Summary
Upon returning home, Washington found Mount Vernon in
shambles. Eight years of neglect during the war had taken its toll:
part of main building was about to collapse, fences were broken,
the fields untended. It took all of Washington's efforts to get
his plantation back on track.
While repairing his estate, Washington turned his attention
to business. He revived his lifelong goal of building a canal to
link the Ohio and Potomac Rivers. Such a canal would allow settlers
in the Ohio River Valley to ship their crops to ports on the Atlantic
Ocean. Currently, settlers had no way of getting their goods to
market: Spain controlled shipping on the Mississippi, while moving
goods over the Allegheny Mountains was too expensive. A canal would
make settlement in the Ohio Valley more feasible. It would also make
Washington rich, since the value of his land would rise. In the fall
of 1784 Washington set out on horseback to scout potential sites
for the canal. At the age of fifty-two he traveled a distance of over
650 miles through wild terrain.
While working on his land, Washington watched his country develop.
He was worried by what he saw. The states, newly independent, were
bickering. The Articles
of Confederation had established a national government
but had given it very little power. The states generally feared
a strong national government, believing it would become tyrannical
as Britain had been. Washington feared that without a strong national
government there would be too much democracy–that
every state and local government would decide its own course, ignoring
or clashing with its neighbors. This would make everyone vulnerable
to civil war or attacks from foreign countries. In 1786, farmers
in western Massachusetts revolted against the government. Shays's
Rebellion, as it was called, shocked many people who feared for
their lives and property. It struck Washington and others as the
result of weak central government and a step closer to anarchy.
In 1787, state leaders gathered in Philadelphia to revise
the Articles of Confederation. They hope to make a stronger national
government that could unify the country. Washington at first refused
to attend the meeting, which was to become the Constitutional Convention,
because he had promised never to enter public life again. He changed
his mind, however, after leaders from across the country urged
him to lend his support. At the Convention, several members of the
Virginia delegation introduced a radical plan: rather than revise
the Articles of Confederation they proposed to scrap it altogether
and create a much more powerful national government. After protracted
negotiations, the delegates drafted and signed the Federal
Constitution.
It took almost a year for the nine states to ratify the
Constitution. This was the minimum number required to make the
document valid. Most of the remaining states followed shortly after.
Washington actively supported ratification in Virginia, where people
were deeply divided. His support probably made the difference.
Soon after the Constitution was ratified the states met to elect
a president. By unanimous vote they chose Washington.
Analysis
Washington resigned his command of the Continental Army
out of a belief that government should be run by the people rather
than the military or some other powerful force. He also resigned
because he genuinely wanted to retire. During the war he had missed
his family and his home at Mount Vernon. He was eager to return.
Throughout his life he claimed to be happiest at home, tending to
his estate, experimenting with new crops, and entertaining a constant
string of guests. Contemporaries who called him power-hungry were
wrong–earlier in life he had sought power, but now he mostly wanted
time to himself.
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