Transcript File
© Kara Lee 2014
• In 1789, a President was elected for the first time in
the United States.
• In the Constitution, there was a system set up for
elections.
• A representative was chosen for each state to be in
a group called the Electoral College.
• It was the job of these representatives to vote for
the President.
© Kara Lee
• George Washington was elected
by everyone in the first
Electoral College to be the first
President of the United States.
• Everyone believed he was the
only one that was good enough
for the job, but Washington was
not sure he would be successful.
• Being the first president meant
Washington would have to be
thoughtful and careful because
his actions would be an example
for the following Presidents.
© Kara Lee
• An inauguration is an official ceremony to
make someone President.
• Washington’s inauguration was in New York
City, where government met, in April of
1789.
• Washington, along with all the Presidents
to follow, promised to, “preserve, protect,
and defend the Constitution of the
United States”.
© Kara Lee
• The President is the head of the
executive branch of government.
• Congress decided to create three
different departments in order to
help the President run the branch.
• These departments were known as
Secretaries.
• These Secretaries included a
Secretary of State, Secretary of
the Treasury, and Secretary of
War.
© Kara Lee
• The Secretary of State is in
charge of deciding how the
United States would
interact with other
countries.
• Thomas Jefferson was
Washington’s Secretary of
State.
© Kara Lee
• The Secretary of State is in
charge of all of the nation’s
finances.
• Alexander Hamilton was
Washington’s Secretary of
the Treasury.
© Kara Lee
• The Secretary of War is in charge of protecting
the nation.
• Henry Knox was Washington’s Secretary of War.
Knox had served in the army with Washington.
© Kara Lee
• An Attorney General also helps the President by
ensuring that all the federal laws are obeyed.
• Edmund Randolph was Attorney General which
Washington was president.
© Kara Lee
• Together, the Secretary of State,
Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of
War, and the Attorney General, make up
the President’s Cabinet.
• A cabinet is a group of individuals who
have been chosen by the President to
help the President run the executive
branch. They also give the President
advice.
• All Presidents have a Cabinet.
© Kara Lee
• Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson,
both members of Washington’s Cabinet, often
disagreed about decisions the government was
making.
• There were people who agreed with Jefferson’s
beliefs and people who agreed with Hamilton’s
beliefs.
• In turn, their followers formed political parties.
• Political parties are groups of people who have
similar ideas about how the government should
act.
© Kara Lee
• Jefferson’s supporters formed the
Democratic-Republican Party.
• They believed that government should
be limited and not take away states’
rights.
• He also supported farming instead of
trade.
• Was against having a national bank
because he felt that the government
did not have enough power to create
a bank.
© Kara Lee
• Hamilton’s supporters formed the
Federalist Party.
• They believed that a strong national
government was beneficial.
• They supported trade and
manufacturing.
• Supported a national bank because
he believed it would make the United
States wealthier and stronger.
© Kara Lee
• Washington decided to approve the law that in turn
created a national bank.
• The national government does the following:
– Controlled the United States’ money
– Provides customers with savings accounts to keep their money
– The bank can borrow money from these savings accounts to
make loans
– They charge interest on the loans which means people pay to
borrow the money
– The bank in turn pays interest for the money they use to the
person who has the savings account, so these people end up
making money.
© Kara Lee
• Both Hamilton and Jefferson agreed on
a few of the government problems.
• They both agreed that a new national
capital should be built on the Potomac
River.
• The Potomac River is located between
Virginia and Maryland.
• A capital is the city where government
meets.
• George Washington was the one who
chose the exact location of the capital.
• They began to build in 1792, and the city
was named Washington in honor of
George Washington.
© Kara Lee
• Washington retired from being president after 8
years.
• He gave a farewell speech and some of the things
he encouraged include:
– Not to form political parties so that people weren’t
divided
– Stay out of wars with other countries
© Kara Lee
• George Washington paved the way for the
following presidents.
• He is remembered as a great hero of the United
States.
• He set up lots of traditions for the United States
that are continued today.
• The next few presidents after Washington that
were beneficial during the first few stages of our
nation include John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and
James Madison
© Kara Lee
Terms of Use
Thank you for downloading my First President
PowerPoint. I hope that you enjoy using it as a valuable
resource in your classroom! Please let me know if you have
any questions or concerns. My email is
[email protected].
©Kara Lee 2014
This resource entitles you to single classroom use only.
Please do not share with grade level teams or district wide or
post/resell any part of this resource. If you would like to
share this resource with others, please purchase multiple
licenses.
I’d love to hear your feedback!
www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Teachers-Gone-Wild
Fonts and Clipart
Houghton Mifflin Social
Credit Studies United States
Fonts:
Clipart:
Backgrounds:
History Early Years:
Georgia Textbook was
used to referenced to
assist with
information
http://www.mrdonn.org/clipart.html