Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/391

WASHINGTON. British. The features of importance of this year were the discovery of the treason of Benedict Arnold, followed by the execution of Major André, and the success of the British in the South, where, however, in the next year they were foiled by General Greene, Washington's most reliable subordinate. The year 1781 found Washington hampered by a vacillating and unreliable Congress, doubtful of its own powers, and, although he had now every hope that he would be strongly supported by the French auxiliary fleet, he was unable to utilize this advantage to the necessary extent. In August and September Washington, greatly strengthened by a French reinforcement under (q.v.), transferred his troops to the South and invested Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Va., a French fleet under (q.v.) shutting off any assistance which might have come to the British by sea and preventing Cornwallis's escape. On October 17th the British commander proposed a cessation of hostilities, and two days later he capitulated with his whole army. (See .) This practically concluded the active operations of the war. Washington now exerted himself in endeavoring to obtain from Congress a settlement of the claims of his officers. It is probable that, had Washington so desired, he could at this time have founded a monarchy, sustained by his army. He took the course, on the contrary, of quelling this disposition on the part of his soldiers whenever it showed itself. On June 8, 1783, he issued his splendid letter to the Governors of the States with regard to the necessity of establishing a firm and dignified Federal Government. On November 25, 1783, the British evacuated New York; on December 4th Washington delivered his farewell address to the army; and on December 23d, at Annapolis, he resigned his commission to Congress and retired to private life. For further details concerning his services during the Revolution, see the article , and the articles on the various battles.

During the five years following the close of Washington's military career, he found sufficient occupation in attending to the affairs of his homestead and property, and in fostering the progress of his native State. Mount Vernon was now constantly the scene of a profuse hospitality over which Washington presided with the courtly dignity natural to him. He maintained his keen interest in public affairs, greatly regretting the general chaos and such disgraceful outbreaks as Shays's Rebellion, and helped by his correspondence to bring the leading men of the country to a determination to form a more perfect Union. He was president of the Philadelphia convention of 1787, which framed the Constitution of the United States. Washington was unanimously chosen the first President of the United States, and on April 30, 1789, took the oath of office in New York, where Congress was then sitting.

Washington's administration of the civil government was marked by the methodical precision which had characterized his conduct through life. His conscientious habit of undertaking no duty until he comprehended its entire scope and bearing was also especially apparent in his new position. He thoroughly informed himself concerning all affairs of state, and every political act of importance which had been performed by the

Government and its agents since his retirement. He personally directed the organization of the different departments of the Government under the new system, and in accordance with the Constitution, and no act of his was more significant than his appointment as heads of departments of such distinguished and able men as Jefferson, Hamilton, Knox, and Edmund Randolph. Meanwhile, before the work of Congress began, Washington found time to make a tour through the Eastern States, better to acquaint himself with the views of the men who were presently to lay the foundations of the commercial and industrial greatness of the United States. Before Congress, in his first message, he laid an eminently judicious series of suggestions of laws and provisions, which were at once made the basis of legislation. He refrained sedulously from allying himself with either of the two parties, Federalist and Democratic Republican, forming under Hamilton and Jefferson; and, on the contrary, strove to reconcile the differences between the leaders which he foresaw must inevitably in the future bring about wider differences among the people. The success of his first administration, and the universal sense of a security under his leadership, which did not appear in the least to be certain under that of any other, produced a general anxiety, as his term of office drew to a close, that Washington should accept the Presidency for a second term. Jefferson and Hamilton &mdash; wide apart as the poles in their political opinions, and personally at enmity with each other &mdash; agreed in this; and each wrote a letter to Washington urging his compliance with what was now a great popular demand. To their solicitation and that of others he acceded; he was reëlected unanimously, and on March 4, 1793, took the oath of office for the second time as President of the United States.

The very beginning of Washington's second administration saw the United States drawn into the vortex of European politics. The French Revolution was culminating in a Reign of Terror. Great Britain and France were at war, and gratitude seemed to demand that the Western Republic should sustain her sister State and former ally in the existing struggle. But Washington was especially opposed to foreign complications, and while he recognized the French Republic, and received its representative, he steadfastly adhered to his resolution to avoid interference in European turmoils, and issued a proclamation of neutrality on April 22, 1793. Factions now arose in the United States, the one side seeking to enforce practical adherence to the cause of France and the other sustaining Washington in the face of bitter accusations of bias in favor of the recent enemy of America, Great Britain. Between Republicans and Federalists the line was now drawn strictly on this basis. Dissensions and resignations occurred in the Cabinet. Among the people Jacobin clubs were formed, which were as virulent in the expression of their animosities as were their prototypes in France. In the midst of all the excitement consequent upon such a state of affairs, which was greatly increased by the injudicious, not to say insulting, defiance of the proclamation of neutrality by Genet, the French representative to the United States, Washington sent John Jay as envoy extraordinary to