In
1802 the US federal government employed 3,905 people. By 1826 it grew to 10,415
federal employees.
They
were geographically distributed but administratively decentralized. For
example, as late as 1824 the State Department extended across the United States
and around the world, but employed only thirteen men in its central office in
Washington. The headquarters of the War and Navy Departments employed 32 and 21
people, respectively. The Treasury Department, which always employed the
largest central office, had 152 personnel.
On July 31, 1789, the Fifth Act of the First
Congress created a field organization of collectors "to regulate the
Collection of the Duties imposed by law on the tonnage of ships or vessels, and
on goods, wares and merchandises imported into the United States."
Fifty-nine customs districts were established in eleven states, each with a
collector appointed by the president. Custom houses were usually the earliest
federal buildings constructed in cities outside of the nation’s capital.
The
Judiciary Act of 1789 created thirteen district courts, each with one judge, in
major cities, and three regional circuit courts. The Supreme Court, with one
chief justice and five associate justices, sat above the inferior courts as the
only court of appeals. The act also created the office of Attorney General.
The
Residence Act of 1790 designated a site on the Potomac River as the permanent
capital of the United States. Philadelphia was named the temporary capital, and
assumed this role until the federal government relocated to the District of
Columbia in 1800.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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