The history of some of the government agencies goes back even before the United States was a country. The discipline of armed forces is a prime example. The U.S. Army has its roots back in 1775. On June 14, 1775, American continental army was established by the Second Continental Congress.
The U. S. Navy found its roots even before the Declaration of Independence was written. Other agencies than the military are also here from centuries. The U.S. Postal Service's record roots back to more than two centuries when migrants used mail.
During the initial stages, the President of U.S. had the right to fill government job positions as well as fire the employee at will. This process is called as the spoils system. However, federal jobs were used to strengthen political parties. In the beginning, the federal government was very small and most of the jobs were administrative and clerical positions which were located in Washington DC, New York, Philadelphia, and Boston..
Most of the first presidents like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, had more expectations from the federal government workers. In 1820, the Tenure of Office Act was passed during the Presidency of James Monroe. According to this act, terms of most of the officials were restricted to four years same as the president's term. John Quincy Adams declined to sack officials only for political scores, but following presidents used the spoils system to recompense their supporters. Few presidents like Andrew Jackson were in the support system.
Jackson thought that qualified officials in Washington were a threat, and bureaucracy was unsafe. With time, the country developed and expanded becoming very complex. By 1800s, people could understand the drawbacks of the spoils system due to which people with modest information got specialized jobs. This system leads to inadequacy, corruption and even theft. The spoils system had also entered into some branches of the military which has affected the forces' efficiency in some campaigns.