George Washington's Farewell Address
George Washington's Farewell
Address announced that he would not seek a third term
as president. Originally published in David C. Claypoole's
American Daily Advertiser on September
19, 1796, Washington devoted much of the address to domestic
issues of the time, warning against the rise of political
parties and sectionalism as a threat to national unity. In
the area of foreign affairs, Washington called for America
"to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion
of the foreign world." Although the ideas expressed were
Washington's, Alexander Hamilton wrote a large part of the
address. James Madison drafted an earlier version of the address
in 1792.
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Alexander Hamilton Papers
The papers of Alexander Hamilton (ca. 1757-1804), first treasury secretary of the United States, consist of his personal and public correspondence.
A
Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional
Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
This collection contains congressional publications from 1774 to 1875, including debates, bills, laws, and journals.
George
Washington Papers
The complete George Washington Papers collection from the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress consists of approximately 65,000 documents.
Search
Washington's Papers to find additional material related
to Washington's presidency.
James Madison Papers, 1723 to 1859
The Madison Papers consist of approximately 12,000 items, spanning the period 1723-1859, captured in some 72,000 digital images.
- James Madison, May 25, 1792. Substance of a conversation with Pres. George Washington, May 5, 1792. Toward the end of his first term as president,
Washington contemplated his retirement and asked
Madison to assist him in preparing a farewell address.
On May 25, 1792, Madison recounted the substance of his
conversation
with Washington concerning his desire to retire from
public life. Subsequently,
- James Madison to George Washington, June 21, 1792. Draft of Address, Washington's Farewell. Madison submitted a draft
of Washington's Farewell Address,
which he put aside when Washington agreed to serve a second
term.
- James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, June 27, 1823. Madison responded to a letter written by
Thomas Jefferson (see Thomas Jefferson Papers below) concerning
the authorship of Washington's Farewell Address. In this
letter, Madison discussed Alexander Hamilton's role in
drafting the address.
- James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, February 8, 1825. Madison recommended to Jefferson that the Farewell
Address be used in the curriculum being developed at the University
of Virginia.
Thomas Jefferson Papers, 1606 to 1827
The complete Thomas Jefferson Papers from the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress consists of approximately 27,000 documents.
Creating
the United States
This online exhibition offers insights into how the
nation’s founding documents were forged and the
role that imagination and vision played in the unprecedented
creative act of forming a self–governing country.
A section on the formation of political parties in the
1790s includes Alexander Hamilton's draft of George
Washington’s
Farewell Address.
Religion
and Founding of the American Republic
This exhibit explores the role that religion played in
the founding of the American colonies, in the shaping
of early American life and politics, and in forming the
American Republic. A section entitled Religion
and the Federal Government contains Alexander Hamilton's
draft of Washington's Farewell Address and a broadside
of the address. In his Farewell Address, Washington advised
his fellow citizens that "Religion and morality"
were the "great Pillars of human happiness, these
firmest props of the duties of Men and citizens."
"National morality," he added, could not exist
"in exclusion of religious principle." "Virtue
or morality," he concluded, as the products of religion,
were "a necessary spring of popular government."
December
14, 1799
On December 14, 1799, George Washington died at his Mt.
Vernon home after five decades of service to his country.
This page links to Washington's Farewell Address and other
online resources related to Washington.
First
Draft of George Washington's Farewell Address, New York
State Library
Our
Documents, President George Washington's Farewell Address,
National Archives and Records Administration
The
Papers of George Washington: The Farewell Address, University
of Virginia
Washington's
Farewell Address (PDF 252KB; requires Adobe
Acrobat Reader), Government Printing Office
Washington's Farewell Address, The Lehrman Institute
Washington's
Farewell Address, United States Senate
Gilbert, Felix. To the Farewell Address:
Ideas of Early American Foreign Policy. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1961. [Catalog Record]
Kaufman, Burton Ira, ed. Washington’s
Farewell Address: The View from the 20th Century.
Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1969. [Catalog Record]
Malanson, Jeffrey J. Addressing America: George Washington's Farewell and the Making of National Culture, Politics, and Diplomacy, 1796-1852. Kent: The Kent State University Press, 2015. [Catalog Record]
Paltsits, Victor Hugo, ed. Washington’s
Farewell Address in Facsimile, with Transliterations of
all the Drafts of Washington, Madison, & Hamilton; Together
with Their Correspondence and Other Supporting Documents.
New York: The New York Public Library, 1935. [Catalog Record]
Spalding, Matthew, and Patrick J. Garrity. A
Sacred Union of Citizens: George Washington’s Farewell
Address and the American Character. Lanham, Md.:
Rowman & Littlefield, 1996. [Catalog Record]
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