Free Paper Sample on George Washington's Farewell

Introduction

Having served as the president of the United States of America for two consecutive terms, George Washington gave his retirement speech to the state on 19th September 1796. This paper discusses the major points of focus in the 32 paged, hand-written speech.

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First Point

The first point is retirement (Jamison, 2018). The president demonstrated that it had been his desire to retire after his first term in office. He attributed the encouragement to navigate through criticism and challenges to the citizens of the states. He demonstrated the need for political transition without anyone wanting to cling to power. He desired wise successors who would work tirelessly to preserve the union upon the constitution, which was nine years old at the time of his retirement (Jamison, 2018). His admonition was about the impending tough times which lied ahead and could only be overcome by the unity and wellbeing of the nation.

Second Point

The second point is on National Unity (Jamison, 2018). According to Jamison (2018), Washington reiterated the need for America to remain united in order to preserve its peace and independence. The common political, religious, and cultural values of America would help promote their love for national liberty. Each government section was to support the other in order to realize commercial progress and cut spending on the army for civil war had just ended and increased the patriotism within the nation (Lengel, 2004). He emphasized on the need of union among the governments of the states and the promotion of the binding force of the constitution until it is amended consciously by the people through popular vote.

The other point was on the Dangers of partisan politics (Jamison, 2018). Since the nation is under a constitutional government, its performance and success will greatly depend on obedience to authority. According to him, partisan politics vests immense power in the hands of minorities over the delegated government power. This leads to anarchy, and if they are unable to change the constitution to their own gain, they will poke holes to weaken it. When people give their absolute power to individual leaders to fight for their miseries, the nation will result in permanent rivalry, revenge, and despotism, thus loss of liberty. Governments are weakened through agitations, public riots, corruption, foreign infiltrations, all of which are resultant from partisan politics (Jamison, 2018). Partisan politics should be guarded against if the unity of the nation is to be preserved.

The fourth point was Balance between the arms of government (Hueter, 1997). The constitution has defined the operational boundaries of each government branch. The breach of these well-articulated spheres of operations will cause despotism. Natural humanistic love for power often leads to power abuse, hence one arm of government usurping the other's responsibilities. Be watchful about this and only allow constitutional change through constitutional means and guard against power encroachment whose results will only be evil (Hueter, 1997).

Importance of Morality

The president stressed the importance of morality, education, and religion (Hueter, 1997). Every successful political regime must have morality and religion as its supporting pillars. These are the values that motivate and give happiness to citizens as they go about their daily lives. They should be cherished due to their importance on national and personal wellbeing. The morality imputed by religion is necessary for ensuring correct moral behavior in society. Without these values, the entire justice system will collapse. The free government must be founded upon moral behavior hence the need for educational institutions in instilling knowledge and informing public opinion (Hueter, 1997).

On national debt and credit, he admonished that the government's right to borrow should be used discreetly, and repayments are made with promptness. The nation should avoid going into wars because they are very expensive (Pessen & Washington, 1987). By all means, future generations should not pay for debts incurred by the present generation. The tax implications during borrowings must be put into consideration even when dispensing with public debts.

On International relations, Washington deduced that upon the foundation of morality, religion, and good policy, the nation must remain faithful to its words and must treat all nations fairly in order to maintain peace (Pessen & Washington, 1987). The process may be painful but will greatly reward with supreme moral standings. Permanent opposition to certain nations and passionate love for a particular other must be avoided. The nation should seek friendship with other nations based on justice and be careful not to be entangled in hatred that may result in wars and liberty loss.

The final point of his speech was touching on foreign infiltration and deceitful patriotism (Pessen & Washington, 1987). When we have nations that we give preferences, it may be assumed for common interests, thus making it possible to unite with them against their own enemies. This will lead to grudges with the nations that feel less prioritized by our nation. Foreign infiltrations will cause domestic factions; thus, it must be guarded against. Foreign policies must be guided by financial gain rather than political interests because each nation seeks its own interest (Pessen & Washington, 1987).

Conclusion

In conclusion, Washington wished that his admonitions would help cool partisan rivalries, prevent foreign infiltration, and curtail deceitful patriotism. He demonstrated that he had tried his best to abide by the principles he was selling out to the state. He supported his neutral positions on wars that were going on in Europe as it was safe for America to focus on the homeland developments and make the life of its people great. In his humanistic nature, he presented sorrow for any error he made in his tenure and asked for public forgiveness. Generally, his desire for people was to uphold the rule of law, as evidenced by the last word of his farewell speech.

References

Hueter, J. A. (1997). Lifesaving legislation: But will the Washington stalking law survive constitutional scrutiny. Wash. L. Rev., 72, 213.

Jamison, D. (2018). George Washington's views on political parties in America. The Washington Times, 31, 2014.

Lengel, E. (2004). George Washington: Uniting a Nation. The Journal of Southern History, 70(3), 651.

Pessen, E., & Washington, G. (1987). George Washington's farewell address, the cold war, and the timeless national interest. Journal of the Early Republic, 7(1), 1-25.