A Washingtonian Critique

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” – George Washington

George Washington left his profound and infinite legacy with America through his words. He is recognized and one of the first political thinkers in American and is fondly looked upon by the majority of Americans. Throughout this blog post, I will explore how the agricultural and intertwined political legacy of George Washington while critiquing the 2013 America through the eyes of the first founding father.

From the types of things that George Washington harvested, to his diversified farming operations, Washington proves himself to be the “foremost farmer” of America (“Facts About George Washington”). If there is one thing that Washington was in complete favor of, it was the harvest of crops that would sustain America and make it the “granary to the world”. Not only did he rely on agriculture, he believed that it should be the future primary industry for America (Wulf, 16). This is further reaffirmed by the fact that George Washington did not harvest tobacco, but grains and wheat- things that would sustain Mount Vernon and that could be sold to sustain other Americans, as well (“Introduction to the Diaries of George Washington”). He knew that tobacco sucked the nutrients out of the soil, and in addition made it difficult to tend to. Little do most people know, Washington created two of the most innovative and helpful inventions in terms of farming in his day and age. His drill plow made it much more efficient to plant things in mass quantities, and his threshing barn improved the accuracy of separating seeds from their plant. 

Washington also experimented with crop rotation, a first for American farmers. He saw how tobacco devastated the earth, and he started rotating his crops to produce a more bountiful harvest and to retain as much nutrients in the soil as possible (Mt. Vernon Education Department). All of these facets of agriculture contributed to George Washington’s historical agricultural legacy, further reaffirming him as the “foremost farmer”, and in turn helping him to shape and reshape the face of American Agriculture today.

Currently in America there are about 2.2 million farms, and each yeah the U.S. provides about $20 billion in farm subsidies (The Voice of Agriculture). I feel that Washington would be in strong favor of subsidies for farmers, and would probably lobby for more subsidies to be allocated if he were here today. 

It can also be asserted that Washington would be in favor of groups and initiatives supporting agriculture and community involvement in such. Founded in 1867, The National Grange: Patrons of Husbandry is “a nonpartisan, fraternal organization that advocates for rural America and agriculture” (National Grange). “Nonpartisan” and “agriculture”- these are two of Washington’s favorite things. This group strives to better their communities and increase rural dependency in America. 

In addition, Bill and Melinda Gates are strong supporters of agricultural development, though they do not focus this development in the United States, but in developing countries such as Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (Gates Foundation). Though the work they do in developing agriculture is not in the US, I do think that Washington would be able to appreciate their charity and initiatives. At the time Washington was President, America was still a developing country, just as these places that the Gates are focusing on fostering agriculture.

In addition to being the “foremost farmer” of America, Washington was also a strong leader with strong opinions of the future of our country, which were all in some way affected by agriculture. However, the two things (other than agriculture, yet in some way possibly motivated through agriculture), that Washington felt very strongly about were his desire for there to be no political parties in America, and to have stable credit with as little debt as possible.

First of all, it is important to note that Washington was one of the few presidents who did not affiliate with a political party. In addition, he is one of the fewer who actually warned against them (Fitzpatrick). Washington provided Americans with wise words in his farewell speech in 1797 supported by his beliefs that political parties do five main things:

• They focus on special interests and not the development of a country as a whole
• They foster a sense of animosity between people, which inhibits production, and therefore progression
• They tear a country apart, as opposed to holding it together.
• They open a door for foreign influence to interfere and break country into pieces.

With these beliefs of Washington in mind, let’s take a look at our bipartisan system and create a Washingtonian critique. Are the special interests of each party hindering the development of our country, fostering a sense of animosity and tearing our country apart? The recent government shutdown… due to a failure to agree upon a budget… due to the House of Representative Republicans adding a provision onto the spending bill that took away funding for the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in order to fund the U.S. Federal Government, may shed light on this posed question. After the shut down, House of Representative Minority floor leader Nancy Pelosi hinted at Washington’s farewell address and his warning against political parties in a statement: “This is a proxy fight for really the debate on the extent of government, and that has been a debate in the history of our country. But to say no government, that’s what President Washington cautioned against” (Chumley). Put simply, it easy is to assume what Washington would say about the recent government shutdown that spurred from an inability for the two parties to come to an agreement on the allocation of funds. 

Something that Washington may be in favor of is the interest group No Labels. No Labels is “growing citizens’ movement of Democrats, Republicans and independents dedicated to promoting a new politics of problem solving” (No Labels). Instead of using partisan politics to make policies, they focus on problem solving; their admirable mission being “To restore and sustain trust in our democracy”. By focusing solely on the issues as hand, paying no recognition to what is considered a “republican” or “democrat” initiative, No Labels is a perfect example of what Washington would have wanted for our country. 

In addition to avoiding political parties, Washington said in his farewell speech that we should have a stable national credit, with as little debt as possible. However, if we did have to take out debt that the best way to get rid of the debt was to implement taxes: “it is essential that you [...] bear in mind, that towards the payments of debts there must be revenue, that to have Revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised, which are not [...] inconvenient and unpleasant” (Fitzpatrick). Below is a chart from October 10, 2013 that breaks down the national debt in terms of domestic, foreign and federal government debt.

 

Now it is important to note that I am not suggesting that we implement exorbitant taxes to get rid of our ever present, ever growing debt. Nor am I discrediting the fact that all of these suggestions may be a little outdated for our day and age and present situation. However, I do think it is safe to say that if Washington were to be able to see the situation our economy is in right now, he would be perplexed as to how it has become this way. 

To conclude, I think it is very interesting to apply a political and intertwined agricultural philosophy of the first founding father to what has become modern day America. Through this, one can see ways that America has changed and grown into the country it is today, and how this is different and similar all the same to what Washington hoped for 216 years ago. 

References 

Chumley, Cheryl K. "Nancy Pelosi Raises Ghost of George Washington to Condemn GOP." Washington Times. The Washington Times, 01 Oct. 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.

"Facts About George Washington." George Washington's Mount Vernon. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.

Fitzpatrick. "George Washington." The Writings of George Washington 35 (1940): n. pag. Web.

Gates Foundation. "Agricultural Development." The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.

""Introduction" to The Diaries of George Washington." "Introduction" to The Diaries of George Washington. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.

Mt. Vernon Education Department. George Washington Wired: Crop Rotation. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.

National Grange. "Outreach & Values." The National Grange of The Order of Patrons of Husbandry. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.

No Labels. "Who We Are." No Labels: Stop Fighting. Start Fixing. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.