George Washington’s Farewell Address
A Milestone Documents E-text
Table of Contents
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Abstract
George Washington’s Farewell Address stands as a seminal document in American history because the hopes and concerns Washington raised about America’s future define the leading issues of the early republic. Coming at the end of his second term as president, this valedictory address allowed Washington to reflect on his long and distinguished public career as he prepared to retire from public life. Contrary to popular perception, the Farewell Address was never delivered as a speech. Instead, Washington envisioned his remarks as a letter to the American people. After its initial appearance in print on September 19, 1796, it was widely disseminated and reprinted in newspapers throughout the nation. Printers also made it available as a freestanding pamphlet and as a broadside.
Contents
- Unit 1:: Old Worlds in Transition: America, Africa, and Europe before 1600
- Native Cultures of Africa
- Rise of Complex Civilizations in Mesoamerica and the Andes and the Native Peoples of North America
- Politics, Trade, Exploration, and Religious Upheaval in Europe
- Old Worlds in Transition: America, Africa, and Europe before 1600 - Review
- Unit 2:: Exploration, Conquest, and Settlement in the New World (1450–1600)
- Naming America: From Columbus to Vespucci
- The Conflicting Imperial Visions of Spain, France, and Holland
- England and the New World
- Exploration, Conquest, and Settlement in the New World (1450–1600) - Review
- Unit 3:: English Beginnings on the Chesapeake (1607–1676)
- Native American Exclusion
- The Expansion of Indentured Servitude among the Western European Poor and Dispossessed
- The First Representative Government in America and the Rise of a Slave Society
- English Beginnings on the Chesapeake (1607–1676)- Review
- Unit 4:: Empires in Flux (1620–1681)
- The English Civil War and the Rise of Oliver Cromwell
- Pilgrims, Puritans, and Natives in the New World
- Family Life and the Role of Women in the Colonies
- Empires in Flux (1620–1681) - Review
- Unit 5:: Wars for Empire (1685–1763)
- The Great War for Empire: The French and Indian Conflict
- England’s Glorious Revolution
- From a “Society with Slaves” to a “Slave Society”
- Wars for Empire (1685–1763) - Review
- Unit 6:: Tax Acts, Declaring Independence, and the American Revolution (1763–1783)
- Waging a Revolutionary War
- Writing a “Declaration of Independence”
- The Proclamations of King George III
- Tax Acts, Declaring Independence, and the American Revolution (1763–1783) - Review
- Unit 7:: Debating, Defining, and Ratifying a Constitution (1783–1791)
- The Bill of Rights
- The Constitutional Convention and the Federalist Debates
- Debt, Disillusionment, and Shays’s Rebellion
- Debating, Defining, and Ratifying a Constitution (1783–1791) - Review
- Unit 8:: Making the New Republic (1789–1800)
- First U.S. Congress
- John Adams and the Alien and Sedition Acts
- George Washington’s Farewell Address
- Making the New Republic (1789–1800) - Review
- Unit 9:: The Jeffersonian Revolution (1800–1816)
- James Madison and the Second War for Independence
- The Embargo Act
- The Election of 1800
- The Jeffersonian Revolution (1800–1816) - Review
- Unit 10:: The Roots of American Exceptionalism (1815–1850)
- Freedom’s Limits
- A New Republicanism
- The American System
- The Roots of American Exceptionalism (1815–1850) - Review
- Unit 11:: Democracy in America (1820–1850)
- The Missouri Controversy
- Life, Liberty, and Property
- Jacksonian America
- Democracy in America (1820–1850) - Review
- Unit 12:: The Old South: Slavery and the Politics of the Plantation (1808–1860)
- Slave Rebellions and the Quest for Freedom
- Minstrel Shows and the Construction of Black Identity
- Planters, Yeomen, and Tenants
- The Old South: Slavery and the Politics of the Plantation (1808–1860) - Review
- Unit 13:: Manifest Destiny
- Southern Demands for the Expansion of Slavery
- Deepening Economic and Social Discord between North and South
- The Compromise of 1850
- Manifest Destiny - Review
- Unit 14:: The Gathering Storm (1850–1860)
- Abraham Lincoln’s Election
- The Dred Scott Decision
- The Rise of the Republican Party
- The Gathering Storm (1850–1860) - Review
- Unit 15:: America at War (1861–1865)
- The Road to Appomattox and Peace
- The Process of Southern Secession
- The Emancipation Proclamation
- America at War (1861–1865) - Review
- Unit 16:: Reconstruction (1863–1877)
- The Election of 1868 and Republican Dominance
- Presidential Reconstruction
- Reconstruction Efforts during the War
- Reconstruction (1863–1877) - Review