Presidential Report Card

1. Daliyah Middleton C Block January 27, 2014 Presidential Report Card

2. Report Card Grades

3. George Washington 1789-1797 B President George Washington deserves a B, because he was an “okay” President. Washington did a good job promoting the general welfare by using Hamilton’s economic plan to pay war debts and have good credit in the future. Also to promote the general welfare, Washington created a foreign policy of neutrality (isolationism). This policy meant that the United States would not interfere with other nations affairs, which means that the U.S would not have to waste money on war or another army. The Whiskey Rebellion was an incident that occurred after an excise tax was made on luxury goods. The settlers that lived west of the Appalachian Mountains didn’t like this tax so they rebelled and Washington sent militia to stop the rebellion. When ensuring domestic tranquility this was bad, because law and order was not kept at home if he thought the people in the West were a “threat the authority”. This shows that he deserves a B, because he did make America wealthy today, but didn’t do a good job at keeping law and order.

4. John Adams 1797-1801 C President John Adams deserves a C in my opinion, because he treated non-citizens unfairly during the Alien and Sedition acts. The Alien and Sedition Acts were laws that was made to make life harder for the Republicans. These laws did not help form a more perfect union, because it treated the aliens unfairly , by making it longer for them to become citizens. The sedition acts (encouraging rebellion against the government is a crime) were also aimed specifically towards Republican newspaper editors. President John Adams did help provide for the common defense after sending chief Justice John Jay to settle things with Britain ( Jay Treaty), which led to the British pulling their troops from the Ohio Valley. In the end John Adams decided to end the alliance with France ( Provide for the common defense) , and leave the nation at peace. This occurred during the X,Y,Z affair when Adams sent three representatives to France to end the attacks. Even after leaving the nation at peace John Adams still deserves a C, because during the Alien and Sedition Acts he did a bad job fulfilling the goals of the constitution.

5. Thomas Jefferson 1801-1809 B- President Thomas Jefferson deserves a B-, because he met the goals of the constitution with very minor mistakes. In 1803 when France and Britain were at war again, Britain began to seize American ships, which made Jefferson create the Embargo Act of 1807. The embargo Act of 1807 was a trade restriction on so that no foreign ships could enter the U.S ports, and American ships couldn’t leave. After the embargo act ended 55,000 seamen lost their jobs due to the embargo which did not Promote the General Welfare. The embargo act was repealed in the year 1809, and the British warships continued to attack the American ships which is bad for Providing for common defense. Later on there was a Piracy on the Barbary Coast ( pirates seizing American ships for ransom), and in 1802 he sent a small fleet of warships to the Mediterranean to protect American shipping. This was good for providing for the common defense and protecting America. Later on Jefferson purchased the state of Louisiana, which expanded the U.S, and made us the richest nation on Earth. The Louisiana Purchase was really good for promoting the general welfare. Even though Jefferson did create a loss of jobs for the American seamen after the embargo, he did make a smart purchase to Louisiana which is why he deserves a B-.

6. James Madison 1809-1817 D+ President James Madison deserves a D+ in my opinion, because of his lack of fulfilling the goals of the constitution. After Madison took office in 1809 , he made a deal with France and Britain that the U.S would stop trading with their enemy and vise versa. This deal failed in the end, because Napoleon (leader of France) agreed to the deal, but secretly sent Navy orders to seize American ships. The British just refused the offer to stop attacking American ships, and continued to seize ships. The South and the West were the only one’s who supported a war with Britain which is bad for forming a more perfect union, because he only listened to the South and the West. Also the trade plan failed so therefore when trying to prevent future attacks (provide for common defense) Madison did a bad job. Eventually Congress declared war on July 17, 1812 to drive the British out of Canada, and then expand the U.S with Canada. This was bad for promoting the general welfare, because America was very unprepared for war. Later on , the Indian Wars began, which was a war against the Indians to cut off their supplies. This was mainly good for expanded the land (promote general welfare),and the Native Americans were gone ( Provide for the common defense).

7. James Monroe 1817-1825 B+ James Monroe deserves a B+, because he made the nation, and enlarged our country with a few flaws along the way. Isolationism was in place during Monroe’s presidential term, so in 1823 Monroe created a policy called the “ Monroe Doctrine” which stated “ North and South and America were not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers”. Eventually, the Monroe Doctrine made the U.S a proud and strong confident nation, because it was a bold message. Making the U.S a strong nation, formed a more perfect union. After the war between Britain and France, the British and French began to produce their own goods no longer relying on the United States anymore. This led to the Panic of 1819 which put a lot of American factories and shipping companies out of business. During the Panic, Monroe believed it wasn’t his job as President to help the economy during this downfall. Without help from the President created a negative effect on promoting the general welfare. Down in Florida there were Seminole (Indian tribe) raids, pirates, and runaway slaves. Spain wasn’t controlling Florida, so Monroe sent Andrew Jackson to Florida to have Spain control Florida or give it to the U.S. The treaty was called the “ Adam-Onis Treaty” and eventually the Spanish Foreign Minister signed this treaty to give America Spain. This treaty enlarged our country which really made the U.S safer and created Peace with Spain, or other known as providing for the common defense. Although Monroe did not support America during the Panic of 1819, he did make America stronger and a safer nation during his presidency.

8. Andrew Jackson 1829-1837 C Andrew Jackson deserves a C, because even after being unfair to Native American he lead America into an economic depression. In 1830 the Indian Removal Act was created to force out Native Americans, even though the Native Americans said that the Cherokees could not be forced to move. This action was negative when establishing justice, because it was unfair for the President to push out the Indians. In 1832 there was a Tariff Bill that lowered the taxes back to what it was in 1824,but according to South Carolina that wasn’t low enough. South Carolina then made a law to nullify (invalidate) the Tariff of 1828, and threatened to leave if they had to obey the law. In the end Jackson used military force to enforce the law and South Carolina backed down. By using the Force Bill and the military, Jackson preserved the union which positive for forming a more perfect union. After destroying the Bank of the U.S, Jackson created state (pet) banks. This led America into a Panic of 1837, because banks closed and people lost their jobs. This was bad for promoting the general welfare, because it left many Americans unemployed. To rotate the people in office, he replaced many Republican civil servants with Democrats which were usually friends of his. This process is known as the Spoils System which was promoting the general welfare, because it gave more people opportunities to get jobs as civil servants. Jackson’s grade is a C, because he was unfair to many Americans (Native, Republicans), and but did meet some of the goals.