American History

American History

Introduction

In the early days of American History, United States faced a lot of problems including financial problems. Remarkable skills of its leaders and untiring efforts of its people made the country economically sound and strong. In 1787, leaders of America wrote the constitution of United States. This basic law made the country a strong political unit (www.theusaonline.com). The famous and important figures who contributed in the making of this constitution were James Madison and George Washington of Virginia. Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton were also among them. After the war of 1812, United States focused its attention towards the growth and development of the country (www.theusaonline.com).

William Maclay

William Maclay was born in 1737, in Pennsylvania. He served as a commissary in the Continental Army. In 1780s; he served in the state legislature. William Maclay was a great supporter in the independence movement of America. He showed some worries, criticism and complaints about the direction of the new nation. He was the only person who stood as a real opposition spokesman (Stromberg, 2003). He was a legislator in the Senate, but soon he opposed his colleagues in the Senate. He disliked the interactions between Senate and President George Washington. When the business was being transacted, he opposed the presence of Washington in the Senate (www.senate.gov). Maclay was the one who began to fear the most. He wrote: “My mind revolts, in many instances, against the Constitution of the United States (Stromberg, 2003)”

Issues faced by the new nation and the Washington Administration in 1789

In 1989, George Washington, first president of the nation faced many problems including economic, political and territorial problems. He was afraid that the new government will not last for a prolonged period. New nation also faced foreign policy problems. In contravention of the peace treaty of 1783, Britain occupied forts in the Old Northwest (www.digitalhistory.uh.edu). 1973, French went to the war against Spain and Britain. As French has helped the Americans in the American Revolution, they expected from Americans to support them in the war. Washington refused to help and support them and became neutral (www.theusaonline.com). These foreign issues affected the life of Americans. An unpaid debt was another issue that persisted during early days. All such issues had a significant impact on the social life and lead to diplomatic humiliation (www.academicamerican.com).

Early American life

In the early years, Americans had to face many unsolved old problems such as the problem of expansion, trade and regional differences. Americans were in need of British goods, but they were unable to trade with Britain during the days of the war. This new country was short of currency and was not able to trade with Britain (www.academicamerican.com). In 1787, American slave trade was abolished, and the slavery was banned in Northwest region. United states were a country of freedom, but slavery was not abolished as it was expected. People faced many hardships after the formation of new state (Greeley, 1851)

The Culture of Republic

At the end of the independence war, the citizens of ...