ShmoopTube

00:00

[ musical flourish ]

00:03

And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by term limits,

00:06

the number of abbreviations you're allowed to use in daily conversation.

00:10

Like that.

00:10

All right, here's the excerpt.

00:12

[ mumbles ]

00:19

All right, and the question:

00:20

Washington used his farewell address to warn Americans of... what?

00:24

And here are your potential answers.

00:26

[ mumbles ]

00:29

All right. While announcing his decision to step down

00:31

as President, Washington shared some words of wisdom with

00:34

those who would cut their not-so-wooden teeth

00:36

in office after he left.

00:38

So did Washington use his farewell address to warn Americans

00:40

of A - presidential term limits?

00:43

Well, though Americans had only recently shaken off the

00:45

threat of monarchy, the government wouldn't formally put

00:47

term limits on the presidency until 1947.

00:51

So that pushes out A and B. Was Washington's

00:53

farewell address used to caution Americans about C -

00:57

overly powerful religious groups?

00:59

Well, in another part of the address, Washington actually

01:01

praised religion as a great source of strength

01:03

in the nation's fight for political prosperity.

01:06

So we swear off C. That means Washington used his

01:09

farewell address to warn Americans of D -

01:11

the dangers of polarizing political parties.

01:14

In the excerpt, Washington says, "the alternate domination of

01:17

one faction over another... is itself is frightful despotism."

01:22

Washington believed that, if left unchecked,

01:24

political parties could lead to the rise of overly powerful individuals,

01:28

a no-no for this fledgling democracy.

01:31

So D is the right answer.

01:32

Despite his words of wisdom, the two party system came to

01:35

dominate American politics and, by George,

01:37

Washington is probably rolling in his grave.

01:40

[ cash register noise ]

Full Transcript