In his 1796 Farwell Address George Washington warned that one of the principal dangers to the young American republic would be partisanship, what the founders called "faction."
President Washington's Farewell Address warned "in the most solemn manner" against:
"the baneful effects of the spirit of party, the alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism..."
And that frightful despotism predicted Washington:
"leads, at length, to a more formal and permanent despotism, the absolute power of an individual. Sooner or later, the chief of some prevailing faction more able or more fortunate than his competitors, agitates the community with ill founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, and foments, occasionally, riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption through the channels of party passions..."
America was blessed by the founders for all their faults, who possessed astounding political wisdom and foresight. They knew that our constitutional liberty and even the very existence of America as a nation have always depended and will always depend on tolerance, freedom, compromise, civic virtue and placing country above party, we must not betray that inheritance.
"The History of Our Freedoms" is produced by KEDT-FM in Corpus Christi. Dr. Bill Chriss is a historian and legal scholar. For more on history and the constitution, check out his blog at https://drbillchriss.substack.com/.
