Page 204 - American Stories, A History of the United States

Read the Document George Washington, Proclamation Regarding the Whiskey Rebellion (1794) 7.1

7.2

7.3

7.4

7.5

The WhISKey reBellIon Tarring and feathering federal officials was one way western Pennsylvanians
protested the tax on whiskey in 1794. Washington's call for troops to put down the insurrection drew more
volunteers than he had been able to raise during most of the Revolution. (Source: North Wind/North Wind Picture
Archives.)

Washington’s Farewell

In September 1796, Washington published his Farewell Address, formally declaring his farewell Address in this 1796
intention to retire from the presidency. In the address, printed in newspapers through- document, President George
out the country, Washington warned against political factions. Written largely by Washington announced his
Hamilton, who drew on a draft Madison had prepared years earlier, the address served intention not to seek a third term.
He also stressed federalist interests
narrowly partisan ends. The product of growing political strife, it sought to advance the and warned Americans against
Federalist cause in the forthcoming election. By waiting until September to announce political factions and foreign
his retirement, Washington denied the Republicans time to organize an effective cam- entanglements.
paign. There was an element of irony in this initiative. Washington had always main-
tained he stood above party. While he may have done so early in his presidency, events
such as Jay’s Treaty and the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion transformed him in
the eyes of many Americans into a spokesman solely for Hamilton’s Federalist party.
Washington also spoke about foreign policy in the address. He counseled the United Quick Check
States to avoid permanent alliances with distant nations that had no real interest in American In what ways was Washington’s
security. This statement guided foreign relations for years and became the credo of American farewell Address in 1796 a
isolationists, who argued that the United States should steer clear of foreign entanglements. piece of party propaganda?

The Adams Presidency: Politics of Mistrust

7.5 Why were some Federalists willing to sacrifice political freedoms for party advantage?
T he election of 1796 took place in an atmosphere of mutual distrust. Jefferson,

soon to be the vice president, informed a friend that “an Anglican and aris-
tocratic party has sprung up, whose avowed object is to draw over us the
substance, as they have already done the forms, of British government.”
The Federalists were convinced their Republican opponents wanted to hand the
government over to French radicals.
During the campaign, the Federalists sowed the seeds of their eventual destruc-
tion. Party stalwarts agreed that John Adams should stand against the Republican
candidate, Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton, however, schemed to deprive Adams of the 171