Washington's Speech

Very cool news that Maryland has the original of George Washington's 1783 speech to the Continental Congress resigning his commission as head of the Continental Army. Why was it important? It was an example of a powerful general voluntarily recognizing civilian superiority -- nearly unprecedented in 1783 and still rare enough.

Maryland will display the speech in the state capital, Annapolis, thanks to the generosity of donors who contributed $1 million to pay for the document, and the generosity of the anonymous sellers who took $500,000 less than assessed market value.

It's good that such an important piece of America's political history will remain in the public view, rather than ending up in some millionaire's private stash.