The Army and Country after the War (Part 5)

This patriotic renunciation of power by Washington, so different from the example of Caesar, Cromwell, and other military heroes, who have ended wars at the head of victorious armies and with a country at their mercy, has deservedly excited the admiration of the world, and stamps George Washington as one of the greatest men that ever led an army to battle. His address to Congress was eloquently replied to by General Mifflin, the President of that body, after which he retired to Mount Vernon, exchanging the labors of the camp for the industries of a farm, and bearing with him the esteem not only of his own countrymen, but of all civilized mankind.

The financial result of the war was a foreign debt of eight millions and a domestic debt of more than thirty millions of dollars. The paper money of the Confederacy had become worthless, while the States were very slow in supplying money to pay the arrears due the soldiers and the other pressing debts. They had their own local debts to provide for, and their governments to support. The country was impoverished, and taxes could not be collected. Some of the States endeavored, by heavy taxation, to raise money to satisfy their creditors. In consequence of the disorganized condition of affairs, and the general distress, a serious insurrection, known as "Shays' Rebellion," broke out in Massachusetts, which it took a military force of several thousand men to suppress. It was becoming increasingly evident that the hands of the central government must be strengthened and new methods of administration adopted, or the confederacy of the States would ere long fall to pieces of its own weight.]