While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in Union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations; and, what is of inestimable value, they must derive from Union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves, which so frequently afflict neighbouring countries not tied together by the same governments, which their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments, which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to Republican Liberty. In this sense it is, that your Union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Union provides collective security and prevents internal conflicts among states that might otherwise fight each other.
- In plain terms
- Being united makes the country stronger and stops states from fighting one another.
- What can you take from it?
- Unity protects against both foreign threats and internal divisions.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is internal peace worth sacrificing state sovereignty?
- How much central power is needed to prevent civil war?
Another view
Overly centralized union can suppress local autonomy and diversity.
More from George Washington
It is of infinite moment, that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national Union to your collective and individual happiness; that you shou…
Permalink to quote #51 One of the expedients of party to acquire influence, within particular districts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot shiel…
Permalink to quote #53 Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment. The unity…
Permalink to quote #50
Related quotes
Our popular government has often been called an experiment. Two points in it our people have already settled - the successful establishing and the successful a…
Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln quote #31 The United States is not a nation to which peace is a necessity.
Grover ClevelandGrover Cleveland quote #31 A world without nuclear weapons may be a dream but you cannot base a sure defence on dreams. Without far greater trust and confidence between East and West tha…
Margaret ThatcherMargaret Thatcher quote #34