On 10 February 1783 President Washington wrote this letter to Thomas Jefferson:
I have been honored with your favor
of the 22nd of January from Philadelphia.
I feel myself much flattered by your kind remembrance
of me in the hour of your departure from this Continent
and for the favorable Sentiments you are pleased to
entertain of my Services for this our common Country.
To merit the approbation of good and virtuous Men
is the height of my ambition; and will be a full
compensation for all my toils and sufferings in
the long and painful contest we have been engaged.
It gave me great pleasure to hear that, the call upon you
from Congress, to pass the Atlantic in the Character of one
of their Ministers for Negotiating Peace, had been repeated.
But I hope you will have found the business already done.
The speech of his Britannic Majesty is strongly indicative
of the Olive branch; and yet, as he observes,
unforeseen events may place it out of reach.
At present, the prospect of Peace absorbs,
or seems to do so, every other consideration among us;
and would, it is to be feared, leave us in a very unprepared
state to continue the War if the Negotiation at Paris
should terminate otherwise than in a general pacification.
But I will hope that it is the dearth of other News that
fills the Mouths of every person with Peace,
while their Minds are employed in contemplating
on the Means for prosecuting the War
if necessity should drive us to it.
You will please accept my grateful thanks for your
obliging offer of Services during your stay in France.
To hear frequently from you, will be an honor
and very great satisfaction.1
Washington from Newburgh on 4 March 1783 in a letter to Alexander Hamilton wrote,
The predicament in which I stand as Citizen & Soldier,
is as critical and delicate as can well be conceived.
It has been the Subject of many contemplative hours.
The Sufferings of a complaining Army on one hand,
and the inability of Congress & tardiness of the States
on the other, are the forebodings of evil;
& may be productive of events which
are more to be deprecated than prevented;
but I am not without hope if there is such a disposition
shown as prudence & policy dictates to do justice,
your apprehensions in case of Peace,
are greater than there is cause for.
In this however I may be mistaken, if those ideas,
which you have been informed are propagating in the Army,
should be extensive; the source of which
may be easily traced; as the old leven, it is said,
for I have no proof of it, is again beginning to work,
under a mask of the most perfect dissimulation
& apparent cordiality.2
Continental officers camped at Newburgh, New York on March 10
and began
circulating anonymous letters blaming Congress and threatening rebellion.
On 15 March 1783 Washington spoke to the officers of the Army at the Newburgh
headquarters advising them not to rebel against the “Sovereign power of the United States”
and that he would continue to advocate for their rights.
To read his speech he took out his new glasses and said,
“Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have
not only grown gray, but almost blind in the service of my country.”3
Several officers wept as he began his speech.
This was his concluding paragraph:
While I give you these assurances, and pledge myself
in the most unequivocal manner, to exert whatever ability
I am possessed of, in your favor, let me entreat you,
Gentlemen, on your part, not to take any measures, which,
viewed in the calm light of reason, will lessen the dignity,
and sully the glory you have hitherto maintained;
let me request you to rely on the plighted faith
of your Country, and place a full confidence
in the purity of the intentions of Congress;
that, previous to your dissolution as an Army
they will cause all your Accts to be fairly liquidated,
as directed in their resolutions, which were published to you
two days ago, and that they will adopt the most effectual
measures in their power, to render ample justice to you,
for your faithful and meritorious Services.
And let me conjure you, in the name of our
common Country, as you value your own sacred honor,
as you respect the rights of humanity,
and as you regard the Military & National character
of America, to express your utmost horror & detestation
of the Man who wishes, under any specious pretenses,
to overturn the liberties of our Country,
and who wickedly attempts to open the flood Gates
of Civil discord, and deluge our rising Empire in Blood.
By thus determining, thus acting, you will pursue
the plain and direct road to the attainment of your wishes.
You will defeat the insidious designs of our Enemies, who
are compelled to resort from open force to secret Artifice.
You will give one more distinguished proof
of unexampled patriotism and patient virtue,
rising superior to the pressure
of the most complicated sufferings;
And you will, by the dignity of your Conduct,
afford occasion for Posterity to say, when speaking
of the glorious example you have exhibited to mankind,
“had this day been wanting, the World had never seen
the last stage of perfection
to which human nature is capable of attaining.”4
After listening to Washington’s speech the officers agreed on a
unanimous resolution stating that they reciprocated his “affectionate
expressions with the greatest sincerity of which the human heart is capable.”5
In a letter to Alexander Hamilton on March 31 Washington wrote,
I rejoice most exceedingly that
there is an end to our warfare,
and that such a field is opening to our view as will,
with wisdom to direct the cultivation of it,
make us a great, a respectable, and happy People;
but it must be improved by other means than State politics,
and unreasonable jealousies & prejudices;
or (it requires not the second sight to see that)
we shall be instruments in the hands of our Enemies,
& those European powers who may be jealous
of our greatness in Union to dissolve the confederation;
but to attain this, although the way seems extremely plain,
is not so easy.
My wish to see the Union of these States
established upon liberal & permanent principles,
& inclination to contribute my mite in pointing out
the defects of the present Constitution, are equally great.
All my private letters have teemed with these Sentiments,
& whenever this topic has been the subject of conversation,
I have endeavored to diffuse & enforce them;
but how far any further essay, by me,
might be productive of the wished for end,
or appear to arrogate more than belongs to me,
depends so much upon popular opinion,
& the temper & disposition of People,
that it is not easy to decide.
I shall be obliged to you however for the thoughts
which you have promised me on this subject,
and as soon as you can make it convenient.
No man in the United States is, or can be
more deeply impressed with the necessity of a reform
in our present Confederation than myself.
No man perhaps has felt the bad effects of it more sensibly;
for to the defects thereof, & want of Powers in Congress
may justly be ascribed the prolongation of the War,
& consequently the Expenses occasioned by it.
More than half the perplexities
I have experienced in the course of my command,
and almost the whole of the difficulties
& distress of the Army, have their origin here;
but still, the prejudices of some, the designs of others,
and the mere machinery of the majority,
makes address & management necessary to give
weight to opinions which are to Combat the doctrine
of those different classes of men, in the field of Politics.6
On 18 April 1783 Washington in the General Orders wrote,
The Commander in Chief orders the Cessation
of Hostilities between the United States of America
and the King of Great Britain to be publicly proclaimed
tomorrow at 12 o’clock at the Newbuilding,
and that the Proclamation which will be communicated
herewith, be read tomorrow evening
at the head of every regiment and corps of the army.
After which the Chaplains with the several Brigades
will render thanks to almighty God for all his mercies,
particularly for his over ruling the wrath of man
to his own glory, and causing
the rage of war to cease amongst the nations.
Although the proclamation before alluded to,
intends only to the prohibition of hostilities
and not to the annunciation of a general peace,
yet it must afford the most rational and sincere satisfaction
to every benevolent mind, as it puts a period to a long
and doubtful contest, stops the effusion of human blood,
opens the prospect to a more splendid scene,
and like another morning star,
promises the approach of a brighter day
than hath hitherto illuminated the Western Hemisphere;
on such a happy day, a day which is the harbinger of Peace,
a day which completes the eighth year of the war,
it would be ingratitude not to rejoice!
it would be insensibility not to participate
in the general felicity.
The Commander in Chief far from endeavoring
to stifle the feelings of Joy in his own bosom,
offers his most cordial Congratulations on the occasion
to all the Officers of every denomination,
to all the Troops of the United States in General,
and in particular to those gallant and persevering men
who had resolved to defend the rights of their
invaded country so long as the war should continue.
For these are the men who ought to be considered
as the pride and boast of the American Army;
And, who crowned with well earned laurels,
may soon withdraw from the field of Glory,
to the more tranquil walks of civil life.
While the General recollects the almost infinite
variety of Scenes through which we have passed,
with a mixture of pleasure, astonishment, and gratitude.
While he contemplates the prospects before us with rapture,
he can not help wishing that all the brave men
(of whatever condition they may be)
who have shared in the toils and dangers
of effecting this glorious revolution,
of rescuing Millions from the hand of oppression,
and of laying the foundation of a great Empire,
might be impressed with a proper idea
of the dignified part they have been called to act
(under the Smiles of providence)
on the stage of human affairs:
for, happy, thrice happy shall they be pronounced hereafter,
who have contributed anything,
who have performed the meanest office
in creating this stupendous fabric of Freedom
and Empire on the broad basis of Independency;
who have assisted in protesting the rights of humane nature
and establishing an Asylum for the poor
and oppressed of all nations and religions.
The glorious task for which we first flew to Arms
being thus accomplished,
the liberties of our Country being fully acknowledged,
and firmly secured by the smiles of heaven,
on the purity of our cause, and the honest exertions
of a feeble people (determined to be free)
against a powerful Nation (disposed to oppress them)
and the Character of those who have persevered,
through every extremity of hardship;
suffering and danger being immortalized
by the illustrious appellation of the patriot Army:
Nothing more remains but for the actors
of this mighty Scene to preserve a perfect, unvarying,
consistency of character through the very last act;
to close the Drama with applause;
and to retire from the Military Theatre
with the same approbation of Angels and men
which have crowned all their former virtuous Actions.
For this purpose no disorder or licentiousness
must be tolerated, every considerate
and well disposed soldier must remember
it will be absolutely necessary to wait
with patience until peace shall be declared
or Congress shall be enabled to take proper measures
for the security of the public stores &ca.;
as soon as these Arrangements shall be made,
the General is confident there will be no delay
in discharging with every mark of distinction & honor
all the men enlisted for the war who will then
have faithfully performed their engagements with the public.
The General has already interested himself in their behalf;
and he thinks he need not repeat the assurances
of his disposition to be useful to them
on the present, and every other proper occasion.
In the meantime he is determined that
no Military neglects or excesses shall go unpunished
while he retains the command of the Army.7
Congress had approved the preliminary Treaty of Paris on 15 April 1783
and
announced the cessation of hostilities on April 19, the eighth anniversary of the war.
On May 2 Washington proposed a small standing army of 2,631 men.
Continental troops enlisted for the duration were furloughed on May 26.
Washington wanted to recover his lost slaves, and on May 6 he learned
from Guy Carleton, the former governor of Quebec, that the British had
already rescued 6,000 and evacuated them from New York to Nova Scotia.
Carleton suggested a registry so that the former owners could be paid for their former slaves.
Washington told him that he had already ordered
the release of the German and British prisoners.
Carleton said that he would evacuate the troops from New York.
On May 26 Washington received a message from John Laurens
in Paris that the French fleet in the West Indies would be sending a
major detachment in July and that the Court of Versailles donated
six million livres to the United States to provide supplies for troops.
In 1783 the United States Government still had a debt
from the War for Independence of about $40 million.
On June 8 George Washington sent a long “Circular to State Governments”
that has been called “Washington’s Testament” or “Washington’s Legacy.”
Here is the entire document:
The great object for which I had the honor to hold
an Appointment in the Service of my Country,
being accomplished, I am now preparing to resign it
into the hands of Congress, and to return
to that domestic retirement; which, it is well known,
I left with the greatest reluctance, a Retirement
for which I have never ceased to sigh
through a long and painful absence, and in which
(remote from the noise and trouble of the World)
I meditate to pass the remainder of life,
in a state of undisturbed repose;
but before I carry this resolution into effect,
I think it a duty incumbent on me,
to make this my last official communication,
to congratulate you on the glorious events
which Heaven has been pleased to produce in our favor,
to offer my sentiments respecting some important subjects,
which appear to me, to be intimately connected
with the tranquility of the United States,
to take my leave of your Excellency as a public Character,
and to give my final blessing to that Country,
in whose service I have spent the prime of my life,
for whose sake I have consumed
so many anxious days and watchful nights,
and whose happiness, being extremely dear to me,
will always constitute no inconsiderable part of my own.
Impressed with the liveliest sensibility
on this pleasing occasion, I will claim
the indulgence of dilating the more copiously
on the subjects of our mutual felicitation.
When we consider the magnitude of the prize
we contended for, the doubtful nature of the contest,
and the favorable manner in which it has terminated,
we shall find the greatest possible reason
for gratitude and rejoicing;
this is a theme that will afford infinite delight
to every benevolent and liberal mind,
whether the event in contemplation,
be considered as the source of present enjoyment
or the parent of future happiness;
and we shall have equal occasion to felicitate ourselves
on the lot which Providence has assigned us, whether
we view it in a natural, a political or a moral point of light.
The Citizens of America, placed in the most
enviable condition, as the sole Lords and Proprietors
of a vast tract of Continent, comprehending all the various
soils and climates of the World, and abounding
with all the necessaries and conveniences of life,
are now by the late satisfactory pacification, acknowledged
to be possessed of absolute freedom and Independency;
They are from this period to be considered
as the Actors on a most conspicuous Theatre,
which seems to be peculiarly designated by Providence
for the display of human greatness and felicity;
here, they are not only surrounded with everything
which can contribute to the completion
of private and domestic enjoyment,
but Heaven has crowned all its other blessings,
by giving a fairer opportunity for political happiness,
than any other Nation has ever been favored with.
Nothing can illustrate these observations more forcibly
than a recollection of the happy conjuncture
of times and circumstances, under which
our Republic assumed its rank among the Nations;
the foundation of our Empire was not laid
in the gloomy Age of Ignorance and Superstition,
but at an Epoch when the rights of mankind
were better understood and more clearly defined,
than at any former period,
the researches of the human mind,
after social happiness have been carried to a great extent,
the Treasures of knowledge, acquired by the labors
of Philosophers, Sages and Legislators,
through a long succession of years, are laid open for our use
and their collected wisdom may be happily applied
in the Establishment of our forms of Government;
the free cultivation of Letters, the unbounded extension
of Commerce, the progressive refinement of Manners,
the growing liberality of sentiment, and above all,
the pure and benign light of Revelation,
have had a meliorating influence on mankind
and increased the blessings of Society.
At this auspicious period,
the United States came into existence as a Nation,
and if their Citizens should not be completely free
and happy, the fault will be entirely their own.
Such is our situation, and such are our prospects:
but notwithstanding the cup of blessing is thus
reached out to us, notwithstanding happiness is ours,
if we have a disposition to seize the occasion
and make it our own; yet, it appears to me there is
an option still left to the United States of America;
that it is in their choice, and depends upon their conduct,
whether they will be respectable and prosperous,
or contemptible and miserable as a Nation;
this is the time of their political probation;
this is the moment when the eyes of the whole World
are turned upon them, this is the moment
to establish or ruin their national Character forever;
this is the favorable moment to give
such a tone to our federal Government,
as will enable it to answer the ends of its institution,
or this may be the ill-fated moment
for relaxing the powers of the Union,
annihilating the cement of the Confederation,
and exposing us to become the sport of European politics,
which may play one State against another
to prevent their growing importance,
and to serve their own interested purposes.
For, according to the system of Policy
the States shall adopt at this moment, they will stand or fall,
and by their confirmation or lapse, it is yet to be decided,
whether the Revolution must ultimately
be considered as a blessing or a curse:
a blessing or a curse, not to the present Age alone,
for with our fate will the destiny
of unborn Millions be involved.
With this conviction of the importance
of the present Crisis, silence in me would be a crime.
I will therefore speak to your Excellency the language
of freedom and of sincerity, without disguise.
I am aware, however, that those who differ from me
in political sentiment, may perhaps remark
I am stepping out of the proper line of my duty,
and they may possibly ascribe to arrogance or ostentation,
what I know is alone the result of the purest intention,
but the rectitude of my own heart,
which disdains such unworthy motives,
the part I have hitherto acted in life,
the determination I have formed,
of not taking any share in public business hereafter,
the ardent desire I feel, and shall continue to manifest,
of quietly enjoying in private life, after all the toils of War,
the benefits of a wise and liberal Government, will,
I flatter myself, sooner or later convince my Countrymen,
that I could have no sinister views in delivering
with so little reserve, the opinions contained in this Address.
There are four things, which I humbly conceive,
are essential to the well being,
I may even venture to say, to the existence,
of the United States as an Independent Power:
1st. An indissoluble Union of the States
under one Federal Head.
2dly. A Sacred regard to Public Justice.
3dly. The adoption of a proper Peace Establishment, and
4thly. The prevalence of that pacific and friendly Disposition,
among the people of the United States,
which will induce them to forget their local prejudices
and policies, to make those mutual concessions
which are requisite to the general prosperity,
and in some instances, to sacrifice their individual
advantages to the interest of the Community.
These are the Pillars on which the glorious Fabric of our
Independency and National Character must be supported;
Liberty is the Basis, and whoever would dare
to sap the foundation, or overturn the Structure,
under whatever specious pretexts he may attempt it,
will merit the bitterest execration, and the severest
punishment which can be inflicted by his injured Country.
On the three first Articles I will make a few observations,
leaving the last to the good sense and serious consideration
of those immediately concerned.
Under the first head, although it may not be necessary
or proper for me in this place to enter into
a particular disquisition of the principles of the Union,
and to take up the great question
which has been frequently agitated,
whether it be expedient and requisite for the States
to delegate a larger proportion of Power to Congress or not.
Yet it will be a part of my duty,
and that of every true Patriot, to assert without reserve
and to insist upon the following positions,
that unless the States will suffer Congress to exercise
those prerogatives they are undoubtedly invested with
by the Constitution, everything must very rapidly
tend to Anarchy and confusion, that it is indispensable
to the happiness of the individual States,
that there should be lodged somewhere,
a Supreme Power to regulate and govern
the general concerns of the Confederated Republic,
without which the Union cannot be of long duration.
That there must be a faithful
and pointed compliance on the part of every State,
with the late proposals and demands of Congress,
or the most fatal consequences will ensue, that whatever
measures have a tendency to dissolve the Union,
or contribute to violate or lessen the Sovereign Authority,
ought to be considered as hostile
to the Liberty and Independency of America,
and the Authors of them treated accordingly, and lastly, that
unless we can be enabled by the concurrence of the States,
to participate of the fruits of the Revolution,
and enjoy the essential benefits of Civil Society,
under a form of Government so free and uncorrupted,
so happily guarded against the danger of oppression as has
been devised and adopted by the Articles of Confederation,
it will be a subject of regret that so much blood and treasure
have been lavished for no purpose, that so many sufferings
have been encountered without a compensation,
and that so many sacrifices have been made in vain.
Many other considerations might here be adduced
to prove, that without an entire conformity to the Spirit
of the Union we cannot exist as an Independent Power;
it will be sufficient for my purpose,
to mention but one or two
which seem to me of the greatest importance.
It is only in our united Character as an Empire,
that our Independence is acknowledged,
that our power can be regarded,
or our Credit supported among Foreign Nations.
The Treaties of the European Powers
with the United States of America,
will have no validity on a dissolution of the Union.
We shall be left nearly in a state of Nature,
or we may find by our own unhappy experience,
that there is a natural and necessary progression
from the extreme of anarchy to the extreme of Tyranny;
and that arbitrary power is most easily established
on the ruins of Liberty abused to licentiousness.
As to the second Article, which respects the performance
of Public Justice, Congress have, in their late Address
to the United States almost exhausted the subject;
they have explained their Ideas so fully,
and have enforced the obligations the States are under,
to render complete justice to all the Public Creditors,
with so much dignity and energy, that in my opinion,
no real friend to the honor and Independency of America,
can hesitate a single moment respecting the propriety of
complying with the just and honorable measures proposed;
if their Arguments do not produce conviction,
I know of nothing that will have greater influence;
especially when we recollect that the System referred to,
being the result of the collected Wisdom of the Continent,
must be esteemed, if not perfect, certainly the least
objectionable of any that could be devised;
and that if it shall not be carried into immediate execution,
a National Bankruptcy, with all its deplorable consequences,
will take place before any different Plan
can possibly be proposed and adopted;
so pressing are the present circumstances!
and such is the alternative now offered to the States!
The ability of the Country to discharge the debts which
have been incurred in its defense, is not to be doubted.
An inclination, I flatter myself, will not be wanting.
The path of our duty is plain before us;
honesty will be found on every experiment
to be the best and only true policy.
Let us then as a Nation be just;
let us fulfill the public Contracts,
which Congress had undoubtedly a right to make
for the purpose of carrying on the War,
with the same good faith we suppose ourselves
bound to perform our private engagements.
In the meantime, let an attention to the cheerful performance
of their proper business as Individuals,
and as members of Society, be earnestly inculcated
on the Citizens of America, that will they strengthen the
hands of Government, and be happy under its protection:
everyone will reap the fruit of his labors;
everyone will enjoy his own acquisitions
without molestation and without danger.
In this state of absolute freedom and perfect security,
who will grudge to yield a very little of his property
to support the common interests of Society
and ensure the protection of Government?
Who does not remember, the frequent declarations,
at the commencement of the War,
that we should be completely satisfied,
if at the expense of one half,
we could defend the remainder of our possessions?
Where is the Man to be found, who wishes to remain
indebted, for the defense of his own person and property,
to the exertions, the bravery, and the blood of others,
without making one generous effort
to repay the debt of honor and of gratitude?
In what part of the Continent shall we find any Man,
or body of Men, who would not blush to stand up
and propose measures, purposely calculated
to rob the Soldier of his Stipend,
and the Public Creditor of his due?
and were it possible that such a flagrant instance of injustice
could ever happen, would it not excite
the general indignation, and tend to bring down,
upon the Authors of such measures,
the aggravated vengeance of Heaven?
If after all, a spirit of disunion or a temper
of obstinacy and perverseness, should manifest itself
in any of the States, if such an ungracious disposition
should attempt to frustrate all the happy effects
that might be expected to flow from the Union,
if there should be a refusal to comply
with the requisitions for Funds to discharge
the annual interest of the public debts,
and if that refusal should revive again
all those jealousies and produce all those evils,
which are now happily removed,
Congress, who have in all their Transaction shown
a great degree of magnanimity and justice,
will stand justified in the sight of God and Man
and the State alone which puts itself in opposition
to the aggregate Wisdom of the Continent,
and follows such mistaken and pernicious Councils,
will be responsible for all the consequences.
For my own part, conscious of having acted
while a Servant of the Public, in the manner I conceived
best suited to promote the real interests of my Country;
having in consequence of my fixed belief in some measure
pledged myself to the Army, that their Country
would finally do them complete and ample Justice;
and not wishing to conceal any instance
of my official conduct from the eyes of the World,
I have thought proper to transmit to your Excellency
the enclosed collection of Papers,
relative to the half pay and commutation
granted by Congress to the Officers of the Army;
from these communications
my decided sentiment will be clearly comprehended,
together with the conclusive reasons
which induced me, at an early period,
to recommend the adoption of this measure,
in the most earnest and serious manner.
As the proceedings of Congress, the Army, and myself
are open to all, and contain in my opinion,
sufficient information to remove the prejudices and errors
which may have been entertained by any.
I think it unnecessary to say anything more,
than just to observe, that the Resolutions of Congress,
now alluded to, are undoubtedly
as absolutely binding upon the United States,
as the most solemn Acts of Confederation or Legislation.
As to the Idea, which, I am informed
has in some instances prevailed,
that the half pay and commutation are to be regarded
merely in the odious light of a Pension,
it ought to be exploded forever;
that Provision should be viewed as it really was,
a reasonable compensation offered by Congress,
at a Time when they had nothing else to give,
to the Officers of the Army,
for services then to be performed.
It was the only means to prevent
a total dereliction of the Service.
It was a part of their hire, I may be allowed to say;
it was the price of their blood and of your Independency;
it is therefore more than a common debt;
it is a debt of honor;
it can never be considered as a Pension or gratuity,
nor be cancelled until it is fairly discharged.
With regard to a distinction between Officers and Soldiers,
it is sufficient that the uniform experience
of every Nation of the World, combined with our own,
proves the utility and propriety of the discrimination.
Rewards in proportion to the aids the public derives
from them, are unquestionably due to all its Servants.
In some Lines, the Soldiers have perhaps generally
had as ample a compensation for their Services,
by the large bounties which have been paid them,
as their Officers will receive in the proposed Commutation;
in others, if besides the donation of Lands,
the payment of Arrearages of Clothing and Wages
(in which Articles all the component parts
of the Army must be on the same footing)
we take into the estimate the bounties many of the Soldiers
have received and the gratuity of one Year’s full pay,
which is promised to all, possibly their situation
(every circumstance being duly considered)
will not be deemed less eligible than that of the Officers.
Should a farther reward, however, be judged equitable,
I will venture to assert,
no one will enjoy greater satisfaction than myself,
on seeing an exemption from Taxes for a limited time,
(which has been petitioned for in some instances)
or any other adequate immunity or compensation,
granted to the brave defenders of their Country’s cause;
but neither the adoption or rejection of this proposition
will in any manner affect, much less militate against,
the Act of Congress by which they have offered
five years full pay, in lieu of half pay for life,
which had been before promised to the Officers of the Army.
Before I conclude the Subject of public justice,
I cannot omit to mention the obligations
this Country is under, to that meritorious Class
of veteran Non-commissioned Officers and Privates,
who have been discharged for inability, in consequence
of the Resolution of Congress of the 23d April 1782,
on an annual pension for life.
Their peculiar sufferings, their singular merits and claims
to that provision need only be known,
to interest all the feelings of humanity in their behalf.
Nothing but a punctual payment of their annual allowance
can rescue them from the most complicated misery,
and nothing could be a more melancholy
and distressing sight, than to behold those
who have shed their blood or lost their limbs
in the service of their Country, without a shelter,
without a friend, and without the means
of obtaining any of the necessaries or comforts of Life,
compelled to beg their daily bread from door to door!
Suffer me to recommend those of this description,
belonging to your State, to the warmest patronage
of your Excellency and your Legislature.
It is necessary to say but a few words on the third topic
which was proposed, and which regards particularly
the defense of the Republic.
As there can be little doubt but Congress will recommend
a proper Peace Establishment for the United States
in which a due attention will be paid to the importance
of placing the Militia of the Union upon a regular
and respectable footing.
If this should be the case, I would beg leave to urge
the great advantage of it in the strongest terms.
The Militia of this Country must be considered
as the Palladium of our security,
and the first effectual resort, in case of hostility;
it is essential therefore, that the same system
should pervade the whole, that the formation and discipline
of the Militia of the Continent should be absolutely uniform
and the same species of Arms, Accoutrements
and Military Apparatus, should be introduced
in every part of the United States.
No one, who has not learned it from experience,
can conceive the difficulty, expense, and confusion
which result from a contrary system,
or the vague Arrangements which have hitherto prevailed.
If in treating of political points, a greater latitude
than usual has been taken in the course of this Address,
the importance of the Crisis, and the magnitude
of the objects in discussion, must be my apology.
It is, however, neither my wish or expectation,
that the preceding observations should claim any regard,
except so far as they shall appear to be dictated by a good
intention, consonant to the immutable rules of Justice;
calculated to produce a liberal system of policy,
and founded on whatever experience may have been
acquired by a long and close attention to public business.
Here I might speak with the more confidence
from my actual observations, and,
if it would not swell this Letter (already too prolix)
beyond the bounds I had prescribed myself.
I could demonstrate to every mind open to conviction,
that in less time and with much less expense
than has been incurred, the War might have been brought
to the same happy conclusion, if the resources
of the Continent could have been properly drawn forth,
that the distresses and disappointments which
have very often occurred, have in too many instances,
resulted more from a want of energy
in the Continental Government,
than a deficiency of means in the particular States.
That the inefficiency of measures, arising from the want
of an adequate authority in the Supreme Power,
from a partial compliance with the requisitions of Congress
in some of the States, and from a failure of punctuality
in others, while it tended to damp the Zeal of those
which were more willing to exert themselves;
served also to accumulate the expenses of the War,
and to frustrate the best concerted Plans;
and that the discouragement occasioned
by the complicated difficulties and embarrassments,
in which our affairs were, by this means involved,
would have long ago produced the dissolution of any Army,
less patient, less virtuous and less persevering,
than that which I have had the honor to Command.
But while I mention these things, which are notorious facts,
as the defects of our Federal Constitution,
particularly in the prosecution of a War,
I beg it may be understood, that as I have ever taken
a pleasure in gratefully acknowledging the assistance
and support I have derived from every Class of Citizens,
so shall I always be happy to do justice
to the unparalleled exertion of the individual States,
on many interesting occasions.
I have thus freely disclosed what I wished
to make known, before I surrendered up
my Public trust to those who committed it to me,
the task is now accomplished.
I now bid adieu to your Excellency as the Chief Magistrate
of your State, at the same time I bid a last farewell
to the cares of Office, and all the employments of public life.
It remains then to be my final and only request,
that your Excellency will communicate these sentiments
to your legislature at their next meeting,
and that they may be considered as the Legacy of One,
who has ardently wished, on all occasions, to be useful
to his Country, and who even in the shade of Retirement,
will not fail to implore the divine benediction upon it.
I now make it my earnest prayer,
that God would have you and the State
over which you preside, in his holy protection,
that he would incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate
a spirit of subordination and obedience to Government,
to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another,
for their fellow Citizens of the United States at large,
and particularly for their brethren
who have served in the Field, and finally,
that he would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all,
to do Justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves
with that Charity, humility and pacific temper of mind,
which were the Characteristics of the Divine Author
of our blessed Religion and without an humble imitation
of whose example in these things,
we can never hope to be a happy Nation.8
On June 17 Continental soldiers in Philadelphia sent a message
to
the Congress demanding that they be paid for their service in the war.
On June 20 about 400 soldiers protested at the State House.
Alexander Hamilton persuaded them to let Congress meet to consider their demands.
Congress had approved import duties to raise revenue.
Yet they still lacked the money to pay the soldiers.
Hamilton asked Robert Morris, the finance superintendent, not to resign.
That night Hamilton’s committee met secretly and devised a message
for the Pennsylvania Council pleading for protection from the mutiny.
They wrote that Congress would move if the Council did not save them.
The Pennsylvania Executive Council led by their president
John Dickinson opposed the request by the Congress which
then moved to a provisional capital at Princeton, New Jersey.
When Washington heard about the mutiny on June 24, he sent
1,500 troops led by Major General William Heath and General Robert Howe.
The Pennsylvania Council called up 500 militia, and
they persuaded the mutineers to put down their weapons.
Some mutineers were arrested, and Congress voted for an investigation.
The Congress met until November when they moved to Annapolis, Maryland.
Henry Knox proposed a fraternal order of army officers to be
called the Society of the Cincinnati named for a Roman consul
who saved ancient Rome during a war and then renounced power.
Washington was elected their president on June 19.
On 7 September 1783 George Washington in a letter to the chairman of
the Committee on Indian Affairs, James Duane, explained his policies
and
proposals toward Indian nations in the West and their relations with the United States.
I have carefully perused the Papers
which you put into my hands relating to Indian Affairs.
My Sentiments with respect to the proper line of Conduct
to be observed towards these people coincides precisely
with those delivered by Genl. Schuyler so far as
he has gone in his Letter of the 29th July to Congress
(which, with the other Papers is herewith returned)—
& for the reasons he has there assigned;
a repetition of them therefore by me would be unnecessary.
But independent of the arguments made use of by him the
following considerations have no small weight in my mind.
To suffer a wide extended Country to be overrun
with Land jobbers—Speculators, and Monopolizers
or even with scattered settlers is, in my opinion, inconsistent
with that wisdom & policy which our true interest dictates,
or that an enlightened People ought to adopt and, besides,
is pregnant of disputes both with the Savages,
and among ourselves, the evils of which are easier,
to be conceived than described; and for what?
but to aggrandize a few avaricious Men to the prejudice
of many and the embarrassment of Government.
For the People engaged in these pursuits
without contributing in the smallest degree
to the support of Government, or considering
themselves as amenable to its Laws, will involve it
by their unrestrained conduct, in inextricable perplexities,
and more than probable in a great deal of Bloodshed.
My ideas therefore of the line of Conduct proper
to be observed not only towards the Indians,
but for the government of the Citizens of America,
in their Settlement of the Western Country
(which is intimately connected therewith) are simply these.
First and as a preliminary, that all Prisoners of whatever
age or Sex, among the Indians shall be delivered up.
That the Indians should be informed,
that after a Contest of eight years for Sovereignty
of the Country G. Britain has ceded all the Lands
of the United States within the limits described
by the art of the Provisional Treaty.
That as they (the Indians) maugre all the advice
and admonition which could be given them
at the commencement; & during the prosecution of the War
could not be restrained from acts of Hostility,
but were determined to join their Arms to those of G. Britain
and to share their fortune; so, consequently,
with a less generous People than Americans
they would be made to share the same fate;
and be compelled to retire
along with them beyond the Lakes.
But as we prefer Peace to a state of Warfare,
as we consider them as a deluded People;
as we persuade ourselves that they are convinced,
from experience, of their error
in taking up the Hatchet against us,
and that their true Interest and safety
must now depend upon our friendship.
As the Country, is large enough to contain us all;
and as we are disposed to be kind to them
and to partake of their Trade, we will from these
considerations and from motives of Compn.,
draw a veil over what is past and establish a boundary line
between them and us beyond which we will endeavor
to restrain our People from Hunting or Settling,
and within which they shall not come,
but for the purposes of Trading, Treating,
or other business unexceptionable in its nature.
In establishing this line, in the first instance, care
should be taken neither to yield nor to grasp at too much.
But to endeavor to impress the Indians with an idea
of the generosity of our disposition to accommodate them,
and with the necessity we are under,
of providing for our Warriors, our Young People
who are growing up, and strangers who are coming
from other Countries to live among us.
and if they should make a point of it, or appear dissatisfied
at the line we may find it necessary to establish,
compensation should be made them
for their claims within it.
It is needless for me to express more explicitly
because the tendency of my observations evinces it is
my opinion that if the Legislature of the State of New York
should insist upon expelling the Six Nations
from all the Country they Inhabited previous to the War,
within their Territory (as General Schuyler seems to be
apprehensive of) that it will end in another Indian War.
I have every reason to believe from my enquiries,
and the information I have received,
that they will not suffer their Country
(if it was our policy to take it before we could settle it)
to be wrested from them without another struggle.
That they would compromise for a part of it
I have very little doubt,
and that it would be the cheapest way of coming at it,
I have no doubt at all.
The same observations, I am persuaded, will hold good
with respect to Virginia, or any other state
which has powerful Tribes of Indians on their Frontiers;
and the reason of my mentioning New York
is because General Schuyler has expressed
his opinion of the temper of its Legislature;
and because I have been more in the way
of learning the Sentiments of the Six Nations,
than of any other Tribes of Indians on this Subject.
The limits being sufficiently extensive (in the New City)
to comply with all the engagements of Government
and to admit such emigrations as may be supposed
to happen within a given time not only from the several
States of the Union but from Foreign Countries
and moreover of such magnitude as to form a distinct
and proper Government; a Proclamation in my opinion,
should issue, making it Felony (if there is power for
the purpose and if not imposing some very heavy restraint)
for any person to Survey or Settle beyond the Line;
and the Officers Commanding the Frontier Garrison
should have pointed and peremptory orders
to see that the Proclamation is carried into effect.
Measures of this sort would not only obtain Peace
from the Indians, but would, in my opinion,
be the surest means of preserving it.
It would dispose of the Land to the best advantage;
People the Country progressively,
and check Land Jobbing and Monopolizing
(which is now going forward with great avidity)
while the door would be open, and the terms known
for everyone to obtain what is reasonable and proper
for himself upon legal and constitutional ground.
Every advantage that could be expected
or even wished for would result from such a mode
of procedure our Settlements would be compact,
Government well established, and our Barrier formidable,
not only for ourselves but against our Neighbors,
and the Indians as has been observed
in General Schuyler’s Letter will ever retreat
as our Settlements advance upon them
and they will be as ready to sell, as we are to buy.
That it is the cheapest as well as the least distressing
way of dealing with them, none who are acquainted
with the Nature of Indian warfare, and has ever been
at the trouble of estimating the expense of one,
and comparing it with the cost of purchasing their Lands,
will hesitate to acknowledge.
Unless some such measures as I have here
taken the liberty of suggesting are speedily adopted
one of two capital evils, in my opinion, will inevitably result,
and is near at hand; either that the settling, or rather
overspreading the Western Country will take place,
by a parcel of Banditti, who will bid defiance to all Authority
while they are skimming and disposing of the Cream
of the Country at the expense of many suffering Officers
and Soldiers who have fought and bled to obtain it,
and are now waiting the decision of Congress to point them
to the promised reward of their past dangers and toils,
or a renewal of Hostilities with the Indians,
brought about more than probably, by this very means.
How far agents for Indian Affairs are indispensably
necessary I shall not take upon me to decide;
but if any should be appointed, their powers in my opinion
should be circumscribed, accurately defined, and
themselves rigidly punished for every infraction of them.
A recurrence to the conduct of these People
under the British Administration of Indian Affairs
will manifest the propriety of this caution,
as it will there be found, that self Interest
was the principle by which their Agents were actuated;
and to promote this by accumulating Lands
and passing large quantities of Goods through their hands,
the Indians were made to speak any language
they pleased by their representation;
were pacific or hostile as their purposes were
most likely to be promoted by the one or the other.
No purchase under any pretense whatever should be made
by any other authority than that of the Sovereign power,
or the Legislature of the State
in which such Lands may happen to be.
Nor should the Agents be permitted directly or indirectly
to trade; but to have a fixed, and ample Salary
allowed them as a full compensation for their trouble.
Whether in practice the measure may answer as well as
it appears in theory to me, I will not undertake to say;
but I think, if the Indian Trade was carried on,
on Government Account, and with no greater advance than
what would be necessary to defray the expense and risk,
and bring in a small profit, that it would supply the Indians
upon much better terms than they usually are;
engross their Trade, and fix them strongly in our Interest;
and would be a much better mode of treating them
than that of giving presents;
where a few only are benefitted by them.
I confess there is a difficulty in getting a Man,
or set of Men, in whose Abilities and integrity
there can be a perfect reliance; without which,
the scheme is liable to such abuse as to defeat
the salutary ends which are proposed from it.
At any rate, no person should be suffered to Trade
with the Indians without first obtaining a license,
and giving security to conform to such rules and regulations
as shall be prescribed; as was the case before the War.
In giving my Sentiments in the Month of May last
(at the request of a Committee of Congress)
on a Peace Establishment I took the liberty of suggesting
the propriety, which in my opinion there appeared,
of paying particular attention to the French
and other Settlers at Detroit and other parts
within the limits of the Western Country;
the perusal of a late Pamphlet entitled
“Observations on the Commerce of the American States
with Europe and the West Indies” impresses the necessity
of it more forcibly than ever on my Mind.
The author of that Piece strongly recommends
a liberal change in the Government of Canada,
and though he is too sanguine in his expectations
of the benefits arising from it,
there can be no doubt of the good policy of the measure.
It behooves us therefore to counteract them, by anticipation.
These People have a disposition towards us
susceptible of favorable Impressions;
but as no Arts will be left unattempted by the British
to withdraw them from our Interest,
the present moment should be employed by us
to fix them in it, or we may lose them forever;
and with them, the advantages, or disadvantages
consequent of the choice they may make.
From the best information and Maps of that Country,
it would appear that from the Mouth of the Great Miami
River which empties into the Ohio to its confluence
with the Mad River, thence by a Line to the Miami Fort
and Village on the other Miami River
which empties into Lake Erie, and Thence by a Line
to include the Settlement of Detroit would with Lake Erie
to the Northward Pennsylvania to the Eastward
and the Ohio to the Southward form a Government
sufficiently extensive to fulfill all the public engagements,
and to receive moreover a large population by Emigrants,
and to confine The Settlement of the New States
within these bounds would, in my opinion, be infinitely better
even supposing no disputes were to happen with the Indians
and that it was not necessary to guard against
those other evils which have been enumerated
than to suffer the same number of People to roam
over a Country of at least 500,000 Square Miles
contributing nothing to the support, but much perhaps
to the Embarrassment of the Federal Government.
Was it not for the purpose of comprehending
the Settlement of Detroit within the Jurisdiction of the
New Government a more compact and better shaped district
for a State would be for the line to proceed
from the Miami Fort and Village along the River of that name
to Lake Erie leaving In that case the Settlement of Detroit,
and all the Territory North of the Rivers Miami
and St Josephs between the Lakes Erie, St Clair, Huron,
and Michigan to form, hereafter, another State
equally large compact and water bounded.
At first view, it may seem a little extraneous,
when I am called upon to give an opinion upon the terms
of a Peace proper to be made with the Indians,
that I should go into the formation of New States;
but the Settlement of the Western Country
and making a Peace with the Indians are so analogous
that there can be no definition of the one
without involving considerations of the other.
For I repeat it, again, and I am clear in my opinion, that
policy and economy point very strongly to the expediency
of being upon good terms with the Indians,
and the propriety of purchasing their Lands
in preference to attempting to drive them
by force of arms out of their Country;
which as we have already experienced
is like driving the Wild Beasts of the Forest
which will return as soon as the pursuit is at an end
and fall perhaps on those that are left there;
when the gradual extension of our Settlements will
as certainly cause the Savage as the Wolf to retire;
both being beasts of prey though they differ in shape.
In a word there is nothing to be obtained by an Indian War
but the Soil they live on,
and this can be had by purchase at less expense,
and without that bloodshed,
and those distresses which helpless Women and Children
are made partakers of in all kinds of disputes with them.9
On October 15 the United States Congress accepted this general plan
and incorporated some of it into their report on American Indian policy.
The final peace treaty was signed in Paris on 3 September 1783.
On October 4 about 500 Friends at the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
sent a petition asking Congress to prohibit the re-opening of the slave trade.
Washington wrote his Farewell Address to the Armies
of the United States on November 2 and sent out copies.
He delivered this address at Rocky Hill near Princeton:
The United States in Congress assembled,
after giving the most honorable testimony to the merits
of the federal Armies, and presenting them with the thanks
of their Country for their long, eminent and faithful services,
having thought proper by their proclamation
bearing date the 18th day of October last, to discharge
such part of the Troops as were engaged for the war,
and to permit the Officers on furlough to retire from service
from and after to-morrow; which proclamation
having been communicated in the public papers
for the information and government of all concerned;
it only remains for the Commander in Chief to
address himself once more, and that for the last time,
to the Armies of the United States (however widely
dispersed the individuals who composed them may be)
and to bid them an affectionate, a long farewell.
But before the Commander in Chief takes his final leave
of those he holds most dear, he wishes to indulge himself
a few moments in calling to mind a slight review of the past.
He will then take the liberty of exploring
with his military friends their future prospects,
of advising the general line of conduct, which in his opinion,
ought to be pursued, and he will conclude the Address
by expressing the obligations he feels himself under
for the spirited and able assistance he has experienced
from them in the performance of an arduous Office.
A contemplation of the complete attainment
(at a period earlier than could have been expected)
of the object for which we contended against
so formidable a power cannot but inspire us
with astonishment and gratitude.
The disadvantageous circumstances on our part,
under which the war was undertaken,
can never be forgotten.
The singular interpositions of Providence
in our feeble condition were such, as could
scarcely escape the attention of the most unobserving;
while the unparalleled perseverance
of the Armies of the United States, through almost every
possible suffering and discouragement for the space
of eight long years, was little short of a standing miracle.
It is not the meaning nor within the compass
of this address to detail the hardships
peculiarly incident to our Service, or to describe
the distresses which in several instances have resulted
from the extremes of hunger and nakedness,
combined with the rigors of an inclement season;
nor is it necessary to dwell
on the dark side of our past affairs.
Every American Officer and Soldier must now
console himself for any unpleasant circumstances
which may have occurred, by a recollection
of the uncommon scenes in which he has been called
to act no inglorious part, and the astonishing events of which
he has been a witness, events which have seldom
if ever before taken place on the stage of human action,
nor can they probably ever happen again.
For who has before seen a disciplined Army
formed at once from such raw materials?
Who, that was not a witness, could imagine that
the most violent local prejudices would cease so soon,
and that Men who came from the different parts
of the Continent, strongly disposed, by the habits
of education, to despise and quarrel with each other,
would instantly become but one patriotic band of Brothers,
or who, that was not on the spot, can trace the steps
by which such a wonderful revolution has been effected,
and such a glorious period put to all our warlike toils?
It is universally acknowledged,
that the enlarged prospects of happiness,
opened by the confirmation of our independence
and sovereignty, almost exceeds the power of description.
And shall not the brave men who have contributed
so essentially to these inestimable acquisitions,
retiring victorious from the field of War
to the field of agriculture,
participate in all the blessings which have been obtained;
in such a republic, who will exclude them from the rights
of Citizens and the fruits of their labor.
In such a Country, so happily circumstanced,
the pursuits of Commerce and the cultivation of the soil
will unfold to industry the certain road to competence.
To those hardy Soldiers,
who are actuated by the spirit of adventure
the Fisheries will afford ample and profitable employment,
and the extensive and fertile regions of the West
will yield a most happy asylum to those,
who, fond of domestic enjoyments
are seeking for personal independence.
Nor is it possible to conceive, that any one
of the United States will prefer a national bankruptcy
and a dissolution of the union,
to a compliance with the requisitions of Congress
and the payment of its just debts;
so that the Officers and Soldiers may expect considerable
assistance in recommending their civil occupations
from the sums due to these from the public,
which must and will most inevitably be paid.
In order to effect this desirable purpose and to remove
the prejudices which may have taken possession
of the minds of any of the good people of the States,
it is earnestly recommended to all the Troops that
with strong attachments to the Union,
they should carry with them into civil society
the most conciliating dispositions;
and that they should prove themselves
not less virtuous and useful as Citizens,
than they have been persevering and victorious as Soldiers.
What though, there should be some envious individuals
who are unwilling to pay the debt the public has contracted,
or to yield the tribute due to merit;
yet, let such unworthy treatment produce no invective
or any instance of intemperate conduct;
let it be remembered that the unbiased voice of the few
Citizens of the United States has promised the just reward,
and given the merited applause; let it be known and
remembered, that the reputation of the federal Armies
is established beyond the reach of malevolence; and let
a conscientiousness of their achievements and fame still
incite the men, who composed them to honorable actions;
under the persuasion that the private virtues
of economy, prudence, and industry, will not be less amiable
in civil life, than the more splendid qualities of
valor, perseverance, and enterprise, were in the Field.
Every one may rest assured that much,
very much of the future happiness of the Officers and Men
will depend upon the wise and manly conduct
which shall be adopted by them when they are mingled
with the great body of the community.
And, although the General has so frequently given it
as his opinion in the most public and explicit manner, that,
unless the principles of the federal government were
properly supported and the powers of the union increased,
the honor, dignity, and justice of the Nation
would be lost forever.
Yet he cannot help repeating, on this occasion, so
interesting a sentiment, and leaving it as his last injunction
to every Officer and every Soldier, who may view
the subject in the same serious point of light,
to add his best endeavors to those
of his worthy fellow Citizens towards effecting
their great and valuable purposes on which
our very existence as a nation so materially depends.
The Commander in chief conceives little is now wanting
to enable the Soldier to change the Military character
into that of the Citizen,
but that steady and decent tenor of behavior
which has generally distinguished,
not only the Army under his immediate command,
but the different detachments and separate Armies
through the course of the war.
From their good sense and prudence
he anticipates the happiest consequences;
and while he congratulates them on the glorious occasion
which renders their services in the field
no longer necessary, he wishes to express
the strong obligations he feels himself under
for the assistance he has received from every Class,
and in every instance.
He presents his thanks in the most serious
and affectionate manner to the General Officers,
as well for their counsel on many interesting occasions,
as for their Order in promoting
the success of the plans he had adopted.
To the Commandants of Regiments and Corps,
and to the other Officers for their great zeal and attention,
in carrying his orders promptly into execution.
To the Staff, for their alacrity and exactness
in performing the Duties of their several Departments.
And to the Non Commissioned Officers and private Soldiers,
for their extraordinary patience in suffering,
as well as their invincible fortitude in Action.
To the various branches of the Army
the General takes this last and solemn opportunity
of professing his inviolable attachment and friendship.
He wishes more than bare professions
were in his power, that he were really able
to be useful to them all in future life.
He flatters himself however, they will do him
the justice to believe, that whatever could with propriety
be attempted by him has been done,
and being now to conclude these his last public Orders,
to take his ultimate leave in a short time
of the military character, and to bid a final adieu
to the Armies he has so long had the honor to Command,
he can only again offer in their behalf
his recommendations to their grateful country,
and his prayers to the God of Armies.
May ample justice be done them here,
and may the choicest of heaven’s favors,
both here and hereafter, attend those who,
under the divine auspices have secured
innumerable blessings for others;
with these wishes, and this benediction,
the Commander in Chief is about to retire from Service.
The Curtain of separation will soon be drawn,
and the military scene to him will be closed for ever.10
The British troops left New York City on November 25 with thousands of Tories.
Later that day Washington led his soldiers into New York.
On December 4 he met with his officers to say farewell.
Washington went to Annapolis, Maryland where he
addressed the Congress and announced his retirement.
On December 20 Virginia offered to cede all its land claims
in the Ohio territory to Congress without conditions.
By the end of the year all British troops had left the
United States except on some posts in the northwest.
On December 4 Washington said farewell to his officers in the banquet room at Fraunces Tavern, and he told Congress that he was retiring.
About 200,000 persons served in the American War for Independence, and about 25,000 died.
On 25 November 1783 the last British troopship sailed for England.
Taking only money for expenses, Washington lost about $5,000 a year on his farms and $50,000 because of currency depreciation during the eight years of the war.
Although his expense account added up to $414,000,
Washington submitted a bill for only $88,000 for household expenses.
About $100,000 was spent on “secret intelligence,” and he used his own money for that,
sometimes giving gold coins to spies with useful intelligence.
The economy of the thirteen states fell by 46% from 1774 to 1790.
The state of Maryland put on a fancy ball to honor Washington,
and he enjoyed dancing with the many women who wanted to dance with him.
On December 23 Washington went to the state house in Annapolis where he was
welcomed by the Continental Congress Secretary Charles Thomas and President Mifflin.
Here is the speech he gave:
Mr. President:
The great events on which my resignation depended
having at length taken place;
I have now the honor of offering my sincere Congratulations
to Congress and of presenting myself before them
to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me,
and to claim the indulgence
of retiring from the Service of my Country.
Happy in the confirmation of our Independence and
Sovereignty, and pleased with the opportunity afforded
the United States of becoming a respectable Nation,
I resign with satisfaction the Appointment
I accepted with diffidence.
A diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task,
which however was superseded
by a confidence in the rectitude of our Cause,
the support of the Supreme Power of the Union,
and the patronage of Heaven.
The Successful termination of the War
has verified the most sanguine expectations,
and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence,
and the assistance I have received from my Countrymen,
increases with every review of the momentous Contest.
While I repeat my obligations to the Army in general,
I should do injustice to my own feelings
not to acknowledge in this place the peculiar Services
and distinguished merits of the Gentlemen
who have been attached to my person during the War.
It was impossible the choice of confidential Officers
to compose my family should have been more fortunate.
Permit me Sir, to recommend in particular those,
who have continued in Service to the present moment, as
worthy of the favorable notice and patronage of Congress.
I consider it an indispensable duty
to close this last solemn act of my Official life,
by commending the Interests of our dearest Country
to the protection of Almighty God, and those
who have the superintendence of them, to his holy keeping.
Having now finished the work assigned me,
I retire from the great theatre of Action;
and bidding an Affectionate farewell to this August body
under whose orders I have so long acted,
I here offer my Commission,
and take my leave of all the employments of public life.11
On 14 January 1784 the United States Congress meeting in Annapolis
ratified the Treaty of Paris that established it as a free and independent nation.
George Washington was very wealthy managing 20,000 productive acres
from Mount Vernon that were worked by 300 slaves.
He had a library that included law books and over 50 books on history.
His marginal notes showed that he studied such works as
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon,
On Human Understanding by John Locke,
Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith,
the Iliad and Odyssey by Homer, and works by Alexander Pope, Voltaire, and others.
On January 18 Washington wrote to Virginia’s Governor Benjamin Harrison,
That the prospect before us is, as you justly observe, fair,
none can deny; but what use we shall make of it,
is exceedingly problematical; not but that I believe,
all things will come right at last; but like a young heir,
come a little prematurely to a large inheritance,
we shall wanton and run riot until we have brought
our reputation to the brink of ruin,
& then like him shall have to labor with the current
of opinion when compelled perhaps, to do what prudence
& common policy pointed out as plain
as any problem in Euclid, in the first instance.
The disinclination of the individual States
to yield competent powers to Congress
for the Federal Government—
their unreasonable jealousy of that body & of one another—
& the disposition which seems to pervade each,
of being all-wise & all-powerful within itself,
will, if there is not a change in the system,
be our downfall as a Nation.
This is as clear to me as the A, B.C.;
& I think we have opposed Great Britain,
& have arrived at the present state of peace
& independency, to very little purpose,
if we cannot conquer our own prejudices.
The powers of Europe begin to see this,
& our newly acquired friends the British,
are already & professedly acting upon this ground;
& wisely too, if we are determined to persevere in our folly.
They know that individual opposition to their measures
is futile, & boast that we are not sufficiently united
as a Nation to give a general one!
Is not the indignity alone, of this declaration,
while we are in the very act of peace-making & conciliation,
sufficient to stimulate us to vest more extensive
& adequate powers in the sovereign of these United States?
For my own part, although I am returned to,
& am now mingled with the class of private citizens,
& like them must suffer all the evils of a Tyranny,
or of too great an extension of federal powers;
I have no fears arising from this source;
in my mind, but I have many, & powerful ones indeed
which predict the worst consequences from a half-starved,
limping Government, that appears to be
always moving upon crutches, & tottering at every step.
Men, chosen as the Delegates in Congress are, cannot
officially be dangerous—they depend upon the breath—
nay, they are so much the creatures of the people,
under the present Constitution, that they can have no views
(which could possibly be carried into execution),
nor any interests, distinct from those of their constituents.
My political creed therefore is, to be wise
in the choice of Delegates—support them like Gentlemen
while they are our representatives—
give them competent powers for all federal purposes—
support them in the due exercise thereof—
& lastly, to compel them to close attendance
in Congress during their delegation.
These things under the present mode for, & termination
of elections, aided by annual instead of constant Sessions,
would, or I am exceedingly mistaken, make us
one of the most wealthy, happy, respectable & powerful
Nations, that ever inhabited the terrestrial Globe—
without them, we shall in my opinion soon be
everything which is the direct reverse of them.12
On 1 February 1784 Washington wrote to the French philosopher,
the Marquis de Chastellux, about the radical change in his life-style,
I have had the honor to receive your favor
of the 23d of August from L’Orient.
I hope this Letter will find you in the circle of your friends
at Paris, well recovered from the fatigues of your long
& wearisome inspection on the frontiers of the Kingdom.
I am at length become a private citizen of America,
on the banks of the Potomac;
where under my own Vine & my own Fig tree—
free from the bustle of a camp & the intrigues of a Court,
I shall view the busy world,
“in the calm lights of mild philosophy”—
& with that serenity of mind which the Soldier
in his pursuit of glory, & the Statesman of fame,
have not time to enjoy.
I am not only retired from all public employments;
but I am retiring within myself & shall tread
the private walks of life with heartfelt satisfaction.
After seeing New York evacuated by the British Forces
on the 25th of November, & civil Government established
in the City, I repaired to Congress, & surrendered
into their hands, all my powers, with my Commission
on the 23d of December and arrived at this Cottage
on Christmas eve, where I have been close locked up
ever since in Frost & Snow.
Mrs. Washington thanks you for your kind remembrance
of her & prays you to accept her best wishes.13
On the same day Washington also wrote to his best friend, the Marquis de Lafayette,
At length my Dear Marquis I am become a private citizen
on the banks of the Potomac,
& under the shadow of my own Vine & my own Fig tree,
free from the bustle of a camp & the busy scenes of public
life, I am solacing myself with those tranquil enjoyments,
of which the Soldier who is ever in pursuit of fame—
the Statesman whose watchful days & sleepless Nights
are spent in devising schemes to promote the welfare
of his own—perhaps the ruin of other countries,
as if this Globe was insufficient for us all—
& the Courtier who is always watching the countenance
of his Prince, in hopes of catching a gracious smile,
can have very little conception.
I am not only retired from all public employments,
but I am retiring within myself;
& shall be able to view the solitary walk,
& tread the paths of private life with heartfelt satisfaction—
Envious of none, I am determined to be pleased with all.
& this my dear friend, being the order for my march,
I will move gently down the stream of life,
until I sleep with my Fathers.
Except an introductory letter or two,
& one countermanding my request respecting Plate,
I have not written to you
since the middle of October by General Duportail.
To inform you at this late hour, that
the City of New York was evacuated by the British forces
on the 25th of November—that the American Troops
took possession of it the same day,
& delivered it over to the civil authority of the State—
that good order, contrary to the expectation & predictions
of General Carleton, his Officers & all the loyalists,
was immediately established—
and that the harbor of New York was finally cleared
of the British flag about the 5th or 6th of December,
would be an insult to your intelligence.
And to tell you that I remained eight days in New York
after we took possession of the City—
that I was very much hurried during that time,
which was the reason I did not write to you from thence—
that taking Philadelphia in my way, I was obliged
to remain there a week—that at Annapolis,
where Congress were then, and are now sitting, I did,
on the 23d of December present them my Commission,
& made them my last bow—& on the Eve of Christmas
entered these doors an older man by near nine years,
than when I left them,
is very uninteresting to any but myself.
Since that period we have been fast locked up
in frost & snow, & excluded in a manner
from all kinds of intercourse, the winter having been,
& still continues to be, extremely severe.
I have now to acknowledge, and thank you
for your favors of the 22d of July & 8th of September,
both of which, although the first is of old date,
have come to hand since my letter to you of October.
The accounts contained therein of the political & commercial
state of affairs as they respect America, are interesting,
& I wish I could add that they were altogether satisfactory;
& the Agency, you have had in both,
particularly with regard to the Free ports in France,
is a fresh evidence of your unwearied endeavors
to serve this Country; but there is no part of your Letters
to Congress My Dear Marquis, which bespeaks
the excellence of your heart more plainly than that,
which contains those noble & generous sentiments
on the justice which is due to the faithful friends & Servants
of the public; but I must do Congress the justice to declare,
that as a body, I believe there is every disposition in them,
not only to acknowledge the merits,
but to reward the services of the army:
there is a contractedness,
I am sorry to add, in some of the States,
from whence all our difficulties on this head, proceed;
but it is to be hoped, the good sense & perseverance
of the rest, will ultimately prevail,
as the spirit of meanness is beginning to subside.
From a letter which I have just received
from the Governor of this State I expect him here
in a few days, when I shall not be unmindful
of what you have written about the bust,
& will endeavor to have matters respecting it,
placed on their proper basis.
I thank you most sincerely My Dear Marquis
for your kind invitation to your house,
if I should come to Paris.
At present I see but little prospect of such a voyage,
the deranged situation of my private concerns,
occasioned by an absence of almost nine years,
and an entire disregard of all private business
during that period, will not only suspend, but may
put it forever out of my power to gratify this wish.
This not being the case with you,
come with Madame la Fayette & view me
in my domestic walks—I have often told you,
& I repeat it again, that no man could receive you in them
with more friendship & affection than I should do;
in which I am sure Mrs. Washington would cordially join me.
We unite in respectful compliments to your Lady,
& best wishes for your little flock.
With every sentiment of esteem, Admiration & Love,
I am, My Dr Marqs Your Most Affecte friend.13
In March 1784 Washington circulated an advertisement for leases
on his 30,000 acres on the Ohio and Great Kanawha Rivers that was not profitable.
On April 16 Thomas Jefferson in France in a letter to Washington advising him
of the dangers of the Society of the Cincinnati, warned him:
The objections of those opposed to the institution
shall be briefly sketched.
You will readily fill them up.
They urge that it is against the Confederation—
against the letter of some of our constitutions;—
against the spirit of all of them—that the foundation,
on which all these are built is the natural equality of man,
the denial of every preeminence but that annexed to legal
office, & particularly the denial of a preeminence by birth;
that however, in their present dispositions, citizens might
decline accepting honorary instalments into the order,
a time may come when a change of dispositions
would render these flattering,
when a well-directed distribution of them might draw
into the order all the men of talents, of office & wealth,
and in this case would probably
procure an engraftment into the government;
that in this they will be supported by their foreign members,
& the wishes & influence of foreign courts;
that experience has shown that the hereditary branches
of modern governments are the patrons of privilege
& prerogative, & not of the natural rights of the people,
whose oppressors they generally are:
that besides these evils, which are remote,
others may take place more immediately;
that a distinction is kept up between the civil & military,
which it is for the happiness of both to obliterate;
that when the members assemble they will be proposing
to do something, & what that something may be
will depend on actual circumstances;
that being an organized body, under habits of subordination,
the first obstructions to enterprise
will be already surmounted; that the moderation & virtue
of a single character has probably prevented this revolution
from being closed as most others have been
by a subversion of that liberty it was intended to establish;
that he is not immortal, & his successor,
or some one of his successors, may be led
by false calculation into a less certain road to glory.14
Benjamin Franklin was also concerned about this, and John Adams criticized
the order as anti-egalitarian that could become a military dictatorship.
On September 1 Washington began a tour of the West to visit his land
on the
Kanawha River and lands in Pennsylvania by the headwater of the Potomac River.
He was accompanied by his nephew Bushrod Washington, Dr. James Craik
and his son William to handle business with his tenants.
He discovered that some settlers were living on his lands,
and he hired a lawyer to make them pay rent as tenants or be evicted.
He considered the value of using the river for useful inland navigation.
Washington and Dr. Craik with his son visited his land and searched for better land.
Washington wrote in his diary,
For what ties, let me ask,
should we have upon these people?
How entirely unconnected with them shall we be,
and what troubles may we not apprehend,
if the Spaniards on their right & Great Britain on their left,
instead of throwing stumbling blocks in their way,
as they do now,
should hold out lures for their trade and alliance?
What, when they get strength, which will be sooner
than most people conceive (from emigration of foreigners,
who will have no particular predilection toward us,
as well as from the removal of our own Citizens),
will be the consequence of their having formed
close connections with both or either of those powers,
in a commercial way?
It needs not, in my opinion,
the gift of prophecy to foretell.15
On October 18 Washington in a letter to Thomas Johnson wrote,
On a supposition that you are now at Annapolis, the
petition of the Potomac Company is enclosed to your care.
A duplicate has been forwarded to the Assembly
of this state; the fate of which I have not yet heard,
but entertain no doubt of its favorable reception,
as there are many auspicious proofs of liberality and justice
already exhibited in the proceedings of the present session.
I hope the same spirit will mark the proceedings of yours.
The want of energy in the Federal government,
the pulling of one State and party of States against another
and the commotion amongst the Eastern people
have sunk our national character much below par;
and has brought our politics and credit
to the brink of a precipice; a step or two farther must plunge
us into a Sea of Troubles, perhaps anarchy and confusion.
I trust that a proper sense of justice and unanimity
in those States which have not drunk so deep
of the cup of folly may yet retrieve our affairs.
But no time is to be lost in essaying them.
I have written to no gentlemen in your Assembly
respecting the Potomac business but yourself.
The justice of the cause and your management of it
will insure success.16
In January 1785 the abolitionist Elkanah Watson
visited Mount Vernon bringing books on emancipation.
The Quaker Robert Pleasants of Virginia freed his 78 slaves and
urged Washington to liberate his slaves for the sake of his reputation.
Washington said he opposed slavery, though he declined to sign an emancipation petition.
He did promise to write a letter recommending it if it was coming up for a vote.
On January 21 the United States Government agreed to the Fort McIntosh Treaty
with the nations of the Wyandotte, Delaware, Chippewa and Ottawa.
The commissioners Richard Butler, George Rogers Clark, and Arthur Lee
negotiated the treaty and insisted on large cessions from the Ohio territory.
Shawnees did not participate, and Washington commented that the Shawnees
were the most hostile Ohio Indians and that he expected
they would have to yield, or they could be destroyed.
In May 1785 the dictionary-publisher Noah Webster visited Washington
at Mount Vernon hoping to get his recommendation for a copyright law in Virginia.
Webster also wrote Sketches of American Policy that urged a strong central government.
Washington declined to make a deal for access to his papers.
In May the famous Catherine Sawbridge Macaulay Graham, who wrote
the 8-volume
History of England from the Accession of James I to that of the Brunswick Line
which championed liberty and criticized the conservative Tories, visited Washington
with her young husband and made her views known loudly for ten days.
Washington corresponded with her until her death in June 1791.
The historian William Gordon had supported independence,
and Washington persuaded Congress to unseal his papers.
Gordon in 1788 published his 4-volume History of the Rise, Progress,
and Establishment of Independence of the United States of America.
Washington received and wrote many letters,
and the Congress exempted postage on those letters.
Lt. Col. David Humphreys was an aide to Washington in 1780-81.
In 1784 he worked as the secretary for Ben Franklin in Paris.
In July 1785 Washington agreed to help Humphreys write a biography.
On July 25 in a letter to the Marquis de Lafayette he wrote,
As the clouds which overspread your hemisphere
are dispersing, & peace with all its concomitants
is dawning upon your Land,
I will banish the sound of War from my letter:
I wish to see the sons & daughters of the world in Peace
& busily employed in the more agreeable amusement,
of fulfilling the first and great commandment—
Increase & Multiply: as an encouragement to which
we have opened the fertile plains of the Ohio to the poor,
the needy & the oppressed of the Earth;
any one therefore who is heavy laden,
or who wants land to cultivate, may repair thither & abound,
as in the Land of promise, with milk & honey:
the ways are preparing, & the roads will be made easy,
thro’ the channels of Potomac & James river.17
General Benjamin Lincoln in January 1786 suggested
that Washington hire Tobias Lear of New Hampshire.
On May 29 he offered Lear a salary of $200 a year as his
private secretary and tutor to Martha Washington’s grandchildren.
Lear would be Washington’s personal secretary until Washington died in 1799.
On June 23 Massachusetts’ Governor Bowdoin pushed through
the legislature an act to regulate navigation and commerce that
discriminated against the British, and New Hampshire soon followed.
On July 11 the Massachusetts government urged Congress to call a
convention of delegates from all states to revise the Articles of Confederation,
but their three delegates Rufus King, Elbridge Gerry, and Samuel Holten
withheld the resolutions from the Congress, fearing a move toward aristocracy.
They were especially worried about the order of Cincinnati
organized by Continental officers in May 1783.
Samuel Adams, James Warren, and South Carolina’s Aedanus Burk
criticized this society as an attempt to establish a “hereditary military nobility.”
Washington was president of the Cincinnati, and he responded to the outcry
by persuading the members to renounce the hereditary rule.
Not even nine states were present until 23 November 1785 when they elected
John Hancock president of the Confederation; he suffered from ill health and never served.
Maryland and Virginia held a conference at George Washington’s Mount Vernon hom
in March 1785 to work on their trade relations and border disputes over the Potomac River,
and together they chartered the Potomac Company to make the river navigable.
The James River Company was also chartered for that
purpose with state and private financial subscriptions.
That year Thomas Jefferson got a bill passed banning primogeniture,
and Pennsylvania reformed its penal laws.
Washington ran the Potomac Company, and in the summer of
1785 he and the directors made inspections above the great falls
where eventually the city of Washington would be built.
The plan was to connect Chesapeake Bay by an Ohio Canal
to the Potomac and Ohio rivers, and the Kanawha Canal
would join the James River to the Great Kanawha River.
The states provided a third of the company’s capital,
and stockholders invested the rest.
Virginia rewarded Washington for his service by granting him 50 shares
of stock in the company and 100 shares of James River Company stock.
He invested $2,200 and agreed to be president.
By the end of 1785 the Potomac Company had $40,000.
Lafayette bought a plantation in Cayenne on the coast of French Guiana for an
experiment with freeing slaves, and on 14 July 1785 he wrote to Washington about that.
Washington had much to supervise in his Mount Vernon farms, and on July 30
in a letter to Edmund Randolph he explained what he would do this way:
I have therefore come to the determination to hold
the shares which the Treasurer was directed to subscribe
on my account, in trust for the use & benefit of the public;
unless I shall be able to discover,
before the meeting of the Assembly, that it would be
agreeable to it to have the product of the Tolls arising
from these shares, applied as a fund on which to establish
two Charity schools, one on each river, for the Education
& support of the Children of the poor & indigent
of this Country who cannot afford to give it;
particularly the children of those men of this description,
who have fallen in defense of the rights & liberties of it.
If the plans succeed, of which I have no doubt,
I am sure it will be a very productive & increasing fund,
& the monies thus applied will be a beneficial institution.18
James Warren was speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
from 1776 to 1787 and the husband of the historian Mercy Otis Warren.
On 7 October 1785 Washington wrote to him,
The War, as you have very justly observed,
has terminated most advantageously for America—
and a large & glorious field is presented to our view.
But I confess to you, my dear Sir,
that I do not think we possess wisdom,
or justice enough to cultivate it properly.
Illiberality, Jealousy, & local policy mix too much in all
our public Councils for the good government of the Union.
In a word, the Confederation appears to me to be little more
than an empty sound, and Congress a nugatory body;
the ordinances of it being very little attended to.
To me, it is a solecism in politics,
indeed it is one of the most extraordinary things in nature,
that we should Confederate for National purposes,
and yet be afraid to give the rulers thereof
who are the Creatures of our own making—
appointed for a limited and short duration—
who are amenable for every action—
recallable at any moment—and subject to all the evils
they may be instrumental in producing,
sufficient powers to order & direct the affairs of that Nation.
By such policy as this the wheels of government
are clogged; & our brightest prospects,
and that high expectation which was entertained of us
by the wondering world, is turned into astonishment.
And from the high ground on which we stood
we are descending into the Valleys of confusion & darkness.
That we have it in our power to be
one of the most respectable Nations upon Earth, admits not,
in my humble opinion, of a doubt, if we would pursue
a wise, Just, & liberal policy towards one another—
and would keep good faith with the rest of the World.
That our resources are ample, & increasing, none can deny;
but whilst they are grudgingly applied, or not applied at all,
we give the vital stab to public credit,
and must sink into contempt in the eyes of Europe.
It has long been a speculative question
amongst Philosophers and wise men,
whether foreign Commerce is of advantage
to any Country—that is, whether the luxury, effeminacy,
& corruption which are introduced by it, are counterbalanced
by the conveniences and wealth of which it is productive.
But the right decision of this question
is of very little importance to us.
We have abundant reason to be convinced, that the spirit of
Trade which pervades these States is not to be restrained.
It behooves us therefore to establish it upon just principles;
and this, any more than other matters of national concern
cannot be done by thirteen heads, differently constructed.
The necessity therefore of a controlling power is obvious,
and why it should be withheld is beyond comprehension.
The Agricultural Society—lately established
in Philadelphia—promises extensive usefulness,
if it is prosecuted with spirit—
I wish most sincerely that every State in the Union
would institute similar ones; and that these Societies
would correspond fully, & freely with each other;
& communicate all useful discoveries founded
on practice, with a due attention to climate,
Soil, and Seasons, to the public.
The great Works of improving and extending
the inland navigations of the two large Rivers Potomac
& James, which interlock with the Western Waters,
are already begun; and I have little doubt of their success.
The consequences to the Union, in my judgment,
are immense—& more so in a political,
than in a Commercial point; for unless we can connect
the New States, which are rising to our view in the Regions
back of us, with those on the Atlantic by interest,
the only cement that will bind, and in this case no otherwise
to be effected than by opening such communications
as will make it easier & cheaper for them
to bring the product of their labor to our Markets,
instead of carrying them to the Spaniards Southwardly,
or the British Northwardly,
they will be quite a distinct People, and ultimately
may be very troublesome neighbors to us.
In themselves, considered merely as a hardy race,
this may happen; how much more so if linked
with either of those Powers in Politics, & Commerce?19
In the six years from 1783 to the beginning of his presidency in 1789
George Washington wrote more than one thousand letters.
Notes
1. Washington Writings, p. 485-486.
2. Ibid., p. 488-489.
3. His Excellency George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis, p. 144.
4. Washington Writings, p. 499-500.
5. Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow, p. 436.
6. Washington Writings, p. 504-505.
7. Ibid., p. 512-514.
8. Washington Writings, p. 516-526.
9. Ibid., p. 535-541.
10. Ibid., p. 542-546.
11. Ibid., p. 547-548.
12. Ibid., p. 552-553.
13. From George Washington to Chastellux, 1 February 1784 (Online).
14. Ibid., p. 553-555.
15. Thomas Jefferson: Writings, p. 791.
16. The Indian World of George Washington by Colin G. Calloway, p. 299.
17. George Washington: A Life by Willard Sterne Randall, p. 425.
18. Washington Writings, p. 582-583.
19. Ibid., p. 586.
20. Ibid., p. 591-592.
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