Джордж Вашингтон - Иностранные языки - Скачать бесплатно
and defeated superior enemy forces at Trenton (December
1776) and Princeton (January 1777). But humiliating defeats at Brandywine
(September 1777) and Germantown (October 1777) and the subsequent loss of
Philadelphia undermined Washington's prestige in Congress. Richard Henry
Lee, Benjamin Rush, and others conspired to remove Washington and replace
him with General Horatio Gates, who had defeated General John Burgoyne at
the Battle of Saratoga (October 1777). Washington's congressional
supporters rallied to quash the so-called Conway Cabal. Prospects for
victory seemed bleak as Washington settled his men into winter quarters at
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in December 1777.
"To see men without clothes to cover their nakedness," Washington wrote
in tribute to the men who suffered with him at Valley Forge, "without
blankets to lay on, without shoes, by which their marches might be traced
by the blood from their feet, and almost as often without provisions as
with; marching through frost and snow, and at Christmas taking up their
winter quarters within a day's march of the enemy, without a house or hut
to cover them till they could be built, and submitting to it without a
murmur, is a mark of patience and obedience which in my opinion can scarce
be paralleled." Of course, some did grumble— and loudly. "No pay! no
clothes! no provisions! no rum!" some chanted. But remarkably there was no
mass desertion, no mutiny. Patriotism, to be sure, sustained many, but no
more so than did confidence in Washington's ability to see them through
safely. With the snow-clogged roads impassable to supply wagons, the men
stayed alive on such fare as pepper pot soup, a thin tripe broth flavored
with a handful of peppercorns. Many died there that winter. Those that
survived drew fresh hope with the greening of spring and the news,
announced to them by General Washington in May 1778, that France had
recognized the independence of America. Also encouraging was the arrival of
Baron Friedrich von Steuben, who, at Washington's direction, drilled the
debilitated Valley Forge survivors into crack troops. Washington's men
broke camp in June 1778, a revitalized army that, with aid from France,
took the war to the British and in October 1781 boxed in General Charles
Cornwallis at Yorktown, thus forcing the surrender of British forces.
General Washington imposed strict, but not punitive, surrender terms:
All weapons and military supplies must be given up; all booty must be
returned, but the enemy soldiers could keep their personal effects and the
officers could retain their sidearms. British doctors were allowed to tend
to their own sick and wounded. Cornwallis accepted, but instead of
personally leading his troops to the mutually agreed-upon point of
surrender on October 19, 1781, he sent his deputy Brigadier Charles O'Hara.
As he made his way along the road flanked by American and French forces,
O'Hara came face to face with Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau, the
latter decked out in lavish military regalia. O'Hara mistook Rochambeau for
the senior commander, but the French officer quickly pointed to Washington,
and O'Hara, probably somewhat embarrassed, turned to the American.
Unwilling to deal with a man of lesser rank, Washington directed O'Hara to
submit the sword of capitulation to his aide General Benjamin Lincoln. In
his victory dispatch to Congress, Washington wrote with obvious pride,
“Sir, I have the Honor to inform Congress, that a Reduction of the British
Army under the Command of Lord Cornwallis, is most happily effected. The
unremitting Ardor which actuated every Officer and Soldier in the combined
Army in this Occasion, has principally led to this Important Event, at an
earlier period than my most sanguine Hope had induced me to expect”. In
November 1783, two months after the formal peace treaty was signed,
Washington resigned his commission and returned home to the neglected
fields of Mount Vernon.
President of Constitutional Convention, 1787. Washington, a Virginia
delegate, was unanimously elected president of the convention. He was among
those favoring a strong federal government. After the convention he
promoted ratification of the Constitution in Virginia. According to the
notes of Abraham Baldwin, a Georgia delegate, which were discovered only
recently and made public in 1987, Washington said privately that he did not
expect the Constitution to last more than 20 years.
ELECTION AS PRESIDENT, FIRST TERM, 1789: Washington, a Federalist, was
the obvious choice for the first president of the United States. A proven
leader whose popularity transcended the conflict between Federalists and
those opposed to a strong central government, the man most responsible for
winning independence, a modest country squire with a winsome aversion to
the limelight, he so dominated the political landscape that not 1 of the 69
electors voted against him. Thus, he carried all 10 states—Connecticut,
Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia. (Neither North Carolina nor Rhode
Island had ratified the Constitution yet. New York was unable to decide in
time which electors to send.) Washington was the only president elected by
a unanimous electoral vote. John Adams of Massachusetts, having received
the second-largest number of votes, 34, was elected vice president.
election as president, second term, 1792: Despite the growing strength
of Democratic-Republicans, Washington continued to enjoy virtually
universal support. Again he won the vote of every elector, 132, and thus
carried all 15 states—Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland,
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia. John
Adams of Massachusetts received the second-highest number of votes, 77, and
thus again became vice president.
INAUGURAL ADDRESS (FIRST): New York City, April 30, 1789. ". . . When I
was first honored with a call into the service of my country, then on the
eve of an arduous struggle for its liberties, the light in which I
contemplated my duty required that I should renounce every pecuniary
compensation. From this resolution I have in no instance departed; and
being still under the impressions which produced it, I must decline as
inapplicable to myself any share in the personal emoluments which may be
indispensably included in a permanent provision for the executive
department, and must accordingly pray that the pecuniary estimates for the
station in which I am placed may during my continuance in it be limited to
such actual expenditures as the public good may be thought to require. ..."
INAUGURAL ADDRESS (SECOND): Philadelphia, March 4, 1793. (This was the
shortest inaugural address, just 135 words.) "Fellow Citizens: I am again
called upon by the voice of my country to execute the functions of its
Chief Magistrate. When the occasion proper for it shall arrive, I shall
endeavor to express the high sense I entertain of this distinguished honor,
and of the confidence which has been reposed in me by the people of united
America.
"Previous to the execution of any official act of the President the
Constitution requires an oath of office. This oath I am now about to take,
and in your presence: That if it shall be found during my administration of
the Government I have in any instance violated willingly or knowingly the
injunctions thereof, I may (besides incurring constitutional punishment) be
subject to the upbraidings of all who are now witnesses of the present
solemn ceremony."
VICE PRESIDENT: John Adams (1735-1826), of Massachusetts, served 1789-
1797. See "John Adams, 2d President."
CABINET:
Secretary of State. (1) Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), of Virginia,
served 1790-1793. See "Thomas Jefferson, 3d President," "Career before the
Presidency." (2) Edmund Jennings Randolph (1753-1813), of Virginia, served
1794-1795. Author of the Randolph (or Virginia) plan, favoring the large
states, at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Transferred from attorney
general, he remained aloof of the struggle between Jefferson and Alexander
Hamilton. Denounced by supporters of both, he was largely ineffective and
was forced to resign amid unfounded charges that he had misused his office
for private gain. (3) Timothy Pickering (1745-1829), of Massachusetts,
served 1795-1800. Transferred from war secretary, he was a staunch
Hamiltonian and stayed on in the Adams administration.
Secretary of the Treasury. (1) Alexander Hamilton (c. 1755-1804), of
New York, served 1789-1795. President Washington's closest advisor, he was
a great admirer of British institutions and a master of power politics. He
saw his role in the government as that of prime minister. His influence
went beyond economics to include foreign affairs, legal matters, and long-
range social planning. He advocated and helped create a strong central
government at the expense of states' rights. He put the infant nation on
sound financial footing by levying taxes to retire the national debt and
promoted the creation of a national bank. He also advocated tariffs to
insulate fledgling American manufacturing from foreign competition.
Hamilton's vision of America's future encompassed the evolution from a
largely agrarian society to an industrial giant, a national transportation
program to facilitate commerce and blur regional differences, a strong
permanent national defense, and a sound, conservative monetary system. Even
after resigning his post, he kept his hands on the controls of power.
Washington continued to consult him. Hamilton's successor, Oliver Wolcott,
and others in the cabinet took his advice. He even helped draft
Washington's Farewell address. The foremost conservative leader of his day,
he was anathema to Thomas Jefferson and his supporters. (2) Oliver Wolcott
(1760-1833), of Connecticut, served 1795-1800. A lawyer and Hamilton
supporter, he stayed on in the Adams administration.
Secretary of War. (1) Henry Knox (1750-1806), of Massachusetts, served
1789-1794. Chief of artillery and close adviser to General Washington
during the Revolution and war secretary under the Articles of
Confederation, he was a natural choice for this post. He pressed for a
strong navy. Fort Knox was named after him. (2) Timothy Pickering (1745-
1829), of Massachusetts, served January-December, 1795. A lawyer and
veteran of the Revolution, he strengthened the navy. He resigned to serve
as secretary of state. (3) James McHenry (1753-1816), of Maryland, served
1796-1800. He had served as a surgeon during the Revolution and was a
prisoner of war. He stayed on in the Adams administration. Fort McHenry at
Baltimore was named after him.
Attorney General. (1) Edmund Jennings Randolph (1753-1813), of
Virginia, served 1789-1794. He helped draft President Washington's
proclamation of neutrality. Washington disregarded his opinion that a
national bank was unconstitutional. He resigned to become secretary of
state. (2) William Bradford (1755-1795), of Pennsylvania, served 1794-1795.
He was a state supreme court justice at the time of his appointment. (3)
Charles Lee (1758-1815), of Virginia, served 1795-1801. He was a brother of
Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee. He urged, unsuccessfully, that the United
States abandon its policy of neutrality and declare war on France. He
stayed on in the Adams administration.
ADMINISTRATION: April 30, 1789-March 3, 1797.
Precedents. "Many things which appear of little importance in
themselves and at the beginning," President Washington observed, "may have
great and durable consequences from their having been established at the
commencement of a new general government."10 With this in mind, then, he
proceeded cautiously, pragmatically, acting only when it seemed necessary
to flesh out the bare-bones framework of government described so sparingly
in the Constitution: (1) In relying on department heads for advice, much as
he had used his war council during the Revolution, he set the pattern for
future presidents to consult regularly with their cabinet. (2) Because
Congress did not challenge his appointments, largely out of respect for him
personally rather than out of principle, the custom evolved that the chief
executive generally has the right to choose his own cabinet. Congress, even
when controlled by the opposition party, usually routinely confirms such
presidential appointments. (3) How long should a president serve? The
Constitution did not then say. Washington nearly set the precedent of a
single term, for he had originally decided to retire in 1793, but remained
for a second term when it became clear that the nonpartisan government he
had so carefully fostered was about to fragment. Thus he set the two-term
standard that lasted until 1940. (4) When John Jay resigned as chief
justice, Washington went outside the bench for a successor rather than to
elevate one of the sitting justices to the top position, as many had
expected him to do. In disregarding seniority as a necessary qualification
to lead the Supreme Court, Washington established the precedent that has
enabled his successors to draw from a much more diverse and younger talent
pool than that of a handful of aging incumbent jurists.
Indian Affairs. In 1791 President Washington dispatched forces under
General Arthur St. Clair to subdue the Indians who had been resisting white
settlement of the Northwest Territory. St. Clair failed, having been routed
by Miami Chief Little Turtle on the Wabash River. Washington then turned to
Revolutionary War veteran "Mad" Anthony Wayne, who before launching the
expedition spent many months training regular troops in Indian warfare. He
marched boldly into the region, constructed a chain of forts, and on August
20, 1794, crushed the Indians under Little Turtle in the Battle of Fallen
Timbers near present-day Toledo, Ohio. Under the terms of the Treaty of
Greenville (1795), the defeated tribes ceded disputed portions of the
Northwest Territory to the United States and moved west. Through diplomacy,
President Washington tried with limited success to make peace with the
Creeks and other tribes in the South. In 1792 the president entertained the
tribal leaders of the Six Nations confederation, including Seneca Chief Red
Jacket, whom Washington presented with a silver medal, a token that the
Indian treasured the rest of his life. Red Jacket, who had led his warriors
against Washington's army during the Revolution, rallied to the American
cause during the War of 1812.
Proclamation of Neutrality, 1793. In the war between France, on one
side, and Britain, Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, and the Netherlands, on the
other, President Washington in 1793 declared the United States to be
"friendly and impartial toward the belligerent powers." Although he avoided
using the word neutrality, his intention was clear. Critics denounced the
proclamation as reneging on the U.S. commitment to its first ally, France.
However, it kept the nation out of a war it was ill-prepared to fight. The
French minister to the United States, Edmond Genet, pointedly ignoring
Washington's policy, fomented pro-French sentiment among Americans and
arranged for American privateers to harass British ships—activities that
prompted President Washington to demand his recall.
Whiskey Rebellion, 1794. To help pay off the national debt and put the
nation on a sound economic basis, President Washington approved an excise
tax on liquor. Pennsylvania farmers, who regularly converted their corn
crop to alcohol to avoid the prohibitive cost of transporting grain long
distances to market, refused to pay it. On Hamilton's advice, Washington
ordered 15,000 militia to the area and personally inspected troops in the
field. This show of strength crushed this first real challenge to federal
authority.
Jay'5 Treaty, 1795. Washington was roundly criticized by Jeffersonians
for this treaty with Great Britain. To forestall further conflict with the
former mother country and impel Britain to withdraw its forces from
outposts in the Northwest Territory, as it had promised under the terms of
the Treaty of Paris concluding the American Revolution, Washington
relinquished the U.S. right to neutrality on the seas. Any American ship
suspected of carrying contraband to the shores of Britain's enemies was
subject to search and seizure by the British navy. And Britain regarded as
contraband virtually any useful product, including foodstuffs. Moreover,
Jay's Treaty failed to resolve one of the key disputes standing in the way
of rapprochement with Britain—impressment. Britain's policy of "once an
Englishman, always an Englishman" meant that even after renouncing
allegiance to the crown and becoming a duly naturalized U.S. citizen, a
British immigrant was not safe from the king's reach. If while searching an
American ship for contraband, the British spotted one of their own among
the crew, they routinely dragged him off and pressed him into the Royal
Navy. But for all this, and despite the added strain on relations with
France in the wake of Jay's Treaty, the pact did postpone the inevitable
conflict with Britain until 1812, when America was better prepared
militarily. After the Senate ratified the treaty, the House asked the
president to release all pertinent papers relating to its negotiation.
Washington refused on the constitutional ground that only the upper chamber
had approval rights over treaties. He thereby set the precedent for future
presidents to resist such congressional petitions.
Pinckney's Treaty, 1795. Under its terms, Washington normalized
relations with Spain by establishing the boundary between the United States
and Spanish Florida at the thirty-first parallel. Even more importantly for
the future of American commerce, the pact granted U.S. vessels free access
to the entire length of the Mississippi River and to the port of New
Orleans for the purpose of export.
In other acts of lasting importance, President Washington signed into
law bills creating or providing for:
1789 Oaths of allegiance to be sworn by federal and state officials
First tariffs to protect domestic manufacturers
Department of State and War and the Treasury
Office of postmaster general
Supreme Court, circuit and federal district courts, and position of
attorney general (Judiciary Act). Washington, of course,
appointed
all the first judges to these courts.
1790 First federal census
Patent and copyright protection
Removal of the capital to Philadelphia in December 1790 and to
Washington
10 years later
1791 Bank of the United States
1792 Presidential succession, which placed the president pro tempore of
the
Senate and the Speaker of the House next behind the vice
president in
line of succession to the presidency
U.S. Mint of Philadelphia
1795 Naturalization law, which lengthened residency requirement from
two to
five years
Farewell Address, 1796 President Washington announced his retirement in
his celebrated Farewell Address, a pronouncement that was printed in the
Philadelphia American Daily Advertiser on September 17, 1796, but never was
delivered orally. In it he warned against the evils of political parties
and entangling alliances abroad. Throughout his term he had tried to
prevent the rise of partisanship, but he had succeeded only in postponing
such division by serving a second term. The Federalists under Hamilton and
Adams and the Democratic-Republicans under Jefferson joined battle soon
after he announced his retirement. Washington's warning to remain aloof
from European struggles Was better heeded. "The great rule of conduct for
us in regard to foreign nations," he advised, "is, in extending our
commercial relations to have with them as little political connection as
possible. So far as we have already formed engagements let them be
fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop." Isolationism remained
the dominant feature in American foreign policy for the next 100 years.
States Admitted to the Union. Vermont (1791), Kentucky (1792),
Tennessee (1796).
Constitutional Amendments Ratified. Bill of Rights (first 10
amendments, 1791): (1) Freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, to
assemble and petition for redress of grievances. (2) Right to bear arms.
(3) Restrictions on quartering soldiers in private homes. (4) Freedom from
unreasonable search and seizure. (5)Ban on double jeopardy and self-
incrimination; guarantees due process of law. (6) Right to speedy and
public trial. (7) Right to trial by jury. (8) Ban on excessive bail or
fines or cruel and unusual punishment. (9) Natural rights unspecified in
the Constitution to remain unabridged. (10) Individual states or the people
retain all powers not specifically delegated to the federal government or
denied to states by the Constitution. Eleventh Amendment (1795): A citizen
from one state cannot sue another state.
SUPREME COURT APPOINTMENTS: (1) John Jay (1745-1829), of New York,
served as chief justice 1789-1795. As the first chief justice, he
established court procedure. While on the bench he negotiated Jay's Treaty
(see "Administration"). He resigned to serve as governor of New York. (2)
John Rutledge (1739-1800), of South Carolina, served as associate justice
1789-1791. His appointment as chief justice in 1795 was rejected by the
Senate. (3) William Gushing (1732-1810), of Massachusetts, served as
associate justice 1789-1810. He was the only Supreme Court justice to
persist in wearing the formal wig popular among British jurists. (4) James
Wilson (1742-1798), of Pennsylvania, served as associate justice 1789-1798.
A Scottish immigrant, he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Speaking for the Court in Chisholm v. Georgia (1793), he ruled that a
citizen of one state was entitled to sue another state, a decision so
unpopular that it prompted passage of the Eleventh Amendment (1795),
specifically nullifying it. (5) John Blah- (1732-1800), of Virginia, served
as associate justice 1789-1796. A friend of Washington—they had served
together as Virginia delegates to the Constitutional Convention—he brought
to the bench many years of experience on Virginia state courts. (6) James
Iredell (1751-1799), of North Carolina, served as associate justice 1790-
1799. An English immigrant, he was at 38 the youngest member of the
original Supreme Court. His lone dissent in Chisholm v. Georgia (1793)
formed the basis of the Eleventh Amendment (1795). (7) Thomas Johnson (1732-
1819), of Maryland, served as associate justice 1791-1793. A friend of
Washington since the Revolution, he served as the first governor of
Maryland and chief judge of the state's General Court. He resigned from the
Supreme Court for health reasons. (8) William Paterson (1745-1806), of New
Jersey, served as associate justice 1793-1806. He helped draft the
Judiciary Act of 1789 creating the federal court system. In Van Home's
Lessee v. Dorrance (1795) he established the Court's authority to strike
down as unconstitutional a duly enacted state law, a precedent that
anticipated judicial review of federal laws. (9) Samuel Chase (1741-1811),
of Maryland, served as associate justice 1796-1811. Irascible and acid
tongued, his gratuitous attacks on President Jefferson in 1803 led the
House to impeach him, but the Senate fell four votes short of the two-
thirds necessary for conviction. He was the only Supreme Court justice to
be impeached. Speaking for a unanimous Court in Ware v. Hilton (1796), he
established the supremacy of national treaties over state laws. (10) Oliver
Ellsworth (1745-1807), of Connecticut, served as chief justice 1796-1800.
He was the principal architect of the Judiciary Act of 1789, creating the
federal court system. In United States v. La Vengeance (1796), he spoke for
the majority in extending federal authority to all inland rivers and lakes.
RANKING IN 1962 HISTORIANS POLL: Washington ranked second of 31
presidents and second of 5 "great" presidents. He ranked above Franklin
Roosevelt and below Lincoln.
RETIREMENT: March 4, 1797-December 14, 1799. Washington, 65, returned
to Mount Vernon to oversee much-needed repairs. He played host, often
reluctantly, to an endless parade of visitors, many longtime friends,
others perfect strangers
|
