Question

1.) What issues did George Washington face in his two terms as president? Describe early examples of legislation on foreign policy, domestic issues, immigration, etc.

Answer 1

The correct answer to this open question is the following.

The issues the first President of the United States, George Washington, faced in his two terms were the following.

Regarding domestic issues, one of the most critical was the issue of national debt. After the end of the Revolutionary War of Independence, the United States inherited a deep debt. Washington asked his Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, to come up with a good solution to reduce the debt. So new tax revenues hit hard on the population and the federal government issued new bonds. Of course, these decisions were not well accepted and upset many citizens. For instance, American farmers in western Pennsylvania rebelled against these decisions.

Another critical issue was the relationships with Native American Indian tribes that rebelled against the federal government. Washington had to send the army to defeat those rebellions, and finally, both parties signed the Treaty of Greenville to end hostilities.

Regarding foreign policy, Washington had to deal smartly with the confrontations between Great Britain and France, which had many disputes. Washington opted for the neutral approach of no intervention in foreign affairs.