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1784-1797 George Washington
April 30, 1789 he took the oath of becoming the first United States president. Born in 1732 into a Virginia planter family. He pursued two intertwined interests military arts and western expansion. he was a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he fought the first battles of what grew into the French and Indian War. When the Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia in May 1775, Washington, one of the Virginia delegates, was elected Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. -
1784-1797 George Washington CONT.
On July 3, 1775, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, he took command of his poorly trained troops and went upon a war that lasted six long hard faught years. he soon realized after the war that the Nation under its Articles of Confederation was not functioning well, so he became a prime mover in the steps leading to the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in 1787. When the new Constitution was ratified, the Electoral College unanimously elected Washington. -
1797 1801 John Adams
John Adams was more remarkable as a political philosopher than as a politician. "People and nations are forged in the fires of adversity," thats some of his great philosophy he preached. he was the nations 2nd president. Adams was born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1735. A Harvard graduate with a lawyer degree. he early became identified with the patriot cause. which was a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, he led in the movement for independence. -
1797-1801 John Adams CONT.
During the Revolutionary War he served in France and Holland in diplomatic roles, and helped negotiate the peace treaty. he returned to be the vice president under George Washington. When Adams became President Adams sent three commissioners to France. when he heard back from his men they told him france wouldnt negotiate until they paid them some money. John Adams refused to do that.President Adams did not call for a declaration of war, but hostilities began at sea. -
1797-1801 John Adams CONT 2
Word came to Adams that France also had no stomach for war. after he sent a peace mission to France. after that everything was fine. Adams retired to his farm in Quincy, he died on July 4, 1826. -
1801-1809 Thomas Jefferson
This powerful advocate of liberty was born in 1743 in Albemarle County, Virginia, inheriting from his father, a planter and surveyor, some 5,000 acres of land. the nations 3rd president. Jefferson was eloquent as a correspondent, but he was no public speaker. In the Virginia House of Burgesses and the Continental Congress, he used his pen rather than his voice. he was known As the "silent member" of the Congress., Jefferson, at 33, drafted the Declaration of Independence. -
1801-1809 Thomas Jefferson CONT.
Jefferson assumed leadership of the Republicans, Attacking Federalist policies, he believed in a strong centralized Government and the rights of states. When Jefferson assumed the Presidency, the crisis in France had passed. He stopped Army and Navy expenditures. he also reduced the nations debt by a thrid of it. he had the opportunity to acquire the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon in 1803. Jefferson retired to Monticello He died on July 4, 1826 -
1809-1817 James Madison
James madison was the 4th president of the U.S. Born in 1751, Madison was brought up in Orange County, Virginia, and went Princeton. A student of history and government, well-read in law, he participated in the framing of the Virginia Constitution in 1776, Madison made a big contribution to the ratification of the Constitution by writing, with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, the Federalist essays. also he helped frame the Bill of Rights and enact the first revenue legislation. -
1809-1817 James madison CONT.
Madison was elected President in 1808. The British impressment of American seamen and the seizure of cargoes impelled Madison to give in. On June 1, 1812, he asked Congress to declare war. a few notable naval and military victories, climaxed by Gen. Andrew Jackson's triumph at New Orleans, convinced Americans that the War of 1812 had been successful. retirement at Montpelier, his estate in Orange County, Virginia. -
1817-1825 James Monroe
Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1758, Monroe attended the College of William and Mary, fought with distinction in the Continental Army, and practiced law in Fredericksburg, Virginia. A young politician, he joined the anti-Federalists in the Virginia Convention which ratified the Constitution, and in 1790, he was elected United States Senator. His ambition and energy, with the backing of President Madison, made him the Republican choice for the Presidency in 1816. -
1817-1825 James Monroe CONT.
The Missouri Compromise bill resolved the depression, pairing Missouri as a slave state with Maine, a free state, and banning slavery north and west of Missouri forever. responding to the threat that the more conservative governments in Europe might try to aid Spain in winning back her former Latin American colonies.He wished to avoid trouble with Spain until it had ceded the Floridas, which was done in 1821. -
1817-1825 James Monroe CONT.2
"by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European Power." this became the Monroe Doctorine after he died -
1825-1829 John Quincy Adams
The first President who was the son of a President, John Quincy Adams in many respects had similar viewpoints of his illustrious father. Born in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1767, he watched the Battle of Bunker Hill from the top of Penn's Hill above the family farm.After graduating from Harvard College, he became a lawyer. At age 26 he was appointed Minister to the Netherlands.Serving under President Monroe, Adams was one of America's great Secretaries of State, -
1825-1829 John Quincy Adams CONT.
he was so great because of what he accomplished.he arranged with England for the joint occupation of the Oregon country, obtaining from Spain the cession of the Floridas, and formulating with the President the Monroe Doctrine. Upon becoming President, Adams appointed Clay as Secretary of State. Jackson. he pushed for a network of highways and canals, and that it develop and conserve the public domain, using funds from the sale of public lands. -
1825-1829 John Quincy Adams Cont 2
Adams also wanted and pushed for the United States to take a lead in the development of the arts and sciences through the establishment of a national University. The campaign of 1828, in which his Jacksonian opponents charged him with corruption and public plunder, he lost the election but then elected to the house of REPS. -
1829-1837 Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was elected by popular vote; as President he sought to act as the direct representative of the common man. Born in a backwoods settlement in the Carolinas in 1767, he received little education. in his late teens he read law for about two years, and he became an outstanding young lawyer in Tennessee. He was the first man elected from Tennessee to the House of Representatives, and he served briefly in the Senate. A major general in the War of 1812. he was considered a hero. -
1829-1873 Andrew Jackson CONT.
As national politics polarized around Jackson and his opposition, two parties grew out of this. they where the Democrats, adhering to Jackson; and the National Republicans, or Whigs, opposing him. unlike previous Presidents, did not defer to Congress in policy-making but used his power of the veto and his party leadership to assume command. The greatest party battle centered around the Second Bank of the United States. he retired to the Hermitage, where he died in June 1845. -
1837-1841 Martin Van Buren
he was born in 1782, the son of a tavernkeeper and farmer, in Kinderhook, New York. As a young lawyer he became involved in New York politics. and in 1821 was elected to the United States Senate. President Jackson rewarded Van Buren by appointing him Secretary of State. Van Buren became the President's most trusted adviser. Jackson referred to him as, "a true man with no guile." when he was elected The country was prosperous, but less than three months later the panic of 1837 punctured -
1837-1841 Martin Van Buren CONT.
the prosperity. the trouble was the 19th-century cyclical economy of "boom and bust," To end all of this he had to issued a Specie Circular requiring that lands be purchased with hard money--gold or silver. In 1837 the panic began. Hundreds of banks and businesses failed. Thousands lost their lands. the worst depression in its history. He opposed not only the creation of a new Bank of the United States but also the placing of Government funds in state banks. -
William Henry Harrison 1841 CONT.
he was given command of the northwestern army in the war of 1812 and defeated the british and indians forces. after the war he returned to civilian life. the Whigs party was desperate for a national hero so they elected him in 1840. within the first month as a president he got a cold which developed in pnuemonia and it ended up killing him on April 4, 1841. he was the first president to die in office -
William Henry Harrison 1841
he was born at Berkeley in 1733. he studied classics and history at hampden-sydney college then studied medicine at richmond. 1791 he obtained a commission as ensign in the first infantry of the regular army where he spent most of his life. fighting in the campaign against the indians helped opend most of the ohio area for settlement. after the army he became the secretary of the northwest and helped obtain legislation dividing the territoy into the northwest and indiana territory. -
John Tyler 1841-1845 CONT.
all of his cabinets resigned because of him besides secretary of state webster. a year later he vetoed a bill regarding a tariff. after that the first impeachement resolution was introduced in the house of REPS. it stated that he obused his veto power. the impeachement failed. -
John Tyler 1841-1845
born in Virginia 1790. he attended the college of William and Mary where he studied law. serving in the house of REPS tyler voted against monst national legislation and opposed the Missouri Compromise. the whigs nominated tyler for vice president in 1840 once president harrison died he was nominated president. tyler vetoed a very important bill to establish a national bank. a similar bill was passed by congress but he vetoed it once again. in relatiation the whigs expelled him from their party.