George Washington in 1795.

George Washington's Farewell Address was written to the people of the United States at the end of his second term as President of the United States. It appeared in many American newspapers on September 19, 1796. Technically speaking, it was not an address, but an open letter to the public published in the form of a speech. Washington's fellow Americans gave it the title of "Farewell Address" to recognize it as the President's valedictory to public service for the new republic. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 512 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1004 × 1176 pixel, file size: 107 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): George Washington ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 512 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1004 × 1176 pixel, file size: 107 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): George Washington ... George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)[1] led Americas Continental Army to victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and in 1789 was elected the first President of the United States of America. ... For other uses, see President of the United States (disambiguation). ... Year 1796 (MDCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... A speech is an oral message delivered in public. ... Look up republic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In 1792, Washington was prepared to retire after one term as the President of the United States. To that end, Washington, with James Madison, wrote a farewell address to the public of the United States of America. Faced with the unanimous objections of his Cabinet, Washington agreed to stand for another term. In 1796, Washington refused a third term. Starting with his 1792 draft, Washington rewrote the text to better fit the problems that were emerging in the new political landscape. He had much help from Alexander Hamilton, but all the key ideas were those of Washington, not Hamilton or Madison. 1792 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)[1] led Americas Continental Army to victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and in 1789 was elected the first President of the United States of America. ... James Madison (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836), an American politician and fourth President of the United States of America (1809–1817), was one of the most influential Founders of the United States. ... Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757–July 12, 1804) was an Army officer, lawyer, Founding Father, American politician, leading statesman, financier and political theorist. ...

Themes

Political factionalism

There were three notable themes from the speech. The first described what Washington saw as a potentially harmful political factionalism in the country. He urged Americans to unite for the good of the whole country. Two political factions had developed into political parties in the early 1790s: the Federalists and the Democratic-Republican Party. The Federalists, and Washington himself, backed Hamilton's plan for a central bank and other strong central economic plans based on manufacturing; the Democratic-Republicans opposed the strong government inherent in the Hamiltonian plan and favored farmers as opposed to city people. Washington foresaw that this intense political polarization would play significantly in the new government, as these two emerging parties attempted to guide the nation and shape it to correspond with their visions. Events and Trends French Revolution (1789 - 1799). ... The Federalist Party (or Federal Party) was an American political party in the period 1793 to 1816, with remnants lasting into the 1820s. ... The Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison as the Republican party (not related to the present-day Republican Party) in 1792, was the dominant political party in the United States from 1800 until the 1820s, when it split into competing factions, one of which became the...

Foreign alliances

The second theme was a warning to the nation to avoid foreign alliances, particularly in Europe. Both parties wanted to stay out of the wars between France and Britain. The Federalists favored stronger ties with the British, while the Republicans insisted on adhering to the Treaty of Alliance the U.S. had already signed with France in 1778. The Treaty of Alliance of (1778) resulted from the success of American forces in the Battle of Saratoga. ...

Political prosperity

Tranquility abroad and neutrality at home. The third theme considered Washington's view of preserving "political prosperity" through morality and religion. He called morality "a necessary spring of popular government," and stated:

Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

Legacy

The Address quickly became a basic political document for the new nation. It was reprinted as part of the membership paraphernalia of the Washington Benevolent Societies that sprang up after his death in 1799. It was printed in children's primers, engraved on watches, woven into tapestries and read annually before Congress. The Address received widespread fame and became a symbol of American republicanism, the nation's guiding political philosophy. It was used as a benchmark with which to judge the two-party political structure, foreign affairs, and national morality. The Address was invariably cited whenever an alliance was discussed. Not until 1949, with the signing of the treaty that established NATO, did the United States again enter into a military alliance. The Washington Benevolent Societies were grass roots poltical clubs set up 1800-1816 by the Federalist Party in the U.S. to electioneer for votes. ... Republicanism is the political value system that has dominated American political thought since the American Revolution. ... A two-party system is a form of party system where two major political parties dominate the voting in nearly all elections. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... NATO 2002 Summit in Prague. ...

The House and Senate commemorated the 130th Anniversary of Washington's birth by reading aloud his Farewell Address. In a special joint session held in the House Chamber, the House and Senate, along with several cabinet officials, Justices of the Supreme Court and high-ranking officers of the Army and Navy, gathered to listen to the Secretary of State read the address aloud. Eventually, the reading of George Washington's Farewell Address became an annual event for the Senate, a tradition that is still observed to this day.^[1]

See also

• United States non-interventionism

Non-interventionism, the diplomatic policy whereby a nation seeks to avoid alliances with other nations, has had a long history in the United States. ...

Notes

1. ^ George Washington's Birthday, The Center for Legislative Archives.

References

• Source material for this article and partial text for Washington's farewell address: U.S. State Department

Further reading

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Washington's Farewell Address

• Deconde, Alexander. "Washington's Farewell, the French Alliance, and the Election of 1796." Mississippi Valley Historical Review 1957 43(4): 641-658. ISSN 0161-391X
• Burton I. Kaufman, ed. Washington's Farewell Address: The View from the 20th Century (1969)
• Gilbert, Felix. To the Farewell Address: Ideas of Early American Foreign Policy. (1961)
• Pessen, Edward. "George Washington's Farewell Address, the Cold War, and the Timeless National." Journal of the Early Republic 1987 7(1): 1-27. ISSN 0275-1275
• Spalding, Matthew and Patrick J. Garrity. A Sacred Union of Citizens: George Washington's Farewell Address and the American Character (Roman & Littlefield, 1996)
• Spalding, Matthew. "George Washington's Farewell Address." The Wilson Quarterly v20#4 Autumn 1996.
• Paul A. Varg, Foreign Policies of the Founding Fathers (1963)