The Huge Role of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson in the Building of Our Nation

After the Revolutionary War, our country had little to no government and no way to make it on our own. Some men stepped up to take on the job and they are known as our Founding Fathers. Three of the most known are George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson. You might think, "Oh that's our first President, the dude who helped write the Declaration of Independence, and some other dude" when you hear those names. And for the most part, that's true, but those three gentlemen played an even bigger role in our nation than you'll ever know. Before he became the first President of the United States, George Washington was a major war hero. He was "Commander in chief of the Continental Army" (pg. 52) and the leader at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775.

After the war he was the Convention President held in Philadelphia in 1777. Where they began trying to draft a new Federal Constitution. Washington felt as if we needed a person in control of us, to keep us on track, but not like a king. People agreed and came up with the idea of a President. They then nominated Washington to run in the 1789 election. Because Washington was a war hero, everyone believed he would make a good President, so in 1789, he was elected the first President of the United States and in 1792, he was reelected to round his Presidency of with a total of 8 years. During his terms, Washington had a lot of achievements, but one of his greatest involved him sending John Jay to Britain. John Jay was sent to Britain to compromise with them and he was successful. He came home with the Jay Treaty, stating that Britain will pull off American Territory and open more ports so we can trade. When his time was up, Washington wrote a letter to the newspapers labeled "Washington's Farewell Address".

In his farewell address, Washington pretty much states, "I'm leaving. Here's my achievements, here's some advice." The advice he gave included, "stop trade with countries with passionate love for one and passionate hate for the other" he also warned us about formation of political parties, yet we did not listen to him. By the time Washington left office, there was already formation of political parties. Two of which were the Federalists and the Republicans. The head of the Federalists was Alexander Hamilton. During the Revolutionary War, he gathered a large army and fought viciously against Britain. After the war, he was one of the three that wrote the Article of Confederation. Being part of the Federalists meant he believed that man was evil, democracy is poison, that we should have a strong central govemment, and that we need a large military to keep the masses in line. When Washington was elected President in 1789, he appointed Hamilton Secretary of Treasury and he also became Washington's Chief advisor.

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One of his major achievements in his life was the reports he gave to Congress. One of the reports was "Report on Public Credit" which included the start of taxing and to gradually start paying off debts. The ocher two reports were "Reports on the Bank" and a "Report on Manufactures." When the Federalists and Republicans ran against each other for election, the Federalists did not elect Hamilton to represent them for President, they instead nominated John Adams. Well Hamilton was not too happy about this This was his party. He deserved to be President. So, Burr. Burr, not being a fan of Hamilton, put for Thomas Jefferson, the opposing Republican candidate. Burr and Hamilton's feud continued finally had a duel in 1804. During the duel Burr shot and killed of his vigorous efforts, the United States had gotten oft to a good support of much of the wealth and talent of America, stayed out of the war, and convinced a skeptical world that this new country was established on a firm foundation" (pg. 59). On the other hand, the head of the Republican party was Thomas Jefferson.

Before Jefferson became President of the Republican party, he helped write the Declaration of Independence and helped organize the Land Ordinance of 1785 which divided the land into 36 sections with 640 acres per section. In 1789, he was Secretary of State, in 1796, he was elected Vice President of the United States and finally in 1800 he was elected President. "Jefferson's primary aim upon taking office was to retum the govemment to a proper Republican course pg. 20). Being a Republican, Jefferson opposed to all Federalist policies. He believed man is good, democracy is great, the central government needs less power and we do not need a large military. Thomas Jefferson also wanted to abolish Alien Acts, the Whiskey tax, and to reduce the size of the government drastically.

"Federalists, he believed, were attempting to create a powerful central government; backed by an army and navy and reinforced by a loose interpretation of the Constitution that would enable federal government to assume increased authority" (pg. 10). During his Presidency, the XYZ Affair took place. Jefferson sent two representatives to France to get the French to sell us New Orleans and West Florida, which the French did, but they also sold us the Louisiana Territory which doubled the size of the United States. Without Washington, Hamilton, and Jefferson, our country would not be what it is today. Because of their outstanding achievements, they are known as the Founding Fathers of the United States of America.

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