The Constitution requires that the president shall from time to time present to Congress an annual message (later to be called the State of the Union address) and recommend measures for its consideration. President Washington chose to present his First Annual Message at the beginning of the second session of Congress in early January 1790. In this address, Washington informs Congress, from his firsthand experience in touring the eastern states between October 15 and November 13, that great recovery has been made from the wartime destruction and dislocation. He also states that agriculture, commerce, and manufacturing are prosperous and that both the people and the officers of the states are very supportive of the federal government under the new Constitution. In his First Inaugural Address, delivered eight months earlier, Washington had asked Congress to consider only one item, a bill of rights. His First Annual Message, however, contains a list of more than six topics for Congress to consider. Washington lists tasks that the Constitution specifically delegates to Congress to do, such as to provide a uniform currency, set a standard of weights and measures, develop a system of patents for inventions, give copyrights in science and literature, ascertain a uniform rule of naturalization, and further develop the Post Office and Post Office roads to tie the country together. He also asks for Congress’s cooperation in his executive duties, particularly in military and foreign affairs.