The Newburgh Conspiracy
After the battle of Yorktown was won, the British defeated, and independence secured, peace did not completely embody the young United States. The eight years of war had put the infant country into a debt measured at over 25 million (Herbert). This constituted a deficit in pay for the soldiers who had dedicated their time to the cause. General George Washington, in command of the Continental Army at that time, was at the center of the large military sedition, later known as the Newburgh Conspiracy. A series of letters circulated the army’s encampment at Newburgh, New York, claiming that the soldiers should take action against the congress in order to gain their pension. Using his instinctive leadership skills, Washington disseminated a potential coup d’etat, or an illegal seizure of government control. The Newburgh Conspiracy provided the means for America to recognize the doctrine of civil control in the military and George Washington’s competence on the matters of civil affairs.
The Continental Army was stationed at Newburgh for nearly a year. Combining this long period of time, and in discontent of the army over pay, it is almost logical to assume some grouping of soldiers might manifest
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In a moment that would both define and impress Washington’s message in his troops’ eyes, Washington pulled out the pair of spectacles he had received a few weeks before. In preparation to read a letter from congressman Joseph Jones, Washington stated: “Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country” (qtd. Sempa). The Newburgh Conspiracy ended in that moment of time. This simple statement reaffirmed Washington’s appeal to peace. As stated by Major Shaw: [the moment] “forced its way to the heart, and you might see sensibility moisten every eye” (qtd. Fowler,