Washington’s Farewell Address – The Background

The New Nation
Written By Tom Hand

President George Washington’s Farewell Address is one of our nation’s greatest documents. It was not really an address but rather a letter written by President Washington to his fellow citizens and first published in Claypoole’s American Daily Advertiser on September 19, 1796, near the end of his second term.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses the factors that led to President Washington’s decision not to seek a third term, and why it still matters today.

Images courtesy of National Portrait Gallery - Smithsonian Institution, Mount Vernon, Alamy, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Princeton University Art Museum, Yale University Art Gallery, National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, Encyclopedia Virginia, The New York Public Library, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Wikipedia.

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Washington’s Farewell Address – The Background

George Washington’s Farewell Address is one of the greatest documents in our nation’s history. It was a letter written by President Washington to his fellow citizens as he neared the end of his second term as President. Published in the American Daily Advertiser on September 19, 1796, its purpose was to inform Washington’s countrymen that he would not seek a third term as chief executive and provide the reasons why, as well as give some fatherly advice for America moving forward. 

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Tom Hand
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