How to Define America in 30 Objects
George Washington, this nation’s first general, its inaugural president, the eponym of its capital city, left one of his most indelible marks on America from afar. Not one for a grand speech, Washington printed his Farewell Address in Philadelphia’s American Daily Advertiser on September 19, 1796, the same day he announced that he would voluntarily relinquish his power, departing the then-seat of government for his homestead at Mount Vernon. No one said the speech aloud in a formal setting for decades, until the Civil War. Sensing that our Constitution was in crisis, a group of citizens from Philadelphia asked both chambers of Congress to recite the Farewell Address in 1862 to commemorate the 130th anniversary of Washington’s birth. In 1896, the Senate began the tradition of reading it every year. The custom, with the speakers alternating between our two political parties, continues to this day. Washington originally wrote the address beside a brass candlestand, which was passed down through his family until 1878, when it was transferred to the United States government and then, a …
