Volume 2 is concerned largely with Washington's inaugural jouney to New York and his initial activites as president upon his arrival. The documents, with annotations, chronicle the public adulation and the elaborate receptions and public addresses that the new president encountered along his route to the capital. His correspondence with friends and acquaintances at home and abroad concerns a wide range of subjects from politics to agricultural methods. His personal letters confirm his continuing need for money, his continued involvement in the affairs of family members, and his concern...

Volume 3 covers most of the summer of 1789 and focuses primarily on the problems facing the new administration. Because of the president's serious illness during this period, a larger proportion of the documents than usual are letters and papers sent to Washington, including massive reports from the Board of Treasury describing the financial status of the new nation, detailed descriptions of Indian and military affairs from Henry Knox, and a plethora of applications for public office. The letters to Washington come from a cross section of Americans and present a rich resource on such...

Volume 5 covers the first half of 1790 and focuses on Washington's continued concentration on the problems facing the new government. North Carolina had ratified the Constitution in late 1789, and Rhode Island held its ratifying convention in early 1790. Many documents in this volume reflect the president's concern with the establishment of ties to the federal government in both states, especially in the matter of appointments to the federal civil service. Also treated in detail in the volume are Washington's near-fatal illness in May 1790 and his difficult recovery. The heavy incoming...

During the period covered by volume 6, Washington's attention was devoted to several matters of great national significance. He signed the Residence and Funding Acts, authorizing a permanent new Federal City on the Potomac, establishing the seat of the federal government at Philadelphia until 1800, and creating a national debt by assuming the Revolutinary War debts of the states. Washington's official correspondence also shows his concern with Indian affairs, particularly his frustration with Brigadier General Josiah Harmar's punitive expedition in the Northwest Territory. Secretary of War...

Volume 7 of the series presents documents written during the final sessions of the First Congress, a period of intense activity for Washington and his administration. Between December 1790 and March 1791, Congress passed legislation that established a national bank and a dederal excise, incresed the size of the army, and provided for the admission of Vermont. Filling the offices created by these and other acts occupied much of Washington's attention; the excise service alone was one of the largest bureaucracies created during the Early Republic. The Indian war on the northwest frontier...

n the period covered by volume 8 of the Presidential Series, the spring and summer of 1791, Washington completed a tour of the southern states, traveling almost 2,000 miles through Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. During his journey the heads of executive departments regularly reported to him from Philadelphia on preparations for a major military expedition against hostile Indian nations along the northwestern frontier, a boundary dispute with the British on Lake Champlain, the negotiation of American loans in Amsterdam, and other affairs of state. Washington was also informed of the...

n the period covered by volume 9, the fall and winter of 1791-92, Washington was busy dealing with a host of issues. Over forty letters to and from Washington between November 1791 and February 1792 concern the problems arising from Pierre L'Enfant's high-handedness as designer of the Federal City, particularly his destruction of the house of Daniel Carroll of Duddington, and L'Enfant's insistence that he not take orders from the Commissioners for the District of Columbia but receive his authority from Washington directly. Washington's nomination in late December 1791 of Thomas Pinckney,...

Volume 10 of the Presidential Series continues the fourth chronological series of The Papers of George Washington. The Presidential Series, when complete, will cover the eight precedent-setting years of Washington's presidency. These volumes present the public papers written by or sent to Washington during his two administrations. Among the documents are Washington's messages to Congress, addresses from public and private bodies, applications for office and letters of recommendation, and documents concerning diplomatic and Indian affairs. Also included are Washington's private papers,...

Volume 11, which covers the closing months of Washington's first presidential term, opens with Washington at Mount Vernon, tending to both public and private affairs. The implementation of a federal excise tax on domestically produced whiskey provoked opposition that became violent in western Pennsylvania, eliciting Washington's proclamation of 15 September 1792 that called for U.S. citizens to comply peacefully with the law. Returning to Philadelphia in October 1792 for the second session of the Second Congress, Washington encountered a continuing variety of challenges during the fall and...

In the period covered by volume 12, mid-January through May 1793, Washington completed his first term as president and began his second term with a modest inauguration ceremony. Washington continued his efforts to keep the United States out of the expanding European war between France and a coalition that now included Great Britain. The behavior of Edmond Genet, the new French minister to the United States, and the presence of French privateers in American waters intensified disagreement among Americans over U.S. foreign policy, especially American obligations under its treaties with...