Imagine being elected student council president by your classmates. This is your first time holding such a position, and you realize that you do not know much about being president. Once in office, your classmates demand to go on a class trip to a nearby amusement park. You must find a way to raise the funds for the trip, but you don’t have the resources. Soon, students are demanding all sorts of things. What do you do? How do you figure out this new system? What other challenges may arise?

The situation above is similar to that of George Washington at the beginning of the United States as it became a new republic. Washington was unanimously elected as President of the United States, and immediately he was in charge of a new nation with a new system of government. More importantly, Washington faced an unstable economy which included a war debt as a result of the American Revolutionary War.

Source: Gilbert Stuart, Wikimedia Commons

Your Thoughts - What challenges do you think Washington faced in governing the United States?

This resource will examine the challenges on the new republic brought on by an unstable economy. You will read about how the leaders of the early republic dealt with the issues of the economy. You will also read about taxation and how protective tariffs brought about change in the economy of the early republic.