excerpt from "George Washington's Farewell Address"

To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a government for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute. They must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay by the adoption of a Constitution of government better calculated than your former for an intimate Union and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. This government, the offspring of our own choice uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support.

Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of this speech.

Washington stresses the importance of “a government for the whole.” He acknowledges a counterclaim to his position: There will be conflicting priorities between different parts of the country.

Does Washington effectively rebut the counterclaim?


A. Yes, because he states that the Constitution can be amended to meet the country’s needs.


B. No, because he states that alliances can be a substitute for government.


C. No, because he states that the Constitution can be amended to meet the country’s needs.


D. Yes, because he states that alliances can be a substitute for government.