THE NEW REPUBLIC
At the end of the Revolution Washington, as we have already noted,
returned to his beautiful home, Mount Vernon, overlooking the Potomac.
Here he again took up the many-sided duties which his large plantation
made necessary for him. His busy day began when he arose at four o'clock
in the morning and ended when he went to bed at nine o'clock in the
evening. But his life was not so quiet as we might think. For he had so
many visitors that at the end of two years he wrote in his diary one day:
"Dined with only Mrs. Washington, which I believe is the first instance of
it since my retirement from public life."
[Illustration: George Washington.]
When the States, after securing their independence, united under the
Constitution to form the nation called the United States of America, they
needed a President. It was but natural that again all eyes should turn to
George Washington, and he was elected without opposition.
In his modesty he felt himself unfit to lead the American people in times
of peace. In fact, this new service was for him perhaps the hardest that
he had ever tried to render his country. Yet, as he believed with all his
heart in the new government, he decided to accept the office. He was
willing to give up his own comfort for the sake of trying to bring new
life and prosperity to his countrymen.
[Illustration: Washington's Home, Mount Vernon.]
On April 16, 1789, two days after being informed of his election, he said
good-by to Mount Vernon and started out as a plain citizen in a private
carriage on a seven days' journey to New York, which was then the capital
city of the United States.
He wished to travel as quietly as possible, but the people were so eager
to show their love for him and their trust in him that they thronged to
meet and welcome him at every stage of the journey. When he passed through
Philadelphia, under an escort of city troops, he rode a prancing white
steed, and a civic crown of laurel rested upon his head.
[Illustration: Tribute Rendered to Washington at Trenton.]
But the most touching tribute of all he received at Trenton. On the bridge
spanning the little creek which he had crossed more than once when
thirteen years before he was battling for his country's freedom was a
floral arch. Under this a party of matrons and young girls carrying
baskets of flowers took their stand. As Washington passed beneath the arch
the girls sang a song of welcome and strewed flowers in the road before
him. On the arch was the motto: "The Hero Who Defended the Mothers Will
Protect the Daughters."
When he arrived on the New Jersey side of the North River he was met by a
committee of both houses of Congress. They escorted him to a handsomely
equipped barge, manned by thirteen pilots, all dressed in white uniforms.
Landing on the New York side, he rode through the streets amid throngs of
shouting people, with salutes thundering from war-ships and from cannon on
the Battery, and bells joyfully ringing from church-steeples, to give him
a welcome.
The inauguration took place on April 30. A little after noon Washington
left his house, and under a large military escort made his way to Federal
Hall, which was the Senate Chamber.
From there he was escorted out to the balcony overlooking a large space in
the streets below, which were thronged with people. He took his seat by
the side of a crimson-covered table, on which lay a Bible.
As Washington stood up face to face with the chancellor of New York State,
who was to give the oath, a deep hush fell on the multitude below. "Do you
solemnly swear," asked Chancellor Livingston, "that you will faithfully
execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the
best of your ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of
the United States?"
[Illustration: Washington Taking the Oath of Office as First President, at
Federal Hall, New York City.]
"I do solemnly swear," said Washington, "that I will faithfully execute
the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my
ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United
States."
Then with deep earnestness he bent and kissed the Bible held before him,
with the whispered prayer: "So help me God!"
"Long live George Washington, President of the United States!" exclaimed
Livingston, and the excited throng took up the cry, shouting with wild
enthusiasm. Thus was inaugurated our first President.
Returning to the Senate Chamber, Washington there delivered a short
address. He was very much agitated, for he had a deep sense of the
responsibility which had been put upon him. After he had given his address
he attended service in St. Paul's Church, and then went to his new home in
New York City.
His life as President was one of dignity and elegance. It was his custom
to pay no calls and accept no invitations, but between three and four
o'clock on every Tuesday afternoon he held a public reception. On such
occasions he appeared in court dress, with powdered hair, yellow gloves in
his hands, a long sword in a scabbard of white polished leather at his
side, and a cocked hat under his arm. Standing before the fireplace, with
his right hand behind him, he bowed formally as each guest was presented
to him.
[Illustration: Washington's Inaugural Chair.]
The visitors formed a circle about the room. At a quarter past three the
door was closed, and Washington went around the circle, speaking to each
person. Then he returned to his first position by the fireplace, where
each visitor approached him, bowed, and retired.
One of his first public duties was the choosing of strong men to form his
cabinet and help him in his new tasks as President. Thomas Jefferson was
made Secretary of State; Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury;
Henry Knox, Secretary of War; and Edmund Randolph, Attorney-General. John
Jay was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
The new government had to settle more than one important question. One of
these related to the method of paying the State debts which had been the
outcome of the Revolutionary War. The northern States were in favor of
having the National Government take care of these debts. Washington
himself wished in this way to unite the interests of all the States as
well as have them feel that they had a share in the new government. The
southern States, however, were bitterly opposed to this plan, but they, in
their turn, were eager to have the national capital located on the Potomac
River.
Alexander Hamilton, by a clever arrangement, persuaded the opposing
interests to adopt a compromise, or an agreement by which each side got a
part of what it wished. The northern States were to vote for a southern
capital if the southern States would vote that the National Government
should look after the State debts.
This plan was carried out; and so it was decided that the capital of the
United States should be located in the District of Columbia, on the
Potomac River, and should be called Washington, after George Washington.
In 1789, the seat of government was in New York; from 1790 to 1800, it was
in Philadelphia; and in 1800 it was transferred to Washington, where it
has ever since remained.
THE COTTON-GIN AND SLAVERY
One of the most noteworthy events which occurred during Washington's
administration was the invention of the cotton-gin by Eli Whitney. Whitney
was born in Massachusetts. While yet a boy he was employed in making nails
by hand, for there was no machine for making them in those days. Later,
when he entered Yale College, his skilful use of tools helped him to pay
his college expenses.
[Illustration: Eli Whitney.]
After being graduated from Yale he went south, where he became a tutor in
the family of General Greene's widow, then living on the Savannah River,
in the home which, you remember, Georgia gave her husband. While he was in
Mrs. Greene's home he invented for her an embroidery-frame which she
greatly valued.
One day, while she was entertaining some planters, they began to talk
about the raising of cotton. One of her guests said that it did not pay
well because so much time was needed to separate the seeds from the fibre.
He added that if a way could be found to do this more quickly the profits
would be far greater.
"Gentlemen," said Mrs. Greene, "tell this to my young friend, Mr. Whitney.
Verily, I believe he can make anything." As a result of this conversation,
in two or three months Eli Whitney had invented the cotton-gin (1793),
although in so doing he had to make all his own tools.
The cotton-gin brought about great changes. Before its invention it took a
slave a whole day to separate the seed from five or six pounds of cotton
fibre. But by the use of the cotton-gin he could separate the seed from a
thousand pounds in a single day.
[Illustration: Whitney's Cotton-Gin.]
This, of course, meant that cotton could be sold for very much less than
before, and hence there arose a much greater demand for it. It meant,
also, that the labor of slaves was of more value than before, and hence
there was a greater demand for slaves.
As slavery now became such an important feature of southern life, let us
pause for a glimpse of a southern plantation where slaves are at work. If
we are to see such life in its pleasantest aspects, we may well go back to
Virginia in the old days before the Civil War. There the slaves led a
freer and easier life than they did farther south among the rice-fields of
South Carolina or the cotton-fields of Georgia.
If we could visit one of these old Virginia plantations as it used to be,
where wheat and tobacco were grown, we should see first a family mansion,
often situated on a hilltop amid a grove of oaks. The mansion is a
two-story house, perhaps made of wood, and painted white. With its
vine-clad porch in front, and its wide hallway inside, it has a very
comfortable look.
Not far away is a group of small log cabins. This cluster of simple
dwellings, known as "the quarters," is the home of the slaves, who do the
work in the house and fields.
On the large plantations of the far south, there were sometimes several
slave settlements on one plantation, each being a little village, with the
cabins set in rows on each side of a wide street. Each cabin housed two
families; belonging to each was a small garden.
The log cabins contained large fireplaces, and it was not unusual for the
master's children to gather about them when the weather was cold enough
for fires, to hear the negroes tell quaint tales and sing weird songs. The
old colored "mammies" were very fond of "Massa's chillun" and liked to pet
them and tell them stories.
Sometimes the cooking for the master's family was done in the kitchen of
the "big house," but more often in a cabin outside, from which a negro
waitress carried the food to the dining-room. The slaves had regular
allowances of food, most of which they preferred to cook in their own
cabins. Their common food was corn bread and ham or bacon.
Some of the slaves were employed as servants in the master's house, but
the greater part of them worked in the fields. They went out to work very
early in the morning. It often happened that their breakfast and dinner
were carried to them in the fields, and during the short rest which they
had while eating their meals they would often sing together.
[Illustration: A Colonial Planter.]
The slaves had their holidays, one of them being at the time of
hog-killing, which was an annual festival. In some parts of the south, in
November or December, corn-husking bees were held, just as the white
people held them on the frontier. When the corn was harvested, it was
piled up in mounds fifty or sixty feet high. Then the slaves from
neighboring plantations were invited to come and help husk the corn. One
negro would leap up on the mound and lead the chorus, all joining lustily
in the singing.
[Illustration: A Slave Settlement.]
Other holidays were given the slaves on the Fourth of July and at
Christmas time. One negro tells us about the barbecue which his master
gave to him and the other slaves. "Yes, honey, dat he did gib us Fourth of
July--a plenty o' holiday--a beef kilt, a mutton, hogs, salt, pepper, an'
eberyting. He hab a gre't trench dug, and a whole load of wood put in it
an' burned down to coals. Den dey put wooden spits across, an' dey had
spoons an' basted de meat. An' we 'vite all de culled people aroun', an'
dey come, an' we had fine times."
The life of the slaves was sometimes hard and bitter, especially when they
were in charge of a cruel overseer on a large plantation. But it was not
always so. For it is pleasant to think that when they had good masters,
there were many things to cheer and brighten their lives. We know that
household slaves often lived in the most friendly relations with their
owners.
* * * * *
We must pass over many of the events which took place while Washington was
President, but you will very likely take them up in your later study.
After serving with marked success for two terms, he again returned (1797)
to private life at Mount Vernon. Here, on December 14, 1799, he died at
the age of sixty-seven, loved and honored by the American people.
Let us always remember with grateful hearts the noble life of the great
man who has rightly been called the "Father of his Country."
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
1. How did the people express their feeling for Washington when he was on
his way to New York to be inaugurated as President?
2. Describe one of his public receptions.
3. Who were the men Washington chose to help him in his new task as
President?
4. What effects did the invention of the cotton-gin have upon slavery?
5. In imagination visit some old plantations and tell what you can about
slave life there.
6. Why has Washington been called the "Father of his Country"?