The Franklin Mint History Of The United States, 1776-1973
Manufacturer
The Franklin Mint
DateNo Date
MediumSilver
DimensionsOverall: 1 3/4 in. (45 mm.)
ClassificationsDecorative arts
Credit LineGift of Dr. Eugene F. Poutasse
Object number76.81.21
On View
Not on viewThe 1796 medal: Washington Writes His Farewell Address
To inform the nation that he did not wish to accept a third term as President, Washington wrote his famous Farewell Address on September 17, 1796. Many historians believe it incorporates the work of Hamilton. It was never publicly read by Washington, being first publised in "Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser" on September 19, taking all of the first page and a part of the second. Except for being somewhat verbose, much of it is as timely now as when it was written.
After expressing his determination to retire and thanks for the honors given to him, the balance of the Farewell Address is largely advice for the future growth and preservation of the Union. He felt that the government depended to a large extent upon maintaining the Constitution and warned agaisnt weakening it. "One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alterations, which will impair the energy of the system, and thus undermine what cannot directly be overthrown."
He believed the public should be informed and the public education would make this possible. "Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened."
Advising on debts, peace, and prepardness, he said, "As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible; avoid occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it." He set the isolationist tone of America for many years, insisting that we be strong in our own right and avoid foreign entanglements. "Why quit our own to stand on foreign ground?"
His words on foreign influence might have been written today: "Such an attachment of a small or weak, towards a great and powerful nation, dooms the former to be a satellite of the latter."
