In this lesson, developed by and included with the permission of George Washington’s Mount Vernon, students will connect George Washington’s Farewell Address to the following later presidential foreign policy messages:

1. Monroe Doctrine
2. Roosevelt Corollary
3. Wilson’s Fourteen Points
4. Truman Doctrine
5. Kennedy’s inaugural address
6. George W. Bush’s 2003 State of the Union address

• Students will analyze Washington’s Farewell Address in the context of his legacy and U.S. foreign policy afterward.
• Students will compare and contrast U.S. foreign policy over time using primary sources.
• Students will work as a group to come to a consensus and present.
• Students will participate in a Socratic Seminar and debate the course of U.S. foreign policy since George Washington.

Visit Mount Vernon’s website to access this lesson and accompanying materials.