Washington’s Farewell Address Explorations

1. Describe Washington’s tone in the Farewell Address. Do you believe he was successful at persuading his audience? Does his tone continue to be compelling for contemporary audiences? Why/why not?
2. Much of Washington’s Farewell Address is prescient. Discuss one piece of Washington’s commentary on the state of American politics and policy that remains relevant today.
3. Washington famously asserts that “the basis of our political Systems is the right of the people to make and alter their Constitutions of Government. How should we best prepare American citizens for this role? How can we encourage a greater degree of participation in the processes of government?
4. Washington famously declares that political parties “are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the Power of the People, & to usurp for themselves the reins of Government.” Consider the operation of contemporary political parties, and the oft-sounded claim that our country is more partisan than it has ever been. How can we bridge the bitter divide between America’s two main parties in the interest of promoting the common good?