Americans who are disillusioned by the rancorous divisions that are convulsing our political system and fraying society shouldn’t be so shocked. America’s Founders anticipated these problems. But will we listen to them?
Our first president, George Washington, warned about geographic sectionalism and political factionalism in his Farewell Address, which was published originally as a letter to “friends and fellow-citizens” shortly before the 1796 presidential election: a bitter contest between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, with name-calling, mud-slinging, and accusations of improprieties. In the midst of this turmoil, Washington exhorted his fellow citizens to remember that “the name of American, which belongs to you … must always exalt the just pride of patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations.”
