n the period covered by volume 9, the fall and winter of
1791-92, Washington was busy dealing with a host of issues. Over
forty letters to and from Washington between November 1791 and
February 1792 concern the problems arising from Pierre L'Enfant's
high-handedness as designer of the Federal City, particularly his
destruction of the house of Daniel Carroll of Duddington, and
L'Enfant's insistence that he not take orders from the
Commissioners for the District of Columbia but receive his
authority from Washington directly. Washington's nomination in late
December 1791 of Thomas Pinckney, Gouverneur Morris, and William
Short as ministers at London, Paris, and the Hague, respectively,
set off a firestorm of congressional controversy about the meaning
of the "advice and consent" provision of the Constitution.
Washington believed that the Senate was required either to accept
or reject his nominees, while many congressional leaders, who
disliked the idea of a fixed diplomatic establishment, argued that
only Congress could decide where or if the United States was to
appoint resident ministers abroad. Although Washington eventually
secured the appointment of Pinckney, Morris, and Short, the
disagreement between the Senate and the administration over their
relative authority, as well as the practical meaning of the
constitutional provision, remained to be settled. In the wake of
General Arthur St. Clair's defeat on 4 November, Washington and his
secretary of war, Henry Knox, attempted to induce Congress to
increase the size of the army, and they sought to rally popular
support for yet another punitive expedition against the warring
Indian tribes on the northwest frontier of the United States. To do
so, in January 1792 Washington instructed Knox to prepare a
statement, based on official government documents, revealing the
causes of the Indian war and the administration's efforts to pacify
the frontier region. Its publication, the preface to which took the
form of a letter from Washington to Knox instructing the secretary
of war to make the government's case to the American people,
represents and early presidential effort to guide the public
opinion an win popular support for a controversial policy.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
