George Washington’s Farewell Address
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were the first and the third presidents of the United States, respectively and both were established 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 everlasting alliances and treaties. Washington also did not like the idea of having diverse political parties, and he also stressed the magnitude of religion and morality.
Thomas Jefferson, in his first Inaugural Address states that a superior government ill be able to permit its citizens to be well mannered, but at the same time let them organize themselves in what they desire to do. Jefferson also says that all principles will never change. Although they were both highly respected and regarded to as some of the greatest presidents in American history they didn’t always have the same opinions on what would be best for the growing nation.
In his Farewell Address, George Washington mentions that Americans should mind American business and not be concerned with foreign conflicts because the United States had Just won a ery expensive war for their independence and already owed money to their new ally the French. 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. Jefferson was also not in favor of getting involved with foreign entanglements.
As Napoleon advanced into Europe, Jefferson decided to remain neutral in the conflict by banning all European trade from American Ports because of the British forces firing upon the Chesapeake. As harassment from Barbary pirates began to become an issue Washington was ersuaded to build up an American Navvy in order to protect those in harm and to retrieve the captured sailors. Thomas Jefferson’s approach to the pirates was a little different from Washington’s in that he chooses to implement a blockade of Tripoli and other Barbary ports in 1801; these actions forced him to reconsider his advocacy of budget cuts for the American navy.
These actions then allowed the American naw to become respected by the rest of the world, because it proved that they wouldn’t be pushed around by anyone. Jefferson and Washington were both in favor of not etting involved in foreign entanglements as they showed through these actions and in their Addresses. George Washington specifically addressed the issue of diverse political parties. Washington thought political parties and political party dominance were very bad ideas.
He wanted it to be about the best candidate being elected, not about two parties taking over and preventing all other parties from having an opportunity of being nominated. 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 thought which in turn caused many heated debates and a lot of aggression towards the opposite parties. However Jefferson knew that political parties were necessary, he voiced the thought in this famous quote.
Jefferson said that there is basically no way to escape the differing opinions and political parties in a successful and free nation, due to the nature of man to disagree and to form their own opinions on how they think the nation should be run. Jetterson and his close triend James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party. Jefferson and Washington both had different opinions on the subject of political parties, with Washington strongly disapproving of it and Jefferson being a founder of one of the political parties it is safe to say they didn’t share the same mindset on this topic.
George Washington was instrumental in stressing the importance of morality and religion. In his Farewell Address Washington that through experience religious values in a government are important. This is referring to the successful European nations that have an established religion integrated into their government. Jefferson agreed hat religion was important for people to be able to express and to believe in freely, however Jefferson was very vocal in trying to solidify a position between the church and the state.
He was himself a Christian man and placed several god-like statements in the Declaration of Independence. Washington disagreed with Jefferson on the separation of church and state however, they both agreed religion was important in the new nation. In both of their addresses they discussed the issues involving the new government such as the issue of making alliances with other nations or becoming involved in foreign entanglements.
Both Washington and Jefferson agreed that for the nation to become successful they must keep away from any foreign affairs regarding the fact that the nation was still developing and if war was to occur it would leave them more susceptible to being taken over. Each of the highly regarded presidents discussed the formation of political parties. Washington thought that political parties would destroy the new system of government. Jefferson on the contrary knew that political parties were inevitable; he then went on, with another respected colleague James Madison, to create the Democratic-Republican
Party. The subject of religion and morality was discussed greatly in this period of time. Washington believed that for the government to be successful religion must be involved in all of the important branches such as the court systems. Jefferson on the other hand wanted to create a “wall of separation between church and state. ” Although both of the presidents were extremely instrumental in founding and establishing this great nation, they didn’t always agree with each other, which isn’t bad because to create a good story you must have all points of view.
