Which events in the western regions of the country demanded considerable amounts of President Washington's time and concentration?

Question

Why did President Washington come to believe these events in the western regions were so important to the nation's future development? Evaluate President Washington's performance in managing these critical political, economic, and military events.

Answer 1

Answer: An ideal answer will:
1. Discuss the whiskey tax and the Whiskey Rebellion and why Washington believed that the refusal to pay the tax and the growing size and violent nature of its insurgency in western Pennsylvania represented a plot to overthrow the Constitution and undermine the supremacy of federal authority.
2. Discuss and analyze Washington's leadership of a federal army that marched into western Pennsylvania to suppress the rebellion and arrest its rebel leaders in 1794.
3. Discuss the domestic political reasons for Washington's use of mixed approaches of military invasions and diplomacy to manage the growing conflict between impatient and eager western settlers and Indians of the Ohio Valley to protect the integrity of their historic lands from settler encroachment.
4. Discuss and analyze the consequences of the Battle of Fallen Timbers and the Treaty of Greenville including Ohio River Valley Indians moving to British Canada or west into the Louisiana Territory, the petering out of Indian and settler armed conflict in the Ohio region by 1795, white settlers acquiring the western lands they desired, and local governments in the region developing quickly.
5. Discuss how Washington's success in managing the western conflicts between white settlers and Indians enhanced the power and prestige of the U.S. Army and produced the loss of the British's most powerful ally, the Indians, in the Ohio River Valley.
6. Discuss how the success of Washington's successful policies in the West set the stage for settlement after Washington left office and the admission of the states of Ohio (1803), Indiana (1816), and Illinois (1818).
7. Write a concise and effective conclusion that evaluates President Washington's performance in managing these critical political, economic, and military events.