George Washington and the Danger of Political Parties

The current political divisiveness has prompted some politicians to call for changing or temporarily suspending or even permanently dumping the Constitution.  The cause of such appeals is not really the fault of a revolutionary document that has lasted 235 years and should continue to guide the American people in the practice of democracy.  The real motivation for such pernicious advocacy originates in the flawed human behavior displayed by the party members’ own actions. 

The concept of “a government of the people, by the people, and for the people” was a radically new idea.  Even though other countries’ (think ancient Athens or Revolutionary France) historical attempts at democracy had failed and degenerated into autocracies, the American patriots had high and often unrealistic hopes for their new republic. 

George Washington even hoped that such a government might maintain “a Spirit of Unity” that would thwart the formation of political factions. Such factions historically developed into political parties.  Political parties historically competed with each other for control, created animosity and divisiveness, and ultimately destabilized their government.  But if all the citizens were unified by “the spirit of liberty,” then perhaps that might avoid the creation of fractious political parties. That situation, of course, didn’t happen. 

Instead, the prolonged hostilities between monarchial Britain and revolutionary France created political division in America and ended Washington’s dream of national unity.  The navies of both France and Great Britain harassed American ships at sea that traded with each other’s enemy.  Both navies confiscated American cargoes and sometimes impressed into service the American sailors and seized American ships. 

At the time the new American republic was a weak nation, lacking the funds to build a formidable fleet to defend its interests.  This dangerous situation threatened the American economy.  A peace treaty was needed with either France or Great Britain so that trade could be resumed, and America could restore its economy and strengthen the country.

Two factions developed: One faction, led by Thomas Jefferson, favored a treaty with France because (along with other reasons) France had supported the American colonies during the American Revolution; the other faction, led by Hamilton, argued for a peace treaty with Great Britain, mainly because it was the stronger threat and because America would gain more by an extended period of peace with the English. 

Washington sent John Jay to negotiate a peace treaty with Great Britain in 1795.  The treaty caused a political firestorm but was eventually passed in Congress.  The pro-English faction solidified in the Federalist Party, and the pro-French faction became the Democratic-Republican Party.  While Jay’s Treaty didn’t resolve many of the problems with the English, it did allow the United States enough time to strengthen the country to withstand the inevitable, final conflict with the English in the War of 1812.

The two parties continued to vehemently dispute other issues along party lines and made Washington fear for the continuation of American democracy.  In his “Farewell Address to the Nation,” Washington told the people that he wanted

“to warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the Spirit of the

Party, generally.

“This spirit … is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind….

“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of

revenge natural to party dissension…is itself a frightful despotism…[that] leads to a

more formal and permanent despotism.” 

In the careful phrasing of 18th-century writing style, Washington points out the benefits of democracy and the Constitution to his audience. 

Thus, using the Constitution as our guide, each individual citizen must examine their own heart and mind — not the angry party spokespersons — to dispassionately determine the best path for the future of our nation.

By Carter Hillyer, Democracy Is Us Council Member