The Constitution was only words on paper until people used it. George Washington took the oath as the first President on April 30, 1789, in New York City, then the capital. Almost everything he did became a precedent, a first example later presidents followed. The Bill of Rights was being written in the same Congress.
Key idea
Washington (1789 to 1797) formed the first Cabinet: Thomas Jefferson (State), Alexander Hamilton (Treasury), Henry Knox (War), Edmund Randolph (Attorney General). He backed Hamilton's plan: the national government took over the states' war debts, chartered a national bank (1791), and taxed imports and whiskey. He put down the Whiskey Rebellion (1794), kept the country neutral in Europe's wars (1793), and stepped down after two terms.
Why it works
Hamilton's idea was credit. A country that paid its debts in full could borrow when it needed to, as in a war. Taking over state debts also tied wealthy lenders to the new government's success. Critics, Jefferson and Madison among them, said it rewarded speculators and stretched the Constitution, which did not mention a bank. Their argument started the first parties.
Worked example: Why the Whiskey Rebellion mattered
In 1794, farmers in western Pennsylvania attacked tax collectors over a federal tax on whiskey. Washington called up about 13,000 militia from four states and rode out with them. The rebels scattered. Compare this with Shays' Rebellion.
- In 1787, Congress under the Articles had no army or money to answer Shays' Rebellion.
- In 1794, the President could call state militias into national service under a law of Congress.
- The size of the force ended the revolt with little fighting.
- It showed that the new government could enforce its laws. Washington later pardoned the only two men convicted of treason.
Answer: The new government could enforce a national law; the old one could not.
Common mistake
The two-term limit was not in the Constitution at first. Washington chose to step down, and presidents followed his example until Franklin Roosevelt won a third and fourth term (1940, 1944). The Twenty-second Amendment made the limit law in 1951. Check: a rule that comes from custom has no article or amendment number until one is added.