Question

What were the main topics covered by George Washington's Farewell Address to the nation?

Answer 1

See an explanation below:

Explanation:

George Washington's Farewell Address in 1796 primarily covered six topics:

• He spoke about the necessity of a 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 safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize."

• Washington warned his fellow Americans about why a party system in the government was not a good thing: "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 corruption...thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another."

• He stressed the importance of religion and morality in running a country: "Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice?"

• He spoke of keeping the government in a good credit position financially: "...cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly 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..."

• He warned the country about estblishing permanent foreign alliances: "It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world..."

• And, he spoke about having a military which is not overly-powerful: "...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."