Washington Views on Factions essays

Washington Views on Factions essays George Washington is the most well-known American in history. The first president of the United States, his portrait has graced the quarter and the one-dollar bill. Our capital city and even a state have borrowed his name. After Washingtons second term as president, he decided not to run for a third term. He wanted to leave the country with some words of wisdom in hopes of guiding the country to longevity without his supervision. One of the most important ideas Washington offered to the country in his Final Address was to stay away from factions. Washington says that although factions are inseperable from our nature, they should be avoided (Farewell Address). Parties form because not only is it human nature to congregate with people of similar interests, but also because a group is more likely to change something in government than a single person is. In Washingtons cabinet, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton constantly feuded because of differing views on the economy and the role of government in general. Washington must surely have realized that parties were forming; it prompted him to write about them in his Farewell Address. Washington thought of the divisions in government in different ways; one way was of sectional disunion. Washington urges that the public should indignantly frown upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our Country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts (Farewell Address). He then speaks of the fact that any kind of sectional thoughts could be harmful to every part of the country. Washington says that the North depends on the South for food, while the South depends on the North for ships to transport their goods. In addition to this, Washington says the West needs goods provided by the East, and the East needs wood from the West (Farewell Address). If any of the sections of the ...