1789-1861 Presidents

This article covers the History of the United States from 1789 through 1849. more...

Era overview

After the election of George Washington as the first President of the United States in 1789, Congress passed the first of many laws organizing the government, and adopted a bill of rights in the form of ten amendments to the new Constitution—the United States Bill of Rights.

George Washington, a renowned hero of the American Revolutionary War, commander of the Continental Army, and president of the Constitutional Convention, became the first President of the United States under the new United States Constitution.

Perhaps the most popular figure in United States political history at the time, George Washington was proclaimed the "Father of the Country," and won the 1789 election with virtually no opposition. Washington took action to establish the Executive Branch of the United States Government. Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1789, which established the entire federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court.

The Louisiana Purchase, in 1803, gave Western farmers use of the important Mississippi River waterway, removed the French presence from the western border of the United States, and provided United States farmers with vast expanses of land, and furthered American leaders' vision of creating a "Great Nation".

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