The oath was administered by Robert R. Livingston, the Chancellor of New York, on a second floor balcony of Federal Hall, above a crowd assembled in the streets to witness this historic event. Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional In his first term Washington also made two tours of the new . The people who voted for and against him are both wanting to hear what the president has to say. of the United States. On April Fools Day, 1789, Washington wrote General Knox, my movements to the chair of government will be accompanied by feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution. Two weeks later, he left Mount Vernon, confessing to his diary that he possessed a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensations than I have words to express. The Pennsylvania Packet described his departure for duty in dramatic terms: Washington had chosen to bid adieu to the peaceful retreat of Mount Vernon, in order to save his country once more from confusion and anarchy., On the seven-day, 240-mile trip to New York, Washington was greeted with petal-strewn streets and triumphal arches, finding it all a bit embarrassing. Lincoln accomplishes this by making use of Kairos, which having his argument being at the opportune moment. Washington and Adams were certified as having been elected president and vice president respectively. Division. Speech, National Archives and Records Administration, The Papers of George Washington: First Inaugural Address, During his presidency, the ratification of the Bill of Rights took place. About this speech. Our website was redesigned, and many items have moved during the transition. He didn't want the money. He allowed for fellow Americans to scold and blame him, if he made any mistakes knowingly, or unknowingly. Journal, April After taking his oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City, Washington proceeded to the Senate chamber where he read a speech before members of Congress and other dignitaries . Madison pronounced it so strange a production and quickly decamped to Mount Vernon for a week, where they worked on a new, slimmer draft. has followed his example and delivered an inaugural address. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. Washington was well respected by his peers, and this is why there was a movement afoot to appoint George Washington to the newly created position of President. Under the various circumstances which give peculiar solemnity to the existing period, I feel that both the honor and the responsibility allotted to me are inexpressibly enhanced. Anything is a double-edged sword and so does obedience. Washington: A Biography. on the history of presidential inaugurations and links State Papers, House [10] They proceeded through the streets to what would be Washington's new official residence, 3 Cherry Street. Journal, Maclay's Growing up, we have all heard the many stories of George Washington. One month after this speech, Robert E. Lee would surrender at Appomattox, and only forty days after the speech, Lincoln would be shot at point blank range by John Wilkes Booth, whom had been within eyesight of Lincoln when he gave this address, starting one of the largest man hunts of the time., The story is told of a union soldier who during the early days of the Civil War in America was arrested on the charges of desertion., This document is written by the new President of the United States of 1977, Rutherford B. Hayes at his inaugural address which it addresses the citizens of the United States informing them what he is going to do while he is in office. Inauguration. In his speech he mentions the constitution's, executive department, and the system that most citizens dont like.honesty and generosity leads to great leads to great things. Once the inaugural was completed, with the streets too crowded to accommodate coaches, Washington waded through the cheering crowd to give a prayer of thanksgiving at St. Pauls Chapel, then attended a private dinner at New York Chancellor Robert Livingstons house followed by a night of fireworks in a strange city that he would now call his own. He wants the whites and blacks in south to realize that they need each other and should act in ways to coexist. His intended audience of the first inaugural address is the citizens of America and his purpose was to comfort them about the past and encourage the future of America. Intro New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004. He was in office from April 30, 1789 to March 4, 1797. Former Illinois State Senator and soon to be Forty-fourth president of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama, recounts what happened in the past to make America what is today and how he intends to maintain the ideas of Americas founding fathers throughout his term of presidency. took place outside; the oath was taken upon a Bible; an in Federal Hall in the nation's new capital, New York The inauguration of George Washington as the first President of the United States on April 30, 1789, was a public event witnessed by a cheering crowd. On GovInfo, these addresses are included within the daily and bound versions of the Congressional Record. After two years of presidency, George Washington refused a third term in 1796 and resigned from office, eager to return to his home in Virginia and farm. 1st United States presidential inauguration, Annals of Congress, Vol. He shows syntax through anaphora, repetition, and parallelism. Sadd, N.Y. Prints & Photographs Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, it will remain with your judgment to decide how far an exercise of the occasional power delegated by the fifth article of the Constitution is rendered expedient at the present juncture by the nature of objections which have been urged against the system, or by the degree of inquietude which has given birth to them. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson's' administrations contributed to establishing a stable government after the adoption of the Constitution. George Washington's First Inaugural Address, 1789 On April 30, 1789, George Washington placed his hand upon a Bible and took the oath as the first President of the United States. But Humphreys did not have the gift of brevity, and his first draft of the inaugural ran seventy-three pages, a rolling rumination offering patriotic aphorisms, prayer, directions to Congress, and denials of dynastic ambition. His eight years had its ups and downs, but in the end, he was very influential and a strong leader. Documents and Debates, 1774-1875. A variety of boats surrounded him during the voyage, and Washington's approach was greeted by a series of cannon fire, first a thirteen gun salute by the Spanish warship Galveston, then by the North Carolina, and finally by other artillery. Washington displayed his role of president very well when he created the Cabinet. The oath was administered on a second-floor balcony of Federal Hall, above a crowd assembled in the streets to witness this historic event. On the other hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my country called me, being sufficient to awaken in the wisest and most experienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny into his qualifications, could not but overwhelm with despondence one who (inheriting inferior endowments from nature and unpracticed in the duties of civil administration) ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, Notice of Non-Discrimination and Equal Opportunity, May 23, 1809: Message on the Special Congressional Session/State of Foreign Affairs, October 27, 1810: Proclamation-- Occupation of West Florida, February 21, 1811: Veto Act on Incorporating the Alexandria Protestant Episcopal Church, June 1, 1812: Special Message to Congress on the Foreign Policy Crisis -- War Message, June 19, 1812: Proclamation of a State of War with Great Britain, July 9, 1812: Proclamation of Day of Fasting and Prayer. Words A sea of upturned faces packed every street and alley, spread out before him. With a simple oath, we affirm old traditions and make new beginnings. Against this anxious backdrop, Washington began working on the first inaugural address in the winter of 1789. January 20, 2001. 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272, Advisory Committee on the Records of Congress, Read more background information on George Washingtons First Inaugural Speech, When the students have completed their work, instruct themto independently complete. The celebration in the streets of New York City was also a very serious event, however, as it marked the beginning of a new era. She never cared for politics. Humphreys had the advantage of proximity. He exercised his authority with great care and restraint, and felt perfectly comfortable delegating responsibility to others. Few who are not philosophical spectators can realize the difficult and delicate part which a man in my situation had to act, he wrote. Presenting to the 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition, Booker T. Washington delivered his most famous speech, "The Atlanta Compromise Address". USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration If they ask you a question, before you can utter three words of your answer they will break out upon you again and talk away.. Whenever he needed to make a tough decision he would turn to them for help and that displayed how he knew his limitations. Creating the Cabinet displayed how, In 1789 George Washington was elected as the First President of the United States of America under the Constitution. Journal, Senate As John Adams complained, They talk very loud, very fast and altogether. "[21], Three days before George Washington took the oath of office as the first president of the United States, Congress passed the following resolution: Resolved, That after the oath shall have been administered to the President, he, attended by the Vice President and members of the Senate and House of Representatives, shall proceed to St. Pauls Chapel, to hear divine service. Philadelphia and Trenton -- on the way to his first inauguration [16] The first inaugural address was subsequently delivered by Washington in the Senate chamber,[7] running 1,419 words in length. Washington, George If I do not sink under the weight of this deep conviction it is because I find some support in a consciousness of the purposes and a confidence in the principles which I bring with me into this arduous service. He acknowledged Providence as guiding the nation's steps: "No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States." American With one exception, his first inaugural address did not contain George Washington's First Inaugural Address. . in Federal Hall in the nation's new capital, New York City. From this resolution I have in no instance departed; and being still under the impressions which produced it, I must decline as inapplicable to myself any share in the personal emoluments which may be indispensably included in a permanent provision for the executive department, and must accordingly pray that the pecuniary estimates for the station in which I am placed may during my continuance in it be limited to such actual expenditures as the public good may be thought to require. The overarching theme of his address was the preservation of the union. He creates a patriotic and empowering tone in order to appeal to pathos. It includes an essay Conservation The 44th and first African American President, Barack Obama, in his Inaugural Address, promotes a call to action. Washington spoke in such a low voice that even those close craned their necks to hear him. As the first leader of the United States he had to set the stage for the rest of the Presidents to come after him. Washington served two terms as president, which equaled a total of eight years. a pilot crowdsourcing platform to share information, work together, and find people to help with your research. Under the benign influence of our republican institutions, and the maintenance of peace with all nations whilst so many of them were engaged in bloody and wasteful wars, the fruits of a just policy were enjoyed in an unrivaled growth of our faculties and resources. Thomson announced his discovery . Washington moved to the second-floor balcony. [11] Afterwards, Livingston shouted "Long live George Washington, President of the United States!" Historical Background The inauguration was held nearly two months after the beginning of the first four-year term of George Washington as president. In his inaugural speech given on January 20, 2001, George W. Bush address the country for the first time after being sworn in as the 43rd president of the United States. In his First Inaugural Address his key points are to clam southern leaders of slave states, keep the states from seceding, and make them at ease as he enters presidency. He promised to show confidence and convey that he has been given a huge honor in being elected, again. Just as at Gettysburg, Lincolns speech was concise, and only contained what he felt necessary to address, which is where the uniqueness of his speech is seen. [2] As a result, the votes of the Electoral College for president could not be counted or certified. Washington urged Congress Under the benign influence of our republican institutions, and the maintenance of peace with all nations whilst so many of them were engaged in bloody and wasteful wars, the fruits of a just policy were enjoyed in an unrivaled growth of our faculties and resources. President George Washington's Frist Inaugural Address (April 30, 1789) President Washington delivered this first inaugural address at Federal Hall, formerly the City Hall of New York. Millions of people from around the world tuned in to watch the president give his address. [New York, 30 April 1789] Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives. The inauguration of George Washington took place on April 30th 1789 at Federal Hall in New York City. While John Adams took his side as Vice Presidendent. He created the Cabinet because he realized that he couldn't do everything on his own and he needed the help of others to make decisions. George Washington's first inaugural address, 30 April 1789. the cloth and buttons that would be used for Washington's This collection contains congressional publications from 1774 to 1875, including debates, bills, laws, and journals. These are all things that are still in effect in this nation, still today., An analysis of George Washingtons Farewell Address shows that there were three points he wanted to stress. He acknowledged Providence as guiding the nations steps: No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States., He explained that the virtuous Americans would make the new nation a model for the world: [T]he foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality, and the preeminence of free government be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its citizens and command the respect of the world., Finally, he closed by putting the responsibility for the nation squarely in the hands of citizens. George Washington proved he truly cared for the American people and the country.