George Washington’s Achievements and Farewell Address Essay

The Cover Letter

The purpose of this essay is to explore the farewell speech of George Washington. After serving the nation for 17 years, George Washington felt that he would not serve the country for another term. Washington was a successful leader because he promoted democracy, led the country through the revolutionary war, and achieved most of the goals which he had promised the people. Therefore, from the farewell speech, we learn that leaders should promote democracy, and they should not be selfish.

It should be learned that leaders should deliver the promises they give to their people. I have achieved a new understanding of the topic that George Washington was a great leader who promoted religion. I have changed my perspective after completing the research. In this case, I have considered Washington as one of the great leaders that the Americans have ever had in history. I experienced difficulties during the research in that the topic has a lot of materials, and I had to condense all the facts in a small piece of writing. Also, the speech was long and had many issues. Therefore, writing a few pages of the analysis of the speech was hard.

In this assignment, I have enjoyed the section which suggests that Washington supports religion. Leaders who support religion promote good ideas because they believe that all powers come from God. Washington supported the idea that democracy can be achieved when the ideologies of religion are supported. I decided to write on this topic because Washington was a remarkable leader. His speech indicates that he had achieved his goals.

The speech also indicates that Washington was selfless, and promoted religion and democracy. It is important to note that Washington’s speech has been criticized to get the strengths and weaknesses of the speech. Also, some of the facts have been analyzed. The overall essay indicates that Washington was a successful leader, and despite having a few challenges, he achieved most of his promises.

George Washington Farewell Address

Introduction and the claim

George Washington served the Americans for 17 years. He achieved great success during his reign. Although he experienced a lot of challenges, he achieved most of the policies which he had promised his people. After ruling for two terms, he gave his final speech where he told the Americans that he was not willing to serve for another term. The speech indicates that George Washington was a leader who was democratic, religious, selfless, and one who promoted revolution during his reign. Most of the people in America did not accept the fact that Washington was not ruling anymore because they had accepted his leadership. He was dedicated to promoting the welfare of the people¹. Therefore, this paper claims that George Washington was successful during his reign.

Background

George Washington achieved a lot of things during his rule as the president of the US. However, he felt that he had not achieved a lot of things. He attached the success of the country during his reign to the unity and collaboration with the people of the country. He said that he would not have achieved anything if people had not supported him. Therefore, he attached his success in leadership to the support he got from the people he led.

Body

Support for your claim

George Washington promoted democracy in the country in his farewell speech. In this case, he argued that people should ensure that peace and harmony prevail in the country. He encouraged Americans to promote peace in society. He also urged the Americans to provide a good example of a democratic nation to the other countries in the world².

George Washington fought and won two battles during his reign. This included Brooklyn and the north of the city. He defended the country when enemies attacked. In the summer of 1776, he defended New York city from attacks. Although Washington had no navy or ships to defend the attacks via the waters, he won the battle. He used the untrained militia to win the two battles.

George Washington had the opportunity to stay in power because the army was loyal to him and had led the Americans through the revolutionary war. However, he was willing to give up power, turning down the opportunity to rule for another term. This shows that he was a democratic figure³.

He also supported religion. He argued that religion is one of the pillars that support true happiness. He encouraged people to promote the needs of all people instead of selfish acts. Promoting the interest of all people improves the morality and the religion of a country. Washington encouraged people to embrace region to enhance morality⁴.

Opposing or alternate views

Washington was successful during his reign. However, he failed in some instances. During the Brooklyn and the Battle of White Plains, Washington used untrained militia in the battle. Besides, there were no ships or trained navy to fight. Most of the militia were imprisoned by the Britons and used as slaves. They were mistreated, and some even died. This indicates that Washington applied poor tactics during the war⁵.

Rebuttals

The claims that Washington failed in some instances has been provided by Brookhiser, in his article “Brookhiser, Richard. The Character of George Washington. USA Today 136. 27463 (Jul 2007): 19-20”.

The city I live in, New York, has been attacked twice in American history. The first was in the summer of 1776, and George Washington, commander in chief of the Continental Army, was responsible for the city’s defense. The British, who made camp on Staten Island, had at their command 10 ships-of-the-line, dozens of other vessels, and 32,000 professional soldiers including Hessians. To oppose this force, Washington had no navy nor ships. He only had a mere 19,000 soldiers, most of them untrained militia. Over the next few months, he and his men fought two battles: the Battle of Long Island, in what now is Brooklyn, and the Battle of White Plains, north of the city. They lost both⁶.

Conclusion

George Washington was a successful leader because he achieved most of the things he had promised the Americans. He promoted democracy, religion, and selflessness. He was not willing to take another term in power although his people wanted him to rule. Despite his achievements, Washington failed when he sent untrained militia to fight enemies in 1776, summer. Most of the militias were taken as slaves and mistreated. However, despite the challenges experienced during his leadership, Washington was a successful leader. This was indicated by the speech he gave in the “Washington farewell speech”.

Bibliography

Brookhiser, Richard. “The Character of George Washington.” USA Today vol. 136, no. 27463 (2007): 19-20.

The author indicates the weaknesses of Washington. The Americans were attacked during the rule of Washington, and he applied poor tactics to defend the people. New York city was attached in 1776 but Washington had no ships or navy to protest the attackers. The author refutes the claims that Washington was a successful leader.

Kauffman, Bill. “Farewell George.” The American Enterprise vol. 7 no. 2 (1996): 74-80.

The paper analysis the farewell speech given by George Washington. The message of the speech has been analyzed.

Montagne, Renee. “Commentary: George Washington’s farewell speech outlining moral guidelines to ensure continued democracy in America.” NPR Morning Edition. National Public Radio. 2004. HighBeam Research. Web.

The author analyzes the farewell speech of George Washington. The author provides the achievements and weaknesses of Washington.

Payne, James. “Making the World Safe for Muddle: The Meaning of Democracy in American Foreign Policy.” The Independent Review 13. 4 (2009): 601-610.

George Washington’s farewell speech outlining moral guidelines to ensure continued democracy in America from National Public Radio’s Morning Edition radio program.

Wolverton, Joe. Washington’s First Final Farewell. The New American vol. 25, vol. 265 (2009): 35-39.

George Washington gave a farewell speech after leading the Americans through war. The author presents a farewell speech. Washington is presented to be a successful leader who was selfless and devoted to promoting democracy.

Footnotes

1. Bill Kauffman, “Farewell George.” The American Enterprise vol. 7 no. 2 (1996): 74.
2. Payne, James. “Making the World Safe for Muddle: The Meaning of Democracy in American Foreign Policy.” The Independent Review vol. 13, no. 4 (2009): 601.
3. Joe Wolverton, “Washington’s First Final Farewell.” The New American vol. 25, vol. 265 (2009): 35-39.
4. Renee Montagne, “Commentary: George Washington’s farewell speech outlining moral guidelines to ensure continued democracy in America.” NPR Morning Edition. National Public Radio. HighBeam Research, 2004, 1. Web.
5. Brookhiser, Richard. The Character of George Washington. USA Today vol. 136, no. 27463 (2007): 19-20.
6. Brookhiser, 19.