federal government under the new U. S. Constitution. However, due to delays, that did not happen. On that date, the House of Representatives and the Senate convened, as a result, the Presidential Electoral Votes could not be counted or certified. On April 1, the House convened with a present for the first time. The Senate first achieved a quorum on April 6 and that same day, the House and Senate met in joint session and the electoral votes were counted. Washington and Adams were certified as having been elected president and vice president respectively. It was 5 p. m. at Mount Vernon on April 14,1789, the letter had been sent by Senator John Langdon of New Hampshire, the first president pro tempore of the United States Senate, who had presided over the counting of the electoral votes. He left early the morning for another welcome awaiting him in Trenton. On April 23 he took a barge with 13 pilots through the Kill Van Kull tidal strait into the Upper New York Bay. Thousands had gathered on the waterfront to see him arrive, Washington landed at Murrays Wharf, where he was greeted by New York Governor George Clinton as well as other congressmen and citizens. A plaque now marks the landing site and they proceeded through the streets to what would be Washingtons new official residence,3 Cherry Street. Washington dressed in an American-made dark brown suit with silk stockings and silver shoe buckles, he also wore a steel-hilted sword. Washington moved to the second-floor balcony, chancellor of New York Robert Livingston administered the presidential oath of office in view of throngs of people gathered on the streets. The Bible used in the ceremony was from St. Johns Lodge No,1, A. Y. M. and due to haste, it was opened at random to Genesis 49,13
13.
Judiciary Act of 1789
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The Judiciary Act of 1789 was a United States federal statute adopted on September 24,1789, in the first session of the First United States Congress. It established the judiciary of the United States. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution prescribed that the power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court. It made no provision for the composition or procedures of any of the courts, the existence of a separate federal judiciary had been controversial during the debates over the ratification of the Constitution. Anti-Federalists had denounced the judicial power as an instrument of national tyranny. Indeed, of the ten amendments that eventually became the Bill of Rights, even after ratification, some opponents of a strong judiciary urged that the federal court system be limited to a Supreme Court and perhaps local admiralty judges. The Congress, however, decided to establish a system of trial courts with broader jurisdiction. The Senate Journal records that Richard Henry Lee reported the bill out of committee on June 12,1789. The bill passed the Senate 14–6 on July 17,1789, the House passed an amended bill 37–16 on September 17,1789. The Senate struck four of the House amendments and approved the remaining provisions on September 19,1789, the House passed the Senates final version of the bill on September 21,1789. President George Washington signed the Judiciary Act of 1789 into law on September 24,1789, among the nominees were John Jay for Chief Justice of the United States, John Rutledge, William Cushing, Robert H. Harrison, James Wilson, and John Blair Jr. The Act set the number of Supreme Court justices at six, one Chief Justice, the Act also created 13 judicial districts within the 11 states that had then ratified the Constitution. Each state comprised one district, except for Virginia and Massachusetts, Massachusetts was divided into the District of Maine and the District of Massachusetts. Virginia was divided into the District of Kentucky and the District of Virginia and this Act established a circuit court and district court in each judicial district. The circuit courts also had jurisdiction over the district courts. The single-judge district courts had jurisdiction primarily over admiralty cases, petty crimes, notably, the federal trial courts had not yet received original federal question jurisdiction. Congress authorized all people to represent themselves or to be represented by another person. The Act did not prohibit paying a representative to appear in court, Congress authorized persons who were sued by citizens of another state, in the courts of the plaintiffs home state, to remove the lawsuit to the federal circuit court
14.
Whiskey Rebellion
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The Whiskey Rebellion was a tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called whiskey tax was the first tax imposed on a product by the newly formed federal government. It became law in 1791, and was intended to generate revenue for the war debt incurred during the Revolutionary War. The tax applied to all distilled spirits, but American whiskey was by far the countrys most popular distilled beverage in the 18th century, farmers of the western frontier were accustomed to distilling their surplus rye, barley, wheat, corn, or fermented grain mixtures into whiskey. In these regions, whiskey often served as a medium of exchange, throughout Western Pennsylvania counties, protesters used violence and intimidation to prevent federal officials from collecting the tax. Resistance came to a climax in July 1794, when a U. S. marshal arrived in western Pennsylvania to serve writs to distillers who had not paid the excise. The alarm was raised, and more than 500 armed men attacked the home of tax inspector General John Neville. Washington responded by sending peace commissioners to western Pennsylvania to negotiate with the rebels, Washington himself rode at the head of an army to suppress the insurgency, with 13,000 militiamen provided by the governors of Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The rebels all went home before the arrival of the army, about 20 men were arrested, but all were later acquitted or pardoned. Most distillers in nearby Kentucky were found to be all but impossible to tax—in the next six years, numerous examples of resistance are recorded in court documents and newspaper accounts. The Whiskey Rebellion demonstrated that the new government had the will and ability to suppress violent resistance to its laws. The events contributed to the formation of parties in the United States. The whiskey tax was repealed in the early 1800s during the Jefferson administration, a new U. S. federal government began operating in 1789, following the ratification of the United States Constitution. The previous central government under the Articles of Confederation had been unable to levy taxes, it had borrowed money to meet expenses and fund the Revolution, the state governments had amassed an additional $25 million in debt. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton sought to use this debt to create a system that would promote American prosperity. In his Report on Public Credit, he urged Congress to consolidate the state, Congress approved these measures in June and July 1790. A source of government revenue was needed to pay the amount due to the previous bondholders to whom the debt was owed. By December 1790, Hamilton believed that import duties, which were the primary source of revenue, had been raised as high as feasible
15.
Residence Act
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The federal government was located in New York City at the time the bill was passed and had previously been located in Philadelphia, Annapolis, and several other locations. Congress passed the Residence Act as part of a compromise brokered between James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton, Madison and Jefferson favored a southerly site for the capital on the Potomac River, but they lacked a majority to pass the measure through Congress. Meanwhile, Hamilton was pushing for Congress to pass the Assumption Bill, with the compromise, Hamilton was able to muster support from the New York State delegates for the Potomac site, while four delegates switched from opposition to support for the Assumption Bill. The Residence Act gave authority to President George Washington to select a site for the capital, along the Potomac. In the meantime, Philadelphia was chosen as a temporary capital, Washington had authority to appoint three commissioners and oversee the construction of Federal buildings in the District, something to which he gave much personal attention. Thomas Jefferson was a key adviser to Washington, and helped organize a competition to solicit designs for the United States Capitol, during the American Revolutionary War, the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania State House. On account of British military actions, the Continental Congress was forced to relocate to Baltimore, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Congress requested that John Dickinson, the governor of Pennsylvania, call up the militia to defend Congress from attacks by the protesters. In what became known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, Dickinson sympathized with the protesters, as a result, Congress was forced to flee to Princeton, New Jersey on June 21,1783, and met in Annapolis and Trenton, before ending up in New York City. The United States Congress was established upon ratification of the United States Constitution in 1789, the question of where to establish the capital was raised in 1783. The Southern states refused to accept a capital in the North, another suggestion was for there to be two capitals, one in the North and one in the South. Congress approved a plan in 1783 for a capital on the Potomac, near Georgetown, in Maryland, and another capital on the Delaware River, this plan was rescinded the following year. Establishing the capital was put on hold for years, until the Constitutional Convention was held in 1787. The Constitution said nothing about where the district would be. The debate heated up in 1789 when Congress convened for the first time under the Constitution, two sites were favored by members of Congress, one site on the Potomac River near Georgetown, and another site on the Susquehanna River near Wrights Ferry. The Susquehanna River site was approved by the House in September 1789, while the Senate bill specified a site on the Delaware River near Germantown, Congress did not reach an agreement at the time. The selection of a location for the capital resurfaced in the summer of 1790, at the same time, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton was pushing for Congress to pass a financial plan. A key provision of Hamiltons plan involved the Federal government assuming states debts incurred during the American Revolutionary War, northern states had accumulated a huge amount of debt during the war, amounting to 21.5 million dollars, and wanted the federal government to assume their burden. The Southern states, whose citizens would effectively be forced to pay a portion of debt if the Federal Government assumed it
16.
Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
17.
United States presidential election, 1792
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The United States presidential election of 1792 was the second quadrennial presidential election. It was held from Friday, November 2 to Wednesday, December 5,1792, incumbent President George Washington was elected to a second term by a unanimous vote in the electoral college. As in the first presidential election, Washington is considered to have run unopposed, Electoral rules of the time, however, required each presidential elector to cast two votes without distinguishing which was for president and which for vice president. The recipient of the most votes would become president. Incumbent Vice President John Adams received 77 votes and was also re-elected and this election was the first in which each of the original 13 states appointed electors. It was also the presidential election that was not held exactly four years after the previous election. The second inauguration was on March 4,1793 at the Senate Chamber of Congress Hall in Philadelphia, in 1792, presidential elections were still conducted according to the original method established under the U. S. Constitution. Under this system, each elector cast two votes, the candidate who received the greatest number of votes became president, while the runner-up became vice president. The Twelfth Amendment would eventually replace this system, requiring electors to cast one vote for president and one vote for vice president, because of this, it is difficult to use modern-day terminology to describe the relationship between the candidates in this election. Washington is generally held by historians to have run unopposed, indeed, the incumbent president enjoyed bipartisan support and received one vote from every elector. The choice for president was more divisive. They had no chance of unseating Washington, but hoped to win the presidency by defeating the incumbent. The Republicans would have preferred to nominate Thomas Jefferson, their ideological leader, however, this would have cost them the state of Virginia, as electors were not permitted to vote for two candidates from their home state and Washington was also a Virginian. Instead, they settled on Governor George Clinton, though Jefferson would receive the votes of four Kentucky electors, madison was at first a Federalist until he opposed the establishment of Hamiltons First Bank of the United States in 1791. He formed the Democratic-Republican Party along with Anti-Federalist Thomas Jefferson in 1792, the elections of 1792 were the first ones in the United States to be contested on anything resembling a partisan basis. In New York, the race for governor was fought along these lines, the candidates were Chief Justice John Jay, a Hamiltonian, and incumbent George Clinton, who was allied with Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans. Although Washington had been considering retiring, both encouraged him to remain in office to bridge factional differences. Washington was supported by all sides throughout his presidency and gained more popularity with the passage of the Bill of Rights
18.
Second inauguration of George Washington
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The second inauguration of George Washington as President of the United States was held in the Senate Chamber of Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 4,1793. The inauguration marked the commencement of the second term of George Washington as President. The presidential oath of office was administered to George Washington by Associate Justice William Cushing and this was the first inauguration to take place in Philadelphia, and took place exactly four years after the new federal government began operations under the U. S. Constitution. George Washingtons second inaugural address remains the shortest ever delivered, at just 135 words, fellow Citizens, I am again called upon by the voice of my country to execute the functions of its Chief Magistrate. Previous to the execution of any act of the President the Constitution requires an oath of office. Presidency of George Washington First inauguration of George Washington United States presidential election,1792 More documents from the Library of Congress
19.
Jay Treaty
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The terms of the treaty were designed primarily by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton and strongly supported by chief negotiator John Jay and also by President George Washington. The treaty gained many of the primary American goals, the Americans were granted limited rights to trade with British colonies in the Caribbean in exchange for some limits on the American export of cotton. The treaty was hotly contested by the Jeffersonians in each state and they feared that closer economic ties with Great Britain would strengthen Hamiltons Federalist Party, promote aristocracy, and undercut republicanism. Washingtons announced support proved decisive, and the treaty was ratified by a majority of the U. S. Senate in November 1794 without a single vote to spare. The treaty became an issue of contention, leading to the formation of the First Party System, with the Federalists favoring the British. The treaty was for ten years duration, efforts failed to agree on a replacement treaty in 1806 when Jefferson rejected the Monroe–Pinkney Treaty, as tensions escalated toward the War of 1812. The outbreak of war between France and Great Britain in 1793 ended the peace that had enabled the new nation to flourish in terms of trade. The United States now emerged as an important neutral country with a large shipping trade, from the British perspective, improving relations with the United States was a high priority lest it move into the French orbit. British negotiators ignored elements that wanted harsher terms in order to get a suitable treaty, the British government used the Royal Navy to capture nearly 250 neutral American merchant ships carrying goods from French colonies in the West Indies. Americans were outraged and Republicans in Jeffersons coalition demanded a declaration of war, British officials told Indian tribes near the Canada-U. S. border that the border no longer existed and sold weapons to them. Congress voted for an embargo against Britain in March 1794. Hamilton devised a framework for negotiations, and President George Washington sent Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Jay to London to negotiate a comprehensive treaty, Britain said it was in response to American refusals to pay debts that had been agreed upon. The British were continuing to impress American sailors into the Royal Navy to fight against France, American merchants wanted compensation for 250 merchant ships which the British had confiscated in 1793 and 1794. Southern interests wanted monetary compensation for slaves owned by Loyalists who were away to the West Indies along with their masters in 1781-83. American merchants wanted the British West Indies to be reopened to American trade, the boundary with Canada was vague in many places, and needed to be more sharply delineated. The British were providing munitions for Indian attacks on settlers in the Northwest, several issues were sent to arbitration, which were resolved amicably mostly in favor of the U. S. Britain paid $11,650,000 for damages to American shipping, while international arbitration was not entirely unknown, the Jay Treaty gave it a strong impetus and is generally taken as the start of modern International arbitration. The British agreed to vacate the western forts by June 1796, the treaty was surprisingly generous and allowing Americans to trade with the British Isles on a most-favored-nation basis
20.
Legacy of George Washington
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George Washington commanded Americas war for independence, and was the first President of the United States, from 1789 to 1797. In terms of personality, a leading biographer Douglas Southall Freeman concluded, by character, says David Hackett Fischer Freeman meant integrity, self-discipline, courage, absolute honesty, resolve, and decision, but also forbearance, decency, and respect for others. Because of his role in the founding of the United States. His devotion to republicanism and civic virtue made him a figure among early American politicians. His image has become an icon and is commonplace in American culture, pious, just, humane, temperate, and sincere, uniform, dignified, and commanding, his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting. Correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence and virtue always felt his fostering hand, the purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public virtues. Such was the man for whom our nation mourns, lees words set the standard by which Washingtons overwhelming reputation was impressed upon the American memory. Washington set many precedents for the government and the presidency in particular. In 1951 the unwritten two-term limit set by Washington would become the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution and he also set constitutional precedent by being the first president to use the Presidential Veto. As early as 1778 he was lauded as the Father of His Country and is considered to be the most important of Founding Fathers of the United States. He has gained fame around the world as a example of a benevolent national founder. As Gordon Wood concludes, the greatest act in his life was his resignation as commander of the act that stunned aristocratic Europe. According to painter Benjamin West, West told me that. The King began to talk abt and he asked West what would Washington do were America to be declared independent. West said He believed He would retire to a private situation, -- The King said if He did He would be the greatest man in the world. Washington was long considered not just a military and revolutionary hero, in 1790, Washingtons close friend Benjamin Franklin died. In Franklins will, he bequeathed Washington his walking cane, which Franklin received while serving as ambassador to France during the 1780s, if it were a Sceptre, he has merited it, and would become it. Washington was always the exemplar of republican virtue in America and he is seen more as a character model than war hero or founding father. One of Washingtons greatest achievements, in terms of values, was refraining from taking more power than was due
21.
Cultural depictions of George Washington
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George Washington has inspired artistic and cultural works for more than two hundred years. The following lists cover various media to include items of historic interest, enduring works of high art, the entries represent portrayals that a reader has a reasonable chance of encountering rather than a complete catalog. Lesser known works are not included, for purposes of classification, popular culture music is a separate section from operas and oratorios. Television covers live action series, TV movies, miniseries, and North American animation but not Japanese anime, George Washington George Washington on U. S
22.
George Washington and slavery
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George Washington, the first President of the United States, held people in slavery for virtually all of his life. His will provided for freeing the people he held upon the death of his widow Martha Washington. In January 1801 Martha freed her husbands slaves, just over a year after his death. However, while she lived, Martha did not emancipate any of the people she held, for his wife Marthas use during her lifetime and controlled by Washington, they were legally part of the property of her late first husbands estate. As on other plantations during that era, Washingtons slaves worked from dawn until dusk unless injured or ill and they were fed, clothed, and housed as inexpensively as possible, in conditions that were probably meager. Before the American Revolution, Washington expressed no moral reservations about slavery, the historian Henry Wiencek speculates that Washingtons slave buying, particularly his participation in a raffle of 55 slaves in 1769, may have initiated a gradual reassessment of slavery. In 1782 the Virginia legislature made manumissions easier, while requiring documentation, slaveholders were allowed to free any adult slave under the age of forty-five, either by executing a deed or adding provisions to a will. By the 1820s, it required approval for each act of manumission. After the war, Washington often privately expressed a dislike of the institution of slavery, in 1786, he wrote to a friend that I never mean. To possess another slave by purchase, it being among my first wishes to see some plan adopted, by which slavery in this Country may be abolished by slow, sure and imperceptible degrees. To another friend he wrote there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see some plan adopted for the abolition of slavery. He expressed moral support for plans by his friend the Marquis de Lafayette to emancipate slaves and resettle them elsewhere and he held more slaves than he needed at Mount Vernon, making the operation unprofitable. The changes from tobacco to mixed-crop production lowered the labor needs, Washington wrote, It is demonstratively clear that on this Estate I have more working Negroes by a full than can be employed to any advantage in the farming system. Washington could have sold his surplus slaves and immediately have realized a substantial revenue, in 1790, Washington signed the Naturalization Act, providing a means for foreigners to become citizens. This act limited U. S. citizenship to free white persons, at the time, these were Europeans. In 1793, President Washington signed the Fugitive Slave Act and this act, which implemented the Fugitive Slave Clause in the United States Constitution, gave slaveholders the right to capture fugitive slaves in any U. S. state. This act was done to allow the recapture of slaves who escaped into any safe harbors or slave sanctuaries. In 1794, Washington signed into law the first Slave Trade Act, the monetary relief and weapons counted as a repayment for loans granted by France to the Americans during the Revolutionary War
23.
The Washington Papers
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The Washington Papers aims to place Washington in a larger context and to bring individuals, such as Martha Washington and Washington family members, into sharper focus. The project is headed by editor-in-chief and director Edward G. Lengel and is the largest collection of its type. The project had its start in 1966 when the state archivist of Virginia proposed that the university launch a documentary editing project for the Washington papers, two years later the Washington Papers was launched with the help of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. Its first editor-in-chief, Donald Jackson, was appointed and the sought to be the most comprehensive compilation yet and include not just letters Washington wrote. To this end the project out and procured copies of 140,000 documents. Starting in 1976 the Washington Papers project began releasing sets of its collection via the University Press of Virginia, sets are separated into different collections depending on the type of material and the time period. In 2004 the project digitized the collection with the help of the Ladies Association, the digitized collection was called the Papers of George Washington Digital Edition and is regularly updated. The following year the project presented the White House with a set of the Papers of George Washington. Since its inception the project has expanded to several projects that are intended to help increase the availability. Some of the expansions have been done as part of projects with other organizations such as NARA. In October 2010 NARA and the University of Virginia Press announced their intention to create Founders Online, work on the project began in October 2011 and went online in October 2013, and includes content from the Washington Paperss print volumes. Prior to this the Papers of George Washington were originally available online through the Papers of George Washington Digital Edition. The Financial Papers Project was officially launched in 2011 with grant funding from NARA, once completed, the project will provide users with access to material that will describe the context and meaning of each text that significantly portrays George Washington. The Washington Papers intend to publish her correspondence online and in a print edition. Work on the Barbados Diary project began in the summer of 2015, the project will transcribe George Washington’s ship log and diary from his journey to Barbados with his brother Lawrence in 1751. The Washington Papers has released several volumes of work relating to and reprinting the Washingtons papers, to date 63 volumes have been published. The Diaries of George Washington is a six volume set released between 1976 and 1979 that was edited by Dorothy Twohig, the third editor-in-chief of the Washington Papers project, the diaries cover most of Washingtons adult life starting in 1748 and concluding in 1799, shortly before his death. There are some gaps in the due to some of Washingtons diaries having never been found
24.
Mount Vernon
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Mount Vernon was the plantation house of George Washington, the first President of the United States, and his wife, Martha Dandridge Custis Washington. The estate is situated on the banks of the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia, near Alexandria, across from Prince Georges County, the Washington family had owned land in the area since the time of Washingtons great-grandfather in 1674. In 1739 they embarked on an expansion of the estate that continued under George Washington, who came into possession of the estate in 1754, the mansion is built of wood in a loose Palladian style, and was constructed by George Washington in stages between 1758 and 1778. It occupies the site of an earlier, smaller house built by George Washingtons father Augustine and it remained Washingtons country home for the rest of his life. Following his death in 1799, under the ownership of successive generations of the family. Escaping the damage suffered by many plantation houses during the American Civil War, Mount Vernon was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960 and is today listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is still owned and maintained in trust by The Mount Vernon Ladies Association, allowing the public to see the estate is not an innovation, but part of a 200-year-old tradition started by George Washington himself. In 1794 he wrote, I have no objection to any sober or orderly persons gratifying their curiosity in viewing the buildings, Gardens, when George Washingtons ancestors acquired the estate, it was known as Little Hunting Creek Plantation, after the nearby Little Hunting Creek. Vernon had been Lawrences commanding officer in the British Royal Navy, when George Washington inherited the property, he retained the name. The current property consists of 500 acres, the main buildings, the present house was built in phases from 1758, by an unknown architect, on the site of the Washingtons former farmhouse. This staggered and unplanned evolution is indicated by the main door. As completed and seen today, the house is in a loose Palladian style, the principal block, dating from 1758, is a two-storied corps de logis flanked by two single-story secondary wings, built in 1775. These secondary wings, which house the hall on the northern side. The corps de logis and secondary wings have hipped roofs with dormers, the rooms at Mount Vernon have mostly been restored to their appearance at the time of George and Martha Washingtons occupancy. These rooms include Washingtons study, two dining rooms, the West Parlour, the Front Parlour, the kitchen and some bedrooms, instead they range from severe Palladianism to a finer and later neoclassicism in the style of Robert Adam. This varying of the style is best exemplified in the doorcases. Today, visitors to Mount Vernon are shown Washingtons study, a room to which in the century only a privileged few were granted entrée. It is a furnished room Washington used as a combined bathroom, dressing room and office
25.
Republicanism in the United States
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Republicanism is the guiding political philosophy of the United States. It has been a part of American civic thought since its founding. American republicanism was founded and first practiced by the Founding Fathers in the 18th century, for them, according to one team of historians, republicanism represented more than a particular form of government. It was a way of life, an ideology, an uncompromising commitment to liberty. Republicanism was based on Ancient Greco-Roman, Renaissance, and English models and it formed the basis for the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, as well as the Gettysburg Address. The term republicanism is derived from the republic, but the two words have different meanings. A republic is a form of government, republicanism refers to the values of the citizens in a republic, two major parties have used the term in their name – the Democratic-Republican party of Thomas Jefferson, and the current Republican Party, founded in 1854. The colonial intellectual and political leaders in the 1760s and 1770s closely read history to compare governments, the Revolutionists were especially concerned with the history of liberty in England and were primarily influenced by the country party. Country party relied heavily on the classical republicanism of Roman heritage, it celebrated the ideals of duty and it drew heavily on ancient Greek city-state and Roman republican examples. This approach produced a political ideology Americans called republicanism, which was widespread in America by 1775, Republicanism was the distinctive political consciousness of the entire Revolutionary generation. American republicanism was centered on limiting corruption and greed, Virtue was of the utmost importance for citizens and representatives. Revolutionaries took a lesson from ancient Rome, they knew it was necessary to avoid the luxury that had destroyed the Empire, a virtuous citizen was one who ignored monetary compensation and made a commitment to resist and eradicate corruption. The Republic was sacred, therefore, it is necessary to serve the state in a representative way, ignoring self-interest. Republicanism required the service of those who were willing to give up their own interests for a common good, virtuous citizens needed to be strong defenders of liberty and challenge the corruption and greed in government. The duty of the virtuous citizen became a foundation for the American Revolution, the commitment of most Americans to republican values and to their property rights helped bring about the American Revolution. The greatest threat to liberty was thought by many to be corruption – not just in London, the colonists associated it with luxury and, especially, inherited aristocracy, which they condemned. Historian Thomas Kidd argues that during the Revolution Christians linked their religion to republicanism and he states, With the onset of the revolutionary crisis, a major conceptual shift convinced Americans across the theological spectrum that God was raising up America for some special purpose. Kidd further argues that new blend of Christian and republican ideology led religious traditionalists to embrace wholesale the concept of republican virtue, as virtuous republicans, citizens had a growing moral obligation to eradicate the corruption they saw in the monarchy
26.
James Madison
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James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and Founding Father who served as the fourth President of the United States from 1809 to 1817. He is hailed as the Father of the Constitution for his role in drafting and promoting the United States Constitution. Madison inherited his plantation Montpelier in Virginia and therewith owned hundreds of slaves during his lifetime and he served as both a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and as a member of the Continental Congress prior to the Constitutional Convention. After the Convention, he one of the leaders in the movement to ratify the Constitution. His collaboration with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay produced The Federalist Papers, Madisons political views changed throughout his life. During deliberations on the Constitution, he favored a national government. In 1789, Madison became a leader in the new House of Representatives and he is noted for drafting the first ten amendments to the Constitution, and thus is known also as the Father of the Bill of Rights. He worked closely with President George Washington to organize the new federal government, breaking with Hamilton and the Federalist Party in 1791, he and Thomas Jefferson organized the Democratic-Republican Party. In response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, Jefferson and Madison drafted the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, as Jeffersons Secretary of State, Madison supervised the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the nations size. Madison succeeded Jefferson as president in 1809, was re-elected in 1813, after the failure of diplomatic protests and a trade embargo against the United Kingdom, he led the U. S. into the War of 1812. The war was a morass, as the United States had neither a strong army nor financial system. As a result, Madison afterward supported a national government and military, as well as the national bank. Madison has been ranked in the aggregate by historians as the ninth most successful president, James Madison, Jr. was born on March 16,1751, at Belle Grove Plantation near Port Conway, Virginia, to father James Madison, Sr. and mother Nelly Conway Madison. He grew up as the oldest of twelve children, Nelly and James Sr. had seven more boys and four girls. Three of James Jr. s brothers died as infants, including one who was stillborn, in the summer of 1775, his sister Elizabeth and his brother Reuben died from a dysentery epidemic that swept through Orange County because of contaminated water. His father, James Madison, Sr. was a planter who grew up on a plantation, then called Mount Pleasant. He later acquired more property and slaves, and with 5,000 acres, he became the largest landowner, James Jr. s mother, Nelly Conway Madison, was born at Port Conway, the daughter of a prominent planter and tobacco merchant. In these years, the colonies were becoming a slave society, in which slave labor powered the economy
27.
Alexander Hamilton
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Alexander Hamilton was an American statesman and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. As the first Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton was the author of the economic policies of the George Washington administration. He took the lead in the funding of the debts by the Federal government, as well as the establishment of a national bank, a system of tariffs. His vision included a central government led by a vigorous executive branch. This was challenged by Virginia agrarians Thomas Jefferson and James Madison who formed a rival party and they favored strong states based in rural America and protected by state militias as opposed to a strong national army and navy. They denounced Hamilton as too friendly toward Britain and toward monarchy in general, Hamilton was born out of wedlock in Charlestown, to a married mother of British and French Huguenot ancestry and a Scottish father. His father, James A. Hamilton, was the son of laird Alexander Hamilton of Grange. Orphaned as a child by his mothers death and his fathers abandonment, Hamilton was taken in by an older cousin and he was recognized for his intelligence and talent, and sponsored by a group of wealthy local men to travel to New York City to pursue his education. Hamilton attended Kings College, choosing to stay in the Thirteen Colonies to seek his fortune, discontinuing his studies before graduating when the college closed its doors during British occupation of the city, Hamilton played a major role in the American Revolutionary War. At the start of the war in 1775, he joined a militia company, in early 1776, he raised a provincial artillery company, to which he was appointed captain. He soon became the aide to General Washington, the American forces commander-in-chief. Hamilton was dispatched by Washington on numerous missions to convey plans to his generals, after the war, Hamilton was elected as a representative to the Congress of the Confederation from New York. He resigned to practice law, and founded the Bank of New York, Hamilton was among those dissatisfied with the weak national government. He led the Annapolis Convention, which successfully influenced Congress to issue a call for the Philadelphia Convention in order to create a new constitution, Hamilton became the leading cabinet member in the new government under President Washington. These programs were funded primarily by a tariff on imports, to overcome localism, Hamilton mobilized a nationwide network of friends of the government, especially bankers and businessmen, which became the Federalist Party. A major issue in the emergence of the American two-party system was the Jay Treaty and it established friendly trade relations with Britain, to the chagrin of France and the supporters of the French Revolution. Hamilton played a role in the Federalist party, which dominated national. In 1795, he returned to the practice of law in New York and he tried to control the policies of President Adams
28.
Thomas Jefferson
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Thomas Jefferson was an American Founding Father who was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and later served as the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809. Previously, he was elected the second Vice President of the United States, Jefferson was primarily of English ancestry, born and educated in colonial Virginia. He graduated from the College of William & Mary and briefly practiced law and he became the United States Minister to France in May 1785, and subsequently the nations first Secretary of State in 1790–1793 under President George Washington. Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose the Federalist Party during the formation of the First Party System, as President, Jefferson pursued the nations shipping and trade interests against Barbary pirates and aggressive British trade policies. He also organized the Louisiana Purchase, almost doubling the countrys territory, as a result of peace negotiations with France, his administration reduced military forces. Jeffersons second term was beset with difficulties at home, including the trial of former Vice President Aaron Burr, American foreign trade was diminished when Jefferson implemented the Embargo Act of 1807, responding to British threats to U. S. shipping. In 1803, Jefferson began a process of Indian tribe removal to the newly organized Louisiana Territory. Jefferson mastered many disciplines, which ranged from surveying and mathematics to horticulture and he was a proven architect in the classical tradition. Jeffersons keen interest in religion and philosophy earned him the presidency of the American Philosophical Society and he shunned organized religion, but was influenced by both Christianity and deism. He was well versed in linguistics and spoke several languages and he founded the University of Virginia after retiring from public office. He was a letter writer and corresponded with many prominent and important people throughout his adult life. His only full-length book is Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson owned several plantations which were worked by hundreds of slaves. Most historians now believe that, after the death of his wife in 1782, he had a relationship with his slave Sally Hemings and fathered at least one of her children. Various modern scholars are more critical of Jeffersons private life, pointing out the discrepancy between his ownership of slaves and his political principles, for example. Presidential scholars, however, consistently rank Jefferson among the greatest presidents, Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13,1743, at the family home in Shadwell in the Colony of Virginia, the third of ten children. He was of English and possibly Welsh descent and was born a British subject and his father Peter Jefferson was a planter and surveyor who died when Jefferson was fourteen, his mother was Jane Randolph. Peter Jefferson moved his family to Tuckahoe Plantation in 1745 upon the death of a friend who had named him guardian of his children, the Jeffersons returned to Shadwell in 1752, where Peter died in 1757, his estate was divided between his sons Thomas and Randolph. Thomas inherited approximately 5,000 acres of land, including Monticello and he assumed full authority over his property at age 21
29.
Federalist Party
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The Federalist Party was the first American political party. It existed from the early 1790s to 1816, its remnants lasted into the 1820s, the Federalists called for a strong national government that promoted economic growth and fostered friendly relationships with Great Britain, as well as opposition to revolutionary France. The party controlled the government until 1801, when it was overwhelmed by the Democratic-Republican opposition led by Thomas Jefferson. The Federalist Party came into being between 1792 and 1794 as a coalition of bankers and businessmen in support of Alexander Hamiltons fiscal policies. These supporters developed into the organized Federalist Party, which was committed to a fiscally sound, the only Federalist president was John Adams, although George Washington was broadly sympathetic to the Federalist program, he remained officially non-partisan during his entire presidency. Federalist policies called for a bank, tariffs, and good relations with Great Britain as expressed in the Jay Treaty negotiated in 1794. Hamilton developed the concept of implied powers and successfully argued the adoption of that interpretation of the United States Constitution, the Jay Treaty passed, and the Federalists won most of the major legislative battles in the 1790s. They held a strong base in the cities and in New England. After the Democratic-Republicans, whose base was in the rural South, won the election of 1800. They recovered some strength by their opposition to the War of 1812. On taking office in 1789, President Washington nominated New York lawyer Alexander Hamilton to the office of Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton wanted a strong national government with financial credibility. James Madison was Hamiltons ally in the fight to ratify the new Constitution, Political parties had not been anticipated when the Constitution was drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1788, even though both Hamilton and Madison played major roles. Parties were considered to be divisive and harmful to republicanism, No similar parties existed anywhere in the world. By 1790 Hamilton started building a nationwide coalition and his attempts to manage politics in the national capital to get his plans through Congress, then, brought strong responses across the country. In the process, what began as a capital faction soon assumed status as a faction and then, finally. The Federalist Party supported Hamiltons vision of a centralized government. In foreign affairs, they supported neutrality in the war between France and Great Britain, the majority of the Founding Fathers were originally Federalists. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and many others can all be considered Federalists and these Federalists felt that the Articles of Confederation had been too weak to sustain a working government and had decided that a new form of government was needed
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Democratic-Republican Party
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The new party controlled the presidency and Congress, as well as most states, from 1801 to 1825, during the First Party System. It began in 1791 as one faction in Congress, and included many politicians who had opposed to the new constitution. They called themselves Republicans after their ideology Republicanism and they distrusted the Federalist commitment to republicanism. The party splintered in 1824 into the Jacksonian movement and the short-lived National Republican Party, the term Democratic-Republican is used especially by modern political scientists for the first Republican Party. It is also known as the Jeffersonian Republicans, historians typically use the title Republican Party. An Anti-Administration faction met secretly in the capital to oppose Hamiltons financial programs. Jefferson denounced the programs as leading to monarchy and subversive of republicanism, Jefferson needed to have a nationwide party to challenge the Federalists, which Hamilton was building up with allies in major cities. Foreign affairs took a role in 1794–95 as the Republicans vigorously opposed the Jay Treaty with Britain. Republicans saw France as more democratic after its revolution, while Britain represented the hated monarchy, the party denounced many of Hamiltons measures as unconstitutional, especially the national bank. The party was strongest in the South and weakest in the Northeast and it demanded states rights as expressed by the Principles of 1798 articulated in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions that would allow states to nullify a federal law. Above all, the party stood for the primacy of the yeoman farmers, Republicans were deeply committed to the principles of republicanism, which they feared were threatened by the supposed monarchical tendencies of the Hamiltonian Federalists. The party came to power in 1801 with the election of Jefferson in the 1800 presidential election, the Federalists—too elitist to appeal to most people—faded away, and totally collapsed after 1815. The Republicans dominated the First Party System, despite internal divisions, the party selected its presidential candidates in a caucus of members of Congress. They included Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe, by 1824, the caucus system had practically collapsed. After 1800, the party dominated Congress and most state governments outside New England, by 1824, the party was split four ways and lacked a center, as the First Party System collapsed. The emergence of the Second Party System in the 1830s realigned the old factions, one remnant followed Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren into the new Democratic Party by 1828. Another remnant led by John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay formed the National Republicans in 1828, the precise date of founding is disputed, but 1791 is a reasonable estimate, some time by 1792 is certain. The elections of 1792 were the first ones to be contested on anything resembling a partisan basis, in most states the congressional elections were recognized, as Jefferson strategist John Beckley put it, as a struggle between the Treasury department and the republican interest
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United States Constitution
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The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government, Articles Four, Five and Six entrench concepts of federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments and of the states in relationship to the federal government. Article Seven establishes the procedure used by the thirteen States to ratify it. In general, the first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, offer specific protections of individual liberty, the majority of the seventeen later amendments expand individual civil rights protections. Others address issues related to federal authority or modify government processes and procedures, Amendments to the United States Constitution, unlike ones made to many constitutions worldwide, are appended to the document. All four pages of the original U. S, according to the United States Senate, The Constitutions first three words—We the People—affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens. From September 5,1774 to March 1,1781, the Continental Congress functioned as the government of the United States. The process of selecting the delegates for the First and Second Continental Congresses underscores the revolutionary role of the people of the colonies in establishing a governing body. The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the first constitution of the United States and it was drafted by the Second Continental Congress from mid-1776 through late-1777, and ratification by all 13 states was completed by early 1781. Under the Articles of Confederation, the governments power was quite limited. The Confederation Congress could make decisions, but lacked enforcement powers, implementation of most decisions, including modifications to the Articles, required unanimous approval of all thirteen state legislatures. The Continental Congress could print money but the currency was worthless, Congress could borrow money, but couldnt pay it back. No state paid all their U. S. taxes, some paid nothing, some few paid an amount equal to interest on the national debt owed to their citizens, but no more. No interest was paid on debt owed foreign governments, by 1786, the United States would default on outstanding debts as their dates came due. Internationally, the Articles of Confederation did little to enhance the United States ability to defend its sovereignty, most of the troops in the 625-man United States Army were deployed facing – but not threatening – British forts on American soil. They had not been paid, some were deserting and others threatening mutiny, spain closed New Orleans to American commerce, U. S. officials protested, but to no effect. Barbary pirates began seizing American ships of commerce, the Treasury had no funds to pay their ransom, if any military crisis required action, the Congress had no credit or taxing power to finance a response. Domestically, the Articles of Confederation was failing to bring unity to the sentiments and interests of the various states
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Gilbert Stuart
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Gilbert Charles Stuart was an American painter from Rhode Island. Gilbert Stuart is widely considered one of Americas foremost portraitists and his best known work is the unfinished portrait of George Washington that is sometimes referred to as The Athenaeum, begun in 1796 and never finished. Stuart retained the portrait and used it to paint 130 copies which he sold for $100 each, throughout his career, Gilbert Stuart produced portraits of over 1,000 people, including the first six Presidents of the United States. C. The National Portrait Gallery, London, Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts, Gilbert Stuart was born on December 3,1755 in Saunderstown, Rhode Island, a village of North Kingstown, and baptized at Old Narragansett Church on April 11,1756. Stuarts father worked in the first colonial snuff mill in America, Gilbert Stuart moved to Newport, Rhode Island at the age of six, where his father pursued work in the merchant field. In Newport, Stuart first began to show promise as a painter. In 1770, Stuart made the acquaintance of Scottish artist Cosmo Alexander, a visitor of the colonies who made portraits of local patrons and who became a tutor to Stuart. Under the guidance of Alexander, Stuart painted the famous portrait Dr. Hunters Spaniels when he was fourteen years old, the painting is also referred to as Dr. Hunters Dogs by some accounts. In 1771, Stuart moved to Scotland with Alexander to finish his studies, Stuart tried to maintain a living and pursue his painting career, but to no avail, so he returned to Newport in 1773. Stuarts prospects as a portraitist were jeopardized by the onset of the American Revolution, Stuart departed for England in 1775 following the example set by John Singleton Copley. He was unsuccessful at first in pursuit of his vocation, the relationship was beneficial, with Stuart exhibiting at the Royal Academy as early as 1777. By 1782, Stuart had met with success, largely due to acclaim for The Skater, Stuart said that he was suddenly lifted into fame by a single picture. At one point, the prices for his pictures were exceeded only by those of renowned English artists Joshua Reynolds, despite his many commissions, however, Stuart was habitually neglectful of finances and was in danger of being sent to debtors prison. In 1787, he fled to Dublin, Ireland where he painted and accumulated debt with equal vigor, Stuart ended his 18-year stay in Britain and Ireland in 1793, leaving behind numerous unfinished paintings. He returned to the United States and settled briefly in New York City, in 1795, he moved to Germantown, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, where he opened a studio. It was here that he gained a foothold in the art world, Stuart painted George Washington in a series of iconic portraits, each of them leading in turn to a demand for copies, and keeping Stuart busy and highly paid for years. The most famous and celebrated of these likenesses is known as The Athenaeum and is portrayed on the United States one dollar bill. Stuart, along with his daughters, painted a total of 130 reproductions of The Athenaeum, however, he never completed the original version, after finishing Washingtons face, he kept the original version to make the copies
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Louisiana Territory
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Louisiana Territory was formed out of the Indiana Territory-administered District of Louisiana, which consisted of all Louisiana Purchase lands north of the 33rd parallel. The 33rd parallel now forms the border of Arkansas and the northern border of Louisiana. This act, which went into effect on October 1,1804, expanded the authority of the governor, on March 3,1805, Congress enacted legislation organizing the District of Louisiana into the Louisiana Territory, effective July 4,1805. The Territory was governed similarly to Indiana Territory, the Louisiana Territory included everything in the Louisiana Purchase north of the 33rd parallel. The southern and western boundaries with Spanish Texas and New Mexico were not fully defined until the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, the Louisiana Territory had five subdivisions, St. Louis District, St. Charles District, Ste. Genevieve District, Cape Girardeau District, and New Madrid District, in 1806, the territorial legislature created the District of Arkansas from lands ceded by the Osage Nation. The remainder was known as the Upper Louisiana Territory, the seat of government was in the town of St. Louis. The first territorial governor was James Wilkinson, appointed by President Jefferson, meriwether Lewis and William Clark served as the second and third Louisiana Territory governors, respectively. On June 4,1812, the Twelfth U. S. Congress enacted legislation which renamed Louisiana Territory as Missouri Territory, territories that would later become part of the Territory of Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase, 1803–1804 District of Louisiana, 1804–1805 U. S. S
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Mississippi River
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The Mississippi River is the chief river of the largest drainage system on the North American continent. Flowing entirely in the United States, it rises in northern Minnesota, with its many tributaries, the Mississippis watershed drains all or parts of 31 U. S. states and 2 Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian Mountains. The Mississippi ranks as the fourth longest and fifteenth largest river in the world by discharge, the river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Native Americans long lived along the Mississippi River and its tributaries, most were hunter-gatherers, but some, such as the Mound Builders, formed prolific agricultural societies. The arrival of Europeans in the 16th century changed the way of life as first explorers, then settlers. The river served first as a barrier, forming borders for New Spain, New France, and the early United States, and then as a vital transportation artery and communications link. Formed from thick layers of the silt deposits, the Mississippi embayment is one of the most fertile agricultural regions of the country. In recent years, the river has shown a shift towards the Atchafalaya River channel in the Delta. The word itself comes from Messipi, the French rendering of the Anishinaabe name for the river, see below in the History section for additional information. In addition to historical traditions shown by names, there are at least two measures of a rivers identity, one being the largest branch, and the other being the longest branch. Using the largest-branch criterion, the Ohio would be the branch of the Lower Mississippi. Using the longest-branch criterion, the Middle Mississippi-Missouri-Jefferson-Beaverhead-Red Rock-Hellroaring Creek River would be the main branch and its length of at least 3,745 mi is exceeded only by the Nile, the Amazon, and perhaps the Yangtze River among the longest rivers in the world. The source of this waterway is at Browers Spring,8,800 feet above sea level in southwestern Montana and this is exemplified by the Gateway Arch in St. Louis and the phrase Trans-Mississippi as used in the name of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. It is common to qualify a regionally superlative landmark in relation to it, the New Madrid Seismic Zone along the river is also noteworthy. These various basic geographical aspects of the river in turn underlie its human history and present uses of the waterway, the Upper Mississippi runs from its headwaters to its confluence with the Missouri River at St. Louis, Missouri. The source of the Upper Mississippi branch is traditionally accepted as Lake Itasca,1,475 feet above sea level in Itasca State Park in Clearwater County, however, the lake is in turn fed by a number of smaller streams. From its origin at Lake Itasca to St. Louis, Missouri, fourteen of these dams are located above Minneapolis in the headwaters region and serve multiple purposes, including power generation and recreation. The remaining 29 dams, beginning in downtown Minneapolis, all locks and were constructed to improve commercial navigation of the upper river
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Articles of Confederation
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Its drafting by a committee appointed by the Second Continental Congress began on July 12,1776, and an approved version was sent to the states for ratification on November 15,1777. The Articles of Confederation came into force on March 1,1781, a guiding principle of the Articles was to preserve the independence and sovereignty of the states. The federal government received only those powers which the colonies had recognized as belonging to king, the Articles formed a war-time confederation of states, with an extremely limited central government. Actually the adoption of the Articles made no change in the federal government. That body was now taken over as the Congress of the Confederation, as the governments weaknesses became apparent, especially after Shays Rebellion, individuals began asking for changes to the Articles. Their hope was to create a national government. Initially, some states met to deal with their trade and economic problems, however, as more states became interested in meeting to change the Articles, a meeting was set in Philadelphia on May 25,1787. It was quickly realized that changes would not work, and instead the entire Articles needed to be replaced, on March 4,1789, the general government under the Articles was replaced with the federal government under the Constitution. The new Constitution provided for a stronger federal government by establishing a chief executive, courts. The Articles of Confederation would bear some resemblance to it, over the next two decades, some of the basic concepts it addressed would strengthen and others would weaken, particularly the degree of deserved loyalty to the crown. It was an era of constitution writing—most states were busy at the task—and leaders felt the new nation must have a written constitution, during the war, Congress exercised an unprecedented level of political, diplomatic, military and economic authority. It adopted trade restrictions, established and maintained an army, issued fiat money, created a military code, to transform themselves from outlaws into a legitimate nation, the colonists needed international recognition for their cause and foreign allies to support it. The monarchies of France and Spain in particular could not be expected to aid those they considered rebels against another legitimate monarch, foreign courts needed to have American grievances laid before them persuasively in a “manifesto” which could also reassure them that the Americans would be reliable trading partners. Without such a declaration, Paine concluded, “he custom of all courts is against us, Congress then created three overlapping committees to draft the Declaration, a Model Treaty, and the Articles of Confederation. The committee met repeatedly, and chairman John Dickinson presented their results to the Congress on July 12,1776, there were long debates on such issues as sovereignty, the exact powers to be given the confederate government, whether to have a judiciary, and voting procedures. Under the Articles, the states retained sovereignty over all governmental functions not specifically relinquished to the national government, the individual articles set the rules for current and future operations of the United States government. Article XIII stipulated that their provisions shall be observed by every state. John Dickinsons and Benjamin Franklins handwritten drafts of the Articles of Confederation are housed at the National Archives in Washington, after the war, nationalists, especially those who had been active in the Continental Army, complained that the Articles were too weak for an effective government
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Right of revolution
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The Mandate of Heaven would then transfer to those who would rule best. Chinese historians interpreted a successful revolt as evidence that the Mandate of Heaven had passed on, throughout Chinese history, rebels who opposed the ruling dynasty made the claim that the Mandate of Heaven had passed, giving them the right to revolt. In Europe, one example of the emergence of a right of revolution can be traced back to Þorgnýr the Lawspeaker, the lawspeaker claimed the King of Sweden was accountable to the people and would be overthrown by them if he continued with his unpopular war with Norway. Another example is Magna Carta, an English charter issued in 1215 and it included a security clause that gave the right to a committee of barons to overrule the will of the King through force if needed. Magna Carta directly influenced the development of democracy and many constitutional documents. The Golden Bull of 1222 was a bull, or edict. The law established the rights of Hungarys noblemen, including the right to disobey the King when he acted contrary to law, Thomas Aquinas also wrote of the right to resist tyrannical rule in the Summa Theologica. John of Salisbury advocated direct revolutionary assassination of unethical tyrannical rulers in his Policraticus and this theological notion was expanded in the Early Modern Period. In a commentary on the Book of Daniel, he observed that contemporary monarchs pretend to reign “by the grace of God, ” but the pretense was “a mere cheat” so that they could “reign without control. ”He believed that “Earthly princes depose themselves while they rise up against God, ” so “it behooves us to spit upon their heads than to obey them. ”When ordinary citizens are confronted with tyranny, he wrote, ordinary citizens have to suffer it. But magistrates have the duty to “curb the tyranny of kings, ” as had the Tribunes in ancient Rome, the Ephori in Sparta, and that Calvin could support a right of resistance in theory did not mean that he thought such resistance prudent in all circumstances. At least publicly, he disagreed with the Scottish Calvinist John Knox’s call for revolution against the Catholic Queen Mary I Tudor of England. The Catholic Church shared Calvins prudential concerns - the Pope condemned Guy Fawkes Gunpowder Plot, instead, the safest course of action for the people was to endure tyranny for as long as it could be borne, rather than run the larger risks of armed revolution. The right of revolution was expounded by the Monarchomachs in the context of the French Wars of Religion, the concept of the right of revolution was developed at the beginning of the Enlightenment era in the work Two Treatises of Government. In some cases, Locke deemed revolution an obligation, the right of revolution thus essentially acted as a safeguard against tyranny. ”Revolutionary movements subsequent to this, all drew on Lockes theory as a justification for the exercise of the right of revolution. Although Lockes treatise was published the year after, his ideas were already current in the English political system at the time. Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, Lockes mentor, patron and friend, introduced the bill, alternatively, the work is better associated with the revolutionary conspiracies that swirled around what would come to be known as the Rye House Plot. The right to revolution played a part in the writings of the American revolutionaries in the run up to the American Revolution. The political tract Common Sense used the concept as an argument for rejection of the British Monarchy and separation from the British Empire, the right of revolution was also included in the 1793 preface to the French Constitution of 1793 during the French Revolution
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French Revolution
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Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history, the causes of the French Revolution are complex and are still debated among historians. Following the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War, the French government was deeply in debt, Years of bad harvests leading up to the Revolution also inflamed popular resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy. Demands for change were formulated in terms of Enlightenment ideals and contributed to the convocation of the Estates-General in May 1789, a central event of the first stage, in August 1789, was the abolition of feudalism and the old rules and privileges left over from the Ancien Régime. The next few years featured political struggles between various liberal assemblies and right-wing supporters of the intent on thwarting major reforms. The Republic was proclaimed in September 1792 after the French victory at Valmy, in a momentous event that led to international condemnation, Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. External threats closely shaped the course of the Revolution, internally, popular agitation radicalised the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins. Large numbers of civilians were executed by revolutionary tribunals during the Terror, after the Thermidorian Reaction, an executive council known as the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795. The rule of the Directory was characterised by suspended elections, debt repudiations, financial instability, persecutions against the Catholic clergy, dogged by charges of corruption, the Directory collapsed in a coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution, almost all future revolutionary movements looked back to the Revolution as their predecessor. The values and institutions of the Revolution dominate French politics to this day, the French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity. Globally, the Revolution accelerated the rise of republics and democracies and it became the focal point for the development of all modern political ideologies, leading to the spread of liberalism, radicalism, nationalism, socialism, feminism, and secularism, among many others. The Revolution also witnessed the birth of total war by organising the resources of France, historians have pointed to many events and factors within the Ancien Régime that led to the Revolution. Over the course of the 18th century, there emerged what the philosopher Jürgen Habermas called the idea of the sphere in France. A perfect example would be the Palace of Versailles which was meant to overwhelm the senses of the visitor and convince one of the greatness of the French state and Louis XIV. Starting in the early 18th century saw the appearance of the sphere which was critical in that both sides were active. In France, the emergence of the public sphere outside of the control of the saw the shift from Versailles to Paris as the cultural capital of France. In the 1750s, during the querelle des bouffons over the question of the quality of Italian vs, in 1782, Louis-Sébastien Mercier wrote, The word court no longer inspires awe amongst us as in the time of Louis XIV
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France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
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Kingdom of Great Britain
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The Kingdom of Great Britain, officially Great Britain, was a sovereign state in western Europe from 1 May 1707 to 31 December 1800. It did not include Ireland, which remained a separate realm, the unitary state was governed by a single parliament and government that was based in Westminster. Also after the accession of George I to the throne of Great Britain in 1714, the early years of the unified kingdom were marked by Jacobite risings which ended in defeat for the Stuart cause at Culloden in 1746. On 1 January 1801, the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland were merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom, the name Britain descends from the Latin name for the island of Great Britain, Britannia or Brittānia, the land of the Britons via the Old French Bretaigne and Middle English Bretayne, Breteyne. The term Great Britain was first used officially in 1474, in the instrument drawing up the proposal for a marriage between Edward IV of Englands daughter Cecily and James III of Scotlands son James. The Treaty of Union and the subsequent Acts of Union state that England and Scotland were to be United into one Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain. However, both the Acts and the Treaty also refer numerous times to the United Kingdom and the longer form, other publications refer to the country as the United Kingdom after 1707 as well. The websites of the UK parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the BBC, additionally, the term United Kingdom was found in informal use during the 18th century to describe the state. The new state created in 1707 included the island of Great Britain, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, both in existence from the 9th century, were separate states until 1707. However, they had come into a union in 1603. Each of the three kingdoms maintained its own parliament and laws and this disposition changed dramatically when the Acts of Union 1707 came into force, with a single unified Crown of Great Britain and a single unified parliament. Ireland remained formally separate, with its own parliament, until the Acts of Union 1800, legislative power was vested in the Parliament of Great Britain, which replaced both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. In practice it was a continuation of the English parliament, sitting at the location in Westminster. Newly created peers in the Peerage of Great Britain were given the right to sit in the Lords. Despite the end of a parliament for Scotland, it retained its own laws. As a result of Poynings Law of 1495, the Parliament of Ireland was subordinate to the Parliament of England, the Act was repealed by the Repeal of Act for Securing Dependence of Ireland Act 1782. The same year, the Irish constitution of 1782 produced a period of legislative freedom, the 18th century saw England, and after 1707 Great Britain, rise to become the worlds dominant colonial power, with France its main rival on the imperial stage
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Washington's Farewell Address. Wikisource.
