The First Congress: How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Males Invented the Authorities

This “fascinating” (
Chicago Tribune), “full of life” (
The New York Instances) historical past tells how the First Congress and the Washington administration created some of the productive and far-reaching governments in American historical past—“gracefully written…and nicely value studying” (
The Wall Road Journal).

The First Congress might have been a very powerful in American historical past as a result of it established how our authorities would work. The Structure was a broad set of ideas that left undefined the equipment of presidency. Luckily, far-sighted, sensible, and decided males akin to Washington, Madison, Adams, Hamilton, and Jefferson (and others much less well-known in the present day) labored to create a functioning authorities.

In
The First Congress, award-winning writer Fergus Bordewich brings to life the achievements of the First Congress: it debated and handed the primary ten amendments to the Structure, which we all know because the Invoice of Rights; admitted North Carolina and Rhode Island to the union after they belatedly ratified the Structure, then admitted two new states, Kentucky and Vermont, establishing the process for admitting new states on equal phrases with the unique 13; selected the positioning of the nationwide capital, a brand new metropolis to be constructed on the Potomac; created a nationwide financial institution to deal with the toddler republic’s funds; created the primary cupboard positions and the federal courtroom system; and plenty of different achievements. Nevertheless it prevented the topic of slavery, which was too contentious to resolve.

The
First Congress takes us again to the times when the way forward for our nation was in no way assured and makes “an intricate story clear and interesting” (
The Washington Publish).