George Washington and the Whiskey Rebellion (2915)

In 1788 George Washington was elected as the first President of the United States. He favoured a strong federal government, and tended to govern in a Federalist manner. The way that he dealt with the "Whiskey Rebellion" of 1794 was an example of this.

Farmers grew corn and made it into whiskey and had to pay a tax on it. But farmers refused to pay it and rebelled.

Washington sent an army to support the rights of the government. And the Whiskey Rebellion collapsed without any fighting.

After this Washington made some changes in the government. The legislative powers of the federal government were given to a Congress. This was made up of representatives elected by the people. Congress was to consist of two parts, the Senate and the House of Representatives. In the Senate each state would be equally represented with two members whatever the size of its population. The number of representatives a state had in the House of Representatives would depend upon its population.

Finally, the Constitution set up a Supreme Court to control the judicial part of the nation's government. The job of the Supreme Court was to make decisions in any disagreements about the meaning of the laws and the Constitution.

The Constitution made sure that there was a "balance of power" between these main branches of the federal government. To each branch it gave powers that the other two did not have; each had ways of stopping wrongful actions by either of the other two. This was to make sure that no one person or group could become powerful enough to take complete control of the nation's government.

Many Americans had a fear that the federal government might try to weaken the power of the states to run their own individual affairs. To remove this danger the Constitution said exactly what powers the federal government should have and what powers should be reserved for the states. It said that the states would be allowed to run their internal affairs as they wished, provided that they kept to the rules of the Constitution.

Before the new system of government set out in the Constitution could begin, it had to be approved by a majority of the citizens. Those in favour won the argument. In June 1788, the assembly of the state of New Hampshire voted to ratify the Constitution.

The Constitution went into effect in March 1789. But it was not complete. In 1791 ten amendments were made to it. They are called the Bill of Rights.

The Bill of Rights altered the rights and freedoms of individual citizens. It promised all Americans freedom of religion, a free press, free speech, the right to carry arms, the right to a fair trial by jury and protection against "cruel and unusual punishments."

In 1801 John Adams, who in 1797 had succeeded George Washington as President of the United States, appointed a new head of the Supreme Court.

The Court's new Chief Justice was John Marshall, a 46-year-old lawyer and politician who had fought in the American army during the War of Independence.

In 1803 the Supreme Court decides that any law is "repugnant to the Constitution", the Court can declare the law illegal, or "void” and so prevent it from being enforced.

This power became known as the "power of judicial review." In claiming it, Marshal established firmly the most important basic idea in American constitutional law. This is that the Supreme Court is the final authority in deciding the meaning of the Constitution. If its Justices decide that any law is "unconstitutional," that law can no longer be enforced.

***