One of the major challenges confronting the Washington administration was the new republic’s relations with the Native American tribes both within and beyond its borders. In 1789, Washington’s government sought to sign a treaty with the Creek Indians and created a commission to negotiate with the tribe’s leaders. Seeking to abide by the “advice and consent” provisions of the Constitution (Article II, section 2) regarding the Senate’s treaty powers, Washington appeared in person before the Senate on August 22, and then again two days later, hoping to receive feedback on the proposed treaty. In this message, Washington condemned the “violations” committed by “disorderly white people” on the frontier, noted the ever-present threat of European machinations with various tribes on the nation’s borders, and also noted the importance of selecting commissioners who were not captive to local prejudices. The meeting quickly deteriorated after Washington addressed the Senate. Some senators seemed intimidated by Washington, while others seemed unable to focus on the matter at hand. Senator William Maclay of Pennsylvania described Washington’s interactions with the Senate as cold and brusque. “The President was introduced … he rose and told us bluntly that he had called on us for our advice and consent to some propositions respecting the treaties to be held with the southern Indians. … Carriages were driving past and such a noise I could tell it was something about Indians, but was not master of one sentence of it. … Mr. Morris rose said the noise of carriages had been so great that he really could not say that he had heard the body of the paper which was read and prayed it might be read again.” Maclay suggested the matter be turned over to a committee, a proposal that displeased the president. According to Maclay, “Peevishness itself I think could not have taken offense at anything I said, as I sat down the president of the U.S. started up in a violent fret. ‘This defeats every purpose of my coming here,’ were the first words that he said … a pause for some time ensued. We waited for him to withdraw, he did so with a discontented air. Had it been any other, than the man who I wish to regard as the first character in the world, I would have said with ‘sullen dignity.’” Frustrated by the Senate’s halting and disjointed response to his request for advice, Washington vowed never again to involve the Senate in treaty negotiations, setting a precedent for the president to take the lead in directing American foreign policy and relegating the Senate to a reactive, somewhat passive role.