Newburgh conspiracy

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The Newburgh conspiracy or Newburgh crisis (English: Newburgh conspiracy or Newburgh crisis ) was a threatened mutiny in 1783 on the part of the American Continental Army , towards the end of the American Revolutionary War . General George Washington , who commanded the war on the side of the revolutionaries, defused the simmering tensions between politics and the military in a speech to several of his officers , according to current historical views at Newburgh , New York . This turn in institutional relations allowed the war to continue and is seen in the United States as an important precedent for absolute military subordination to political command .

At the time of the crisis, the majority of the troops had not received any pay from the Continental Congress for several years , the budgetary sovereignty of which was subject to severe restrictions by the Articles of Confederation . The latter mainly ensured the sovereignty of the individual states in the revolutionary confederation.

Despite military successes against the Kingdom of Great Britain , there was a decisive battle pending, so that a salary seemed unlikely for the time being. At the time of the Newburgh crisis, Continental Army officers had filed several petitions with the Continental Congress. Washington responded with his speech to anonymous calls for mutiny, which came a few hours before in his army camp in circulation than the authors of Major John Armstrong Jr. applies.

Washington rejected the intention of the conspirators to crown him king or to appoint him as military dictator .

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  1. ↑ Stephen Knott: George Washington: Life Before the Presidency. In: millercenter.org, University of Virginia , accessed February 15, 2016.