Summary Of George Washington's Farewell Address

On September 17,1796, George Washington spoke to the public for the last time. In his Farewell Address, he advised the country what not to do after he leaves office. According to William Deverell and Deborah Gray White, President George Washington was the first president of the United States and served from 1789 to 1797. He was an officer during the French and Indian War that occurred during 1675 to 1676. He was also a delegate of Virginia in the First and Second Continental Congress and became the Commander of the Continental Army in 1775 during the Revolutionary War. After the colonist won the Revolutionary war in 1783, he was unanimously elected as president six years later under the Constitution (United States History, Independence to 1914,

Both Jefferson and Hamilton had differing ideas of how the country should be like. For example, Hamilton wanted an industrial economy while Jefferson wanted an agrarian economy. This, and many differing ideas for the countries policies, caused two parties to form. The Federalists, led by Hamilton and John Adams, wanted a strong central government while the Democratic-Republicans, led by Jefferson and James Maddison, wanted a weak central government. The two parties were somewhat based on geographical discrimination, Federalists were typically from the northern colonies while Democratic-Republicans were typically from the southern colonies. In his address, Washington first address the issue of political parties. He said, “I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations,” (The Independent Chronicle, September 26, 1796). Washington did not want political parties to form, especially ones created because of geographical differences. He feared that the differing ideas of the parties would divide the people. He warned against the formation of parties because while he

After the Revolutionary War ended in 1783, the U.S. owed seventy-seven million dollars, twelve million dollars to foreign countries, twenty-five million dollars was owed by the states, and forty million dollars owed by the federal government. Due to the amount of money owed, Hamilton wanted the federal government to pay twenty-one million dollars of the amount the states owed. However, this would mean that the entire country would have to pay more taxes. In his address, Washington spoke about the debts in taxes, saying, “The execution of these maxims [debts] belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary that public opinion should cooperate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind, that towards the payment of debts there must be Revenue, that to have Revenue, there must be taxes […]” (The Independent Chronicle, September 26, 1796). Washington wanted the citizens of the U.S. to understand why they were paying taxes. He said that the taxes would be decided by the state’s representatives, or Congress, but the people had a say on the decision. He also said that in order for money to come into the country, the citizens had to pay taxes. According to William Deverell and Deborah Gray White, Washington warned about debts and taxes because in March of 1791, Hamilton proposed a tax on whiskey to help the federal government pay off