The Papers of George Washington: 1 May-30 September 1794, Volume 16

George Washington

University Press of Virginia, 1987 - Biography & Autobiography - 848 pages

During the spring and summer of 1794, Washington and his cabinet faced concerns that arose from the ongoing war in Europe. Embargo evasions, activities of French and British privateers, and the formation of a league of armed neutrality by Denmark and Sweden required appropriate administrative responses. Fears persisted about a potential war with Great Britain, even as John Jay began negotiations as envoy extraordinary to that nation.

Issues on the frontier included an attempt by Elijah Clarke of Georgia to establish an independent government on Creek Indian lands, unrest in Kentucky arising from the slow progress of negotiations with Spain about free navigation of the Mississippi River, concerns that the British were encouraging Indian hostility toward the United States, and the need to strengthen Gen. Anthony Wayne's army for his forthcoming Indian campaign.

All other issues were dwarfed in early August when events in western Pennsylvania brought a long-simmering opposition against the excise tax on whiskey to (as Washington saw it) open rebellion. When conciliatory efforts failed, preparations to call up the militia from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia moved forward in full force. Washington left Philadelphia to join the troops on September 30, the same day that first reports of Wayne's victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers reached the city.

Despite these concerns, Washington remained attentive to the management of Mount Vernon, primarily through weekly correspondence with farm manager William Pearce. He also sought to sell his western lands, but the Whiskey Insurrection suspended much of his efforts.

Contents

• From Clement Cruttwell 1 May: 1
• From Edmund Randolph 1 May: 7
• 11: 13

About the author

George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Va., on Feb. 22, 1732. His father died in 1743, and Washington went to live with his half brother Lawrence at Mount Vernon. He was appointed surveyor for Culpeper County in 1749. Washington's brother died in 1752 he ultimately inherited the Mount Vernon estate. Washington first gained public notice when, as adjutant of one of Virginia's four military districts, he was dispatched in October 1753 by Govenor Robert Dinwiddie on a fruitless mission to warn the French commander at Fort Le Boeuf against further encroachment on territory claimed by Britain. Discouraged by his defeat and angered by discrimination between British and colonial officers in rank and pay, he resigned his commission near the end of 1754. The next year, however, he volunteered to join British general Edward Braddock's expedition against the French. In 1755, at the age of 23, he was promoted to colonel and appointed commander in chief of the Virginia militia, with responsibility for defending the frontier. In 1758 he took an active part in Gen. John Forbes's successful campaign against Fort Duquesne. Assured that the Virginia frontier was safe from French attack, Washington left the army in 1758 and returned to Mount Vernon, directing his attention toward restoring his neglected estate. With the support of an ever-growing circle of influential friends, he entered politics, serving from 1759 to 1774 in Virginia's House of Burgesses. After 1769, Washington became a leader in Virginia's opposition to Great Britain's colonial policies. As a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congress, Washington did not participate actively in the deliberations. In June 1775 he was Congress's unanimous choice as commander in chief of the Continental forces. Washington took command of the troops surrounding British-occupied Boston on July 3, 1775. After the war, Washington returned to Mount Vernon. He became president of the Society of the Cincinnati, an organization of former Revolutionary War officersand in May 1787, Washington headed the Virginia delegation to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and was unanimously elected presiding officer. After the new Constitution was submitted to the states for ratification and became legally operative, he was unanimously elected president in 1789. Washington was reelected president in 1792. By March 1797, when Washington left office, the country's financial system was well established; the Indian threat east of the Mississippi had been largely eliminated; and Jay's Treaty and Pinckney's Treaty with Spain had enlarged U.S. territory and removed serious diplomatic difficulties. Although Washington reluctantly accepted command of the army in 1798 when war with France seemed imminent, he did not assume an active role. He preferred to spend his last years in happy retirement at Mount Vernon. In mid-December, Washington contracted an illness; he declined rapidly and died at his estate on Dec. 14, 1799.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Papers of George Washington: 1 May-30 September 1794, Volume 16; Volume 16 of Presidential Series, George Washington; Volume 16 of The Papers of George Washington; The Papers of George Washington, 1 May-30 September 1794; Volume 16 of The Papers of George Washington: Presidential Series, George Washington
• Author: George Washington
• Editors: Dorothy Twohig, William Wright Abbot
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: University Press of Virginia, 1987
• Original from: The Ohio State University
• Digitized: Aug 23, 2018
• ISBN: 0813930995, 9780813930992
• Length: 848 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Presidents & Heads of State; History / General; History / United States / 19th Century; History / United States / Colonial Period (1600-1775); History / United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)