The Return of George Washington

by Edward Larson

  103. Memoir of the Life of Eliza S. M. Quincy (Boston: Wilson & Son, 1861), 51.

  104. Ibid., 51–52.

  105. Annals of Congress, April 30, 1789, 1: 27 (Senate). Many later accounts have Washington adding the words “so help me God” to the end of the oath, but no contemporary accounts do so. According to many contemporary accounts, however, he did kiss the Bible after saying the oath.

  106. Joseph J. Ellis, His Excellency: George Washington (New York: Knopf, 2004), 186.

  107. John Adams to Benjamin Rush, Nov. 11, 1807, in Alexander Biddle, ed., Old Family Letters (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1892), 170.

  108. Diego de Gardoqui to Florida Blanca, May 1, 1789, in Bowen, ed., History of Inauguration, 49. Maclay used the word “ungainly” in his account, but others made similar observations. “Diary of Maclay,” April 30, 1789, p. 13.

  109. Annals of Congress, April 30, 1789, 1: 27–29 (Senate). Characteristically, in speaking about “God” in this formal address, Washington never actually used that term. Instead, he referred to “the Great Author of every public and private good” at one point and “the benign Parent of the human race” at another.

  110. Although many accounts only mention the presidential party visiting Livingston’s house to view the fireworks, Lear noted that it also stopped at the nearby house of Henry Knox, “where we had a full view of the works.” Lear to Washington, May 3, 1789, DHFFE Project.

  111. Ibid.

  112. “New-York, May 1,” Daily Advertiser, May 1, 1789, p. 2.

  Epilogue

  1. George Washington, “To the PEOPLE of the United States,” Claypoole’s American Daily Advertiser, Sept. 19, 1796, p. 2.

  2. Tobias Lear, “Narrative Accounts of the Death of George Washington: Diary Account,” Dec. 14–15, 1799, PGW, RS 4: 546.

  3. Ibid., 4: 549. Fearing that they might kill her to gain their freedom, Martha Washington freed her husband’s slaves one year after his death.

  4. “Boston, December 28, 1799,” Columbian Centinel, Dec. 28, 1799, p. 2.

  5. Henry Lee, A Funeral Oration in Honor of the Memory of George Washington (New Haven, CT: Read & Morse, 1800), 19.

  Illustration Credits

  Chapter-Opening Illustrations

  His Excell: George Washington, Esqr. General and Commander in Chief of the Allied Armies, engraved by John Norman after Benjamin Blythe, 1782. Courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.

  Detail from “Carte De La Partie Nord Des Etats Unis,” in G. T. Raynal, Atlas de Toutes les Parties Connues du Globe Terrestre (Geneva: Jean-Leonard Pellet, 1780). Provided to Wikimedia Commons by Geographicus Rare Antique Maps.

  Presentation Drawing of Mount Vernon, by Samuel Vaughan, 1787. Courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.

  Detail from The State-House in Philadelphia 1776, by John Serz, 1873. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

  His Excel: G: Washington Esq.: L.L.D. Late, by Charles Willson Peale, 1787. Courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.

  Detail from Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, by Howard Chandler Christy, 1940. Courtesy of Architect of the Capitol.

  “Eighth Pillar,” Massachusetts Centinel, June 11, 1788. Courtesy of Ashbrook Center at Ashland University.

  “A Map of General Washington’s Farm of Mount Vernon from a Drawing transmitted by the General,” in Letters from His Excellency General Washington to Arthur Young (London: B. McMillan, 1801). Courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.

  Detail from George Washington Entering Trenton 1789, by Kurz & Allison, 1907. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

  Profile Portrait of George Washington, by Joseph Wright, 1783–1785. Courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.

  Insert Illustrations

  Washington Taking Leave of the Officers of His Army, at Fraunces Tavern, Broad Street, New York, Dec 4th 1783, by Nathaniel Currier, 1848. Courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.

  General George Washington Resigning His Commission, by John Trumbull, 1824. Courtesy of Architect of the Capitol.

  Martha Washington, by Charles Willson Peale, 1772. Courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.

  George Washington, by Robert Edge Pine, 1785. Courtesy of National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

  West Front of Mount Vernon, attributed to Edward Savage, c. 1787–1791. Courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.

  The Washington Family, by Edward Savage, 1798. Courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.

  Robert Morris, by Robert Edge Pine, c. 1785. Courtesy of National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

  Mrs. Samuel Powel, by Matthew Pratt, c. 1793. Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Henry D. Gilpin Fund.

  His Excellency B. Franklin L.L.D. F.R.S. President of Pennsylvania & Late Minister of the United States of America at the Court of France, by Charles Willson Peale, 1787. Courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.

  Gouverneur Morris Esq’r., published by R. Wilkinson after a drawing by Pierre Eugène Du Simitière, 1783. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

  Major-General Henry Knox, published by Detroit Publishing Co. after a portrait by Gilbert Stuart, between 1900 and 1912. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

  George Clinton, engraved by John Jester Buttre from portrait by Ezra Ames, between 1845 and 1890. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

  James Wilson, by James Barton Longacre, copy after Jean Pierre Henri Elouis, c. 1825. Courtesy of National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

  Alexander Hamilton, Detroit Publishing Co. after portrait by John Trumbull, between 1900 and 1912. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

  Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, by Howard Chandler Christy, 1940. Courtesy of Architect of the Capitol.

  [United States Constitution], Pennsylvania Packet, September 19, 1787. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

  John Jay, 1745–1829, photographic print of painting by Gilbert Stuart, c. 1905. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

  James Madison, Pendleton’s Lithography after portrait by Gilbert Stuart, c. 1828. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

  The looking glass for 1787, by Amos Doolittle, 1787. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

  Richard Henry Lee, engraved from a drawing by James Barton Longacre from an original miniature, c. 1820. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

  Patrick Henry, by George Bagby Matthews after Thomas Sully, c. 1891. Courtesy of United States Senate.

  An East View of Gray’s Ferry, Near Philadelphia, engraved by James Trechard from drawing by Charles Willson Peale, 1789. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

  First in Peace. “Representing the Arrival of General George Washington at the Battery, New York, April 23, 1789,” engraved by John C. McRae, 1867. Courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.

  Federal Hall, reengraved by Sidney L. Smith after print by Amos Doolittle of drawing by Peter Lecour, 1789. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

  George Washington, Jean-Antoine Houdon, bust made from clay in Mount Vernon, Virginia, 1785. Courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.

  Photographic Insert

  Romanticized nineteenth-century portrayal of Washington’s emotional farewell to his Revolutionary War officers at Fraunces Tavern in New York on December 4, 1783.

  John Trumbull’s classic painting for the U.S. Capitol rotunda of Washington resigning his commission as commander in chief of the Continental Army on December 23, 1783.

  Martha Washington, 1772.

  George Washington, 1785.

  West Front of Mount Vernon, c. 1787–1791.

  The Washington family at Mount Vernon, showing George and Martha Washington; Martha’s grandchildren George Washington Parke Custis and Eleanor Parke Custis; and one of Washington’s slaves, probably William Lee, 1798.

  Robert Morris, c. 1785.

  Elizabeth Welling Powel, c. 1793.

  Benjamin Franklin, 1787.
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  Gouverneur Morris, 1783.

  Henry Knox, later reproduction from portrait, c. 1805.

  George Clinton, nineteenth-century engraving of 1802 painting.

  James Wilson, drawing from original portrait, c. 1825.

  Alexander Hamilton, later reproduction of 1792 portrait.

  Howard Chandler Christy’s classic painting for the U.S. Capitol of Washington presiding over the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787.

  First public printing of the United States Constitution: Pennsylvania Packet, September 19, 1787.

  James Madison, c. 1828, lithograph from portrait painted c. 1805–1807.

  John Jay, later reproduction of 1794 portrait.

  Satirical engraving by federalist Amos Doolittle depicting the battle between urban federalists and rural antifederalists over ratification of the Constitution in Connecticut, 1787. One federalist, pulling left, shouts “Comply with Congress”; one antifederalist, pulling right, replies “Success to Shays.”

  Richard Henry Lee, c. 1820, engraving from a drawing based on an original miniature.

  Patrick Henry, c. 1891, copy of a portrait based on a 1791 miniature.

  Contemporary etching of the arrival of Washington at the laurel-bedecked Gray’s Ferry Bridge near Philadelphia on his inaugural journey, April 20, 1789.

  Nineteenth-century print of Washington’s landing by ceremonial barge at New York City for his inauguration as President, April 23, 1789.

  Engraving of the only known live sketch of Washington’s inauguration at Federal Hall, April 30, 1789.

  Bust of Washington made at Mount Vernon from a live mask by French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon in 1785.

  Index

  The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific entry, please use your e-book reader’s search tools.

  abolitionism, 103

  Achenbach, Joel, 62

  Adams, John, 109, 126, 148; ambitions of, 35, 255; on constitutional government, 80, 114; as President, 301–3; in Revolutionary War, 4, 12, 68, 123, 298; vice presidency of, 253–56, 275–77, 287–93, 298, 300; and Washington’s death, 303

  Adams, Samuel, 11, 34–35, 253–54

  advice and consent, 164

  Aesop’s fables, 244

  Albany Journal, 231

  Alexandria (Virginia), 40, 57, 62, 208, 224–25, 262, 283

  Allegheny Mountains, 40–41, 45

  American Museum, 106

  American Philosophical Society, 29

  Annapolis (Maryland), 3–7, 28–30

  Annapolis Convention, 63–65, 69, 84, 87–88

  antifederalists, 171; arguments of, 191–94, 202–3, 208, 213, 216, 221–23, 228; in first federal election, 237–41, 244, 247, 250–65, 272–75, 340n16; call for second constitutional convention, 238–39; during Washington administration, 298–301. See also Republican Party

  Appalachian Mountains, xiii, 40–56

  Army, American, 23–25, 137, 303; payment of, 10, 13–17, 22–27; structure of, 8–9, 20–22; unrest in, 9, 12–18, 23

  Articles of Confederation, 9, 61–62, 160–70; need for reform of, 19, 64–65, 70, 76–77, 114–15, 131, 195, 270; revision of, 88–89, 93, 127–29, 182–83, 248. See also Constitutional Convention

  Assunpick Creek, 285

  Atlantic Ocean, 51–52

  balanced government, 69, 77–78, 80, 89–96, 271

  Baldwin, Abraham, 176, 272

  Baltimore (Maryland), 58, 217, 264; Washington in, 28, 101, 105, 283–84

  Bank of the United States, 139, 172, 199

  Baptists, 164

  Bartram, John, 147–48

  Bartram, John, Jr., 147–48

  Bartram, William, 147–48

  Bartram’s Garden, 147–48

  Bath (Virginia), 41

  Battery, 26, 278

  Bedford, Gunning, Jr., 151–52, 167

  Beeman, Richard, 109, 112

  Biddle, Charles, 172

  Biddle, Nicholas, 172

  Bill of Rights, 171–72, 183–88, 202–5, 213, 222, 228, 238–39, 262–64, 271, 294, 299, 346nn119–20

  Bingham, Anne and William, 138–39

  Birmingham (England), 50

  Blair, John, 85, 177–78, 298

  Blue Ridge, 54

  Boston (Massachusetts), 79, 211, 235, 242, 245, 272; during Revolutionary War, 11

  Bowdoin, James, 81–83

  Braddock, Edward, 41–42, 51

  Braddock’s Road, 40–41, 53

  Brandywine, Battle of, 12, 28, 107

  Bréhan, Madame de, 261

  Briery Mountains, 53

  Britain, 50, 102, 131, 246, 277; American relations with, 83, 297, 300; in Ohio country, 48, 68–69; peace treaty with, 9, 14, 17, 20, 22–28, 47, 108; in Revolutionary War, 8–12, 20, 68, 139, 285

  Burr, Aaron, 253

  Butler, Pierce, 122, 141, 144–45, 158–59, 182

  cabinet, Washington’s, 297–300

  Caesar, Julius, 6, 15, 18, 149, 194

  Calvinism, 43, 67, 69, 102

  Camden, Battle of, 12

  Canada, 12, 21, 83

  canals, 50, 56, 59–61

  Capitol, U.S., 5, 30, 173

  Caribbean, 68, 102

  Carlisle (Pennsylvania), 209

  Carolinas, 102, 130. See also North Carolina; South Carolina

  Carrington, Edward, 183

  Carroll, Daniel, 117, 161

  Carter, Charles, 210–11

  Catholic, Roman, 116–18, 120. 137

  Charlestown (South Carolina), 12, 102, 217

  Chastellux, François-Jean de, 35, 38, 138–39

  Cheat River, 55

  Chernow, Ron, xii, 28

  Chesapeake Bay, 102

  Chester (Pennsylania), 107, 284

  Chew, Benjamin and Elizabeth, 138

  Christ Church, 107, 118

  Christmas, 6, 11, 29, 263, 267–69, 285

  Christy, Howard Chandler, 173–76

  church and state, separation of, 166–67, 171

  Cincinnatus: Society of, 25, 85–88, 96, 107, 110, 153, 183, 196; Washington as, 7, 18, 149, 178, 208, 244, 275

  circular letter to the states, 21, 123, 293, 301

  City Tavern, 126, 144–45, 172, 177, 285

  Civil War, 159

  Cleopatra, 286

  Clinton, George: and first federal election, 239, 249–53, 260, 265; as governor, 68–69, 245, 281, 286; on ratification, 202–3, 226–31, 338n107; vice presidential candidacy of, 251–53, 255–56, 273, 276, 300, 343nn68–70; and Washington, 23, 26–28, 226–27, 249, 338n98

  Clymer, Daniel, 189

  Clymer, George, 87, 172, 188–90, 194

  Columbian Centinel, 180, 218

  Committee of Detail, 132, 161–63, 167, 169

  Committee on Postponed Parts, 164–65, 248

  Committee of Style and Arrangement, 168–172

  Concord (Massachusetts), 79

  Concord, Battle of, 11, 71

  Confederation Congress: actions by, 49, 81, 183, 232–38; factions in, 13, 18, 139; funding for, 10, 13–15; and Newburgh Conspiracy, 13–16; receipt of Constitution by, 170–71, 181–84, 187; receives Washington, 3–6, 23; seat of, 3, 23, 25, 29; weaknesses of, 8–10, 15–16, 19, 31, 35, 46–48, 63, 68–78, 87–92, 164, 278

  Congress, U.S.: first, 213, 222, 238, 256–65, 278–82, 287–95; structure of, 90–94, 140–41, 149–52, 155–65, 249. See also House of Representatives, U.S.; Senate, U.S.

  Connecticut, 6, 36, 63, 102, 267, 275; delegates to Constitutional Convention from, 90, 121, 132, 169; elections in, 245, 250, 257, 273–74, 277; ratification of Constitution by, 205–6; votes at Constitutional Convention by, 129, 150–52

  Connecticut Compromise, 150–52

  Connecticut Journal, 104

  Constitution, U.S., 24, 271, 278, 303; amendments to, 183, 186, 209, 217, 222, 229, 238–39, 247, 250, 254, 256, 262–64, 271, 294; interpretation of, 270, 299–300; preamble of, 167–70, 221–22, 324n3; re
commendatory amendments to, 213–14, 222–24, 229–31; signing of, 166, 173–77; structure of, 168–70; transmittal to Congress of, 170–71, 181–84, 236; Twelfth Amendment to, 247. See also Constitutional Convention; ratification

  Constitutional Convention: call for, 24, 65–66, 84–88; delegates to, 85–88, 121, 298; meeting of, 119–77; proposed second, 230, 238–39, 245, 263; rules for, 122–23; secrecy at, 122–23, 135–37, 174, 263, 297; Washington’s role at, xii–xiii, 84, 119–77

  Continental Congress, 10–12, 68, 123, 182, 253

  Corbin, Francis, 107

  corporations, 56

  Cornwallis, Lord, 12

  Coxe, Tench, 193

  Craik, James, 39, 53

  Crawford, William, 46–47

  Cromwell, Oliver, 6

  Cumberland (Maryland), 40, 51–53

  Cushing, William, 298

  Dailey, Mary, 144

  Dayton, Jonathan, 150

  debts, 56, 280; of Congress, 10, 22, 35, 71–78, 299; of states, 8, 72–78, 81, 299

  Declaration of Independence, 5, 29, 35, 74, 108, 113, 133, 143; signers of, 46, 58, 103, 153, 194, 242, 274

  Defense of the Constitutions (Adams), 254

  deflation, 75

  deism, 44

  DeLancey family, 27

  Delaware, 284; and Annapolis Convention, 63; delegates to Constitutional Convention of, 88, 110, 128–29; first federal election in, 250, 258, 272–73; ratification of Constitution by, 191, 195–97, 201; as small state, 112, 119, 121; vote at Constitutional Convention of, 129, 149–52