Topic of Discussion – George Washington

Discussion 9-1 US History ~ Chapter 9 Topic Discussions E Lundberg Topic of Discussion – George Washington

Related Topics Chapter Information ~ Ch 9; 3 sections; 21 pages The Office of the President and his Cabinet Launching a New Republic (1789-1800) Section 1 ~ Washington's Presidency Pages 312-317 Vice President John Adams responsibility Section 2 ~ Challenges to the New Government Pages 318-325 Washington’s view on political parties Section 3 ~ The Federalists in Charge Pages 326-332 Washington’s view on foreign relations Washington’s farewell speech

Key Ideas Key Connections - 10 Major (Common) Themes 1. How cultures change through the blending of different ethnic groups. Washington was well respected as a unanimous choice 2. Taking the land. 3. The individual versus the state. As the first president, Washington set the precedent 4. The quest for equity - slavery and it’s end, women’s suffrage etc. 5. Sectionalism. Washington was concerned about the power of the 6. Immigration and Americanization. 7. The change in social class. Presidency, he did not want another King 8. Technology developments and the environment. 9. Relations with other nations. Washington warned the country about political parties 10. Historiography, how we know things. Washington stressed international isolationism

Talking Points I Introduction 1. George Washington is called as the ‘Father of United States, as he played an important role in fighting for United States of America. Washington led the colonial forces in the revolutionary war. He is considered an important person in the history of United States as he helped to gain 13 colonies independent from the British. He was popular for his perseverance and determination. 2. Washington was an efficient General of the Army. There was a time when the soldiers were not paid by the congress and the soldiers rebelled against the congress. Washington as the General of Army encouraged them and convinced them that the nation needs their help in fighting. He also said that he himself will not take the pay until they win the war. The soldiers could understand the importance of the war at that time and did not talk about revolution any more. 3. As an individual, Washington is a man with great manners and humility. The country people wanted to see him as a King, but he wanted to show a different kind of government to the people. The country elected Washington as their President in the year 1789. George Washington was elected unanimously. Washington served the country for two terms which is for 8 years. When the people wanted to see him as President for the third term, he was not interested and returned to look after the plantation in his native land. 4. After sometime he returned to join as the commander in chief of the Army. He worked as Chief of Army from 1775 to 1783. Washington believed in strong federal government and could establish it for the period of eight years during his tenure. Washington could suppress the Whiskey rebellion in 1794. He sent troops to Pennsylvania farmers to convince them as they were not

Questions to Think About Supporting Materials Why was George Washington so popular at the time? Washington, a Life by Chernow As first president, what concerns did he have about the George Washington, by Thayer direction of a new nation? George Washington: The Crossing by Levin Why didn’t Washington want to get involved in foreign His Excellency: George Washington , by Ellis relations? Discussion 9-1 US History ~ Chapter 9 Topic Discussions E Lundberg Topic of Discussion – George Washington

Talking Points ready to pay the taxes. He proclaimed the Neutrality in 1793, which stated that US would be impartial towards aggressive powers who were participating in the war. His idea of neutrality was shown again in 1796 during his farewell address when he insisted to be careful with foreign entanglements. This message for security became a part of American political landscape.

II George Washington 1. Washington was born on February 22, 1732. He lost his father at age 11 and his half brother, Lawrence, took over that role. Washington's mother was protective and demanding, keeping him from joining the British navy as Lawrence wanted. Lawrence owned Mount Vernon, and George lived with him from the age of 16. He was schooled entirely in Colonial Virginia and never went to college. He was good at math which suited his chosen profession of surveying. 2. In 1749, Washington was appointed as surveyor for Culpepper County, Virginia after a trek for Lord Fairfax into the Blue Ridge Mountains. He was in the military from 1752-8 before being elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1759. He spoke against Britain's policies and became a leader in the Association. From 1774-5 he attended both Continental Congresses. He led the Continental Army from 1775-1783 during the American Revolution. He then became the president of the Constitutional Convention in 1787. 3. Washington joined the Virginia militia in 1752. He created and then was forced to surrender Fort Necessity to the French. He resigned from the military in 1754 and rejoined in 1766 as an aide-

Talking Points de-camp to General Edward Braddock. When Braddock was killed during the French and Indian War (1754-63), he managed to stay calm and keep the unit together as they retreated. 4. Washington was unanimously named Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. This army was no match for the British regulars and Hessians. He led them to significant victories such as the capture of Boston along with major defeats including the loss of New York City. After the winter at Valley Forge (1777), the French recognized American Independence. Baron von Steuben arrived and began training his troops. This help led to increased victories and the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781. 5. Despite being a member of the Federalist Party, Washington was immensely popular as a war hero and was an obvious choice as the first president for both federalists and anti-federalists. He was unanimously elected by the 69 electors. His runner up, John Adams, was named Vice Presi- dent. 6. George Washington was able to rise above the politics of the day and carry every electoral vote - 132 from 15 states - to win a second term. John Adams, as runner-up, remained the Vice Presi- dent. 7. Washington did not run a third time. He retired to Mount Vernon. He was again asked to be the American commander if the US went to war with France over the XYZ affair. However, fighting never occurred on land and he did not have to serve. He died on December 14, 1799 possibly from a streptococcal infection of his throat made worse from being bled four times.

Washington's significance cannot be overstated. He led the Continental Army to victory over the British. He

Talking Points believed in a strong federal government which greatly influenced the nation during his eight years in office. He did not allow others to trap him as royalty. He worked on the principle of merit. His warning against foreign entanglements was heeded by future presidents. By declining a third term, he set up the precedent of a two-term limit.

III Events and Accomplishments of George Washington's Presidency: 1. Washington's administration was one of precedents with many standards that are still followed. For example, he relied on his cabinet for advice. Since his cabinet appointments went unchal- lenged, presidents are generally able to choose their own cabinets. He chose a successor for Chief Justice John Jay from outside the bench instead of based on seniority. 2. Domestically, Washington was able to stop the first real challenge to federal authority with the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794. Pennsylvania farmers were refusing to pay a tax and he sent troops to ensure compliance. 3. In foreign affairs, Washington was a huge proponent of neutrality. He declared the Proclamation of Neutrality in 1793 which stated that the US would be impartial toward belligerent powers cur- rently in a war. This upset some who felt we owed a greater allegiance to France. His belief in neutrality was reiterated during his Farewell Address in 1796 where he warned against foreign entanglements. This warning became part of the American political landscape. 4. Washington signed Jay's Treaty which gave away the United States' right to neutrality of the seas allowing the British to search and seize anything they found on American ships traveling into ports of Britain's enemies. In return, the British withdrew from outposts in the Northwest Territo-

Talking Points ry. This forestalled further conflict with Great Britain until 1812. 5. In 1795, Pinckney's Treaty helped relations with Spain by creating a boundary between the Unit- ed States and Spanish held Florida. Further, the US was allowed to travel the entire Mississippi for the purpose of trade. In the end, George Washington should be considered one of our most important and influential presidents of all time whose legacy still lives on today.

IV Washington’s Political Philosophy 1. George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia and he died in his home of Mount Vernon, Virginia at the age of 67 from an unknown throat malady. 2. Officially, Washington was an Anglican/Episcopalian. He was born before the U.S. was free from British rule, so he was born a member of the Church of England. Once independence was achieved, the Church of England became known as Episcopalian in the U.S.1

3. However, Washington’s true religious beliefs are a matter of high dispute. Many historians claim he never took Communion, an Anglican/Episcopalian ritual indicating a member’s devotion to the church, despite the fact that his wife did, causing Washington to leave services early and send a coach back to the church later to pick her up.2

4. But there are several first-hand accounts of Washington contemporaries describing both the first U.S. president’s piousness and the act of his taking Communion. In one account, General Robert

Talking Points Porterfield wrote, 5. Washington’s own words seem to contradict as well. Even if only a brief reference, Washington began his last will and testament with the phrase, “In the name of God, Amen.”4

6. At the same time, various Washington quotes show someone suspicious of mankind’s ability to practice religion in a civilized manner, such as: 7. What does not appear to be in question, however, is Washington’s tolerance of many different religious worldviews, even including atheism.6 Through this tolerance of difference, Washing- ton could be seen as laying the groundwork for the diverse and multicultural country America was and was to become.

V Original Politics 1. As a framer of the U.S. Constitution, the first U.S. president, the conquering leader who severed U.S. ties with her imperial leader, and who is literally referred to as the “father” of what could arguably be considered the most powerful and influential nation in world history, Washington has become an iconic, mythical hero of epic proportions. 2. That being said, his politics could be either considered very simple or exceedingly complex. 3. To put it simply, Washington’s politics are the ideals of America. However, this can be (and has

Talking Points been) twisted to include any partisan, biased, or ideological line of thinking. What, in fact, are the ideals of America? These ultimate values have been often used to justify their opposites in America’s 200+ year existence. How about Japanese internment camps as but one example of a perversion of all three of these ideals.7

4. In more complicated terms, Washington was an Enlightenment politician.8 He drew inspiration from the political and social philosophies of Hume, Locke, Voltaire, Rousseau, and the like and was on par with other American Enlightenment thinkers like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.

VI Choosing Sides 1. To say that President Washington was entirely non-political, however, would surely be a bit foolhardy. While it's true that he publically refused to throw his hat into the ring of either party, and publically announced his hope that political parties would not emerge in the United States, he was not without his personal opinions. 2. In fact, there is a fairly simple test to determine where Washington's political allegiances may have lay while in office. The two (arguably) most important members of his cabinet, after all, were practically opposite, from a political standpoint. 3. Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, was the consummate Federalist. In favor of a strong national bank and tariff, he had been one of the chief proponents of the newly accepted

Talking Points constitution. 4. Thomas Jefferson, on the other hand, was a founding member of the Democratic - Republican Party - opposed to the bank and the tariff, and a strong proponent of states-rights over the federal government. 5. With these two men working in the same cabinet during these first formative years with the first cabinet, disagreements were sure to arise. The most famous of these, perhaps, is the disagree- ment over the establishment of Hamilton's proposed national bank. 6. Both men made their arguments and Washington, as was his tendency, sided with Hamilton, thus setting in place the precedent of establishing a national bank. On another occasion, Washington sided with Hamilton and fellow Federalist John Jay in designing the Jay Treaty, which renegoti- ated trade with Great Britain (halted, of course, after the Revolutionary War). Jefferson's party, on the other hand, was resoundingly pro-French (with whom Britain was almost continually at war) and thus strongly opposed the treaty. 7. There are several other examples of places in his political career where George Washington seemed to show his true colors, but in the end, it seems as if Washington certainly had greater leanings toward a Federalist point of view than a Democratic-Republican. 8. While he may not have been mostly non-partisan in public, George Washington did an admirable job of making the decisions that needed to be made based on the arguments presented to him, unbiased by the thick lens of black-and-white politics. In doing so, he became a great administra- tor of the American government, and is quite deserving of his place near the top of the list of greatest Presidents.

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VII George Washington's Farewell Address 1. "They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterpris- ing minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests."

This is what we have today politicians that represent the rich and powerful not the majority of Americans, and not national unity. 2. He had believed that political parties would be the down fall of our country. As he neared his resignation, George Washington wrote a letter to the nation. He warned of the danger of political parties, and how they would turn the government from a group of people interested in their nation's future to a rambling mob of power hungry professional politicians. In short, he opposed political parties. However, near the beginning of the election of the second president, two parties, the Democrats and the Federalists emerged. They declined in popularity, however, and faded from the political mainstream of the time. When the seventh presidency began, two new parties gained prominence, the National Republicans, or Whigs, and the Democrats. These two political parties are still the most popular today.

Talking Points 3. Major Domestic Policy: Washington was the first president of the United States, making him take a big role in our country. At the time he was in office, the thirteen states were not united and were known as an independent nation. Washington increased the power of the United States by using the Federal government and used The Judiciary Act of 1789 to establish a Court system. When problems began to arise with money during the war for independence, Washington sought help from Hamilton. The United States owed much money to foreign countries and also owed more than $45,000,000 to its citizens. Hamilton formed a plan to create a bank in America. The bill passed congress and was then signed by Washington. The first bank was opened in 1791 and the people for the bank became the Federalist, while the people who disagreed with the bank became the Democratic Republicans. Hamilton then thought of another plan in order to increase revenue to pay of the debts. He created an excise tax on whisky. When this went into effect, riots broke out and The Whisky Rebellion began in 1794. Washington took charge and sent an army of 15,000 soldiers, which ended the rebellion. Washington's time in office help the United States gain some source of stability. 4. Major Foreign Policy: Although United States had established peace from Great Britain from The Treaty of Paris of 1783 it was still unstable. Washington worked towards gaining the United States Stability. Washington sent Thomas Pinckney to talk to Spain in order for the United States to be able to send ships to the Mississippi river, which was south of the border created by the Treaty of Paris. Once Pinckney returned, he had accomplished to create a treaty that allowed the U.S. the right to use the Mississippi river and the right to drop off items at New Orleans known as the Pinckney Treaty. During this time, John Jay was sent to talk to the British. Great Britain

Talking Points had stated that it would not obey the Treaty of Paris until the United States paid all of its debts to Britain. Jay returned with a Jay Treaty, which stated that British agreed to leave the post, but U.S. ships were not allowed to trade for sugar or molasses with the West Indies. Washington wanted to avoid war with Great Britain to all extent. He denied the French help during the French revolution. By avoiding war, Washington was able to make the U.S. government grow strong and obtain stability. 5. Washington's Farewell Address to the Nation appears in its entirety in this issue of the Independ- ent Chronicle. Although it is by all accounts the most famous and best-known of Washington's speeches, it was never actually delivered orally by George Washington. By his own arrangement it first appeared in a newspaper at Philadelphia. It was published seven days later in The Inde- pendent Chronicle. 6. The Chronicle, published in Boston by Thomas Adams and Isaac Larkin, was the leading New England voice of the Republican party. Its pages contained a number of outspoken contributors who could be counted on to regularly issue vigorous assaults on the Federalists. In Boston since 1776 the newspaper carved out a distinguished journalistic career for one hundred years. 7. Washington's Farewell Address was similar to one he had prepared at the end of his first term, when he had considered retiring from office. Toward the close of his first term in 1792 James Madison prepared notes to be used by Washington in formulating a valedictory speech. Madison submitted a draft but it was set aside when Washington abandoned his plans for retirement. 8. In May 1796 he took Madison's notes and wrote a first draft for the new address. Washington showed his manuscript to Alexander Hamilton and asked him to revise it. For the next four

Talking Points months various drafts were sent back and forth between Washington and Hamilton. Finally, Hamilton read his version of the address to John Jay for criticism, discussing the work paragraph by paragraph. The result, rewritten again by Washington in a final version, and admittedly a col- laborative effort, nonetheless embodies the thoughts, ideas and principles of the retiring president. 9. Describing the farewell address in his book on the life of Washington, Henry Cabot Lodge wrote "...no man ever left a nobler political testament." In his address, Washington 1. Announces his planned withdrawal from politics "after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its (America's) service." He then sets forth his reasons against running for a third term. As if to bol- ster his argument, he states: "While choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it." 2. Extolls the benefits of the federal government. "The unity of government...is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence...of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safe- ty; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize." 3. Warns against the party system. "It serves to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration....agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one....against another....it opens the door to foreign influence and corrup- tion...thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another." 4. Stresses the importance of religion and morality. "Where is the security for property, for reputa-

Talking Points tion, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice?" 5. On stable public credit. "...cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as spar- ingly as possible...avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt....it is essential that you...bear in mind, that towards the payments of debts there must be Revenue, that to have Revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised, which are not...inconvenient and unpleasant..." 6. Warns against permanent foreign alliances. "It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world..." 7. On an over-powerful military establishment. "...avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments, which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to Republican Liberty." 8. In saying farewell to the new nation he helped create George Washington pointed out that "...... the name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism..."

9. To the great soldier, statesman and leader of his country...no tribute could be more fitting.

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