John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington
Essay by turneringram • December 6, 2012 • Essay • 654 Words (3 Pages) • 1,250 Views
The presidencies of these noble men that at one time were seen as the most powerful male figures in the country, established many contributions that formed the structure of the national government and created numerous ideas that are still used to this day. Although presidency was relatively new at the time, the accomplishments that these masters of the country have created made the United States of America stronger than ever before.
George Washington, the first president of this new country, assisted in translating the new constitution into a workable instrument of government by adding not only a bill of rights, but establishing the executive branch which set the stage for solving many issues in a more logical, and overall more organized way of dealing with economic issues and finding solutions to problems that may have seemed impossible to overcome at times. Additionally, this became a huge accomplishment since the government now had an ordered way of dealing with bills, laws, and critical decisions that would be confusing without the established orders the president created. Following this achievement further on, he also signed the first national bank charter which was quite important at the time, as the Revolutionary War caused a national debt. Consequently, each state also had a different form of currency which made commerce quite unreasonable and unlikeable. As a fortunate result, a standard form of currency was created and at the time saved the economy from further devastation.
At the time of John Adams' presidency, tensions built between the United States and France developing into an undeclared war known as the Quasi War as a result of the French seizing American ships trading with Britain and the XYZ Affair. Unquestionably, Adams took immediate action and commissioned the building of several warships to guard our vessels that traded with Britain. For several months this war occurred and the Americans captured eighty ships. Eventually, Napoleon took over the country of France and agreed to make peace and end the war. Though found unpopular by many, Adams also passed the Alien and Sedition acts which consisted of four measures designed to stop free speech and limit immigration. This was a response to criticisms against the government, especially against the Federalist party. These acts were passed to keep the people's opinions to themselves and stop people from speaking in a rude and malicious manner to
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