President George Washington’s First Inaugural Speech
As a follow up to the previous post about the eyewitness account of George Washington’s 1789 inauguration, below are excerpts from the May 6, 1789 Massachusetts Centinel, which contains descriptions of the inauguration as well as the full text of Washington’s first inaugural speech, one of America’s 100 milestone documents.
Griswold’s Only Eyewitness Account of George Washington’s 1789 Inauguration
A lot has been written about George Washington’s 1789 inauguration and whether he actual said “So help me God” at the conclusion of his oath. John Bell of Boston 1775 has a great piece on the inauguration. And so does Ben Edwards of Teach History. In 1854, Rufus Wilmot Griswold first published The Republican Court; ...
Gen. George Washington’s Arrival in Cambridge: The Public and Private Exchanges
Last week, J.L. Bell wrote on his Boston 1775 blog about Gen. George Washington’s arrival in Cambridge to take command of the Continental Army. Washington was accompanied by Gen. Charles Lee, an experienced British officer who was bitter about not being appointed Commander in Chief and, according to Wikipedia, had nothing but the utmost disdain ...
Milestone Document: Washington’s Farewell Address
The Declaration of Independence (1776), the Treaty of Paris (1783), the Constitution of the United States (1787), the Bill of Rights (1791) — all of these are widely recognized for being among the most important documents in American history. Another milestone document was President George Washington’s Farewell Address (1796), in which Washington declared he would ...
An Unlikely Spy Embedded as a Newspaper Printer
The Culper Spy Ring was a professional network of 20 spies managed by Benjamin Tallmadge of the 2nd Connecticut Light Dragoons under orders of General George Washington. The Culper Ring’s mission, according to Wikipedia: Infiltrate British-controlled New York City and report troop dispositions and intentions, and conduct covert operations throughout the American Revolutionary War. As ...
