tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post6543234070560629450..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: On the Road with President WashingtonUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-62906778263115136332015-01-14T14:54:00.101-05:002015-01-14T14:54:00.101-05:00In 1789 the U.S. federal army consisted of one reg...In 1789 the U.S. federal army consisted of one regiment, <a href="http://boston1775.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-second-amendments-historic-moment.html" rel="nofollow">as I discussed in this post</a>. The country was united behind the ideal of not having a standing army. The troops that existed were probably stationed on the frontiers. In that situation, the local militia systems were vital.<br /><br />But a series of defeats against Native American armies in the 1790s, followed by the Whiskey Rebellion and fears of war with European powers, prompted the Federalist government to expand the national military by the end of the century. Then the Presidents had more to command.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-41870916477986560332015-01-14T13:49:52.813-05:002015-01-14T13:49:52.813-05:00I appreciate why Washington wouldn't want to b...I appreciate why Washington wouldn't want to be seen as having any authority/power over the Militia - but what other troops were there? How large was the US army in 1789? And where were the units posted? <br /><br />I'd guess that for most locations visited, if a town wanted troops to form up for Washington, the Militia would be, well, the only game in town...<br /><br />R. DoctorowAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-998222846497392652015-01-14T10:27:49.178-05:002015-01-14T10:27:49.178-05:00Historians have paid a lot of attention to traditi...Historians have paid a lot of attention to traditional ritual in recent decades, and there really wasn't a lot of tradition established around a President yet. So the rituals of kings were an obvious comparison. Thanks for sharing that observation from Hingham! J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-4063091046789119782015-01-14T06:37:17.907-05:002015-01-14T06:37:17.907-05:00Interesting that you make the comparison to a roya...Interesting that you make the comparison to a royal progress. That was exactly the image that Deborah Barker of Hingham chose when she described this visit (the "King of America . . . thought proper to visit the northern part of his territories") in a letter in our Hingham Historical Society archives. It had to have been a difficult line for Washington to walk. We describe the letter at http://outofthearchives.org/tag/george-washington/pbaggernoreply@blogger.com