Washington’s address
Briefly summarize George Washington’s beliefs about political parties.
He had believed that political parties would be the down fall of our country. As he neared his resignation, George Washington wrote a letter to the nation. He warned of the danger of political parties, and how they would turn the government from a group of people interested in their nation’s future to a rambling mob of power hungry professional politician’s. In short, he opposed political mainstream of the time. When the seventh presidency began, two new parties gained prominence. The National Republicans, or Whigs, and the Democrats. These two political parties are still the most popular today. George Washington’s Farewell Address “They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force and to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation, will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community, and according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill concerted and incongruous projects of faction. Rather than the organ consistent and wholesome plan digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interest.” This is what we have today politician’s that represent the rich and powerful not the majority of Americans., and not national unity.
What warning about foreign nations does Washington give in his farewell address? Washington said that the door to foreign influence and corruption opens with the United States parties bash each other and when other states are not cooperating. He believed that nations should not favor other nations, or have deep hatred for others. He warned against foreign influences in American internal affairs and vice versa. Partianship in domestic politics should be discarded for the common good of the country. He warned against permanent alliances with other nations and encouraged continued neutrality. He encouraged...