Presidencies of Washington, Adams and Jefferson


 

 

Mid-19th century engraving showing the White House from the South-West. Topics on the Page

 

George Washington's Presidency

 

John Adams' Presidency

 

Thomas Jefferson's Presidency

 

  Cross-Links: 

 

The Barbary Pirates and Early American Foreign Policy

 

The Louisiana Purchase and Manifest Destiny

 

Toussaint L'Ouverture and the Haitian Revolution 

 

Eli Whitney and the Development of the Cotton Gin

 

Focus Question: What were the policies and political developments of the Washington, Adams and Jefferson presidencies?

 

 

George Washington's Presidency (1789- 1797)

 

Background Information 

George Washington was the first President of the United States of America, and is universally regarded as the "Father of his country". 

 

 

 

 

 

Timeline

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Major Events, Acts, and Treaties during the Washington Presidency 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Washington was almost called WHAT?!

 

 

Martha Washington 

Image result for martha washington


Click here for a brief biography of Martha Washington from Mt. Vernon.

Go here for Martha Washington and the American Revolution to view an example of correspondence between George and Martha.

Portraits of George and Martha Washington from the Presidential Years 


Martha Washington Lesson Plans from the National First Ladies Library.

 

 

Washington's Inaugural Address, 1789: https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/american_originals/inaugtxt.html

 

Washington's Farewell Address, 1796: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp

 

Crash Course of History: The Constitution, the Articles, and Federalism

 

George Washington: An Animated History - a Youtube video biography

 

 


Teacher's Guide: What qualified Washington to be president: https://georgewashington.si.edu/kids/activity2.html

 
Did Washington ever tell a lie? Did he really wear wooden teeth? Click here and find out these and more myths about the first President

 

This map shows the growth of the United States from 1790 - 1802. 

 

 

John Adam's Presidency (1797- 1801)

 

Background Information Image result for john adams presidency

 

Washington's vice president, John Adams, was elected president as a Federalist in 1796.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Timeline

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interactive Timeline of John Adams: https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/john-adams-timeline

 

Image result for abigail adams

Abigail Adams 

 

 

 



Great article on Abigail Adams click here


Database of letters exchanged between Abigail and John Adams click here


Abigail Adams lesson plan click here

 

 

 

Important Events and Acts


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more background, go to Sedition Act of 1798

 

More information on the Alien and Sedition Acts: https://www.ushistory.org/us/19e.asp

 

For a brief video on the Alien and Sedition Acts click here

 

Click here for a lesson plan on events leading up to the Sedition Acts

 

Click here for a lesson plan on the consequences of the Sedition Acts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XYZ Affair video from YouTube

 

 

More information on John Marshall and the Supreme Court: https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/supremecourt/democracy/robes_marshall.html

 

 

 

Thomas Jefferson's Presidency (1801- 1809)

 

Background Information 

 

 

 

 

Timeline 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Important Events and Acts

  • March 1802- Enabling Act
    • Jefferson signs the Enabling Act, establishing procedures under which territories organized under the Ordinance of 1787 can become a state. The law effectively authorizes people of the Ohio territory to hold a convention and frame a constitution.  

 

  • Haitian Revolution, 1791- 1804
    •  While remaining "neutral," from early 1802, Jefferson allowed contraband goods and arms to reach Saint-Domingue during its slave rebellion and refused financial credit to France, aiding the slave and mulatto resistance that achieved independence in 1804. After that, however, with France removed and Congressional resistance high, he refused to recognize Haiti, and embargoed trade with it, causing severe difficulties for the second republic to rise in the Western Hemisphere.

 

 

 

 

 

  • Louisiana PurchaseImage result for louisiana purchase map
    •  The Importance of Louisiana for the United States:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slavery

 

In the North, it was a time of rising democracy, emergence of self-made men from the farming, business and merchant classes, and the presence of new people in government, not drawn from old ruling elites of the revolutionary generation. But in the South, "nostalgic southerners turned to the past, clinging to the agrarian myth of yeoman farmers leading independent, virtuous lives on the soil as well as to the aristocratic idyll of a leisurely, gracious life of family, hospitality, books and slaves on lovely planations" (Dunn, New York Review of Books, March 25, 2010, p. 31).

It is important to note that the money that made Westward Expansion possible was made largely through a slave economy, which continued to grow until 1808.

 

 

 

 

Sally Hemings

 

Click HERE to see information about Sally Hemings, the slave who gave birth to Jefferson's sons.

 

Want to know more about Sally Hemings? Click HERE

 

Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: A Brief Account

 

 

Additional Links

 

Jefferson's First Inaugural Address


Click here for a biography of Jefferson and Monticello

Click here for an article about Jefferson's opinion on slavery

Thomas Jefferson Biography from YouTube 

Click here for a video on Jefferson and the Barbary Pirates
 

 

The Louisiana Purchase


The Missouri Compromise

Timeline: The Louisiana Purchase - The Library of Congress