George Washington: “Ought our country to remain in such cases dependent on foreign supply, precarious because liable to be interrupted?”

An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.

I have finally determined to accept the commission of Commander in Chief of the armies of the United States.

I must not conceal from you my earnest wish that the choice had fallen upon a man less declined in years and better qualified to encounter the usual vicissitudes of war.

I can not express how greatly affected I am at this new proof of public confidence.