Farewell address of the late General George Washington, 17th September 1796 (litho)

An early broadside printing by Hudson and Goodwin. Washington declines a re-election to the office of President. By 1796 Washington was in a position to retire gracefully. He had avoided war with Britain, pushed the British out of western forts, suppressed Native Americans in the Old Northwest, and opened the Ohio country to white settlement. In a farewell address, published in a Philadelphia newspaper in September 1796, Washington announced his retirement and offered his countrymen "the disinterested warnings of a parting friend." In his address, the president complained bitterly about "the baneful effects of the Spirit of Party," and warned his countrymen against the growth of partisan divisions. In foreign affairs, he also warned against long-term alliances. Declaring the "primary interests" of America and Europe to be fundamentally different, he argued that "it is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the foreign world." Among Washington's main themes were the danger that political demagogues would manipulate sectional passions and the importance of subordinating regional interests to the preservation of the Union. Signer of the U.S. Constitution. George Washington (1732-1799).