On January 8, 1790, President George Washington walked into the Senate chamber of Federal Hall in New York City to deliver his first Annual Message to Congress – what we would now call the first State of the Union Address. His remarks were concise, rooted in the Constitution, and set the tone for a young republic.
In contrast with today’s televised spectacle, Washington’s address had no pomp or ceremony – no honored guests, no orchestrated applause lines. Instead, he spoke directly to the challenges facing the fledgling Union, underscoring the importance of unity, defense, and constitutional principles.
He opened by congratulating the nation on “the present favorable prospects of our public affairs,” highlighting North Carolina’s decision to join the Union.
For nearly a year and a half starting in July 1788, North Carolina had chosen independence rather than ratification of the Constitution. Acting as an independent republic for nearly nine months after the Constitution went into effect, North Carolina even appointed a foreign diplomat to the United States of America, where Hugh Williamson worked to persuade them to adopt amendments more favorable to North Carolina’s interests.
This is notable because it illustrates the voluntary nature of union – which was created by choice, rather than force.
Washington went on to outline his priorities. And first on the list was national defense, but his approach was far, far different than how these people talk about it today. For the first president, the most important thing was a well-armed, well-trained, and well-disciplined people – a militia.
“Among the many interesting objects which will engage your attention that of providing for the common defense will merit particular regard. To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.
A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite; and their safety and interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend to render them independent of others for essential, particularly military, supplies.”
Ten days later – Secretary of War Henry Knox sent Washington his revised “Plan for the Arrangement of the Militia”
“An energetic national militia is to be regarded as the Capital security of a free republic; and not a standing army, forming a distinct class in the community.” [emphasis in original]
After informing Congress that peaceful measures “with regard to certain hostile tribes” of Native Americans had not achieved the desired outcome, he requested authorization to take further action – extending a temporary measure Congress had granted reluctantly a few months earlier.
Both the House and Senate sent responses four days later, sending support for this request. Here, in the reply from the House of Representatives on Jan. 14, 1790:
“We regret that the pacific arrangements pursued with regard to certain hostile tribes of Indians have not been attended with that success which we had reason to expect from them. We shall not hesitate to concur in such further measures as may best obviate any ill effects which might be apprehended from the failure of those negotiations.”
By April 30th, Congress made good on this promise – and George Washington signed into law “An Act for regulating the Military Establishment of the United States,” which gave him the war powers authorization he requested:
“For the purpose of aiding the troops now in service, or to be raised by this act, in protecting the inhabitants of the frontiers of the United States, the President is hereby authorized to call into service, from time to time, such part of the militia of the states, respectively, as he may judge necessary for the purpose aforesaid.”
Only after receiving this authorization did Washington launch what we now call the Harmar campaign, demonstrating Washington’s strict adherence to the Constitution on war powers that most people today never learn about.
Washington went on to outline what he saw as the new Republic’s most pressing needs from Congress, including efforts to support and fund the United States in matters of foreign affairs, rules for naturalization, and the establishment of “Uniformity in the currency, weights, and measures of the United States.”
By March, Congress passed the Naturalization Act of 1790. In the Summer, after a request from Congress, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson submitted his “Plan for Establishing Uniformity in the Coinage, Weights, and Measures of the United States.”
President Washington then turned his attention to education, declaring, “Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.”
Like many other leading Founders – including Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Rush – Washington stressed that advancing knowledge was crucial to “the security of a free constitution.”
He noted that it does so in a number of ways:
“by convincing those who are intrusted with the public administration that every valuable end of government is best answered by the enlightened confidence of the people, and by teaching the people themselves to know and to value their own rights; to discern and provide against invasions of them; to distinguish between oppression and the necessary exercise of lawful authority; between burthens proceeding from a disregard to their convenience and those resulting from the inevitable exigencies of society”
He closed his short speech by addressing an incredibly important fiscal issue – establishing and supporting the “public credit.” That’s exactly what Washington emphasized again in his Farewell Address a few years later, reminding us that this requires a combination of using it “sparingly” and paying off debt quickly:
“As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it, avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertion in time of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear.” [emphasis added]
- George Washington’s First “State of the Union,” Building a Foundation for the Young Republic - January 8, 2025
- Oath to the Constitution: What Adherence Truly Means - January 6, 2025
- Trust No One: The Founders’ Warnings on Power and Liberty - December 23, 2024