Executive Departments Established

Soon after the inauguration of Washington, the House having made provisions for raising a revenue, turned their attention to a reorganization of the Executive Departments. Those of the old Congress were still in operation, and were filled by the incumbents appointed by that body. The Department of Foreign Affairs, established in 1781, was incorporated with one for Home Affairs, and was called the Department of State, having charge not only of all foreign negotiations, and all papers connected therewith, but also the custody of all papers and documents of the old Congress, and all engrossed acts and resolutions of the new government which had become laws; also the issuing of all commissions for civil officers. The Treasury Department was continued substantially on the plan established in 1781. It was the duty of its chief officer to digest and propose plans for the improvement and management of the public revenue; to superintend the collection of the same; to execute services connected with the sale of public lands; to grant warrants on the treasury for all appropriations made by law; and to report to either House of Congress as to matters referred to him or appertaining to his office. Under him were subordinate officers--a controller, an auditor, a register, and a treasurer. The chief of the Department of State was called Secretary of State, and of the Treasury Department, Secretary of the Treasury.

The Department of War was organized very much upon the plan adopted in 1781, and its head was called Secretary of War. He was also intrusted with the superintendence of naval as well as military affairs, the material of the united service then being very limited. Not a single vessel of the Continental navy remained; and the military establishment consisted of only a single regiment of foot, a battalion of artillery, and the militia which the President might call out for the defence of the frontiers. There was a wholesome dread of a standing army. The Post-office Department was continued on the plan of Dr. Franklin, the first Postmaster-General appointed by the Continental Congress. Franklin had been succeeded by his son-in-law, Richard Bache, and he, in turn, by Ebenezer Hazard, who then held the office. A Secretary of the Navy was not appointed until 1798. The Postmaster-General did not become a cabinet officer until 1829, the first year of President Jackson's administration.

While the House of Representatives were engaged with the subject of revenue and the Executive Departments, the Senate was busy in perfecting a plan for a national judiciary. A bill drawn by Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut, chairman of a committee appointed for the purpose, was, after considerable discussion and some alteration, passed, and was concurred in by the other House. By its provisions, the judiciary was to consist of a Supreme Court having one Chief Justice and five Associate Justices, who were to hold two sessions annually at the seat of the national government. Circuit and district courts were also established which had jurisdiction over certain specified cases. Each State in the Union was made a district, as were also the Territories of Kentucky and Maine. With the exception of these two, the districts were grouped into three circuits. An appeal from these lower courts to the Supreme Court was allowed, as to points of law, in all civil cases when the matter in dispute amounted to two thousand dollars. The President was authorized to appoint a marshal for each district, having the general powers of a sheriff, who was to attend all courts and was authorized to serve all processes. Provision was also made for a district attorney in each district to act for the United States in all cases in which the national government might be interested. That organization, with slight modifications, is still in force.

The next important business that engaged the attention of Congress during its first session was the consideration of amendments to the national Constitution. The subject was brought forward by Mr. Madison, in conformity to pledges given to his State (Virginia), which was opposed to the Constitution without certain amendments. The number of amendments proposed by the minorities of the several conventions that ratified the Constitution, exceeded one hundred. These were referred to a committee which consisted of one member from each State. That committee finally reported, and after long debate and various alterations, twelve articles were agreed to and submitted to the people of the several States for ratification or rejection. The first two related to the number and pay of the House of Representatives; the other ten, a member said, were "of no more value than a pinch of snuff, since they went to secure rights never in danger." Only these ten were ratified in the course of the next two years. Two other amendments were afterward made, and these were the only ones adopted until the period of the late Civil War.