Washington and his colleagues; a chronicle of the rise and fall of federalism — Text and Context

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Authors: Ford, Henry Jones, 1851-1925, Johnson, Allen, 1870-1931 [Editor] Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2004 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Washington, George, 1732-1799; Federal Party (U.S.); United States -- History -- Constitutional period, 1789-1809 Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

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Words 49,539

Reading time 216 min

Text sections 5

Washington and his colleagues; a chronicle of the rise and fall of federalism — Text and Context can be approached with a clearer sense of reading commitment from its source measurements: 49,539 words, 3 hr 36 min estimated reading time, and 5 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 26.6 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Washington, George, 1732-1799,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #11702

Henry Jones Ford's 1918 chronicle traces Federalism's rise and fall through Washington's presidency and Adams's administration, using cabinet conflicts and foreign crises to examine early U.S. governance.

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Washington was glad to remain at Mount Vernon as long as possible after he had consented to serve as President, enjoying the life of a country gentleman, which was now much more suited to his taste than official employment. He was weary of public duties and the heavy demands upon his time which had left him with little leisure for his private life at home. His correspondence during this period gives ample evidence of his extreme reluctance to reassume public responsibilities. To bring the matter to its true proportions, it must be remembered that to the view of the times the new constitution was but the latest attempt to tinker the federal scheme, and it was yet to be seen whether this endeavor would be any more successful than previous efforts had been. As for the title of President, it had already been borne by a number of congressional politicians and had been rather tarnished by the behavior of some of them. Washington was not at all eager to move in the matter before he had to, and he therefore remained on his farm until Congress met, formally declared the result of the election, and sent a committee to Mount Vernon to give him official notice. It was not until April 30, 1789, that he was formally installed as President.

Madison and Hamilton were meanwhile going ahead with their plans. This time was perhaps the happiest in their lives. They had stood together in years of struggle to start the movement for a new constitution, to steer it through the convention, and to force it on the States. Although the fight had been a long and a hard one, and although they had not won all that they had wanted, it was nevertheless a great satisfaction that they had accomplished so much, and they were now applying themselves with great zest to the organization of the new government. Madison was a member of Congress; Hamilton lived near the place where Congress held its sittings in New York and his house was a rendezvous for the federal leaders. Thither Madison would often go to talk over plans and prospects. A lady who lived near by has related how she often saw them walking and talking together, stopping sometimes to have fun with a monkey skipping about in a neighbor's yard.

At that time Madison was thirty-eight; Hamilton was thirty-two. They were little men, of the quick, dapper type. Madison was five feet six and a quarter inches tall, slim and delicate in physique, with a pale student's face lit up by bright hazel eyes. He was as plain as a Quaker in his style of dress, and his hair, which was light in color, was brushed straight back and gathered into a small queue, tied with a plain ribbon. Hamilton was of about the same stature, but his figure had wiry strength. His Scottish ancestry was manifest in his ruddy complexion and in the modeling of his features. He was more elegant than Madison in his habitual attire. He had a very erect, dignified bearing; his expression was rather severe when his features were in repose, but he had a smile of flashing radiance when he was pleased and interested, Washington, who stood over six feet two inches in his buckled shoes, had to look down over his nose when he met the young statesmen who had been the wheel horses of the federal movement.

Soon after Washington arrived in New York he sought Hamilton's aid in the management of the national finances. There was the rock on which the government of the Confederation had foundered. There the most skillful pilotage was required if the new government was to make a safe voyage. Washington's first thought had been to get Robert Morris to take charge again of the department that he had formerly managed with conspicuous ability, and while stopping in Philadelphia on his way to New York, he had approached Morris on the subject. Morris, who was now engaged in grand projects which were eventually to bring him to a debtor's prison, declined the position but strongly recommended Hamilton. This suggestion proved very acceptable to Washington, who was well aware of Hamilton's capacity.

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Ford opens not with Washington's inauguration but with his reluctance to leave Mount Vernon, noting that the presidency's title had been "rather tarnished" by previous congressional politicians. The first chapter, "An Imitation Court," immediately signals a skeptical view of early republican ceremony. Ford grounds his narrative in the practical calculations of Madison and Hamilton, who are shown walking and talking together in New York, planning the new government's organization. The author's method is to let the historical actors' own words and actions drive the story, as when he reproduces Washington's thirteen questions to his cabinet verbatim, revealing Hamilton's hand behind the queries. This evidence-based approach, rather than broad summary, characterizes the work throughout.

Washington's Reluctant Presidency

The opening pages establish a president who did not seek power. Ford quotes Washington's correspondence to show his "extreme reluctance to reassume public responsibilities." The author emphasizes that contemporaries viewed the new Constitution as merely "the latest attempt to tinker the federal scheme," not a guaranteed success. This context is crucial: Ford does not assume the outcome. He notes that Washington remained at Mount Vernon until Congress sent a committee to notify him formally, delaying his installation until April 30, 1789. The narrative thus begins not with triumph but with hesitation, setting a tone of political realism that pervades the chronicle.

Hamilton's Hand in Cabinet Strategy

A key episode illustrates Ford's method: when war between France and Great Britain erupted in 1793, Washington submitted thirteen questions to his cabinet. Ford reproduces the critical queries, including whether to issue a neutrality proclamation and whether the French treaty remained binding. Jefferson suspected the questions were Hamilton's work, noting they were "raised upon a prepared chain of argument." Ford confirms Jefferson's suspicion, stating flatly that "Jefferson was right as to Hamilton's authorship." This moment reveals how Ford uses primary sources—Washington's handwriting, Jefferson's notes—to expose the internal dynamics of the administration. The reader sees policy being shaped through interrogation, not declaration.

The French Treaty Crisis

Ford devotes careful attention to the legal and diplomatic dilemma posed by the French alliance. The treaty had been made with Louis XVI, whose execution raised the question: did his engagements "fall with his head"? The French Republic itself claimed the right to decide which treaties to retain. Meanwhile, Chief Justice Marshall later recorded that popular sympathy for France was "almost universal." Ford presents the cabinet's division without resolving it, showing Washington caught between conflicting obligations. The author's restraint here is notable: he does not declare which side was correct, but lets the historical record—the questions, the opinions, the public mood—speak for itself. This approach gives the reader a sense of the genuine uncertainty faced by the administration.

Frontier Schemes and Spanish Designs

Ford expands the narrative beyond the Atlantic seaboard to include George Rogers Clark's planned expedition against Spanish Louisiana. He notes that Clark was "the ablest and most successful commander that the frontier had yet produced" and that Spanish defenses were so weak that "the conquest of Louisiana might indeed have been accomplished." The failure of the scheme is attributed not to Genet's arrangements but to lack of funds and the instability of the French revolutionary government. This section demonstrates Ford's willingness to pursue threads that illuminate the broader geopolitical context. The frontier is not a backdrop but an active theater where the weakness of the new nation's finances and the volatility of European politics intersect.

Ford's chronicle rewards readers who attend to the specific evidence he marshals: the letters, the cabinet questions, the contemporary observations. He does not offer a unified thesis but rather a series of closely observed episodes that together reveal the contingent, often improvised character of early federal governance. The book is best approached as a documentary narrative, where the author's judgments emerge from the documents he presents rather than from overarching claims. Readers will find that the most revealing passages are often the quoted exchanges between principals, which Ford allows to carry the argument.

Reading Henry Jones Ford’s chronicle, I kept thinking how the cabinet’s restless quarrels felt like campfire smoke—personal, inevitable. It reminded me of an older book I once lingered over, The Winning of the West, Volume 2 From the Alleghanies to the Mississippi, 1777-1783 — Edition Insights, where the frontier’s raw choices echoed the same stubborn hope, just further from the capital’s windows.