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     Known as the Father of Our Country, George Washington led our new 

country through its hardest times. He was born February 22, 1732 and died 

December 14, 1799, and he served as President from the years of 1789 to 

1797. There were many important issues that Washington faced and had to deal 

with during his presidency. 

       One of them was having to secure the Northwest Territory. Competing 

claims for land in the Trans-Appalachian West led to the trouble brewing 

between Spain, Britain, the Native Americans,and the U.S. Washington sent 

troops to the Ohio River Valley and in the Battle of Fallen Timbers, the Native 

Americans had been defeated. In the end, twelve tribes had signed the Treaty of 

Greenville, in 1795, in which they agreed to surrender much of present-day Ohio 

and Indiana to the U.S. government. 

       Another conflict that occurred was when outraged farmers resisted the tax 

placed on whiskey, a part of Hamilton's financial plan, from Pennsylvania to 

Georgia. In the summer of 1794, a group of farmers in western Pennsylvania led 

an uprising called the Whiskey Rebellion. Washington immediately sent 13,000 

soldiers to   put down this rebellion. As the army approached, the rebels had fled, 

and Washington had proved his point that the government had the power and 

the will to enforce its laws.

     Another struggle was when war broke out between Britain and France. 

This war put the U.S. in an awkward position because France had been 

America's ally, and Britain was one of America's greatest trading partners. 

Washington decided on April 22, 1793 that the U.S. would remain neutral.

    Washington, when he was not in office,had joined the Virginia militia in 

1752. He created and then was forced to surrender Fort Necessity to the 

French. He had also been Chosen by the Second Continental Congress in 

1775 to be commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American 

Revolution. 

    Though Washington faced many challenges throughout                        

his presidency he served as a symbol of national unity.                                                      

He warned that differences would lead to political parties                                             

in the future which would threaten the nation's                                           

government. Our second president would face this                               

challenge.

  John Adams served as President from March 1797 to 

March 1801.He was a Federalist. He was born on October 

30, 1735, and died on July 4, 1826.

     In his time, the French kept raiding on American ships, 

so he sent three minister to France to try to work things 

out. There, three men came and told them that in order to 

talk to the government, they would have to pay France a 

bribe. When Americans heard of this, it outraged them and 

Congress canceled all treaties with France. This event 

became known as the XYZ Affair.

     Later when people began speaking out against Adams, 

he became furious and passed the Alien and Sedition Acts. 

This limited immigration and the freedom of speech. 

    Also during Adam's last months in office, he began 

appointing Federalist judges and other office holders based 

on the Judiciary Act of 1801 instead of attending 

Jefferson's inauguration. This was known as the "midnight 

appointments." 

   Before Adams became President, he was a lawyer. He was 

also elected a member of the Continental Congress.

  John Adams was the second U.S. President and made 

quite a difference in our Country, during his term in office.

Thomas Jefferson served as our Country's third President                            

during the years of March 1801 to March 1809, and he                              

served two terms.He was born in 1743 and died in 1826. 

    Jefferson was the principal author of the United States                         

Declaration of Independence written in 1776 when he was not in office.

    He was also a leader in the Enlightenment, which was a scientific 

revolution that brought to an end the medieval world view and replaced it 

with our modern understanding of physics, nature, biology, and human 

beings.  

    The most significant event that took place during Jefferson's Presidency 

was the Louisiana Purchase which doubled the size of the United States.

    He then sent the Lewis and Clark Expedition from 1804 to 1806 to 

explore the new west.

    Jefferson also encouraged the passage of the Embargo Act in 1807 to 

maintain American neutrality in the Napoleonic Wars.

    Jefferson was an important President and is admired by many today.

    The Democratic Republican, James Madison, who took office on March 4, 1809, 

served as President till March 4, 1817. Two terms as President. He was born in 

1751 and died in 1836.

   He served as a politician much of his adult life. Madison is known as the Father 

of the Bill of Rights because he is noted for drafting the first ten amendments. 

   He drafted the Virginia Resolutions in 1798 in response to the Alien and 

Sedition Acts. He held the position of Secretary of State from 1801-09.  

   During his presidency, when the United States entered the War of 1812, 

Madison asked Congress to declare war on Britain because they were impressing 

American sailors and seizing goods. This choice and many others led America end 

with a stronger and independent economy.  

     Chaos in American finance, problems with European allies,                                     

and another ineffective military campaign left Madison                                

discouraged,   and he suffered a nearly fatal illness in June 1813.                              

The young government seemed to be failing apart due to the war. 

 Also during his presidency, Madison allowed two new states                                   

to enter the Union. Louisiana in 1812 and Indiana in 1816.

   James Monroe served as president between the 

years of 1817 through 1825. He was nicknamed     

“The Last Cocked Hat.”

   Monroe was the president during the Era of Good 

Feeling.

   During his Presidency, the Missouri Compromise 

and the Monroe Doctrine were established.

   In 1818, President Monroe sent General Andrew 

Jackson to Spanish Florida to subdue the Seminole 

Indians, who were raiding American settlements. 

Jackson led his troops deep into areas of Florida 

under the control of Spain and captured two Spanish 

forts. The mission helped point out the vulnerability 

of Spanish rule in Florida.

   James Monroe was the last Revolutionary War 

general to serve as President.

    Adams served as President between the years                                   

of 1831 to 1848.

    John Quincy Adams negotiated the Adams-Onis Treaty                            

while he was President.He supported internal improvements 

including the extension of the Cumberland Road

    In 1828, also during his presidency, the so-called "tariff of 

abominations" was passed.

    He had a goal to protect domestic manufacturing.

    Adams kept a diary throughout his adult life, and he was 

nicknamed "Old Man Eloquent".

    Adams died In the Speakers Room of the House of 

Representatives. On February 21 1848, Adams collapsed from 

a stroke on the floor of the House of Representatives 

Chamber. He was carried to the Speaker's Room where he 

died two days later on February 23 1848.

    Andrew Jackson served as President from 1829                               

to 1837 as a Democrat.

    During his Presidency he believed that the common                           

man should rule the government. He wanted to be the voice of the 

common man. This was called the Jacksonian Democracy where 

“the people shall rule”. This increased turnout of votes proving that 

common people had the vote & would use it to their ends.

    He supported the spoils system where he placed many of his 

friends, family members, and acquaintances at high places of 

authority also when he was President.

    The Webster- Hayne Debate, in 1829, also occurred while he 

was in office.

    Known for his toughness, he was nicknamed “Old Hickory.” 

    Jackson was an active executive who vetoed more bills than all 

previous presidents.

   Martin Van Buren was President from 1837 to 1841.

   He had two nicknames, “The Little Magician,”and “The Red Fox                              

of Kinderhook”.

    Van Buren took office as the booming U.S. economy of the early and 

mid-1830s began to slow down. The so-called "Panic of 1837" was 

followed by the worst depression yet faced by the young nation. These 

economic troubles quickly became President Van Buren's main concern.

    Van Buren rejected his Whig opposition's suggestion that he support 

a National Bank, which the Whigs believed could oversee and stabilize 

the nation's economy. Instead, the President blamed the depression on 

powerful interests at home and abroad, and proposed that the federal 

government deposit its funds in an independent treasury, rather than in 

state banks.

     Van Buren played key roles in the creation of both the Democratic 

Party and the so-called "second party system" in which Democrats 

competed with their opponents, the Whigs. In these ways, Van Buren 

left an indelible mark on American politics.

    William Henry Harrison was President for 1841. He was 

nicknamed "Old Tip".

    William Henry Harrison served the shortest time of any 

American President. He served only thirty-two days. He also 

was the first President from the Whig Party.

   Harrison won the election with 53 percent of the vote, and 

more people voted in 1840 than ever before.

   People held him responsible for the economic collapse in 

the late 1830's. 

   He had become ill after delivering his inaugural address 

outdoors in the cold March weather without a hat or a coat 

and died of a respiratory infection, probably pneumonia.

    John Tyler served as President from 1841–1845.

     Tyler was called the “Accidental President.”

    When Harrison died, Tyler immediately wanted to be inaugurated 

as President. Fearing that he would alienate Harrison's supporters, 

Tyler decided to keep the dead President's entire cabinet even 

though several members were openly hostile to Tyler and resented 

his assumption of the office. After Tyler vetoed a bill to resurrect 

the Bank of the United States, his entire cabinet resigned in 

protest, with the exception of Secretary of State Webster, then in 

the midst of sensitive negotiations with Great Britain.

    During his second year in office, the Whigs, led by Henry Clay, 

expelled him from the party and tried to have him impeached. 

   The 1844 presidential election boiled down to a fight between 

Tyler, Polk, and Henry Clay. Fearing that he and Polk might split the 

vote, handing the election to Clay, Tyler voluntarily withdrew.

    James K. Polk served as President from the years of 1845 to 

1849.

    He was Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives 

from 1823 to 1825, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives 

from 1825 to 1839, Speaker of the House from 1835 to 1839, and 

Governor of Tennessee from 1839 to 1841.

   The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, and in it, the 

United States imposed a Rio Grande border for Texas and paid $15 

million to Mexico for the territories of California and New Mexico.

    He favored Texas statehood and the acquisition of the Oregon 

Territory.

    Polk left behind a country that was both larger and 

weaker—expanded by more than a million square miles but fatally 

torn over the key issue these new lands had once again brought to 

the fore which was slavery.

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