This iCue Mini-Documentary introduces Congress's unanimous election of George Washington to become the first president of the United States. Originally, the role of the president was designed to carry out the decisions of Congress.

This feature is no longer available.

Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin discusses the inaugurations of Presidents George Washington and John Adams, and the significance of those speeches.

This feature is no longer available.

This iCue Mini-Documentary describes a new tax on liquor which provoked many of the frontiersman in western Pennsylvania to form the Whiskey Rebellion. President George Washington responded by sending troops to quell the uprising.

This feature is no longer available.

This iCue Mini-Documentary describes James Madison's promise to the states that if the U.S. Constitution was ratified, a Bill of Rights would be immediately added.

This feature is no longer available.

This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the Constitutional Convention delegates' debates over state vs. federal power. Many were eager to avoid a tyranny.

This feature is no longer available.

This iCue Mini-Documentary introduces the Framers of the Constitution's decision to hold ratifying conventions for the state governments to approve the new document.

This feature is no longer available.

This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the checks and balances of the Constitution that allow the three branches of government to keep each other in check. This system assures that no one branch becomes too powerful.

This feature is no longer available.

This iCue Mini-Documentary introduces the concern many states expressed during the ratification conventions that the new constitution did not contain a Bill of Rights.

This feature is no longer available.

This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the great debate that ensued during the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia about how states should be represented equally in Congress, since some states had greater populations than others.

This feature is no longer available.

This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the ratification process for the new Constitution. Once it was written, it needed to be ratified by each of the states. Ratifying conventions were held for delegates to vote on whether or not to adopt the new constitution.

This feature is no longer available.