There can be no question
but that Washington held to the same views; but Washington was the only
great man America ever produced who rose so far above political parties
as to absorb them all. He has never been classed as belonging to either
party. The Republican or Democratic party favored State sovereignty and
the diffusion of power among the people.
The American people had had such bitter experiences with monarchs that
they dreaded anything which savored of monarchy, and it was argued that
a centralized government was but a step in that direction. On the other
hand, Federalists pointed out the danger of State sovereignty, which
would surely in the end disrupt the general government. Subsequent
history has proven that the Federalists were right. We have said that
Washington was a Federalist at heart. His enemies, meanly jealous of his
popularity, often declared that he was a monarchist.
Meanwhile, a revolution, violent in its nature and far-reaching in its
consequences, had broken out in France.
It was the immediate consequences of the teachings of the American
revolution. The people of France had long endured almost irresponsible
despotism, and were yearning for freedom when the French officers and
soldiers, who had served in America during the latter years of our
struggles for independence, returned to their country full of republican
ideas and aspirations.
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