How Did George Washington Influence The Government

As the first president of the United States, George Washington was greatly influential in shaping the government to be the one we have today. Prior to his political career, Washington began as a soldier in the French and Indian War, where he was rewarded with the rank of colonel for leading a poorly trained army of 150 men to defeat a French force and kill a French minister. However, Washington resented the Royal government’s lack of respect for colonial leaders and resigned. After his resignation, Washington displayed strong leadership skills as the justice of peace in Fairfax County, a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, and as a vestryman. During the Revolutionary War, Washington was appointed commander of all the colonial forces after the battles of Lexington and Concord. His victories maintained the patriotic morale of the
The United States collected an immense debt after the Revolutionary War and Congress decided to tax all distilled spirits to help raise funds. The tax angered farmers because it was easier for them to transport distilled spirits of their grain rather than the raw grain itself, and they were forced to pay higher costs than larger producers. The result was the Whiskey Rebellion, a series of protests against the tax. The most radical protest was in western Pennsylvania, where an assembly led by rebels such as Albert Gallatin and Henry Brackenridge was formed. Gallatin advocated against violence, but radicals brutally attacked and tortured tax collectors and private citizens anyway. Washington refused to tolerate such disrespect and dispatched a militia of 13,000 soldiers to the area in 1794. By the time troops arrived, the frightened protesters had already dispersed. George Washington’s response to the Whiskey Rebellion was justified because it proved that the new federal government had the power to enforce national laws and suppress riots resisting those