George Washington,
elected the first
president in 1789, set up a cabinet form of government, with departments of State, Treasury, and War, along with an Attorney General (the Justice Department was created in 1870). Based in New York, the new government acted quickly to rebuild the nation's financial structure. Enacting the program of Treasury Secretary
Alexander Hamilton, the government assumed the Revolutionary war debts of the states and the national government, and refinanced them with new federal bonds. It paid for the program through new tariffs and taxes; the
tax on whiskey led to a revolt in the west; Washington raised an army and suppressed it. The nation adopted a
Bill of Rights as 10 amendments to the new
constitution. The
Judiciary Act of 1789 established the entire
federal judiciary, including the
Supreme Court. The Supreme Court became important under the leadership of Chief Justice
John Marshall (1801–1835), Federalist and nationalist who built a strong Supreme Court and strengthened the national government.