Essay Example on Washington and Adams As one of the most significant historical figures

Another important event in the Presidency of George Washington was when he appointed Alexander Hamilton as the first United States Secretary of the Treasury on September 11 1789 With each state s war debt the economy s subpar outlook and the out of control inflation of money Washington gave Hamilton the job of directing financial policy Washington later supported Hamilton s idea of a consolidated Bank of the United States since it would help make the country s economy stronger by establishing a more stable paper currency Later the Bill of Rights was ratified under Washington s watch another important event in his presidency Ratified on December 15 1791 the Bill of Rights were mainly used to limit the government s power and to safeguard the liberties of the people It granted personal freedoms that we continue to have to this day such as the right to trial by jury bear arms free speech etc Nearly two years later Washington proclaimed that the United States would be staying neutral during the war between the English and the French on April 22 1793 As a new country he knew that the United States didn t have the strength or stability to last in a war that wasn t their own A wise move Washington had to go against Thomas Jefferson who sided with the French and Alexander Hamilton who sided with the British Thomas Jefferson equally as important as George Washington was elected as the third president of the United on February 17 1801 A Virginia statesman that the Declaration of Independence Jefferson s role in early American politics was key in the forming of such a great nation 

An important event in the presidency of Thomas Jefferson was the authorization of the Judiciary Act of 1802 When Jefferson was elected as president in November of 1800 he wouldn t assume office until March of the following year This allowed President Adams who was in the opposing political party and Congress to pass the Judiciary Act of 1801 giving Adams the ability to appoint new judges This would ensure that the Federalists would continue to have power in Jefferson s Democratic Republican government With Jefferson and the Republicans furious the Judiciary Act of 1802 would be passed on April 29 1802 repealing the Judiciary Act of 1801 and allowing Jefferson to remove the judges appointed by Adams Another important event was the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 Doubling the size of the new nation Jefferson and the United States purchased around 828 000 000 square miles of territory from France for 15 million dollars on April 30 1803 For less than three cents an acre this was one of the biggest accomplishments of Jefferson s presidency since 15 states were eventually formed from the land purchased After purchasing all of this land Jefferson needed people to explore it for him He proposed a mission called the Voyage of Discovery and started organizing a team known as the Corps of Discovery Led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark the Corps of Discovery hoped to document what they saw establish trade and identify natural resources 

The expedition started on May 21 1804 and ended on September 3 1806 Along the way the men met a Shoshone Native American woman called Sacagawea and her husband Toussaint Charbonneau They joined the expedition and worked as translators for other native tribes while also helping the men survive by locating essential supplies One of the worst events in presidency of Thomas Jefferson was the passing of the Embargo Act of 1807 Since the French and the British had been at war since 1803 Americans had to remain neutral in order to keep good relations with both countries Both nations restricted trade with one another and other neutral parties in which the United States was When the French and British started seizing American merchant ships and trying to contain overall trade Jefferson tried to find a non violent way that could stop all of this Eventually he signed the Embargo Act of 1807 on December 22 1807 which stopped all trade between the United States and any other nation Jefferson hoped that this would stop both Britain and France from restricting American trade while averting war with either nation Eventually this backfired because the people at home suffered since American imports and exports declined immensely Yet Britain and France weren t heavily affected by the stop in trade with the United States The embargo finally was repealed in 1809 just days before the end of Thomas Jefferson s presidency