American History

George Washington was the first president of the United States of America. He reigned for two terms after which he decided to retire. He is considered as one of the greatest leaders that America has ever had in its history. He decided to publish his famous speech, the farewell address in the American daily advertiser of September 19, 1796. In his speech, he addressed a number of issues which he felt were important and that could help lead the nation to be more prosperous even after he had retired from presidency. This paper is going to look into some of the important aspect of his speech and what he considered good for the country.

George Washington began his speech by making it known to the people that he had no intention of running for office for the third time and that he intended to retire because he had become of age and needed to retire from politics. He appreciated the support that he had received from the people that far and indicated to them that he had no any other motive of retiring other than that of a friend. He encouraged unity in the government because unity was the basis of independency. He went ahead to give the common attributes which could bring about unity both at home and internationally which he said were same religion, political principles, manners and habits (Washington, 1970).

He encouraged unity among the states north and south in which he encouraged them to work together as it could bring more strength, security and resources. He suggested that government was indispensable through the constitution. He warned people against using parties as baneful effects because of the consequences it was likely to bring about. The spirit of encroachment was also supposed to be avoided as it could lead to dictatorship and the powers of the government were to be checked to avoid such situations.

According to Washington (1970), for political prosperity, morality and religion should be encouraged. He advised the government to avoid getting into debt through avoiding situations which could encourage it like war. Concerning the foreign policy, he encouraged them to maintain one that could be considered fair and just to them and other nations. The policy he said should be free of any hatred attachments, guard the state against foreign interference although it could allow for temporal alliances with other nations, care was to be taken to ensure there is no interference.

In conclusion, he hoped that the counsel he had given, could be followed by the authorities. He believed that his leadership had been guided by the principles he had stated, advised against taking sides in the European war and prayed to God to correct any unintentional errors his administration might have committed and was optimistic of enjoying good laws under a free government after his retirement which were his closing remarks (Washington, 1970).