Paul Cooney
Mr. DeCarlo
AP American
October 4, 2006

LAD #6- Washington’s Farewell Address 1796

In September of 1796, Washington published his Farewell Address in newspapers all over the developing nation. In the form of a written speech, Washington announces he will step down from the Presidential position, which set a precedent for the number of terms a President may hold office. Within the address, he highlights the main points of the developing political “landscape” as he views it. He sees an increasing amount of political factionalism, quickly sectioning the country off, dividing it politically. Washington thinks that for the well-being of the nation, the people must unite in order to preserve the country. Washington himself could have been categorized as a Federalist, going against the growing number of Republicans. The Republicans favored farmers over city people, and did not want manufacturing as the Federalists did. Washington saw this as the biggest problem that faced the new government, and warned against it in this address.
Going along with his Proclamation of Neutrality, Washington again warned against partnering with other nations, especially the super powers of Britain and France. The two developing political parties were inevitably going to side with either Britain or France, and in the end they sided with opposing nations. The Federalists favored very strong ties to the British were as the Republicans were more loyal to the treaty with France the United States had signed in 1778. Despite the many factions that had the potential for decaying the new nation, Washington was ever hopeful. He wanted to preserve “political prosperity” through morality and religion, which is understandable given the time period.