After the United States declared its Independence from Britain on July 4, 1776,
the long process of building the state began. This era started with the
individual state constitutions, which blended the traditions of British and
colonial rule with the new, more radical republicanism that infused the nation
during the Revolutionary War. State
governments established, Americans realized the need for a national government
to take on responsibility for diplomatic representation and military control.
The first attempt at national government was laid out in the Articles of
Confederation. The Articles established a loose
federation of states that all essentially acted as individual republics; the
balance of power lay heavily in the states favor and the national government was
far too weak to perform even its basic duties.
During the mid 1780s, the government under the Articles of Confederation proved
unable to successfully levy and collect taxes, and unable to carry out the basic
requirements of diplomacy. The nation was in danger of breaking apart. After
Shays' Rebellion alerted many Americans to the weakness of the current
national government, political leaders decided to alter the framework of
government under which the United States operated.
The Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia and determined that it was
in the nation's best interest to create an entirely new framework of government.
For nearly four months, the delegates at the convention deliberated on how best
to accomplish this rebuilding effort. The Constitution, the result of these
proceedings, sets out the tripartite system of government that is still in place
in the US today. It created a bicameral legislature consisting of the House
of Representatives and the Senate, an executive branch headed by the president
and staffed by the cabinet, and provided for the establishment of a judicial
branch, consisting of a federal-court system headed by the Supreme Court.
Although the Constitution established the basic framework of government, its
wording was vague in regard to the details. Thus, the first Congress under the
Constitution and the first President, George Washington, were responsible
for working out the details of governance. In the first years of the new United
States, Washington and the Congress created, among other things, the now
accepted traditions of the cabinet and the judicial system. The precedents they
set established the standard operating procedure of the national government for
years to come.
During the fight to ratify the Constitution, a division sprang up between those
who wanted to grant the central government broad powers, the Federalists,
and those who feared that a national government which was too strong would prove
despotic, the Anti-federalists. This debate continued into the Washington
administration, as Secretary of State Alexander Hamilton set forth a program
of economic Federalism which included the assumption of state debts by the
national government, and the creation of the Bank of the United States. His
efforts paid off for the US on a general scale, but Hamilton's actions turned
many away from Federalism, since they believed Hamilton had overstepped the
bounds of the national government.
Added to the growing internal turmoil was the threat of war with Britain, Spain,
and the Native Americans over the control of the American West (which at this
point was the area around Ohio). On the brink of war with all three parties,
Washington sent successful diplomatic missions to achieve peace. However,
international relations proved to be yet another area where passions ran high
and the American population was divided. Washington left office in 1797
pleading for an end to political division and embroilment in foreign affairs.
Yet despite his best efforts, the American public was far more sharply divided
in 1797 than it had been at the outset of his presidency. Even so, upon
Washington's departure from office, America itself was a far more powerfully
established nation.
