George Washington's Newburgh speech

E269674

historical speech political speech primary source document

George Washington's Newburgh speech was a pivotal 1783 address to his officers in Newburgh, New York, in which he defused a potential military revolt and reaffirmed civilian control over the army at the close of the American Revolutionary War.

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All labels observed (5)

Label	Occurrences
George Washington’s farewell to his officers	2
George Washington's Newburgh speech canonical	1
George Washington’s farewell address to his officers	1
George Washington’s speech to his officers	1
Washington’s address to officers regarding the Newburgh Conspiracy	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2469981 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: George Washington's Newburgh speech
Context triple: [Newburgh Letters, relatedEvent, George Washington's Newburgh speech]

A. Eulogy on George Washington
Eulogy on George Washington is a famous 1799 funeral oration by Henry Lee III that memorably hailed George Washington as “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”
B. Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a brief but iconic 1863 speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln that redefined the purpose of the Civil War and articulated a vision of American democracy based on equality and national unity.
C. Farewell Address
The Farewell Address is George Washington’s famous 1796 message to the American people in which he announced his decision not to seek a third term and warned against political parties and foreign entanglements.
D. Speech at the Second Virginia Convention, March 23, 1775
The "Speech at the Second Virginia Convention, March 23, 1775" is Patrick Henry’s famous oration in which he urged armed resistance to British rule and declared, “Give me liberty, or give me death!”
E. Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was a final conciliatory appeal sent by the American colonies to King George III in 1775, seeking to avoid full-scale war and reconcile differences before the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: George Washington's Newburgh speech
Target entity description: George Washington's Newburgh speech was a pivotal 1783 address to his officers in Newburgh, New York, in which he defused a potential military revolt and reaffirmed civilian control over the army at the close of the American Revolutionary War.

A. Eulogy on George Washington
Eulogy on George Washington is a famous 1799 funeral oration by Henry Lee III that memorably hailed George Washington as “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”
B. Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a brief but iconic 1863 speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln that redefined the purpose of the Civil War and articulated a vision of American democracy based on equality and national unity.
C. Farewell Address
The Farewell Address is George Washington’s famous 1796 message to the American people in which he announced his decision not to seek a third term and warned against political parties and foreign entanglements.
D. Speech at the Second Virginia Convention, March 23, 1775
The "Speech at the Second Virginia Convention, March 23, 1775" is Patrick Henry’s famous oration in which he urged armed resistance to British rule and declared, “Give me liberty, or give me death!”
E. Olive Branch Petition
The Olive Branch Petition was a final conciliatory appeal sent by the American colonies to King George III in 1775, seeking to avoid full-scale war and reconcile differences before the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	historical speech ⓘ political speech ⓘ primary source document ⓘ
associatedWith	Continental Army ⓘ Continental Congress ⓘ Hudson River Valley ⓘ linked to: Hudson Valley
audience	Continental Army officers ⓘ
chronology	delivered before the formal disbanding of the Continental Army ⓘ delivered near the end of the American Revolutionary War ⓘ
country	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
date	1783-03-15 ⓘ
deliveredAtLocation	Newburgh, New York ⓘ
deliveredBy	George Washington ⓘ
deliveredTo	officers of the Continental Army ⓘ
describedAs	key moment in establishing republican norms in the United States ⓘ pivotal address in American civil-military relations ⓘ
documentedIn	contemporary letters and accounts of officers ⓘ
followedBy	abandonment of plans for organized officer protest ⓘ
genre	oratory ⓘ
hasEffect	calmed discontent among Continental Army officers ⓘ discouraged plans for collective military pressure on Congress ⓘ
hasLanguage	English ⓘ
hasPart	appeal to officers' patriotism ⓘ appeal to officers' sense of honor ⓘ references to Washington's personal sacrifices ⓘ
hasTopic	loyalty to the new republic ⓘ military pay and pensions ⓘ obedience to lawful authority ⓘ
historicalPeriod	American Revolutionary War ⓘ late 18th century ⓘ
locationOfCreation	Newburgh, New York ⓘ
mainSubject	American Revolutionary War ⓘ Newburgh Conspiracy ⓘ civilian control of the military ⓘ
partOf	Newburgh Conspiracy events ⓘ linked to: Newburgh Conspiracy
precededBy	growing unrest among Continental Army officers at Newburgh ⓘ
purpose	to defuse a potential military revolt ⓘ to reaffirm civilian supremacy over the army ⓘ to urge officers to remain loyal to Congress ⓘ
significance	contributed to the peaceful conclusion of the American Revolutionary War ⓘ helped preserve the authority of the Continental Congress ⓘ helped prevent a potential military coup ⓘ reinforced the principle of civilian control over the military in the United States ⓘ
studiedIn	American history ⓘ Revolutionary War historiography ⓘ civil-military relations scholarship ⓘ
timePeriod	March 1783 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited