What were George Washington's biggest contributions to American society?

George Washington made many contributions to American society. One of his most important contributions was that he provided steady leadership at a vital time in our country’s history. Any time a new plan of government is put into effect, there will be challenging times. George Washington guided us through those times very well. For example, when farmers in western Pennsylvania rebelled over the Whiskey Tax, George Washington sent in the military to restore order. He made it clear that rebellion by any group of people wouldn’t be tolerated.

Another important contribution was that he was able to stay above the impact of the development of political groups representing a particular group of people or point of view. When he was President, he did what he thought was best for the country. He wasn’t concerned if a political group didn’t like an idea. If the idea was good for the country, George Washington wanted to see that idea put into policy. George Washington cautioned the country against forming political parties when he left office because he felt they would be bad for the country. He felt people would support a political party’s idea, even if that idea wasn’t in the best interest of the country. He was concerned people would do what was in the best interests of the political party instead of what was in the best interests of the country.

Finally, George Washington made it clear to other countries that they couldn’t push us around. When Spain and Great Britain interfered with our trade, George Washington took action. When Great Britain and Spain encouraged Native Americans to attack us, George Washington didn’t stand around and refuse to deal with the issues. While there were Americans who wanted us to go to war over these issues, George Washington refused to do that because he knew we weren’t in any position to fight a war at this time. Thus, he used diplomacy to try to resolve these issues. Jay’s Treaty was negotiated with Great Britain, and Pinckney’s Treaty was negotiated with Spain. While these treaties weren’t perfect solutions to all of the problems we faced, these treaties kept us out of war and sent a message that countries couldn’t bully us. George Washington made it clear he would stand up for our country and its rights.

George Washington was the right leader for our country after the Constitution was ratified. We needed steady leadership, and George Washington was the perfect person to provide it.