George Washington was born on February 22nd 1732. While we know him as the Father of our Country, he was also a great unifier as we will see. He presided over his own Ides of March, and on many occasions saved our young nation.
Plus we will have good music and winter musings.
The Tallest Man In The Room
The Ides of March And The Newburgh Rebellion
Washington prevented what could have been a military coup in 1783. It was his humility and his demonstration of courage while he lead from the front that swayed the hearts of his former officers and enlisted men.
- Plan for a coup d’état that developed among officers of the Continental Army in late 1782 and early 1783
- The conspiracy was named after Newburgh, New York, where the Continental Army was camped
- The plot arose from congressional inability to raise money from the states to pay the army . Officers and enlisted men were owed wages, and officers were concerned about securing half-pay pensions promised by Congress in 1780.
- The officers’ concerns included reintegrating into civilian life and the potential for their years of service to go unrecognized or be detrimental to their future prospects.
- Nationalists, including Alexander Hamilton, saw the army’s discontent as a “powerful engine” to restore public credit and push their economic vision forward .
- The officers sent a petition to Congress expressing their dire financial situation and the potential for “fatal effects” if their patience was tested further.
- General Washington feared that the officers might abandon their role as a buffer between mutinous soldiers and the civil government, potentially leading to a bloody civil war .
- Upon learning of the conspiracy, Washington launched an internal investigation and found the plot to be more serious than he initially suspected.
- An anonymous notice called officers to a meeting in Newburgh to discuss their grievances, implying that Washington tacitly supported their plans .
- Washington acted quickly, postponing the meeting and drafting a message to the officers/
- Washington addressed the officers on March 15, 1783 (the Ides of March), appealing to their sense of honor and reminding them of the military code.
- During his address, Washington put on his spectacles and asked for pardon, stating that he had “grown not only gray, but almost blind in my country’s service”
- Washington’s speech diffused the sedition, and the officers reaffirmed their dedication to a united America
Washington’s Tour That Foretold Disaster
https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/constitutional-convention/washingtons-constitution
Who besides a tory could have foreseen, or a Briton predict them!” he wrote to War Secretary Henry Knox. “Notwithstanding the boasted virtue of America, we are far gone in every thing ignoble & bad.” To Madison, who was already thinking about a new national political structure, Washington added, “Thirteen Sovereignties pulling against each other, and all tugging at the federal head, will soon bring ruin to the whole; whereas a liberal, and energetic Constitution, well guarded & closely watched, to prevent incroachments, might restore us to that degree of respectability & consequence, to which we had a fair claim.”
restructured government. Struck by the similarities of their suggestions, Washington prepared an abstract comparing them. All envisioned a national government with separate legislative, judicial, and executive branches. Most of all, they were obsessed with reining in the states
1784
Three years after the ratification of the Articles of Confederation, many Americans including George Washington began to argue that the perpetual union was in danger. On January 18, 1784, Washington wrote to Virginia governor Benjamin Harrison that the government was “a half starved, limping Government, that appears to be always moving upon crutches, & tottering at every step.”6 Washington and other Americans had witnessed several crises during the United States’ early years under the Articles, leading to a belief among many that preventing the nation’s collapse required revisiting the Articles.
On June 27, 1786, John Jay confided in Washington that “Our affairs seem to lead to some crisis . . . I am uneasy and apprehensive—more so, than during the War.”7
Washington Wanted To Retire
Washington initially intended to retire from public service after the Revolution. However, he was persuaded to return to lead the Constitutional Convention and later serve as the first president
Washington Fostered Religious Tolerance
As a the Commander and Chief of the Continental Army Washington had to adopt a non-denominational approach to religion, as the soldiers were of different faiths. Once the colonies broke away from British rule, many hoped to strengthen the idea that people would be allowed to practice religion freely. As an example, under the Crown Virginia’s colonial religion was directed by the Anglican church.
While Washington used phrases such as Deity when referring to God, he worked diligently to assure all denominations that the Constitution did indeed contain provisions that would protect the religious choice.
https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/religion/george-washington-to-religious-organizations
From George Washington to the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church
29 May 1789
the sincerity of my desires to contribute whatever may be in my power towards the preservation of the civil and religious liberties of the American People.
From George Washington to the United Baptist Churches of Virginia
May 1789
If I could have entertained the slightest apprehension that the Constitution framed in the Convention, where I had the honor to preside, might possibly endanger the religious rights of any ecclesiastical Society, certainly I would never have placed my signature to it…
Washington Had a Special Relationship with Jewish Americans
The Bill of Rights would not be added to the Constitution until 1791, and when Washington assumed his role as President for his first term, he wanted to ensure that the strength of the Articles of Confederation would be preserved. There was a degree of mistrust of the Constitution, as many of the Founding Fathers such as Patrick Henry, John Dickinson and others wanted to preserve the sovereignty of the states.
Until the Bill of Rights, Washington corresponded with many religious communities, including American Jews. There are a series of letters exchanged between Washington and various synagogues that demonstrate Washington’s commitment to freedom of religion.
Washington toured the Touro Synagogue in Newport Rhode Island.
- In 1790, Washington toured Newport, Rhode Island, demonstrating his support for the Constitution. He later agreed to travel there after Rhode Island ratified the Constitution on May 29, 1790
- Following his tour, Washington received letters, including one from the Hebrew Congregation (the community’s Jews), which was addressed by the warden of the city’s synagogue, Moses Seixas
- The letter from the Hebrew Congregation in Newport expressed their gratitude to the “Almighty disposer” for the blessings of civil and religious liberty. It states their desire to send up prayers to the “Ancient of Days” to conduct them through the wilderness into the promised Land.
- Washington’s reply assured the Jewish community that the government of the United States “gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance”.
- Washington’s words carried far wider significance, defining religious liberty as an “inherent natural right”
Washington’s Letter to the Synagogue
Washington’s letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport is viewed as a precursor to the First Amendment, which guarantees religious freedom
Gentlemen:
While I received with much satisfaction your address replete with expressions of esteem, I rejoice in the opportunity of assuring you that I shall always retain grateful remembrance of the cordial welcome I experienced on my visit to Newport from all classes of citizens.
The reflection on the days of difficulty and danger which are past is rendered the more sweet from a consciousness that they are succeeded by days of uncommon prosperity and security.
If we have wisdom to make the best use of the advantages with which we are now favored, we cannot fail, under the just administration of a good government, to become a great and happy people.
The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy—a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship.
It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.
It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my administration and fervent wishes for my felicity.
May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants—while everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid.
May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy.
Other Correspondence
https://www.brandeis.edu/hornstein/sarna/americanjewishcultureandscholarship/tobigotrynosanction.pdf