Washington's Farewell Address and Jefferson's Inaugural Address
Significance of Washington’s Farewell Address and Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were the first and the third president, respectively. Both were great at being presidents in their own ways. In George Washington’s Farewell Address he advised Americans to not get entangled within foreign countries’ problems and conflicts and to not have permanent alliances and treaties, and also to not have different political parties, and he also stressed the importance of religion and morality. Thomas Jefferson, in his first Inaugural Address points out that a good government will be able to enable its citizens to be well mannered, but at the same time let them organize themselves in what they want to do. He also says that all principles will never change. However, opinions regarding those principles can be different. In his Farewell Address, George Washington mentions that Americans should mind American business and not be concerned with foreign conflicts. This was a warning to all Americans because during that time America was still young, and it had many of its own problems to solve. If people were too engrossed within problems regarding other countries then they would have no time to solve problems in their own country. He also says to not form permanent alliances and treaties because if there were a conflict that arose between America and the foreign country it had an alliance with it couldn’t go back on that alliance, and if America did then that country would have an excuse to oppose America. So it would be bad for America because at that time America did not have the most powerful military. George Washington specifically said to be aware of having political parties. He said this because he believed it was dangerous to have power blocs arise from these different opinions. These different parties, the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists were beginning to surface had different thoughts, so these differences caused
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were the first and the third president, respectively. Both were great at being presidents in their own ways. In George Washington’s Farewell Address he advised Americans to not get entangled within foreign countries’ problems and conflicts and to not have permanent alliances and treaties, and also to not have different political parties, and he also stressed the importance of religion and morality. Thomas Jefferson, in his first Inaugural Address points out that a good government will be able to enable its citizens to be well mannered, but at the same time let them organize themselves in what they want to do. He also says that all principles will never change. However, opinions regarding those principles can be different. In his Farewell Address, George Washington mentions that Americans should mind American business and not be concerned with foreign conflicts. This was a warning to all Americans because during that time America was still young, and it had many of its own problems to solve. If people were too engrossed within problems regarding other countries then they would have no time to solve problems in their own country. He also says to not form permanent alliances and treaties because if there were a conflict that arose between America and the foreign country it had an alliance with it couldn’t go back on that alliance, and if America did then that country would have an excuse to oppose America. So it would be bad for America because at that time America did not have the most powerful military. George Washington specifically said to be aware of having political parties. He said this because he believed it was dangerous to have power blocs arise from these different opinions. These different parties, the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists were beginning to surface had different thoughts, so these differences caused
Citations: Appleby, Joyce; Brinkley, Alan; McPherson, James. The American Journey. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., 2003. Jeffrey Qiu’s notebook. Jefferson, Thomas. Thomas Jefferson: “First Inaugural Address”. 1801