PrintJuly 4, 2010
George Washington -- The Culturist Father of Our Country
Writers of public school curricula would do well to note that George Washington, the Father of our country, was no multiculturalist. Call him a culturist. Washington laid out his culturist principles in a document all schoolchildren used to study, his 1796 Farewell Address to the nation, upon completing his second term as president.Far from celebrating our multicultural ties to the Old World, Washington argued that... it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; ... indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts.He told his audience that "[c]itizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections." And in this context, Washington took solace in the fact that "[w]ith slight shades...(Read Full Article)
