After ratification of the Constitution on 21 June 1788
in the first election from 15 December 1788 to 10 January 1789
the people elected George Washington with over 90% of the votes.
The Electoral College’s electors were chosen in January 1789, and on February 4
they unanimously elected Washington the President with all 69 votes, a feat not yet repeated.
Washington made it known that for Vice President he favored John Adams
over any Anti-Federalist such as George Clinton of New York.
John Adams was elected Vice President with 34 votes to 9 for John Jay.
In the first elections for the new Congress in January 1789
the Federalists won a majority in the House of Representatives.
James Madison was denied a seat in the Senate
because Anti-Federalists controlled the Virginia legislature.
He faced a difficult challenge in his House district by James Monroe;
but Madison promised to amend the Constitution with a bill of rights
and was elected, becoming majority leader.
More than half of those who had attended the Constitutional Convention
in Philadelphia served in the new government as legislators, executives, or judges.
Most state legislatures chose their electors.
Only five states chose their electors by a popular vote,
and New Jersey’s governor and council selected theirs.
Senators were elected by the state legislatures.
Congress was supposed to begin on March 4, and on that day
the House of Representatives had 13 of its 59 members,
and the Senate had 8 of the 22 Senators for the 11 ratifying states.
Each house needed a majority for a quorum, and they did not have that until April 8.
Federalists for ratification had 55 of the 59 House seats and 18 of the 22 Senators.
On March 30th Henry Knox estimated that the delay
cost the new government about £300,000.
On April 1 Washington in a letter to Henry Knox wrote,
I feel for those Members of the new Congress,
who, hitherto, have given an unavailing attendance
at the theatre of business.
For myself, the delay may be compared to a reprieve;
for in confidence I can assure you—
with the world it would obtain little credit—
that my movements to the chair of Government will be
accompanied with feelings not unlike those of a culprit
who is going to the place of his execution: so unwilling am I,
in the evening of a life nearly consumed in public cares,
to quit a peaceful abode for an Ocean of difficulties,
without that competency of political skill—abilities
& inclination which is necessary to manage the helm.
I am sensible, that I am embarking the voice
of my Countrymen and a good name of my own,
on this voyage, but what returns will be made for them—
Heaven alone can foretell.
Integrity & firmness is all I can promise—
these, be the voyage long or short; never shall forsake me
although I may be deserted by all men.
For of the consolations which are to be derived from these
(under any circumstances) the world cannot deprive me.1
Vice President John Adams, who was president of the Senate, suggested that
they call Washington “His Highness, the President of the United States,
and Protector of the Rights of the Same.”
After a few days of debate they decided to call him “Mr. President,”
which is what Washington wanted to be called.
Although the British Parliament and the colonial legislatures
kept their deliberations closed, the House of Representatives,
but not the Senate, decided to open their meetings to the general public
and thus to the press, though meetings as a committee of the whole were closed.
Newspapers began reporting on the debates,
but a complete Congressional Record was not started until 1834.
Ten states were represented in the Senate at the beginning,
and a Special Judiciary Committee was appointed with one member
from each state with Oliver Ellsworth as chairman.
Madison announced that the first priority was to develop
a balanced economy free of control by foreign nations.
Senator William Maclay was an Anti-Federalist from western Pennsylvania.
He kept a journal of the first session of Congress when there was no other record,
including his own outspoken criticisms of Vice President John Adams
and his efforts to adopt some of England’s ceremonies and use of titles.
The new Constitution clearly prohibited the United States from granting
any title of nobility, and so the official title became “President of the United States.”
On April 14 Washington was officially notified that he had been
unanimously elected President of the United States.
He responded with this prepared statement that included:
I have been long accustomed to entertain so great
a respect for the opinion of my fellow-citizens,
that the knowledge of their unanimous suffrages
having been given in my favor,
scarcely leaves me the alternative for an option.
Whatever may have been my private feelings
and sentiments, I believe I cannot give a greater evidence
of my sensibility for the honor they have done me,
than by accepting the appointment.
I am so much affected by this fresh proof
of my country’s esteem and confidence,
that silence can best explain my gratitude—
while I realize the arduous nature of the task
which is conferred on me, and feel my inability to perform it,
I wish there may not be reason for regretting the choice.
All I can promise is, only
that which can be accomplished by an honest zeal.2
Washington left Mount Vernon on April 16.
When he entered Philadelphia on a white horse, 20,000 people lined the streets.
Toasts at the City Tavern included “To the members of the late General Convention,”
“May those who have opposed the new Constitution be converts,
by the experience of its happy effects,” and
“Government without oppression, and liberty without licentiousness.”
In New York City Washington did not wear a military uniform
when he was inaugurated on April 30 as the first chief executive of the United States.
On a balcony overlooking the crowd on Wall and Broad Streets
the New York Chancellor, Chief Judge of the Court of Equity,
Robert R. Livingston administered the oath of office.
Washington with his hand on a Bible took the oath prescribed by
the United States Constitution to “preserve, protect and defend” that Constitution.
At the end he added, “So help me God.”
Inside the Senate chamber Washington expressed to the Congress his trust in God
and ethical principles as the best guides to good government
in his first inaugural address in which he said,
Among the vicissitudes incident to life no event could have
filled me with greater anxieties than that of which
the notification was transmitted by your order,
and received on the 14th day of the present month.
On the one hand, I was summoned by my Country,
whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love,
from a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest
predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immutable
decision, as the asylum of my declining years:
a retreat which was rendered every day more necessary
as well as more dear to me by the addition of habit
to inclination, and of frequent interruptions in my health
to the gradual waste committed on it by time.
On the other hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust
to which the voice of my country called me,
being sufficient to awaken in the wisest
and most experienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny
into his qualifications, could not but overwhelm
with despondence one who (inheriting inferior endowments
from nature and unpracticed in the duties
of civil administration) ought to be
peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies.
In this conflict of emotions all I dare aver is that it has been
my faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation
of every circumstance by which it might be affected.
All I dare hope is that if, in executing this task,
I have been too much swayed by a grateful remembrance
of former instances, or by an affectionate sensibility
to this transcendent proof of the confidence
of my fellow-citizens, and have thence too little consulted
my incapacity as well as disinclination for the weighty
and untried cares before me, my error will be palliated
by the motives which mislead me, and its consequences
be judged by my country with some share
of the partiality in which they originated.
Such being the impressions under which I have,
in obedience to the public summons,
repaired to the present station; it would be
peculiarly improper to omit in this first official Act,
my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being
who rules over the Universe,
who presides in the Councils of Nations,
and whose providential aids can supply every human defect,
that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties
and happiness of the People of the United States,
a Government instituted by themselves for these
essential purposes: and may enable every instrument
employed in its administration to execute with success,
the functions allotted to his charge.
In tendering this homage to the Great Author
of every public and private good I assure myself that
it expresses your sentiments not less than my own;
nor those of my fellow-citizens at large, less than either.
No People can be bound to acknowledge and adore
the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men
more than the People of the United States.
Every step, by which they have advanced to the character
of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished
by some token of providential agency.
And in the important revolution just accomplished
in the system of their United Government,
the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent
of so many distinct communities, from which the event
has resulted, cannot be compared with the means
by which most Governments have been established,
without some return of pious gratitude along with
an humble anticipation of the future blessings
which the past seem to presage.
These reflections, arising out of the present crisis,
have forced themselves too strongly on my mind
to be suppressed.
You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none
under the influence of which the proceedings of a new
and free government can more auspiciously commence.
By the article establishing the executive department
it is made the duty of the President “to recommend
to your consideration such measures
as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”
The circumstances under which I now meet you
will acquit me from entering into that subject further than
to refer to the great constitutional charter under which
you are assembled, and which, in defining your powers,
designates the objects to which your attention is to be given.
It will be more consistent with those circumstances,
and far more congenial with the feelings which actuate me,
to substitute, in place of a recommendation
of particular measures, the tribute that is due to the talents,
the rectitude, and the patriotism which adorn the characters
selected to devise and adopt them.
In these honorable qualifications I behold the surest pledges
that as on one side no local prejudices or attachments,
no separate views nor party animosities,
will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye
which ought to watch over this great assemblage
of communities and interests, so, on another, that
the foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure
and immutable principles of private morality,
and the preeminence of free government be exemplified
by all the attributes which can win the affections
of its citizens and command the respect of the world.
I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which
an ardent love for my country can inspire,
since there is no truth more thoroughly established than that
there exists in the economy and course of nature
an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness;
between duty and advantage; between
the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy
and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity;
since we ought to be no less persuaded that
the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected
on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order
and right which Heaven itself has ordained;
and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty
and the destiny of the republican model of government
are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally,
staked on the experiment entrusted
to the hands of the American people.
Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care,
it will remain with your judgment to decide how far
an exercise of the occasional power delegated
by the fifth article of the Constitution is rendered expedient
at the present juncture by the nature of objections
which have been urged against the system, or
by the degree of inquietude which has given birth to them.
Instead of undertaking particular recommendations
on this subject, in which I could be guided
by no lights derived from official opportunities,
I shall again give way to my entire confidence
in your discernment and pursuit of the public good;
for I assure myself that whilst you carefully avoid
every alteration which might endanger the benefits
of a united and effective government,
or which ought to await the future lessons of experience,
a reverence for the characteristic rights of freemen
and a regard for the public harmony will sufficiently
influence your deliberations on the question how far
the former can be impregnably fortified
or the latter be safely and advantageously promoted.
To the preceding observations I have one to add,
which will be most properly addressed
to the House of Representatives.
It concerns myself,
and will therefore be as brief as possible.
When I was first honored with a call into the service
of my country, then on the eve of an arduous struggle
for its liberties, the light in which I contemplated my duty
required that I should renounce
every pecuniary compensation.
From this resolution I have in no instance departed;
and being still under the impressions which produced it,
I must decline as inapplicable to myself any share
in the personal emoluments which may be
indispensably included in a permanent provision
for the executive department, and must accordingly pray
that the pecuniary estimates for the station in which
I am placed may during my continuance in it be limited
to such actual expenditures
as the public good may be thought to require.
Having thus imparted to you my sentiments
as they have been awakened by the occasion
which brings us together, I shall take my present leave;
but not without resorting once more to the benign Parent
of the Human Race in humble supplication that,
since He has been pleased to favor the American people
with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquility,
and dispositions for deciding with unparalleled unanimity
on a form of government for the security of their union
and the advancement of their happiness,
so His divine blessing may be equally conspicuous
in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations,
and the wise measures on which
the success of this Government must depend.3
In his address he renounced his salary.
Yet he was required to accept his $25,000 salary,
and he worked it out so that it equaled his annual expenses,
using about $2,000 a year on alcoholic beverages when entertaining.
The Vice President’s salary was $5,000, and cabinet secretaries received $3,500.
Washington was assisted by the literary skills of David Humphreys, Tobias Lear,
and Major William Jackson who had been Secretary at the Convention in Philadelphia.
George and Martha Washington would arrange sixteen marriages,
including James Madison to Dolly Payne.
His inaugural address urged the Congress to propose amendments to the Constitution
to strengthen the rights of freedom and to overcome the objections to the Constitution.
He commented on the importance of virtue in their new experiment with republican
government, hoping to win the affections of the citizens and the respect of the world.
President Washington asked for written advice on policies from advisors
who included John Adams, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton,
John Jay, and New York Chancellor Robert R. Livingston.
Washington’s private secretary Tobias Lear lived in the White House,
and he was joined by his wife Polly Long after their marriage in April 1790.
Lear once said of Washington, “A complete knowledge of his honesty, uprightness,
and candor in all his private transactions has
sometimes led me to think him more than a man.”4
On May 5 Washington in a short letter to James Madison wrote,
“As the first of everything, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent,
it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles.”5
On the same day in a letter to his friend Edward Rutledge he wrote,
Though from a system which I have prescribed to myself
I can say nothing decisive on particular appointments;
yet I may be allowed to observe in general,
that nothing could be more agreeable to me than to have
one Candidate brought forward for every Office of such
clear pretensions as to secure him against competition.6
On May 9 Washington wrote in a letter to the former Governor of Massachusetts,
James Bowdoin,
To meet the congratulations and assurances of support
from those Characters whose opinions I revere,
will be of no small service in enabling me to overcome
the diffidence which I have in my own abilities,
to execute properly the important and untried task
which my Country has assigned me.
No part of my duty will be more delicate,
and, in many instances, more unpleasing, than that
of nominating or appointing persons to offices.
It will undoubtedly often happen that there will be
several candidates for the same office whose pretensions,
abilities and integrity may be nearly equal—
and who will come forward so equally supported
in every respect as almost to require the aid
of supernatural intuition to fix upon the right.
I shall, however, in all events, have the satisfaction
to reflect that I entered upon my administration
unconfined by a single engagement, uninfluenced
by any ties of blood or friendship,
and with the best intentions and fullest determination
to nominate to office those persons only,
who, upon every consideration, were the most deserving,
and who would probably execute their several functions
to the interest and credit of the American Union,
if such characters could be found by my exploring
every avenue of information respecting their merits
and pretensions that it was in my power to obtain.7
On May 10 Washington wrote a longer letter to John Adams asking his advice
on how he should conduct himself and relate with others as President in nine different issues.
On May 26 Washington announced that the presidential mansion would be open
to the public and that it was to be called the “People’s House.”
He considered himself a “public servant.”
On June 1 Washington signed the first bill passed by Congress that codified
the administering of oaths which the Constitution allowed to be “sworn” or “affirmed.”
The Congress debated the bills to establish the
Departments of Foreign Affairs, War, and Treasury.
Henry Knox had been Secretary of War for the Confederation from March 1785
to September 1789, and in the new government he had five men on his staff.
The Treasury Department was also responsible for
collecting customs duties and administering the post office.
They became the largest department with 2,000 customs agents
and 1,000 postal employees.
Madison in June got the House of Representatives to pass a bill that
authorized the President to remove appointees without the advice and
consent of the Senate, and Vice President Adams broke the tie
to prevent the Senate from rejecting the bill.
Washington caught a fever in mid-June, and on the 17th Dr. Samuel Bard
and his consultants could not determine the diagnosis.
Concern that he had a tumor turned out to be an abscess.
On July 4 he signed a bill that laid duties on merchandise imported into the United States.
Because the old Confederation, needing unanimous consent of the states,
had failed to pass import duties and protective tariffs,
the new Congress began by attempting to do so.
Manufacturers wanted protective tariffs,
but they were opposed by farmers, especially in the southern states.
The Senate passed the Judiciary Act to set up judicial courts for the United States
on July 17, and it became law on September establishing a Supreme Court
with a Chief Justice and five Associate Justices and with 13 judicial districts.
By July 31 Congress had passed three tariff bills to gain revenue
by imposing a 5% ad valorem charge on most goods and up to 50% duty
on others such as steel, ships, cordage, tobacco, salt, indigo, and cloth.
The British were reluctant to withdraw from their frontier posts because
they helped them control the Indians and the fur trade which was worth £200,000 a year.
Because they were not withdrawing and neither paying compensation
nor returning stolen slaves according to the treaty,
Madison proposed that the tonnage duty on the English be
60 cents per ton but only 30 cents on their French ally.
The British commerce with America was one-sixth of their total
while the United States depended on the British for three-quarters of their trade.
Hamilton and others opposed this discrimination which could lead to a trade war,
and the Senate rejected the House bill.
Then the two houses agreed to put a 50-cent tonnage duty
on all foreign shipping and 6 cents per ton on American-owned ships.
On August 4 Congress approved the Funding Act of 1790
to Pay the Debt of the United States.
The Act authorized the government to pay the $12.5 million of the state debts
allotting various amounts for each of the 13 states ranging from $200,000 for
Rhode Island and Delaware to $4,000,000 for Massachusetts and South Carolina.
The Revenue Acts were approved on August 4 and 10 and provided
Revenue Marines to help the Treasury Department collect customs duties.
Congress established departments of foreign affairs, war, and finances,
followed by the offices of attorney general, postmaster general,
superintendent of the land office, and governor of the Northwest Territory.
On August 5 the Senate rejected Washington’s nomination of Benjamin Fishbourn
to be collector of the Savannah port, and the President’s temper flared up.
The ailing President was frustrated when they rejected him by a secret ballot.
Washington said he favored open voting.
On August 6 he sent a letter to the Senate explaining why Fishbourn was qualified.
On August 8 Washington wrote this to the Senate:
The business which has hitherto been under the
consideration of Congress has been of so much importance,
that I was unwilling to draw their attention
from it to any other subject.
But the disputes which exist between some
of the United States and several powerful Tribes of Indians
within the limits of the Union, and the hostilities which
have in several instances been committed on the Frontiers,
seem to require the immediate interposition
of the general Government.
I have, therefore, directed the several statements
and papers, which have been submitted to me
on this subject by General Knox
to be laid before you for your information.
While the measures of Government ought to be calculated
to protect its citizens from all injury and violence;
a due regard should be extended to those Indian Tribes
whose happiness, in the course of events,
so materially depends on the national justice
and humanity of the United States.
If it should be the judgment of Congress that
it would be most expedient to terminate all differences
in the Southern District, and to lay the foundation
for future confidence by an amicable treaty
with the Indian Tribes in that quarter, I think proper
to suggest the consideration of the expediency of instituting
a temporary Commission for that purpose,
to consist of three persons,
whose authority should expire with the occasion.
How far such a measure, unassisted by Posts,
would be competent to the establishment and preservation
of peace and tranquility on the Frontiers,
is also a matter which merits your serious consideration.
Along with this object I am induced to suggest another,
with the national importance and necessity
of which I am deeply impressed; I mean, some uniform
and effective system for the Militia of the United States.
It is unnecessary to offer arguments in recommendation
of a measure, on which the honor, safety and well-being
of our Country so evidently and so essentially depend.
But it may not be amiss to observe that
I am particularly anxious, it should receive
as early attention as circumstances will admit;
because it is now in our power to avail ourselves
of the military knowledge disseminated
throughout the several States, by means of the many
well instructed Officers and Soldiers of the late Army;
a resource which is daily diminishing
by deaths and other causes.
To suffer this peculiar advantage to pass away unimproved,
would be to neglect an opportunity
which will never again occur, unless, unfortunately,
we should again be involved in a long and arduous war.8
In early August the Secretary of War Henry Knox urged Washington
to accept the treaty that Knox had worked out with Creeks.
Knox said they had a right to the land and should not be removed by force.
The corrupt legislature in Georgia was selling to speculators
millions of acres of land the Creeks and other tribes claimed.
On August 7 Washington asked the Congress to approve the treaty,
and they did so and appropriated $20,000 for negotiations.
Washington appointed Benjamin Lincoln to lead the commission,
and Knox provided instructions.
On August 22 Washington went to the Senate with General Knox and the treaty papers.
Vice President Adams read aloud the articles of the treaty.
When Senators Robert Morris and Maclay asked for time to study the questions
and began demanding treaties and other documents,
the papers were assigned to a committee.
Washington complained that spoiled his reason for coming there, and he left in a huff.
He came back two days later, and the Senate approved
the three commissioners who would negotiate with the Creeks.
The Senate did agree to give their answers three days later,
and Washington returned in a serene manner.
After that he only consulted the Congress in writing.
He intended to be independent of the Vice President and the Senate.
Adams considered himself the head of the legislature,
and he became discontent because Washington had most of the power.
The Vice President’s only real power was breaking a tie vote in the Senate.
In 1789 President Washington had to fill about
a thousand positions in the federal government.
During the summer the Congress approved the War Department and the
Department of Foreign Affairs that was soon changed to the State Department.
In September the Treasury came under his friend
Alexander Hamilton who supervised 39 employees.
At the start Secretary of War Knox had only 540 federal troops.
Although Washington wanted John Jay to lead the State Department,
he approved Jay’s preference to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Jay agreed to run the State Department until Thomas Jefferson returned from Europe.
James Madison persuaded Washington that selecting Jefferson
as Secretary of State would strengthen loyalty in the West.
On September 17 Washington wrote this letter to the United States Senate:
It doubtless is important that all treaties and compacts
formed by the United States with other nations
whether civilized or not, should be made
with caution, and executed with fidelity.
It is said to be the general understanding and practice
of nations, as a check on the mistakes and indiscretions
of ministers or commissioners, not to consider any treaty
negotiated and signed by such officers as final
and conclusive until ratified by the sovereign
or government from whom they derive their powers.
This practice has been adopted by the United States,
respecting their treaties with European nations,
and I am inclined to think it would be advisable
to observe it in the conduct of our treaties with the Indians;
for though such treaties, being on their part made
by their chiefs or rulers, need not be ratified by them,
yet being formed on our part by the agency of subordinate
officers, it seems to be both prudent and reasonable,
that their acts should not be binding on the nation
until approved and ratified by the Government.
It strikes me that this point should be well considered
and settled, so that our national proceedings
in this respect may become uniform,
and be directed by fixed and stable principles.
The treaties with certain Indian nations, which were
laid before you with my message of the 25th May last
suggested two questions to my mind, viz:
First, whether those treaties were to be considered
as perfected and consequently
as obligatory without being ratified.
If not, then secondly, whether both or either,
and which of them ought to be ratified on these
questions I request your opinion and advice.
You have, indeed, advised me “to execute and enjoin
an observance of” the treaty with the Wyandots, etc.
You, gentlemen, doubtless intended to be clear and explicit,
and yet, without further explanation, I fear I may
misunderstand your meaning, for if by my executing
that treaty you mean that I should make it
(in a more particular and immediate manner than it now is)
the act of Government, then it follows that I am to ratify it.
If you mean by my executing it that I am to see that
it be carried into effect and operation, then I am led
to conclude either that you consider it as being perfect
and obligatory in its present state, and therefore to be
executed and observed, or that you consider it
as to derive its completion and obligation
from the silent approbation and ratification which
my proclamation may be construed to imply.
Although I am inclined to think that the latter
is your intention, yet it certainly is best
that all doubts respecting it be removed.
Permit me to observe that it will be proper for me to be
informed of your sentiments relative to the treaty
with the Six Nations, previous to the departure
of the governor of the Western territory, and
therefore I recommend it to your early consideration.9
On September 23 Washington wrote to Benjamin Franklin,
The affectionate congratulations on the recovery
of my health, and the warm expressions of personal
friendship which were contained in your favor
of the 16th instant, claim my gratitude.
And the consideration that it was written
when you were afflicted with a painful malady,
greatly increases my obligation for it.
Would to God, my dear Sir, that I could congratulate you
upon the removal of that excruciating pain under which
you labor! and that your existence might close
with as much ease to yourself, as its continuance
has been beneficial to our Country and useful to mankind!
Or, if the United wishes of a free people, joined with the
earnest prayers of every friend to Science and humanity
could relieve the body from pains or infirmities,
you could claim an exemption on this score.
But this cannot be, and you have within yourself
the only resource to which we can confidently
apply for relief: a Philosophic mind.
If to be venerated for benevolence:
If to be admired for talents:
If to be esteemed for patriotism:
If to be beloved for philanthropy,
can gratify the human mind, you must have the pleasing
consolation to know that you have not lived in vain;
and I flatter myself that it will not be ranked among
the least grateful occurrences of your life to be assured
that so long as I retain my memory, you will be
thought on with respect, veneration
and Affection by Your sincere friend etc.10
Congress passed a bill to create the United States Supreme Court with a
Chief Justice and five associate justices who could only be removed by impeachment.
Senators Ellsworth and William Paterson sponsored a bill to establish federal courts.
The most controversial issue was section 25 which authorized appeals
to the US Supreme Court by “writs of error” in the decisions of state courts.
Madison, Fisher Ames, and Roger Sherman were able to get the Senate bill
through the House, passing the Judiciary Act with the President’s signature
on September 24 to establish the Supreme Court with a chief justice and five
associate justices, three circuit courts with two judges each, and thirteen district courts.
Judges were independent with secure salaries and could only be removed by impeachment.
James Madison persuaded the Congress not to adjourn at the end of September
until they had passed a budget to keep the government from becoming bankrupt.
After estimating future debts they approved a budget of $639,000 for 1789,
$541,000 for 1790, and $741,000 for 1791.
They provided the President with an additional $10,000 for emergencies.
John Jay from New York was acting as Secretary of State
until Jefferson arrived from France.
Jay was persuaded by Madison and Washington to take the position
as the first chief justice of the United States.
Washington appointed him and provided regional balance by selecting
John Blair of Virginia, William Cushing of Massachusetts, James Wilson of Pennsylvania,
John Rutledge of South Carolina, and James Iredell of North Carolina
as associate justices of the Supreme Court.
Nevertheless they were all Federalists.
During its first three years the Supreme Court had practically no cases.
The US Constitution made the Vice President the president of the Senate,
and John Adams believed that this made him the leader and executive of the Senate.
Washington did not want the Senate intruding on his authority,
and Adams came to believe that he had “the most insignificant office.”
President Washington appointed his friend Alexander Hamilton of New York,
and he was sworn in as Secretary of the Treasury Department on September 11.
The Senate confirmed him the same day along with William Duer and four other assistants.
Washington had asked Robert Morris, but he had declined and recommended
Hamilton as the only man in America who could tell him about the debt.
Hamilton was determined to pay off the $75 million debt for the nation and all the states.
He began working the next day by arranging for a $50,000 loan
from the Bank of New York, and he wrote a letter to
the Bank of North America in Philadelphia asking for an equal amount.
The next day the re-appointed Henry Knox of Massachusetts
was confirmed as Secretary of War.
Edmund Randolph of Virginia was appointed Attorney General.
The President nominated Thomas Jefferson to be Secretary of State
on September 25, and he was confirmed the next day.
He was in France and did not take up his office until 22 March 1790.
Also on September 25 Congress submitted to the states
twelve amendments to the Constitution to provide a Bill of Rights.
The first Congress adjourned on September 29.
Thomas Jefferson in Paris on 6 September 1789 had written a letter
to James Madison that is also called “The Earth Belongs to the Living.”
Influenced by the beginning of the French Revolution he was witnessing,
Jefferson suggested that every generation has the right
to remake its society with a new revolution.
He wrote, “Every constitution, then, and every law, naturally expires at the end of 19 years.
If it be enforced longer, it is an act of force and not of right.”11
Because the Earth belongs to the living, not the dead, he asked whether
they may change and abolish the privileges attached
on lands, including the ecclesiastical and feudal.
Patrick Henry and James Madison of Virginia, New York’s Governor George Clinton,
and others insisted that the bill of rights be added to the United States Constitution.
Seventeen articles or amendments on August 24 were reduced
to twelve which the Senate approved on September 9,
and the House of Representatives accepted them on the 25th.
Not enough states ratified the first two of the proposed amendments,
and the other ten would be ratified and became
part of the Constitution on 15 December 1791.
The new Congress closed their first session and adjourned on September 30.
On October 3 Washington proclaimed the last Thursday in November
a day for prayers of thanksgiving, and on that day he provided
beer and food for those in jail for debt.
He proclaimed,
Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge
the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will,
to be grateful for his benefits,
and humbly to implore his protection and favor,
and whereas both Houses of Congress have
by their joint Committee requested me
to recommend to the People of the United States
a day of public thanksgiving and prayer
to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts
the many signal favors of Almighty God
especially by affording them an opportunity
peaceably to establish a form of government
for their safety and happiness.
Now therefore I do recommend and assign
Thursday the 26th day of November next to be
Devoted by the People of these States to the service
of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent
Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.
That we may then all unite in rendering unto him
our sincere and humble thanks, for his kind care
and protection of the People of this Country
previous to their becoming a Nation,
for the signal and manifold mercies,
and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which
we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war,
for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty,
which we have since enjoyed, for the peaceable
and rational manner, in which we have been enabled
to establish constitutions of government for our safety
and happiness, and particularly the national One
now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty
with which we are blessed, and the means we have
of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;
and in general for all the great and various favors
which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering
our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler
of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national
and other transgressions, to enable us all,
whether in public or private stations, to perform
our several and relative duties properly and punctually,
to render our national government a blessing
to all the People, by constantly being a government
of wise, just, and constitutional laws,
discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed,
to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations
(especially such as have shewn kindness unto us)
and to bless them with good government,
peace, and concord.
To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion
and virtue, and the increase of science among them and Us,
and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree
of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.12
Washington appointed 134 men who had been officers
in the Continental Army, 74 of them from the Cincinnati Society.
On September 24 he had nominated John Jay to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
He avoided choosing any relatives, and on October 13 he wrote
to Gouverneur Morris that the national government was organized.
He also appointed Morris a special agent to negotiate a commercial treaty with Britain.
Two days later Washington began a tour of New England
for his health and to see the condition of the country.
He not only visited with politicians but went to schools, farms, and factories.
After four weeks he returned to New York City,
where the federal government was located for 18 months.
Congress passed a law to make the Treasury Department’s reports
go directly to them without having to go through the President.
The Treasury Department began as the largest department by far with
an assistant secretary, controller, treasurer, auditor, register, 31 clerks,
dozens of staff in the Treasury office, and more than
2,000 customs officials, revenue agents, and postmasters in the states.
Hamilton established ethical standards that employees could not deal
in government securities, and he divested his own business investments
that could have been a conflict of interest.
Foreign affairs were called the State Department which began
with only a messenger, an office keeper, and four clerks.
Hamilton was influenced by Malachy Postlethwayt’s Universal Dictionary of Trade
and Britain’s Commercial Interest Explained and Improved as well as
Pelatiah Webster’s Political Essays on the Nature and Operation of Money,
Public Finances and Other Subjects and Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations.
On October 15 Washington left New York to visit
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire.
On November 23 Thomas Jefferson returned from
four years in France and landed at Norfolk, Virginia.
After three weeks he accepted the position as Secretary of State
to please President Washington.
Jefferson got a three-month delay before he was to go to the north.
During the Confederation from 1784 to 1789 settlers often came into conflict
with the Shawnee and Miami Indians in the Kentucky District by the Ohio River.
In January 1789 the Northwest Territory Governor Arthur St. Clair made two treaties
with the Native Americans at Fort Harmer.
Congress appropriated $20,000 to prepare for an Indian war.
Some Indian nations rejected the treaties, and they sent a delegation
to Detroit to get ammunition from the British.
Fighting began in the spring.
Washington tried to avoid conflict with the Wabash,
and he warned that incursions would be punished.
He and Secretary of War Knox agreed that the Indians had
natural rights and were to be treated with “justice and humanity.”
Some settlers like George Rogers Clark believed that war was necessary.
The Countess of Huntingdon led a Methodist movement in England,
and she and Washington agreed that civilization needed to precede Christianity.
On 7 July 1789 Secretary of War Knox wrote this letter to President Washington:
The report of the 23d of May 1789 on the treaties
at Fort Harmar, by the Governor of the Western Territory,
and the paper Number One of the Indian Department,
contain such a general statement of the circumstances
relative to the Indian tribes, within the limits of the
United States, North West of the Ohio, as will probably
render their situation sufficiently understood.
The Numbers, two, three, and four comprehend
a general view of the nations south of the Ohio.
But the critical situation of affairs between the
State of Georgia and the Creek Nation
require a more particular consideration.
In discussing this subject it will appear that the interest of all
the Indian nations south of the Ohio as far as the same
may relate to the whites, is so blended together,
as to render the circumstance highly probable, that
in case of a War, they may make it one common cause.
Although each nation or tribe may have latent causes
of hatred to each other on Account of disputes of boundaries
and game, yet when they shall be impressed with the Idea,
that their lives and lands are all at hazard, all inferior
disputes will be accommodated, and a union as firm as the
six northern nations may be formed by the southern tribes.
Their situation entirely surrounded on all sides, leads
naturally to such a Union; and the present difficulties of
the Creeks and Cherokees may accelerate and complete it.
Already the Cherokees have taken refuge from the violence
of the frontier people of North Carolina within the limits
of the Creeks, and it may not be difficult for a Man
of Mr. McGillivray’s abilities to convince the Choctaws
and Chickasaws, that their remote situation is their only
present protection that the time must shortly arrive
when their troubles will commence.
In addition to these causes impelling to a general
confederacy, there is another of considerable importance.
The Policy of the Spaniards—the jealousy that power
entertains of the extension of the United States would
lead them into considerable expense
to build up if possible an impassable barrier.
They will therefore endeavor to form and cement
such a Union of the southern Indians.
Mr. McGillivray has stated that Spain is bound by treaty
to protect the Creeks in their hunting grounds.
Although it may be prudent to doubt this assertion
for the present, yet it is certain that Spain actually
claims a considerable part of the territory
ceded by Great Britain to the United States.
These circumstances require due weight in deliberating
on the measures to be adopted respecting the Creeks.
Although the case of the Creeks will be a subject of
Legislative discussion and decision, it may be supposed
that after due consideration they will in substance
adopt one or the other of the following alternatives to wit.
1st That the national dignity and justice require that
the Arms of the union should be called forth in order to
chastise the Creek nation of Indians for refusing to Treat
with the United States on reasonable terms and for their
hostile invasion of the State of Georgia or,
2dly That it appears to the Congress of the United States
that it would be highly expedient to attempt to quiet,
the hostilities between the State of Georgia and the
Creek Nation of Indians by an amicable negotiation,
and for that purpose there be a bill brought in to authorize
the President of the United States to appoint three
Commissioners to repair to the State of Georgia in order to
conclude a peace with the said Creek nation and other
nations of Indians to the Southward of the Ohio,
within the limits of the United States.
Supposing that any measure similar to either of the said
alternatives should be adopted it may be proper
to examine into the manner which they are to be executed.
The most effectual mode of reducing the Creeks
to submit to the will of the United States and to
acknowledge the validity of the treaties stated to
have been made by that nation with Georgia, would be
by an adequate Army to be raised and continued
until the objects of the War should be accomplished.
When the force of the Creeks be estimated and
the probable combinations they might make
with the other Indian nations,
the army ought not to be calculated at less than 5000 Men.
This number on paper would not probably afford at the best,
more than 3500 effectives.
The delays and Contingencies inseparable from the
preparations and operations of an Army, would probably
render its duration necessary for the term of two years.
An Operating army of the above description, including
all expenses could not be calculated at less than
one Million five hundred thousand dollars annually.
A less army than the one herein proposed would probably
be utterly inadequate to the object:
a useless expense, and disgraceful to the nation.
In case the second alternative should be agreed upon,
the negotiation should be conducted by three Commissioners
with an adequate compensation for the trouble
of the business, as an inducement
for proper persons to accept the trust.
The Commissioners should be invested with full powers
to decide all differences respecting boundaries between
the State of Georgia and the Creek Indians,
unconstrained by treaties said to exist between
the said parties otherwise than the same
may be reciprocally acknowledged.
The Commissioners also should be invested with powers
to examine into the case of the Cherokees, and to renew
with them the treaty made at Hopewell in November 1785,
and report to the President such measures as
shall be necessary to protect the said Cherokees
in their former boundaries.
But all treaties with the Indian nations however equal,
and just they may be in their principles will not only
be nugatory but humiliating to the Sovereign
unless they shall be guaranteed by a body of troops.
The angry passions of the frontier Indians and whites
are too easily inflamed by reciprocal injuries,
and are too violent to be controlled
by the feeble authority of the civil power.
There can be neither Justice or observance of treaties,
where every man claims to be the sole Judge in his own
cause, and the avenger of his own supposed wrongs.
In such a case the sword of the Republic only,
is adequate to guard a due administration of Justice,
and the preservation of the peace.
In case therefore of the Commissioners concluding
a treaty, the boundaries between the whites and Indians
must be protected by a body of at least five hundred troops.
The posts which they should occupy should be without
the limits or jurisdiction of any individual State and within
the territory assigned to the Indians for which
particular provision should be made in the treaties.
All offences committed by individuals contrary
to the treaties should be tried by a Court Martial
agreeably to a law to be made for that purpose.
By this arrangement the operation of which will soon
be understood, the Indians would be convinced of the
Justice and good intentions of the United States,
and they would soon learn to venerate and obey
that power from whom they derived security against
the avarice and injustice of lawless frontier people.
Hence it will appear that troops will be necessary
in either alternative—An Army in case of an adoption
of the first, and after all the success that could reasonably
be expected by means thereof, a corps to be continued
and stationed on the frontiers of five hundred men.
In case of the adoption of the second, the corps of
five hundred only will be wanted
provided proper treaties can be effected.
But in any event of troops the subject must necessarily
be considered and determined by Congress.
The disgraceful violation of the Treaty of Hopewell
with the Cherokees, requires
the serious consideration of Congress.
If so direct and manifest contempt of the authority of the
United States be suffered with impunity, it will be in vain
to attempt to extend the arm of Government to the frontiers.
The Indian tribes can have no faith in such imbecile promises,
and the lawless whites will ridicule a Government which shall on
paper only, make Indian treaties and regulate Indian boundaries.
The Policy of extending trade under certain regulations
to the Choctaws and Chickasaws under the protection
of military posts will also be
a subject of Legislative deliberation.
The following observations, resulting from a general view
of the Indian Department, are suggested with the hope that
some of them might be considered as proper principles
to be interwoven in a general system
for the government of Indian affairs.
It would reflect honor on the new government and be
attended with happy effects were a declarative Law to be
passed that the Indian tribes possess the right of the soil
of all lands within their limits respectively and that they
are not to be divested thereof but in consequence of fair
and bona fide purchases, made under the authority,
or with the express approbation of the United States.
As a great source of all Indian wars are disputes about
their boundaries, and as the United States are from the
nature of the government liable to be involved in every war,
that shall happen on this or any other account,
it is highly proper that their authority and consent should
be considered as essentially necessary to all measures
for the consequences of which they are responsible.
No individual State could with propriety complain
of invasion of its territorial rights.
The independent nations and tribes of Indians
ought to be considered as foreign nations,
not as the subjects of any particular state.
Each individual State indeed will retain the right
of pre-emption of all lands within its limits,
which will not be abridged.
But the general Sovereignty must possess the right
of making all treaties on the execution or violation
of which depend peace or war.
Whatever may have been the conduct of some of
the late British Colonies in their separate capacities
toward the Indians, yet the same cannot be charged
against the national character of the United States.
It is only since they possess the powers of Sovereignty,
that they are responsible for their conduct.
But in future the obligations of Policy, humanity
and Justice, together with that respect which
every nation sacredly owes to its own reputation
unite in requiring a noble, liberal and disinterested
administration of Indian affairs.
Although the disposition of the people of the States
to emigrate into the Indian country cannot be effectually
prevented, it may be restrained and regulated.
It may be restrained by postponing new purchases
of Indian territory, and by prohibiting the Citizens
from intruding on the Indian Lands.
It may be regulated by forming Colonies under
the direction of Government and by posting
a body of troops to execute their orders.
As population shall increase, and approach the Indian
boundaries, Game will be diminished,
and new purchases may be made for small considerations.
This has been and probably will be
the inevitable consequence of cultivation.
It is however painful to consider that all the Indian tribes
once existing in those States, now the best cultivated
and most populous, have become extinct.
If the same causes continue, the same effects will happen,
and in a short period the Idea of an Indian on this side the
Mississippi will only be found in the page of the historian.
How different would be the sensation of a philosophic
mind to reflect that instead of exterminating a part of
the human race by our modes of population that
we had persevered through all difficulties and at last
had imparted our Knowledge of cultivation, and the arts,
to the Aboriginals of the Country by which the source of
future life and happiness had been preserved and extended.
But it has been conceived to be impracticable to civilize
the Indians of North America.
This opinion is probably more convenient than Just.
That the civilization of the Indians would
be an operation of complicated difficulty.
That it would require the highest knowledge of the human
character, and a steady perseverance in a wise system
for a series of years cannot be doubted,
But to deny that under a course of favorable circumstances
it could not be accomplished is to suppose the human
character under the influence of such stubborn habits
as to be incapable of melioration or change a supposition
entirely contradicted by the progress of society from
the barbarous ages to its present degree of perfection.
While it is contended that the object is practicable
under a proper system, it is admitted in the fullest force to
be impracticable according to the ordinary course of things,
and that it could not be effected in a short period.
Were it possible to introduce among the Indian tribes
a love for exclusive property,
it would be a happy commencement of the business.
This might be brought about by making presents from
time to time to the Chiefs or their Wives of sheep and other
domestic animals, and if in the first instance persons were
appointed to take charge and teach the use of them
a considerable part of the difficulty would be surmounted.
In the administration of the Indians every proper
expedient that can be devised to gain their affections,
and attach them to the interest of the Union
should be adopted.
The British Government had the practice of making
the Indians presents of silver medals and Gorgets,
uniform Clothing, and a sort of Military commission.
The possessors retained an exclusive property to these
articles—and the Southern Indians are exceedingly
desirous of receiving similar gifts from the United States
for which they would willingly resign
those received from the British Officers.
The policy of gratifying them cannot be doubted.
Missionaries of excellent moral character should be
appointed to reside in their nation, who should be well
supplied with all the implements of husbandry
and the necessary stock for a farm.
These men should be made the instruments
to work on the Indians.
Presents should commonly pass through their hands
or by their recommendations.
They should in no degree be concerned in trade,
or the purchase of lands to rouse
the Jealousy of the Indians.
They should be their friends and fathers.
Such a plan although it might not fully effect the civilization
of the Indians would most probably be attended
with the salutary effect of attaching them
to the Interest of the United States.
It is particularly important that something of this nature
should be attempted with the southern nations of Indians,
whose confined situation might render them
proper subjects for the experiment.
The expense of such a conciliatory system
may be considered as a sufficient reason for rejecting it.
But when this shall be compared with a system of
coercion it would be found the highest Economy to adopt it.
The commanding Officers of the Troops on the frontiers
of the Southern and Northern districts as they
possess the sword should be the Indian Agents
and for which they should have a consideration.
Every article given to the Indians should be accounted for
and witnessed by two commissioned officers.
The commanding officer should not receive any present
from the Indians but in every respect conduct towards them
in the most friendly and just manner.13
The British maintained their forts at Michilimackinac and Detroit in the northwest,
Niagara and Oswego on Lake Ontario, Oswegatchie on the St. Lawrence seaway,
and at Dutchman’s Point and Point-au-Fer on Lake Champlain.
The British justified keeping them because they believed
they had not recovered their debts from American citizens.
In the mid-1780s William Cooper and his partner had purchased
tens of thousands of acres in upstate New York,
and in the early 1790s he was the richest man in Otsego County
where he raised his son James Fenimore Cooper, the famous novelist.
Most speculators in the west did not do as well as they had hoped
because settlers found so much land available for free.
Also Indian hostilities limited the number of settlers.
Many Americans believed that no one had a right to own land they did not farm.
Knox estimated that between the Allegheny mountains and the Mississippi River
there were about 76,000 Native Americans that included 20,000 warriors
under the chiefs Cornplanter and Joseph Brant.
Knox believed they should be treated as foreign nations.
At Chota in May at a council 24 Cherokee chiefs and warriors worked
on a talk to send to “our elder brother General Washington”
and the Great Council of the United States.
They said they were “made by the same hand and in the same shape with your selves,”
and they wanted to live in peace and friendship with the United States.
They asked Washington to send an honest man who will not encourage spilling blood.
Washington on 7 August 1789 sent this letter to the Congress:
The Business which has hitherto been
under the consideration of Congress has been
of so much importance that I was unwilling
to draw their attention from it to any other subject.
But the disputes which exist between some
of the United States and several powerful tribes of Indians
within the limits of the Union,
and the hostilities which have in several instances
been committed on the frontiers,
seem to require the immediate interposition
of the general Government.
I have therefore directed the several statements
and papers, which have been submitted to me
on this subject by General Knox
to be laid before you for your information.
While the measures of Government ought to be calculated
to protect its Citizens from all injury and violence,
a due regard should be extended to those Indians
whose happiness in the course of events
so materially depends on the national justice
and humanity of the United States.
If it should be the judgment of Congress,
that it would be most expedient to terminate all differences
in the Southern District, and to lay the foundation
for future confidence by an amicable Treaty
with the Indian Tribes in that quarter
I think proper to suggest the consideration of the expediency
of instituting a temporary Commission for that purpose,
to consist of three persons
whose authority should expire with the occasion.
How far such a measure unassisted by Posts,
would be competent to the establishment and preservation
of peace and tranquility on the frontiers, is also
a matter which merits your serious consideration.14
Brigadier General Josiah Harmar of Pennsylvania fought in the Revolutionary War
and was a founding member of the Society of the Cincinnati.
In June 1784 the Congress had sent him with the First American Regiment
north of the Ohio River that in 1787 had become the Northwest Territory.
Harmar had signed a treaty there on 21 January 1785
with the Wyandotte, Delaware, Chippewa, and Ottawa nations.
In June 1788 he reported that about 6,000 settlers had passed through Fort Harmar.
In the southwest General James Wilkinson secretly received an annual salary
of $2,000 from the Spanish government for 15 years as their Agent 13.
With his Second Memorial on 24 September 1789 at New Orleans
he tried to establish an alliance with Spain, but this second conspiracy also failed.
By fall 1789 an Indian war had broken out in the Ohio territory.
General Harmar led Pennsylvania troops that built forts in the Northwest Territory.
On 30 September 1790 he took 320 regulars
and 1,133 militia from Fort Washington (now Cincinnati).
Until 1791 Harmar was the commander of the United States Army at Fort McIntosh.
On October 6 Washington wrote this letter to the former major general
in the
Continental Army and the current Governor of the Northwest Territory, Arthur St. Clair:
Congress having by their Act of the 29th of September last
empowered me to call forth the Militia of the States
respectively, for the protection of the frontiers from
the incursions of the hostile Indians, I have thought
proper to make this communication to you,
together with the instructions herein contained.
It is highly necessary that I should as soon as possible
possess full information whether the Wabash and Illinois
Indians are most inclined for war or peace—
If for the former it is proper that I should be informed of
the means which will most probably induce them to peace—
If a peace can be established with the said Indians
on reasonable terms, the interests of the United States
dictate that it should be effected as soon as possible.
You will therefore inform the said Indians of the
dispositions of the general government on this subject,
and of their reasonable desire that there should be
a cessation of hostilities as a prelude to a treaty—
If however notwithstanding your intimations to them,
they should continue their hostilities, or meditate any
incursions against the frontiers of Virginia and Pennsylvania,
or against any of the troops or posts of the United States,
and it should appear to you the time of execution would be
so near as to forbid your transmitting the information to me,
and receiving my further orders thereon, then you are
hereby authorized and empowered in my name to call on
the Lieutenants of the nearest Counties of Virginia and
Pennsylvania for such detachments of Militia as you
may judge proper, not exceeding however one thousand
from Virginia and five hundred from Pennsylvania.
I have directed Letters to be written to the Executives
of Virginia and Pennsylvania, informing them of the
before recited Act of Congress, and that I have given you
these conditional directions, so that there may not be
any obstructions to such measures as shall be necessary
to be taken by you for calling forth the militia
agreeably to the instructions herein contained.
The said militia to act in conjunction with the federal troops
in such operations, offensive or defensive, as you
and the Commanding officer of the troops conjointly
shall judge necessary for the public service,
and the protection of the inhabitants and the posts.
The said Militia while in actual service to be
on the Continental establishment of pay and rations—
they are to arm and equip themselves, but to be
furnished with public ammunition if necessary—
and no charge for the pay of said Militia will be valid
unless supported by regular musters, made by a field
or other Officer of the federal troops to be appointed
by the commanding Officer of the troops.
I would have it observed forcibly that a War with the
Wabash Indians ought to be avoided by all means
consistently with the security of the frontier inhabitants,
the security of the troops and the national dignity—
In the exercise of the present indiscriminate hostilities,
it is extremely difficult if not impossible to say
that a war without further measures would be
just on the part of the United States.
But if after manifesting clearly to the Indians
the dispositions of the general government for the
preservation of peace, and the extension of a just protection
to the said Indians, they should continue their incursions,
the United States will be constrained
to punish them with severity.
You will also proceed as soon as you can with safety
to execute the orders of the late Congress, respecting
the inhabitants at St Vincennes and at the Kaskaskies,
and the other Villages on the Mississippi—
It is a circumstance of some importance that the said
inhabitants should as soon as possible possess the lands to
which they are entitled by some known and fixed principles.
I have directed a number of copies of the treaty
made by you at Fort Harmar with the Wyandots &c:
on the 9th of January last to be printed, and forwarded
to you, together with the ratification, and
my Proclamation enjoining the observance thereof.
As it may be of high importance to obtain a precise
and accurate knowledge of the several Waters
which empty into the Ohio on the North West—
and of those which discharge themselves into
the lakes Erie and Michigan; the length of the portages
between, and the nature of the ground, an early
and pointed attention thereto is earnestly recommended.
Given under my hand in the City of New-York, this 6th day
of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand seven
hundred and eighty nine, and in the thirteenth year of the
sovereignty and Independence of the United States.15
On December 17 Washington wrote this letter
to the chiefs and warriors of the Choctaw nation:
Brothers: I have sent Major Doughty one of our Warriors,
in order to convince you that the United States well
remember the treaty they made with your Nation
four years ago at Hopewell on the Keowee.
Guard and protect him and show him
the places at which trading posts shall be established
in order to furnish you with goods;
and when the said posts shall be established,
support them to the utmost of your power.
Be attentive to what he shall say in the name
of the United States for he will speak only truth.
Regard the United States as your firm and best support.
Keep bright the chain of friendship between the
Chickasaws and your nation, reject the advice
of bad men who may attempt to poison your minds
with suspicions against the United States.16
On October 7 General Harmar and Col. John Hardin led 1,420 troops
that fought the natives led by Little Turtle, Blue Jacket, and Le Gris
near the Miami village of Kekionga.
On October 17 Harmer’s men burned Kekionga and five other villages,
and they destroyed 20,000 bushels of corn.
On the 22nd Col. Hardin with about 540 men attacked
about 1,050 Miami and Shawnee warriors led by Little Turtle.
After three hours of fighting the United States troops retreated;
129 were killed, and 94 were wounded.
The Indians’ casualties were less than 150.
Because Benjamin Franklin had been influenced by The Law of Nations
by Emer de Vattel, Washington in October borrowed
that book from the New York Society Library.
On 21 December 1789 the Georgia legislature sold 25,400,000 acres
in the Mississippi, Tombigbee, and Tennessee valleys to the
Yazoo companies in South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee for $207,580.
Notes
1. Washington Writings, p. 726.
2. George Washington: A Biography Volume 6 Patriot and President
by Douglas Southall Freeman, p. 165.
3. Washington Writings, p. 730-734.
4. Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow, p. 574.
5. Washington Writings, p. 734.
6. Ibid., p. 735-736.
7. The Writings of George Washington from Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799,
Volume 30: June 22, 1788-January 21, 1790 ed. John C. Fitzpatrick, p. 313-314.
8. Ibid., p. 373-374.
9. Ibid., p. 406-408.
10. Ibid., p. 409.
11. Writings by Thomas Jefferson, p. 963.
12. Basic Writings of George Washington, p. 565-566.
13. To George Washington from Henry Knox, 7 July 1789 (online)
14. The Writings of George Washington from Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799,
Volume 30, p. 479-480.
15. Washington Writings, p. 743-745.
16. From George Washington to the Chiefs of the Choctaw Nation, 17 December 1789
(Online)
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