The Order of the Cincinnati

I searched and found an old thread on this before posting, but it was filled with little info.

"The Order (or Society) of the Cincinnati was a group formed after the North American Revolutionary War and members were George Washington and other notables who had participated in the successful rebellion against the British. The badge of the organization was the Angel of Fame holding the Seal of the United States. There were Chinese export porcelain dinner services with the order of the Cincinnati ordered for members in China in the 1780s and 1790s - one was presented to Washington himself. The badge of the order is always done in overglaze enamel within an underglaze blue "Fitzhugh" border. Pieces from these Cincinnati services are perhaps the most sought after of all American market Chinese export porcelain."

" The name of the society is derived from the story of the Roman farmer, Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus. In the Fifth Century, B.C., Cincinnatus, a farmer, was called upon to leave his fields and lead Rome into battle. After returning victorious, Cincinnatus returned to his fields until he was called upon to serve as temporary dictator of early Rome. Once again, he laid down his power to return to a normal life when his job was done. Thus is evidenced in the motto of the Society, "He gave up everything to serve the republic." This example of unwavering service, and a willingness to lay down personal power for the good of the republic is the model upon which the Society of the Cincinnati was based. Far from the dangerous aristocracy it could have become, the Society demonstrated an adherence to the principles upon which it was founded, and followed the example of the noble Cincinnatus."

The second quote, through comparison, reveals that the "...true purpose of the Order was the cultivation of a military force ready, willing, and able to accomplish a coup de'etat if the fledgling American democracy began to stumble. In the wake of the Revolution, the United States was vulnerable to any number of outside forces, and Washington felt that a strong, central authority had to be present that could assume control of the government if necessary -- and "temporarily" suspend the Constitution if required."

"The people who are the insurgents have never paid any, or but very little taxes. But they see the weakness of government; they feel at once their own poverty, compared with the opulent, and their own force, and they are determined to make use of the latter, in order to remedy the former. Their creed is "That the property of the United States has been protected from the confiscations of Britain by the joint exertions of all, and therefore ought to be the common property of all. And he that attempts opposition to this creed is an enemy to equity and justice and ought to be swept from off the face of the earth."

"All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and well-born, the other the mass of the people. The voice of the people has been said to be the voice of God; and however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true in fact. The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge or determine right. Give therefore to the first class a distinct permanent share in the government. . . . Can a democratic assembly who annually revolve in the mass of the people be supposed steadily to pursue the public good? Nothing but a permanent body can check the imprudence of democracy. ."

www.thesocietyofthecincinnati.addr.com...

www.hereditary.us...

www.hereditary.us...

www.sidis.net...

www.ditext.com...

[edit on 26-4-2005 by Alushe]