The administration of George Washington, who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797, marked the first operations of the the new general government established under the Constitution of the United States of America.
Background
In the years following the end of the War with Great Britain, the system of the government of the Articles of Confederation proved itself unequal to its purposes. The most serious defect under the system, and there were several, was that Congress lacked the power to raise money. It could demand quotas of money from states, but when those states were slow in complying, the affairs of the nation could be put into jeopardy. This had been illustrated many times during the War with England. Armies cost money to furnish and supply, but getting money for his army had been a trying problem for General George Washington, commander in chief of the Continental Army, during the war for Independence.
Washington’s star had risen high. Commander In Chief of the Continental Army, he had saved the republic from defeat and destruction by the British, and was regarded as the military savior of the nation. His generalship of the Continental Army had not been an easy job; the Continental Congress had been lax in funding the army; Washington was thus intimately familiar with the defects under the political system under the Articles of Confederation. Some of the army’s officers, lusting for power and glory, and sensing that the time was ripe to advance their own careers, were on the verge of overthrowing Congress and establishing a military dictatorship. Washington was not privy to their plans. Naturally, with him leading them, they could have been virtually unstoppable, but Washington had already rejected the idea of one of his colonels to establish a constitutional monarchy with himself as king:
“With a mixture of great surprise and astonishment, I have read with attention the sentiments you have submitted to my perusal. Be assured, Sir, no occurrence in the course of the war has given me more painful sensations, than your information of their being such ideas existing in the army, as you have expressed, and I must view with abhorrence and reprehend with severity…you could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable.”
The army officers thus knew Washington would be no friend to their rebellious schemes. The army was on the verge of being disbanded, but Congress had not paid them; lacking the ability to raise money by taxation and public credit was in the soup.
“The wants and needs of the army, the destitution of the country, and the utter inability of Congress to make immediate adequate provision for these wants, and even to deal justly with them by making prompt, full payment of past dues, were seized upon as the means to inflame the passions of the soldiers, in hopes by appeals to their misguided impulses, they might be influenced not to disband, but under the claim and demand of their rights, to overthrow Congress and all the civil authorities.”
Knowing Washington had too much honesty and integrity to participate in such a scheme, the officers tried to influence the soldiers to turn against Washington. In a meeting of the general officers of the army, Washington presented a speech in which he assured them that Congress would do right by them, and so saved American liberty by this address. Thoughts of mutiny were disregarded, all were swayed by Washington’s words, and the Congress did what it could for the army. But this incident only illustrated the problem of the inefficiency of the government under the Articles of Confederation. The public debt was high for the time, nearing one hundred million dollars. Currency had depreciated, and different states had different regulations for foreign commerce and trade, which naturally affected and made difficult foreign trade and commerce. To fix the defects of the Articles of Confederation, a general convention of the states was called to amend the Articles of Confederation, and they met in Philadelphia on May 14th, 1787.
George Washington had bidden farewell to his officers in Fraunces Tavern in 1783 and had resumed the quiet life a Virginia planter, satisfied that his public service career was at an end. But as the years went by, and the defects of the Articles of Confederation became more apparent, Washington began to grow much concerned. He wrote:
“That it is necessary to revise and amend the articles of Confederation, I entertain no doubt; but what may be the consequences of such an attempt is doubted. Yet something must be done, of the fabric must fall, for certainly it is tottering.”
The public debt was high for the time, nearing one hundred million dollars. Currency had depreciated, and different states had different regulations for foreign commerce and trade, which naturally affected and made difficult foreign trade and commerce.
Shay’s rebellion in Massachusetts only confirmed Washington’s fears that something had to be done to safeguard the liberty he had fought to protect.
The Constitution’s Adoption and Washington
To fix the defects of the Articles of Confederation, a general convention of the states was called to amend the Articles of Confederation, and they met in Philadelphia on May 14th, 1787. Washington reluctantly accepted election as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and was unanimously elected President of the Convention.
The events of the Constitutional Convention are well known, (or should be) and will not be dealt with here. The result was the proposed federal Constitution of 1787. Rather then merely amending the articles, this Constitution provided for a whole new system of government.
Washington took no part in the ratification debates, but he did follow them, keeping in close contact with his friends in those debates. When nine states had ratified the Constitution, proposed by the Constitutional Convention for adoption of the states, it became established as the supreme law of the land, according to the terms within it. When Congress received official notice of the ratification of the Constitution by the required number of states, they immediately began to prepare for implementing the new Constitution. Elections were immediately held, both national and state, in all of the ratifying states except for New York. The reason for this was due to debates in that state legislature concerning the mode of election of electors to the electoral college. The Federalist Senate and the Anti-Federalist House deadlocked, and thus New York sent no electors to the Electoral College, which met on February 4th, 1789. George Washington was the natural choice for the new office of President, the chief executive established under the federal Constitution. Not only was Washington’s popularity exceedingly high, but he was believed to be a safe choice by a nation that was still somewhat unsure of the results of concentrating the executive power in a single man. Washington, it was confidently known, would never abuse the powers granted him.
John Adams was chosen as Vice President. Everybody had been on board with Washington, but Adams was a different story. The Anti-Federalists didn’t like Adams much, and tried to make Governor George Clinton of New York Vice President, but Washington made his feelings clear that he wanted Adams and that settled that. Alexander Hamilton, who didn’t like Adams very much, sent General Henry Knox to try and talk Adams out of accepting the vice presidency, but Knox failed. Hamilton now sent letters to the Federalist electors not to vote for Adams, and successfully convinced them. The result was that while Washington’s election was unanimous, Adams only received thirty-four votes. Adams naturally was incensed. He considered refusing what he termed the “most insignificant office that ever the invention of man or his imagination conceived,” but thought better of it. His country came before his pride.
The Inauguration of George Washington
As high as Washington’s star had risen, he was thus naturally the first choice for President, and was elected unanimously to fill that position. It was a job Washington didn’t really want; he would have much preferred the quiet life of a Virginia planter, but he reluctantly accepted the office. Upon being alerted of his election, Washington departed from Mount Vernon on April 16th, to New York, which was then, the capitol of the nation. Washington, oppressed by “anxious and painful sensations” for he was unsure that his best efforts would be enough, intended to travel quietly to the capitol, without attracting any attention, but it his intentions would not be realized. Everywhere along the way, he met with crowds of people thronging his path, eater to see the man whom they regarded as the chief architect of their political liberty. At Trenton, a great show was put on his honor, commemorating his victory there over the Hessians; just over, the bridge, where a grand arch had been erected in his honor, the road was literally strewn with flowers, spread there by girls clad in white, singing songs that began with “Welcome, Mighty Chief.” Washington had to take part in banquets, listen to speeches, and be escorted to New York City by a committee of the Continental Congress, and this was after great receptions were thrown in his honor in each city through which he passed, in which his coach was escorted by cavalry.
The modest Washington confessed to Edward Rutledge in a letter:
“I greatly apprehend that my countrymen expect too much from me. I fear, if the issue of public measures should not correspond with their sanguine expectations, they will turn the extravagant (and may I say undue) praises which they are heaping upon me at this moment, into equally extravagant (though I fondly hope, unmerited) censures.”[1]
At Elizabeth Town, a large barge had been waiting for him, manned by thirteen oarsmen, with thirteen oars, ready to row the President elect across the harbor to New York. When Washington reached New York, he received an even greater and more grand reception than he had henceforth received in the cities along his journey. His reception in New York, wrote Alexander H. Stephens, “was marked by a grandeur and an enthusiasm never before witnessed in that metropolis.”[2] The date for the inauguration was set for the thirteenth of April. Washington that morning dressed for the occasion in brown broadcast with spread eagle buttons, white silk stockings, and silver shoe buckles, and dress sword. Washington was transported to the Federal Building on Wall Street by a coach drawn by four horses, followed by other coaches bearing members of Congress and by foreign dignitaries. A large crowd gathered to witness the scene, and Washington was led to the portico of the building. Chancellor Robert Livingston of the state of New York administered the oath of office. Washington repeated the words after Livingston, and added “So help me God,” to it. The Christian Washington was going to ensure that administration of the duties of the presidency were made contingent on divine aid. “Long live Geroge Washington, President of the United States!” Livingston cried, and the crowd below erupted in cheers. Washington kissed the Bible on which the oath had been administered, and delivered a twenty-minute inaugural address to Congress inside the senate chamber of the Federal building. When it was over, Washington went across the street to attend church services at St. Paul’s Chapel.

Washington’s first inauguration
The First Administration of George Washington: 1789-1793
Washington faced four major problems upon assuming the presidency. First, ironing out the financial affairs of the nation. Second, getting on better terms with Great Britain, third, negotiating with the Indian tribes on the frontiers, and fourth, organizing the new government of the United States. It was five months until Washington had a cabinet, because Congress had to pass the legislation necessary for this. During the first session of Congress, which lasted six months, they were engaged, not only in passing laws necessary for the federal government to operate, but also in drawing up the Bill of Rights and sending this back to the states for their approval. It was soon adopted and became part of the Constitution. The Federal Judiciary was also organized, as were the cabinet positions in the Executive department of the government. To fill these offices, Washington chose men from different geographic areas of the country, and as a result, they represented different interests, and viewpoints. Washington appointed General Henry Knox, his former chief of artillery as secretary of war, and Edmund Randolph, former governor of Virginia as attorney general. Washington chose Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia as Secretary of State.
To the chief justiceship of the Supreme Court, Washington appointed John Jay of New York[3], and John Rutledge of South Carolina, James Wilson of Pennsylvania, Robert H. Harrison of Maryland and John Blair of Virginia as associate justices. Nearly all of these men had been federalists before the adoption of the Constitution, and it was feared by some of the former anti-federalists that they would interpret the Constitution in regard to cases that came before them, in ways that broadened the powers of the general government. Lower courts were established, as were post offices, salaries were fixed, and a census ordered.
Another matter that first Session of Congress had to contend with was the rather trivial question of how to address President Washington. Adams wanted Washington called “His Highness, the President of the United States and Protector of the Rights of the Same,” but that smacked too much of Old-World customs, for others, including Benjamin Franklin, who remarked that in some matters, Adams was “absolutely out of his senses.” James Madison pointed out the Constitution referred to the President as simply President, and so that is how he should be called. Adams lamented that President was an undignified title. There were after all presidents of fire companies and clubs. In the end it was Washington who made the decision. He agreed with Madison and threatened resignation if any titles were attached to his name.[4] So that was that.
The most urgent business of the new administration was to do something about the nation’s finances. Hamilton advocated the Federal assumption of state debts, and the establishment of a national bank. Legislation to this effect was drafted in Congress. Now the battle lines began to be drawn between the “Federalists” those who supported, generally speaking “loose construction” of the Constitution, and the “Democratic-Republicans” who favored “strict construction” of the Constitution. Jefferson became the leader of the Democratic Republicans and Hamilton the leader of the Federalists. The Federalists were especially strong in New England, and the Democratic Republicans in the South. Washington held a neutral position between the two. Hamilton’s plan for the federal assumption of debts did not go over well. Larger states with larger debts supported the measure, but smaller states with smaller debts did not. Southern representatives threatened secession if the bill passed. Hamilton and Jefferson managed to work out a compromise. In return for Southern Virginia becoming the host of the new capitol of Washington D.C., Virginia was to support the assumption bill. This political trade worked, and left both Hamilton and Jefferson satisfied.[5] With the assumption bill passed, Hamilton moved on to other matters. He next furnished Congress with two reports, the first on December 13th, for new and higher excise taxes, and in the second, given the next day, for the creation of a central bank. Nobody objected much to the higher excise taxes, but the central bank was another matter. It was this last measure that brought him into sharp conflict with Jefferson. Jefferson countered that the creation of a central bank was not part of the powers delegated to the United States by the Constitution, while Hamilton maintained that it was constitutional by the implication of that document. Madison sided with Jefferson and urged Washington to veto the bill. But Washington heeded Hamilton and signed Hamilton’s central bank into law; this decision of Washington’s came after making a deliberate investigation of the constitutionality of the issue. While Hamilton’s policies did help the nation’s financial condition, they came at the cost of weakening the agrarian South and benefiting the commercial and financial North. This led to sectional division and jealousy. Washington, for his part, was distressed to see Jefferson and Hamilton, two men whom he admired, opposed on so many matters and drifting father apart with time. Another matter of the new government was conducting negotiations with the Indian tribes. Trouble flared up with the Creeks in Georgia, but the chiefs were induced to travel to New York to meet with President Washington, who signed a treaty with them, and ended the trouble.
Trouble also flared up with the Indians in the Northwest Territory in 1790, but with different, and bloodier, results. General Harmer, a veteran of the American War for Independence and the governor of the Northwest Territory moved out with fifteen hundred men, three hundred regular Army troops, and the rest Pennsylvania and Kentucky militia, to stop the trouble the Indians were causing. He was tasked with bringing them to battle, but especially to destroy their settlements on the Scioto and Wabash rivers. He burned several of their villages and some of their grain, but was defeated twice at the junction of the St. Joseph and St. Mary rivers, first on the 17th and then again on the 22nd of October. He was replaced by General St. Clair. A Washington, by act of congress, raised “a body of levies” for six months of military service. But St. Clair fared little better than his predecessor. Debarking from Fort Washington in September 1791, with two thousand men, he ventured a considerable distance into the Indian country, until on November 4th, he was surprised in camp by the Indians, and his army routed, nearly half being slain.[6]
Happier news was that North Carolina and Rhode Island joined the union. At the second session of Congress, an act was passed which set up a district of ten miles square on the banks of the Potomac River to house the new nation’s capital, which was to be moved there after ten years. The territory would be known as the District of Columbia, and the city “Washington” after the President. In 1791, Vermont and Kentucky were admitted to the Union, on the 4th and 18th of February. In October of that year, Congress passed an act for the training and discipline of the militia of the several states, the 1793 militia act.[7] Another act of the same Congress was to pass an excise tax on distilled spirits, by a majority of thirty-five to twenty-one. The tax was strongly opposed by the members of Congress from the southern and western sections of the union, who protested that the tax was unequal and unnecessary. These members of Congress proposed instead an increased duty on imported articles. But if this new tax faced stiff opposition in Congress, it faced even stiffer resistance from the farmers of Western Pennsylvania. Not only was the law condemned in public meetings, but the farmers threatened violence against the revenue officers should they attempt to collect the taxes. Washington issued a proclamation urging the people to desist from violence, but this proved ineffectual, and he was forced to call out the militia. Opposition scattered before the guns and bayonets of the 15,000-man army, and the Whiskey rebellion ended without bloodshed.[8]
On October 24th, 1791, the House passed an apportionment bill for representatives according to the first census, but the Senate would not agree to this, and a second bill, which provided for one representative for every thirty thousand persons, and dividing eight representatives among those states which had the greatest factions. But Washington vetoed this as unconstitutional, because eight states would by the bill send more representatives to Congress under it than what their population would allow under the Constitution.[9]
Washington wanted to return to private life as his four-year term came to a close in 1792. He was sixty years old by this time, and complained of hearing loss and painful dentures.[10] He had even begun work on his farewell address, which he asked Madison to help write, but Madison protested that if Washington did not accept another term as President the union would fragment. Jefferson agreed, stating that “North and South will hang together if they have you to hang on.” So once again Washington reluctantly bowed to the wishes of his country and accepted another four-year term. The electoral college met on February 13th, 1793 in Philadelphia and again elected him unanimously. He was sworn in for a second four-year term on March 4th 1793, and John Adams again elected vice president. Again, the anti-federalists had put up Governor Henry Clinton for vice president, but although Adams won with 77 votes, the Democratic-Republicans made a better showing than last time, by giving Clinton 50 votes.

Washington’s second inauguration
Washington’s Second Administration: 1793-1797
Washington’s second administration was quite different from his first one. Perhaps Washington’s greatest test came in the area of foreign relations. By this time, the French Revolution was in full swing. At the beginning of that event, when it seemed that France would become a constitutional monarchy, American sympathies lay generally with France. But in the early months of 1793 came news of that revolution’s excesses, the beheading of Louis XVI, the mass executions, and the establishment of the French Republic. In light of this information, many Americans, especially property owners, turned their views against the revolution, seeing it for what it was, the spirit of the Enlightenment come to fruition; the deification of man in the state, and his unchaining from religion and morality. Accordingly, they denounced the French revolution for its attacks on property and upon religion. Other Americans continued to support France. The divide between them became sharper when war broke out between England and France. Those Americans who maintained an admiration for the British system, men like Hamilton and Adams, and those, like Jefferson, who maintained a high view of the nature of man, and subsequently admired the French, became opposed to one another. Washington found himself in a quandary. France had been America’s ally during the war for Independence, and the 1788 treaty of mutual assistance seemed to require America to come to her assistance. But the country was not strong enough for war, and in any case, the principles of the French Revolution were antithetical to those of the American. Washington thus issued a Proclamation of Neutrality on April 22nd, 1793, pledging that the United States would “pursue a conduct friendly and impartial toward the belligerent powers.”
Washington’s insistence on strict neutrality would soon be tested, both by the British and by the French. As early as April 1793, M. Genet, the minister of the French Republic to the United States arrived at Charleston, South Carolina, and proceeded to entice the people there, generally favorable to the French, to undertake acts of hostility against Great Britian. He even issued commissions for the fitting out of privateers to sail from American ports against ships of the nations at war with France.
“Vessels captured by these cruisers were brought into port, and the consuls of France, undere the authority of Genet…assumed the power of holding courts of admiralty on them, of trying and condemning them, and of authorizing their sale. Upon a complaint of the British minister…the American cabinet unanimously condemned these proceedings, and agreed the efficacy of the laws should be tried against those citizens who had been concerned in them.”[11]
Genet completely ignored Washington’s proclamation of neutrality, even after prosecutions were undertaken by the American government against those citizens whom Genet recruited as privateers. An infuriated Genet demanded their release “on the ground that were acting under the authority of France, and defending the glorious cause of liberty in common with her children.” In his letters to the Secretary of State, he accused Washington of holding views diametrically at odds with the American people, and stated that if his demands were not complied with, he would take his appeal to the American people. Under these circumstances, Washington demanded his recall. M. Genet’s commission was withdrawn, and a new French minister, M. Fauchet, appointed in his place.[12]
The British too did not honor the proclamation of neutrality. The French opened up their colonies in the West Indies to neutral shipping as they anticipated British interference with their own shipping. The British responded by seizing American ships and confiscating their cargoes. Washington’s response was to institute an embargo for two months; during this time no foreign ship was allowed to anchor in an American ship ad no American ship could anchor in a foreign port. It was a diplomatic gamble and it didn’t work; the British remained resolute, and the embargo hurt the Americans badly, especially the New England shipping industry, which depended upon British trade.[13]
On the domestic front, meanwhile, Congress drew up the Eleventh amendment, which was unanimously ratified by the states. On December 31rst of 1793, Jefferson resigned as Secretary of State, much to the regret of Washington, as well as of his own Democratic-Republican friends and retired to Monticello.
That fall, American reverses in the war in the Northwest against the Indians had at last been avenged. General Anthony Wayne, appointed to carry on the war, built Fort Recovery, near where General St. Clair had been defeated, and the next spring and summer, marched farther into the interior, built Fort Defiance, and moved still farther down the Maumee River. On the 20th of August, 1794, he engaged the Indians in battle and defeated them, compelling them to make peace. The treaty divested the Indians of much of their lands west of the Ohio river.[14]
During 1794, there was an increase in the feelings of hostility against Great Britain, and many prominent persons began to urge war as the only recourse. Just cause appeared to be had. In violation of the Treaty of Peace of 1783, the forts around and at Lake Erie were still occupied by the British, and American merchantmen were being seized on the high seas; their crewmen being kidnapped and forced into British service. Washington knew that war with England would be a great calamity, but the conduct of the British appeared to leave little choice. Alexander Hamilton argued that a war with England would not solve the nation’s problems, and convinced Washington to send Chief Justice John Jay to England to negotiate a treaty. Jay proved himself worthy of Washington’s confidence in him. By November of that year, a treaty was finally signed between the two nations. Britain agreed to pay damages in return for seizing American ships, to evacuate the Northwestern military posts, and to recognize the American freedom of navigation and commerce.
But the treaty was deficient in other areas; for example, it was silent on the impressment of American sailors into British service, the seizure of American ships, and American rights of neutrality. These were matters that would boil over into the war of 1812. The treaty was the best Jay could get however, and while Washington was not entirely happy with the treaty, the alternative was war with England, so Washington held his nose and signed it. One factor that helped make his decision was when documents came into his hands indicating that Edmund Randolph, who had by now replaced Jefferson in the role of Secretary of State, had been bribed by the French to speak against the treaty. These documents had been sent home by Fauchet, and intercepted by the British, who in turn passed them to Washington. Washington confronted Randolph with the documents. A speechless Randolph promptly resigned his cabinet post, which was filled by Timothy Pickering. Maintaining his innocence in the affair, he would eventually be vindicated by Fauchet himself.
Though the Jay treaty managed to both uphold the honor and dignity of the United States and at the same time avert war, it was nevertheless attacked by the Democratic-Republicans. Washington, who had thus far been practically worshipped by his country, now became for the first time, the object of bitter criticism. Critics charged that Washington was “a tyrant,” “dictator, etc.,” and Washington, was deeply stung by the criticism. A treaty was also made with Spain, which settled the boundaries of Louisiana and Florida and the United States, and gave America the right to navigate the Mississippi river. Peace was also made with the Barbary coast nation of Algiers, which returned captives seized from American ships, and with the Miami Indian tribe, which General Wayne had subdued.
In January 1795, M. Adet became the new minister to the United States from France. Adet, like his predecessors, tried to embroil the United Staes to go to war on France’s behalf. Presenting Washington with a flag, he accompanied the presentation with a speech designed to persuade the public to demand war with England. Washington tactfully avoided embarrassment by sympathizing with Adet, but remaining firm in his neutral stance. Adet, however, was not to be put off so easily. He issued an address to the American people directly, charging them with betraying their duty of their former allies. But the people of the American union were not swayed.[15] On the last day of January of that year, Hamilton resigned as Secretary of the Treasury; his position was filled by Oliver Wolcott.
Washington had the satisfaction of seeing Tennessee admitted to the union on June 1rst 1796. The last year of his term was generally uneventful. Economic conditions improved as a result of the Jay treaty, and the attacks on Washington diminished both in their virulence and their frequency. Indeed, there were efforts underway to induce him to accept a third term, but Washington was having none of that. Instead, he put an end to these efforts and to his public career when on September 19th, 1796, he delivered his famous farewell address, making clear that he would not seek a third term. He thus set forth a two-term precedent for American presidents that would be adhered to until F.D.R. served three full terms and part of a fourth, being elected to the presidential office four times. On December 7th, 1796, Washington delivered his annual communication on the state of the country to both houses in joint assembly in the representative hall. “His custom from the beginning, was thus to meet the Congress in joint assembly on the opening of each session, and give his views on public matters, not in a written message, but in an oral speech.”[16] Thus, began the custom of the state of the union address. Congress responded in two answers, to his speech, one from each of the two houses, which
“…expressed the grateful sense of Congress at his eminent services to his country, their deep regret at his retiring from office, and ardent wish for his future personal happiness. These answers, in spirit and substance throughout, showed the high estimation in which the retiring chief was held by men of all parties.”[17]
On the 4th of March, 1797, his term of office ended, and Washington retired to Mount Vernon.
Alexander H. Stephens sums up Washington’s accomplishments and legacy as the first president of the United States of America:
The administration of the Government during Washington’s two terms had been successful and prosperous and beyond the expectations and hopes of even the most sanguine of its friends. The finances of the country were no longer in an embarrassed condition; the public credit was fully restored; life was given to every department of industry. The workings of the new system allowing Congress to raise revenue f rom duties on imports, proved to be not only harmonious in its Federal action, but astonishing in its results upon the trade and commerce of all the States. The exports from the Union increased from nineteen million to over fifty-six million dollars; while the imports increased in about the same proportion. Three new members had been added to the Union. The progress of the States in their new career, under their new organization, thus far was exceedingly encouraging, not only to the friends of liberty within their own limits, but their sympathizing allies in all climes and countries.[18]
Bibliography
Alexander H. Stephens A Compendium of the History of the United States From the Earliest Settlements To 1872 (Bridgewater, Virginia: American Foundation Publications, 1999 [Reprint]
Stefan Lorant The Glorious Burden: The American Presidency (Lenox, Massachusetts, Authors Edition, Inc., 1976)
Charles Augustus Goodrich A History of the United States of America (Bellows Falls, Vermont: Blake, Culter, and Company, 1824)
[1] Quoted in Stefan Lorant The Glorious Burden: The American Presidency (Lenox, Massachusetts, Authors Edition, Inc., 1976) p. 30
[2] Alexander H. Stephens A Compendium of the History of the United States From the Earliest Settlements To 1872 (Bridgewater, Virginia: American Foundation Publications, 1999 [Reprint] p. 255
[3] For details of John Jay’s Christian faith see John Eidsmoe Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Book House Company, 1987) Chapter 10. As for Washington’s see Chapter 8 of Eidsmoe’s book.
[4] Stefan Lorant The Glorious Burden: The American Presidency (Lenox, Massachusetts, Authors Edition, Inc., 1976) p. 37
[5] Ibid p. 41
[6] Alexander H. Stephens A Compendium of the History of the United States From the Earliest Settlements To 1872 (Bridgewater, Virginia: American Foundation Publications, 1999 [Reprint] p. 259-260
[7] Ibid p. 260
[8] Ibid p. 260-261
[9] Charles Augustus Goodrich A History of the United States of America (Bellows Falls, Vermont: Blake, Culter, and Company, 1824) p. 204
[10] Stefan Lorant The Glorious Burden: The American Presidency (Lenox, Massachusetts, Authors Edition, Inc., 1976) p. 41
[11] Charles Augustus Goodrich A History of the United States of America (Bellows Falls, Vermont: Blake, Culter, and Company, 1824) p. 210
[12] Alexander H. Stephens A Compendium of the History of the United States From the Earliest Settlements To 1872 (Bridgewater, Virginia: American Foundation Publications, 1999 [Reprint] p. 262
[13] Stefan Lorant The Glorious Burden: The American Presidency (Lenox, Massachusetts, Authors Edition, Inc., 1976) p. 45
[14] Alexander H. Stephens A Compendium of the History of the United States From the Earliest Settlements To 1872 (Bridgewater, Virginia: American Foundation Publications, 1999 [Reprint] p. 262-263
[15] Alexander H. Stephens A Compendium of the History of the United States From the Earliest Settlements To 1872 (Bridgewater, Virginia: American Foundation Publications, 1999 [Reprint] p. 265-266
[16] Ibid p. 267
[17] Ibid p. 267-268
[18] Ibid p. 268