Washington’s First Term
During George Washington’s first term as President, the new government was established. James Madison helped draft a bill to raise money through tariffs: a five percent tariff on most goods with a break on goods imported on American ships. With this single piece of legislation, the perennial problem of the Confederation Congress was resolved. As money began to trickle in, Congress moved to the establishment of the executive branch. Washington appointed four advisors who came to be called the secretaries of state, treasury and war and the attorney general. He picked men of exceptional ability for these posts: two who supported the adoption of the Constitution and two who had opposed it. Congress then established the judiciary and passed the Bill of Rights.
One of the more important acts of the First Congress was the Assumption Act, passed on 6/20/1790. This bill provided that the new federal government would assume the revolutionary debts of the state governments (it had already assumed the debt of the Confederation Congress). Southern representatives opposed the measure, since their colonies had mostly covered their debts already. As part of the bill, Secy. of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton provided that each state would receive some money from the assumption. Hamilton worked with Jefferson and Madison to draft a compromise in which the federal capital would be relocated to Philadelphia for ten years while a new site was sel
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Washington’s First Term
During George Washington’s first term as President, the new government was established. James Madison helped draft a bill to raise money through tariffs: a five percent tariff on most goods with a break on goods imported on American ships. With this single piece of legislation, the perennial problem of the Confederation Congress was resolved. As money began to trickle in, Congress moved to the establishment of the executive branch. Washington appointed four advisors who came to be called the secretaries of state, treasury and war and the attorney general. He picked men of exceptional ability for these posts: two who supported the adoption of the Constitution and two who had opposed it. Congress then established the judiciary and passed the Bill of Rights.
One of the more important acts of the First Congress was the Assumption Act, passed on 6/20/1790. This bill provided that the new federal government would assume the revolutionary debts of the state governments (it had already assumed the debt of the Confederation Congress). Southern representatives opposed the measure, since their colonies had mostly covered their debts already. As part of the bill, Secy. of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton provided that each state would receive some money from the assumption. Hamilton worked with Jefferson and Madison to draft a compromise in which the federal capital would be relocated to Philadelphia for ten years while a new site was selected on the Potomac River as the permanent home of the new government. Although the act produced a windfall for southern states, southern politicians played it as a step towards northern domination and collusion.
The Campaign
Compared to the first election, the campaign of 1792 was quite low-key. The first step in the campaign was convincing Washington to run again. He was anxious to return to Mt. Vernon, as his hearing and memory were noticeably beginning to fail. Washington asked Madison to draft a farewell address in the spring. At a cabinet meeting, Jefferson and Hamilton both urged Washington to run for a second term, precipitating a debate between the two on federal policy – Washington had to intervene between the two to bring the discussion back to the main topic. He reluctantly agreed to run a second time.
The Federalists did not hold a party meeting to select their candidates. From the beginning, it was assumed that Pres. Washington and VP Adams would be the nominees. During the first two Congresses, the Federalists had shifted from the party advocating the adoption of the new Constitution to the party trying to get the new government established on a sound footing. Federalists were more inclined to favor England in its war with France and supported the Hamiltonian system of establishing banks to extend credit to commercial interests.
The opposition was quite disorganized. In the summer, it became clear that Gov. George Clinton of New York wanted to run again. However, Clinton was hampered by his recent close re-election in a race tainted with fraud. Strategists in New York wrote to anti-administration leaders in Virginia and recommended substituting Aaron Burr for Clinton on the ticket. The Virginians were not overly excited about Clinton on the ticket, but they were not at all interested in Burr. They recognized, however, that winning New York’s 12 electoral votes was critical. As a result, anti-administration leaders met in Philadelphia on 10/16/1792 to discuss the situation. Delegates attended from NY, PA, VA, and SC. This proto-caucus decided to support Washington and Clinton in the election.
With the anti-administration ticket settled, less than a month before the popular election took place, there was little real interest in the race. The two parties were already guaranteed a competitive race based upon the large number of Presidential Electors to be chosen by state legislatures – which would result in 33 Federalists and 28 Anti-Federalists. Of the six states with popular election of the Electors, the Federalists were assured of winning MD and the Anti-Federalists KY and VA. Contests were waged between the two parties in MA, NH, and PA.
The Popular Election
The six states with popular election of the Presidential Electors voted in early 11/1792. Turnout declined considerably; in PA, for example, turnout declined 90% from the vote in the preceding election for U.S. House. Federalist Electors carried MD, where no Anti-Federalist slate contested the race, and the Anti-Federalists easily carried VA and KY. In the two New England states being contested (NH and MA), the Federalists won a runaway victory. In PA, a state the Anti-Federalists needed to win in order to carry the election, they were held to only one-third of the vote. As a result, the Presidential Electors chosen by popular vote were 44 Federalists to 22 Anti-Federalists.
Electoral vote of 1792
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