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George Washington was the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The fame he gained as a war hero led to him being elected the first president of the United States.
George Washington was a Federalist and supported a strong central government.
President from 1789-1797

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George Washington set precedents that other presidents would follow such as serving only two terms, and creating a cabinet of advisors.

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George Washington oversaw the creation of the Judiciary Act of 1789 which established the judicial structure that the United States still has today. This established the chief justice of the supreme court that overseas associate justices as well as the court system consisting of federal circuit courts and federal district courts.

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George Washington's presidency saw the introduction of a protective tariff which increased the import taxes on goods imported from Europe. An excise tax on whiskey was also enacted due to the urging of his secretary Alexander Hamilton. This led to the Whiskey Rebellion, where a group of frontier farmers that produced whiskey rebelled against the United States. George Washington confronted them with an army and the rebellion ended without the loss of a single life.

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The creation of a National Bank became a controversial issue during the Presidency of Washington and furthered the divide between those that wanted strong central government and those that wanted a weak central government.

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Washington advocated for neutrality during the French Revolution as most of Europe became embroiled in war.

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Second President of the United States
1797-1801

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The election of 1797 began to show the divide the two party system was creating. The winner of the election was to become president and the runner up vice president which led to the president and vice president during this election being from different parties. John Adams was a federalist that supported big central government and his vice president, Thomas Jefferson was a Democratic Republican that supported more powerful state government. This election showed the dangers of sectionalism, or placing the interests of one region over the nation as a whole as the south voted for Jefferson and the north voted for Adams.

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The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed under Adams which raised the resident requirements to apply for American citizenship and allowed the president to deport or jail any alien considered undesirable. This was very controversial and the Democratic Republican party of Jefferson fought against it.

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Third President of the United States
1801-1809
Democratic- Republican

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The election of 1800 was a controversial election with Thomas Jefferson running against John Adams. Thomas Jefferson and his running mate Aaron Burr received the same number of electoral votes to become president which led to the House of Representatives choosing who would be the President. Alexander Hamilton convinced enough representatives to allow Jefferson to win. This election led to the twelfth amendment which established that separate ballots must be cast for the president and vice president to avoid this happening again.

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Although Jefferson was a Democratic Republican, Jefferson sought to create a cooperative peace between his party and the Federalists that would undo what he saw as tyranny enacted by the Federalists to increase the power of the government.

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Jefferson downsized the government and tried to cut costs and make it as small and simple as possible.

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Jefferson was the first president to live in the United States' new capital of Washington DC

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The presidency of Jefferson began an era of southern dominance in national government.

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Jefferson passed the Judiciary Act of 1801 which increased the number of federal judges by 16.
The Marbury Versus Madison Supreme Court case occurred during the presidency of Jefferson which led to the establishment of Judicial Review. Judicial Review allowed the Supreme Court to declare an act of congress unconstitutional.

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The Louisiana Purchase of 1804 occurred during Jefferson's presidency which doubled the size of the United States. This led to the Lewis and Clark expedition which went out to map the newly gained territory.

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Fourth President
1809-1817
Democratic- Republican

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Jefferson ordered an embargo on European countries that were still fighting in the Napoleonic Wars that led to tensions with Great Britain.

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James Madison declared war on great Britain in 1812 leading to the war of 1812. There was a hope that the United States could take territory in Canada. Madison was angered that the British were taking American sailors and forcing them to join their navy in a process known as impressment.

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The British Navy blockaded the United States which damaged the economy of the US and made it difficult to utilize their navy against the British. The British invaded Washington DC and burned down the White House in 1814.

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The British supplied aid to the Native Americans and had them join the fight against the Americans.
The American general Andrew Jackson began to turn the war around as he achieved several victories against the British.

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The Treaty of Ghent was signed in 1804 which declared an armistice or end to the war and reopened trade between Britain and the US. The end of the War of 1812 led to the US gaining the respect of Britain and France, national pride of the US growing, the increase in the manufacturing power of the US, and a decline in Native American resistance after they were defeated during the war.