Childhood: 1732-1746
George Washington was born at his father's plantation on Pope's Creek in
Westmoreland County, Virginia, on February 22, 1732. His father, Augustine
Washington, was a leading planter in the area and also served as a justice
of the county court. Augustine's first wife, Janet Butler, died in 1729, leaving
him with two sons, Lawrence and Augustine, Jr., and a daughter, Jane. The
elder Augustine then married George's mother, Mary Ball, in 1731. George
was the eldest of Augustine Washington's and Mary Ball's six children.
In 1735 Augustine moved the family up the Potomac River to another
Washington home, Little Hunting Creek Plantation (later renamed Mount
Vernon). In 1738 they moved again to Ferry Farm, a plantation on the
Rappahannock River near Fredericksburg, Virginia, where George spent
much of his youth. Little is known of Washington's childhood, and it remains
the most poorly understood part of his life. Popular fables illustrating his
youthful honesty, piety, and physical strength have long taken the place of
documented fact. Some of these fables are more plausible than others. The
story that Washington threw a silver dollar across the Potomac River -- an
impossible feat -- had its origins in the recollections of a cousin that George
could throw a stone across the much narrower Rappahannock River. But
others, including the familiar story of Washington and the cherry tree, seem
to have been invented by one of Washington's first biographers, Mason
Locke Weems.
When George was eleven years old, Augustine died, leaving most of his
property to George's older half brothers. The income from what remained
was just sufficient to maintain Mary Washington and her children. As the
oldest child remaining at home, George undoubtedly helped his mother
manage the Rappahannock River plantation where they lived. There he
learned the importance of hard work and efficiency.
Little is known about George's formal education. Commonly the children of
Virginia gentry were taught at home by private tutors or in local private
schools. Boys generally began their formal education around the age of
seven with lessons in reading, writing, and basic arithmetic. Later they were
taught Latin and Greek, as well as such practical subjects as geometry,
bookkeeping, and surveying. Wealthy planters often sent their sons to
England to finish their schooling, as was done with George's two elder half
brothers, Lawrence and Augustine.
The death of his father, however, made schooling abroad an impossibility for
George Washington. He may have attended a school near his home for the
first few years. Later he went to another school, either in Fredericksburg,
Stafford County, or Westmoreland County. He excelled in mathematics and
learned the rudiments of surveying. But he was not taught Latin or Greek
like many gentlemen's sons, and he never learned a foreign language. Nor
did he attend college. His formal education ended around the age of 15.
Among the gentry class, strong social skills were also considered an
essential part of a young man's or woman's education. After the death of
their father, George began to spend a great deal of time with his older half
brother, Lawrence, at his home, Mount Vernon. Lawrence became a mentor
to his younger brother, tutoring him in his studies, teaching him social
graces, and helping to introduce him into society.
Throughout his life, Washington regarded his education as defective. He
consciously made up for some of what he did not learn in school through
reading and study on his own. Over the years he amassed a large and
diverse library, and in his later years he subscribed to several newspapers.
He became a skilled and prolific writer. Perhaps as a result of his lack of
formal education he strongly believed in the value of a good education and
left money in his will for establishing a school in Alexandria, Virginia, as well
as for establishing a national university.
Young Manhood: 1746-1759
In 1746 Lawrence proposed that George Washington join the British navy.
Although George was excited at the idea of a military career, his mother
refused her consent, and George was spared the harsh discipline of a life at
sea. Despite missing the opportunity to travel the world, George
Washington's young adulthood became one of the great adventure stories
of American history.
Young Washington applied himself to surveying, a valuable skill in a colony
where land was being settled constantly. In 1748 he joined a surveying
expedition to western Virginia at the invitation of Lawrence's neighbors, the
powerful Fairfax family. The next year the Fairfaxes helped secure him an
appointment as a county surveyor. By the age of 17 he was well on his way
to a successful and profitable career. In an effort to establish himself as a
member of the gentry class, he worked hard, saved his money, and bought
unclaimed land.
In 1751 he accompanied Lawrence, who was suffering from tuberculosis, on
a voyage to the British island colony of Barbados. Lawrence hoped the
tropical air would ease his suffering. While in Barbados, Washington saw
some of the most extensive fortifications in British America and socialized
with military men, experiences that probably stimulated his interest in military
service. He also contracted smallpox. Though he recovered quickly, the
illness may have rendered him sterile.
Lawrence died in 1752, and shortly thereafter George inherited Mount
Vernon. He also obtained Lawrence's place in the Virginia militia and
received a major's commission -- the first step in his military career.
In 1753 the Governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie, learned that French
troops had moved south from Canada and were constructing forts in the
region south of Lake Erie, an area claimed by Virginia (but now in Western
Pennsylvania). Both France and England recognized the commercial
potential of the region. French trappers had been working in the area for
some time, and Dinwiddie was concerned that the French troops would also
fortify the forks of the Ohio -- the strategic point where the Allegheny and
Monongahela rivers join to form the Ohio River. This point, now Pittsburgh,
was the eastern gateway to the Ohio Valley.
In the fall of 1753 Dinwiddie sent 21-year-old Major Washington to deliver a
message to the French, demanding they leave the area. With the help of a
frontier guide and local Indians, Washington reached the French fort, Fort
Le Boeuf, with Dinwiddie's message. The return trip tested Washington's
endurance. He hiked for days through snowy woods, fell off a raft into the
ice-choked Allegheny River, nearly drowned, and was forced to spend a
freezing night on an island without shelter. His guide, an experienced
backwoodsman, suffered frostbite; but Washington suffered no ill effects.
Washington's account of the arduous 900-mile journey was published by
Governor Dinwiddie in both Williamsburg and London, establishing an
international reputation for George Washington by the time he was 22.
A few months later Dinwiddie dispatched Washington, now a lieutentant
colonel, and some 150 men to assert Virginia's claims. As they advanced,
Washington's men ambushed French soldiers, killing 10 men, including the
French commander, and taking the rest prisoner. Washington then retreated
to an ill-placed and makeshift palisade he called Fort Necessity. He was
forced to surrender when the French surrounded the fort. The campaign
ended in humiliation for Washington and ignited the French and Indian War.
Although he resigned his commission after the surrender, Washington
returned to the frontier in 1755 as a volunteer aide to General Edward
Braddock. Braddock had been sent by the King of England to drive the
French from the Ohio Country. Braddock's army was routed near the
Monongahela River and fled in confusion to Virginia. During the battle, while
attempting ro rally the British soldiers, Washington had two horses shot out
from under him and four bullet holes shot through his coat. Although he
behaved with conspicuous bravery, Washington could do little except lead
the broken survivors to safety.
In recognition of his conduct, Washington was given command of Virginia's
entire military force. With a few hundred men he was ordered to protect a
frontier some 350 miles long. Although this was a frustrating assignment, it
provided him with experience in commanding troops through an arduous
campaign. In 1758 the British finally took the forks of the Ohio. Peace
returned to Virginia, and Washington resigned his commission to return to
Mount Vernon, his duty faithfully performed.
Although barely twenty-seven years old, he was the most experienced native
military officer in Virginia. In 1759, upon marrying Martha Dandridge Custis,
the young widow of one of the wealthiest men in the colony, he retired to his
plantation with many of his early ambitions satisfied. He could hardly have
imagined that his greatest adventures lay ahead.
Gentleman Farmer: 1759-1775
George Washington spent the years between 1759 and 1775 as a
gentleman farmer at Mount Vernon. He worked constantly to improve and
expand the mansion house and its surrounding plantation. He established
himself as an innovative farmer, who switched from tobacco to wheat as his
main cash crop in the 1760's. In an effort to improve his farming operation,
he diligently experimented with new crops, fertilizers, crop rotation, tools, and
livestock breeding. He also expanded the work of the plantation to include
flour milling and commercial fishing in an effort to make Mount Vernon a
more profitable estate.
By the time of his death in 1799, he had expanded the plantation from 2,000
to 8,000 acres consisting of five farms, with more than 3,000 acres under
cultivation.
Although most of this time was dedicated to his private affairs and family life
with his wife, Martha, and her two children, Washington continued to
participate in public life. He was elected to the House of Burgesses in 1758
(after being twice defeated) and served several terms. He viewed the
growing disputes between Great Britain and her American colonies with
deep concern. He was not a political firebrand, stirring orator, or cloakroom
deal maker; but he impressed his peers as a modest dependable man of
strength and good sense.
In the fall of 1774, Washington was chosen as one of seven Virginia
representatives to the Continental Congress. Upon his arrival in
Philadelphia, other delegates immediately recognized him as a man of
patriotic views and sound judgment. At six feet three inches tall, he towered
over the other delegates; and he had an athletic grace and commanding
presence. Although Washington spoke very little in Congress, many of the
delegates noticed what one called his, easy, soldier-like air.
Commander-in-Chief: 1775-1783
In June 1775, Congress commissioned George Washington to take
command of the Continental Army besieging the British in Boston. He wrote
home to Martha that he expected to return safe to you in the fall. The
command kept him away from Mount Vernon for more than 8 years.
It was a command for which his military background, although greater than
that of any of the other available candidates, hardly prepared him. His
knowledge lay in frontier warfare, involving relatively small numbers of
soldiers. He had no practical experience maneuvering large formations,
handling cavalry or artillery, or maintaining supply lines adequate to support
thousands of men in the field. He learned on the job; and although his army
reeled from one misfortune to another, he had the courage, determination,
and mental agility to keep the American cause one step ahead of complete
disintegration until he figured out how to win the unprecedented
revolutionary struggle he was leading.
His task was not overwhelming at first. The British position in Boston was
untenable, and in March 1776 they withdrew from the city. But it was only a
temporary respite. In June a new British army, under the command of Sir
William Howe, arrived in the colonies with orders to take New York City. Howe
commanded the largest expeditionary force Britain had ever sent overseas.
Defending New York was almost impossible. An island city, New York is
surrounded by a maze of waterways that gave a substantial advantage to an
attacker with naval superiority. Howe's army was larger, better equipped,
and far better trained than Washington's. They defeated Washington's army
at Long Island in August and routed the Americans a few weeks later at Kip's
Bay, resulting in the loss of the city. Forced to retreat northward,
Washington was defeated again at White Plains. The American defense of
New York City came to a humiliating conclusion on November 16, 1776, with
the surrender of Fort Washington and some 2,800 men. Washington
ordered his army to retreat across New Jersey. The remains of his forces,
mud-soaked and exhausted, crossed the Delaware River into Pennsylvania
on December 7.
The British had good reason to believe that the American rebellion would be
over in a few months and that Congress would seek peace rather than face
complete subjugation of the colonies. The enlistments of most of
Washington's army were due to expire at the end of December.
However, instead of crushing the remains of Washington's army, Howe went
into winter quarters, with advanced garrisons at Trenton and Princeton,
leaving Washington open to execute one of the most daring military
operations in American history. On Christmas night Washington's troops
crossed the Delaware and attacked the unsuspecting Hessian garrison at
Trenton, forcing it to surrender. A few days later Washington again crossed
the Delaware, outmaneuvered the force sent to crush him, and fell on the
enemy at Princeton, inflicting a humiliating loss on the British.
Though the victories were not militarily decisive, this proved to be the pivotal
moment of the war. Washington had inflicted little damage on the British
army. Howe still enjoyed a numerical superiority, and there was nothing
about these modest victories to suggest that the Americans were capable of
defeating the British army in a pitched battle. Trenton and Princeton instead
marked a watershed in the way George Washington conceptualized the war.
He began to see it as a political problem as much as a military one. The
enthusiastic response to the victories at the Hessian garrison in Trenton and
Princeton taught him the importance of public opinion to sustaining a
popular war of resistance.
Washington had little conventional military education to discard. In an
unconventional conflict, he learned from experiences that perplexed and
frustrated his opponents. The truth of the situation -- that the American
rebellion would not end until Washington's army was destroyed -- ran
against the established conventions of European warfare. Howe never
seems to have abandoned the belief that once the Americans were deprived
of their major cities, the rebellion would wither. In the summer of 1777, he
mounted an offensive against Philadelphia. Washington moved to defend
the city and was defeated at the Battle of Brandywine. Philadelphia fell two
weeks later. An American counterattack on the main British camp at
Germantown, just outside Philadelphia, was repulsed -- but not without
demonstrating that Washington and his army, even though outmaneuvered
and outfought, still possessed considerable fighting spirit.
Gradually it occurred to the British high command that capturing
Philadelphia meant very little. The supplies that had flowed to Washington's
men through the city simply flowed to them through other channels. Rather
than ceasing operations, Congress simply packed up and moved to another
town. Philadelphia was no more essential to the American cause than was
New York City. Howe was relieved of command early in 1778; and his
replacement, Sir Henry Clinton, was ordered to evacuate Philadelphia.
Clinton decided to return from Philadelphia to New York by land in a rapid
retreat through the unsparing heat of the Middle Atlantic summer. Meanwhile
Washington planned a quick blow at Clinton's flank and attacked the British
near Monmouth Court House, New Jersey. The Battle of Monmouth,
although a tactical standoff, proved that the Continental Army could stand
up to British regulars in the open field without the element of surprise. It also
confirmed Washington's position as the pre-eminent American military leader
and energized the patriot cause.
For much of the remainder of the war, Washington's most important strategic
task was to keep the British bottled up in New York. Although he never gave
up hope of retaking the city, he was unwilling to risk his army without a fair
prospect of success. An alliance with France and the arrival of a French
army under the Comte de Rochambeau in July 1780 renewed Washington's
hopes to recapture New York; however, together Washington and
Rochambeau commanded about 9,000 men -- some 5,000 fewer than
Clinton. In the end, therefore, the allied generals concluded, that an attack
on New York could not succeed.
Instead, with the help of a French fleet and army, they decided to strike at
the British army under Cornwallis, which was camped at Yorktown, Virginia.
Washington's planning for the Battle of Yorktown was as bold as it had been
for Trenton and Princeton but on a much larger scale. Depending on
Clinton's inactivity, Washington marched south to lay siege on Cornwallis.
On October 19, 1781, he accepted the surrender of Cornwallis's army.
Although two more years passed before a peace treaty was completed, the
victory at Yorktown effectively brought the Revolutionary War to an end.
To the world's amazement, Washington had prevailed over the more
numerous, better supplied, and fully trained British army, mainly because he
was more flexible than his opponents. He learned that it was more important
to keep his army intact and to win an occasional victory to rally public
support than it was to hold American cities or defeat the British army in an
open field. Over the last 200 years revolutionary leaders in every part of the
world have employed this insight, but never with a result as startling as
Washington's victory over the British.
American Cincinnatus: 1783-1789
On December 23, 1783, Washington presented himself before Congress in
Annapolis, Maryland, and resigned his commission. Like Cincinnatus, the
hero of Classical antiquity whose conduct he most admired, Washington had
the wisdom to give up power when he could have been easily become
dictator. He left Annapolis and went home to Mount Vernon with the fixed
intention of never again serving in public life. This one act, without
precedent in modern history, made him an international hero.
In the years after the Revolutionary War, Washington devoted most of his
time to rebuilding Mount Vernon, which had suffered in his absence. He
experimented with new crops and fertilizers and bred some of the finest
mules in the nation. He also served as president of the Potomac Company,
which worked to improve the navigation of the river in order to make it easier
for upstream farmers to get their produce to market.
Although Washington longed for a peaceful life at Mount Vernon, the affairs
of the nation continued to command his attention. He watched with mounting
dismay as the weak union created by the Articles of Confederation gradually
disintegrated, unable to collect revenue or pay its debts. He was appalled by
the excesses of the state legislatures and frustrated by the diplomatic,
financial, and military impotence of the Confederation Congress. By 1785
Washington had concluded that reform was essential. What was needed, he
wrote to James Madison, was an energetic Constitution.
In 1787, Washington ended his self-imposed retirement and traveled to
Philadelphia to attend a convention assembled to recommend changes to
the Articles of Confederation. He was unanimously chosen to preside over
the Constitutional Convention, a job that took four months. He spoke very
little in the convention, but few delegates were more determined to devise a
government endowed with real energy and authority. My wish, he wrote, is
that the convention may adopt no temporizing expedients but probe the
defects of the Constiution to the bottom and provide a radical cure.
After the convention adjourned, Washington's reputation and support were
essential to overcome opposition to the ratification of the proposed
Constitution. He worked for months to rally support for the new instrument of
government. It was a difficult struggle. Even in Washington's native Virginia,
the Constitution was ratified by a majority of only one vote.
Once the Constitution was approved, Washington hoped to retire again to
private life. But when the first presidential election was held, he received a
vote from every elector. He remains the only President in American history to
be elected by the unanimous voice of the people.
First American President: 1789-1797
Washington served two terms as President. His first term (1789-1793) was
occupied primarily with organizing the executive branch of the new
government and establishing administrative procedures that would make it
possible for the government to operate with the energy and efficiency he
believed were essential to the republic's future. An astute judge of talent, he
surrounded himself with the most able men in the new nation. He appointed
his former aide-decamp, Alexander Hamilton, as Secretary of the Treasury;
Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State; and his former artillery chief, Henry
Knox, as Secretary of War. James Madison was one of his principal advisors.
In his First Inaugural Address, Washington confessed that he was
unpracticed in the duties of civil administration; however, he was one of the
most able administrators ever to serve as President. He administered the
government with fairness and integrity, assuring Americans that the
President could exercise extensive executive authority without corruption.
Further, he executed the laws with restraint, establishing precedents for
broad-ranging presidential authority. His integrity was most pure, Thomas
Jefferson wrote, his justice the most inflexible I have ever known, no motive
of interest or consanguinity, friendship, or hatred, being able to bias his
decision. Washington set a standard for presidential integrity rarely met by
his successors, although he established an ideal by which they all are
judged.
During Washington's first term the Federal Government adopted a series of
measures proposed by Alexander Hamilton to resolve the escalating debt
crisis and established the nation's finances on a sound basis, concluded
peace treaties with the southeastern Indian tribes, and designated a site on
the Potomac River for the permanent capital of the United States. But as
Washington's first term ended, a bloody Indian war continued on the
northwestern frontier. The warring tribes were encouraged by the British,
who retained military posts in the northwest. Further, the Spanish denied
Americans use of the Mississippi River. These problems limited the westward
expansion to which Washington was committed.
Growing partisanship within the government also concerned Washington.
Many men in the new government -- including Thomas Jefferson, James
Madison, and other leaders of the emerging Republican party -- were
opposed to Hamilton's financial program. Washington despised political
partisanship but could do little to slow the development of political parties.
During his first term Washington toured the northern and southern states
and found that the new government enjoyed the general support of the
American people. Convinced that the government could get along without
him, he planned to step down at the end of his first term. But his cabinet
members convinced him that he alone could command the respect of
members of both burgeoning political parties. Thomas Jefferson visited
Washington at Mount Vernon to urge him to accept a second term. Although
longing to return home permanently, Washington reluctantly agreed.
Washington's second term (1793-1797) was dominated by foreign affairs
and marred by a deepening partisanship in his own administration.
Washington assumed the Presidency on the eve of the French Revolution, a
time of great international crisis. The outbreak of a general Europen war in
1793 forced the crisis to the center of American politics. Washington
believed the national interest of the United States dictated neutrality. War
would be disastrous for commerce and shatter the nation's finances. The
country's future depended on the increase in wealth and opportunity that
would come from commerce and westward expansion. One of Washington's
most important accomplishments was keeping the United States out of the
war, giving the new nation an opportunity to grow in strength while
establishing the principle of neutrality that shaped American foreign policy
for more than a century.
Although Washington's department heads agreed that the United States
should remain neutral, disagreements over foreign policy aggravated
partisan tensions among them. The disagreements were part of the
deepening division between Federalists and Republicans. Opposition to
federal policies developed into resistance to the law in 1794 as distillers in
Western Pennsylvania rioted and refused to pay taxes. Washington directed
the army to restore order, a step applauded by Federalists and condemned
by Republicans.
Partisan tensions reached a height during the last years of Washington's
Presidency. To secure peace with Britain, Washington sent Chief Justice
John Jay to London to negotiate a treaty. The treaty was extremely
unpopular with Republicans, who charged that Washington himself had
become a tool of Britain. Few things ever troubled Washington more deeply
than these attacks on his character.
Despite Washington's disappointment with the rise of partisanship, the last
years of his Presidency were distinguished by important achievements. The
long Indian war on the northwest frontier was won, Britain surrendered its
forts in the northwest, and Spain opened the Mississippi to American
commerce. These achievements opened the West to settlement.
In Retirement: 1797-1799
By 1796, Washington was ready for retirement, and no one could persuade
him to accept a third term. With the help of Alexander Hamilton, he
composed his Farewell Address to the American people, which urged his
fellow citizens to cherish the Untion and avoid partisanship and permanent
foreign alliances. In March 1797, he turned over the government to John
Adams and returned to Mount Vernon, determined to live his last years as a
simple gentleman farmer.
In 1798, events conspired to draw him again into the public arena. President
John Adams named Washington commanding general of a provisional army
that would be raised to defend the country against a perceived French
invasion. For several months Washington devoted himself to organizing the
officer corps; however, he refused to assume another public role and
rejected a suggestion that he stand for President again in 1800.
Washington's Death
On December 12, 1799, Washington was caught out in sleet and snow while
riding over his farms. The resulting illness progressed rapidly, and
Washington suffered with a throat inflamation that made breathing extremely
painful. Doctors arrived early on the morning of December 14 but could do
little to ease his pain. He faced death with characteristic courage, saying, I
die hard, but I am not afraid to go. With his wife at his side, George
Washington died at around 10:00 p.m. on December 14, 1799. Four days
later a solemn funeral was held at Mount Vernon.
As news of Washington's death spread, the nation plunged into mourning.
Major cities and small towns alike held mock funerals. Hundreds of eulogies
and orations lamented the loss of the great and good Washington. Although
many feared his loss, Washington firmly believed that the new nation had
developed the character and strength to survive.
George Washington has been acclaimed for 200 years as the indispensable
man of our Revolution. But he secured immortality by insisting that he was
dispensible. He asserted that the cause of liberty was larger than any
individual.
He wrote, It should be the highest ambition of every American to extend his
views beyond himself and to bear in mind that his conduct will not only affect
himself, his country, and his immediate posterity; but that its influence may
be co-extensive with the world, and stamp political happiness or misery on
ages yet unborn. This call to his fellow citizens was meant for each of us as
well.
Jack D. Warren, Jr.
A Brief Biography of George Washington
George Washington was born at his father's plantation on Pope's Creek in
Westmoreland County, Virginia, on February 22, 1732. His father, Augustine
Washington, was a leading planter in the area and also served as a justice
of the county court. Augustine's first wife, Janet Butler, died in 1729, leaving
him with two sons, Lawrence and Augustine, Jr., and a daughter, Jane. The
elder Augustine then married George's mother, Mary Ball, in 1731. George
was the eldest of Augustine Washington's and Mary Ball's six children.
In 1735 Augustine moved the family up the Potomac River to another
Washington home, Little Hunting Creek Plantation (later renamed Mount
Vernon). In 1738 they moved again to Ferry Farm, a plantation on the
Rappahannock River near Fredericksburg, Virginia, where George spent
much of his youth. Little is known of Washington's childhood, and it remains
the most poorly understood part of his life. Popular fables illustrating his
youthful honesty, piety, and physical strength have long taken the place of
documented fact. Some of these fables are more plausible than others. The
story that Washington threw a silver dollar across the Potomac River -- an
impossible feat -- had its origins in the recollections of a cousin that George
could throw a stone across the much narrower Rappahannock River. But
others, including the familiar story of Washington and the cherry tree, seem
to have been invented by one of Washington's first biographers, Mason
Locke Weems.
When George was eleven years old, Augustine died, leaving most of his
property to George's older half brothers. The income from what remained
was just sufficient to maintain Mary Washington and her children. As the
oldest child remaining at home, George undoubtedly helped his mother
manage the Rappahannock River plantation where they lived. There he
learned the importance of hard work and efficiency.
Little is known about George's formal education. Commonly the children of
Virginia gentry were taught at home by private tutors or in local private
schools. Boys generally began their formal education around the age of
seven with lessons in reading, writing, and basic arithmetic. Later they were
taught Latin and Greek, as well as such practical subjects as geometry,
bookkeeping, and surveying. Wealthy planters often sent their sons to
England to finish their schooling, as was done with George's two elder half
brothers, Lawrence and Augustine.
The death of his father, however, made schooling abroad an impossibility for
George Washington. He may have attended a school near his home for the
first few years. Later he went to another school, either in Fredericksburg,
Stafford County, or Westmoreland County. He excelled in mathematics and
learned the rudiments of surveying. But he was not taught Latin or Greek
like many gentlemen's sons, and he never learned a foreign language. Nor
did he attend college. His formal education ended around the age of 15.
Among the gentry class, strong social skills were also considered an
essential part of a young man's or woman's education. After the death of
their father, George began to spend a great deal of time with his older half
brother, Lawrence, at his home, Mount Vernon. Lawrence became a mentor
to his younger brother, tutoring him in his studies, teaching him social
graces, and helping to introduce him into society.
Throughout his life, Washington regarded his education as defective. He
consciously made up for some of what he did not learn in school through
reading and study on his own. Over the years he amassed a large and
diverse library, and in his later years he subscribed to several newspapers.
He became a skilled and prolific writer. Perhaps as a result of his lack of
formal education he strongly believed in the value of a good education and
left money in his will for establishing a school in Alexandria, Virginia, as well
as for establishing a national university.
Young Manhood: 1746-1759
In 1746 Lawrence proposed that George Washington join the British navy.
Although George was excited at the idea of a military career, his mother
refused her consent, and George was spared the harsh discipline of a life at
sea. Despite missing the opportunity to travel the world, George
Washington's young adulthood became one of the great adventure stories
of American history.
Young Washington applied himself to surveying, a valuable skill in a colony
where land was being settled constantly. In 1748 he joined a surveying
expedition to western Virginia at the invitation of Lawrence's neighbors, the
powerful Fairfax family. The next year the Fairfaxes helped secure him an
appointment as a county surveyor. By the age of 17 he was well on his way
to a successful and profitable career. In an effort to establish himself as a
member of the gentry class, he worked hard, saved his money, and bought
unclaimed land.
In 1751 he accompanied Lawrence, who was suffering from tuberculosis, on
a voyage to the British island colony of Barbados. Lawrence hoped the
tropical air would ease his suffering. While in Barbados, Washington saw
some of the most extensive fortifications in British America and socialized
with military men, experiences that probably stimulated his interest in military
service. He also contracted smallpox. Though he recovered quickly, the
illness may have rendered him sterile.
Lawrence died in 1752, and shortly thereafter George inherited Mount
Vernon. He also obtained Lawrence's place in the Virginia militia and
received a major's commission -- the first step in his military career.
In 1753 the Governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie, learned that French
troops had moved south from Canada and were constructing forts in the
region south of Lake Erie, an area claimed by Virginia (but now in Western
Pennsylvania). Both France and England recognized the commercial
potential of the region. French trappers had been working in the area for
some time, and Dinwiddie was concerned that the French troops would also
fortify the forks of the Ohio -- the strategic point where the Allegheny and
Monongahela rivers join to form the Ohio River. This point, now Pittsburgh,
was the eastern gateway to the Ohio Valley.
In the fall of 1753 Dinwiddie sent 21-year-old Major Washington to deliver a
message to the French, demanding they leave the area. With the help of a
frontier guide and local Indians, Washington reached the French fort, Fort
Le Boeuf, with Dinwiddie's message. The return trip tested Washington's
endurance. He hiked for days through snowy woods, fell off a raft into the
ice-choked Allegheny River, nearly drowned, and was forced to spend a
freezing night on an island without shelter. His guide, an experienced
backwoodsman, suffered frostbite; but Washington suffered no ill effects.
Washington's account of the arduous 900-mile journey was published by
Governor Dinwiddie in both Williamsburg and London, establishing an
international reputation for George Washington by the time he was 22.
A few months later Dinwiddie dispatched Washington, now a lieutentant
colonel, and some 150 men to assert Virginia's claims. As they advanced,
Washington's men ambushed French soldiers, killing 10 men, including the
French commander, and taking the rest prisoner. Washington then retreated
to an ill-placed and makeshift palisade he called Fort Necessity. He was
forced to surrender when the French surrounded the fort. The campaign
ended in humiliation for Washington and ignited the French and Indian War.
Although he resigned his commission after the surrender, Washington
returned to the frontier in 1755 as a volunteer aide to General Edward
Braddock. Braddock had been sent by the King of England to drive the
French from the Ohio Country. Braddock's army was routed near the
Monongahela River and fled in confusion to Virginia. During the battle, while
attempting ro rally the British soldiers, Washington had two horses shot out
from under him and four bullet holes shot through his coat. Although he
behaved with conspicuous bravery, Washington could do little except lead
the broken survivors to safety.
In recognition of his conduct, Washington was given command of Virginia's
entire military force. With a few hundred men he was ordered to protect a
frontier some 350 miles long. Although this was a frustrating assignment, it
provided him with experience in commanding troops through an arduous
campaign. In 1758 the British finally took the forks of the Ohio. Peace
returned to Virginia, and Washington resigned his commission to return to
Mount Vernon, his duty faithfully performed.
Although barely twenty-seven years old, he was the most experienced native
military officer in Virginia. In 1759, upon marrying Martha Dandridge Custis,
the young widow of one of the wealthiest men in the colony, he retired to his
plantation with many of his early ambitions satisfied. He could hardly have
imagined that his greatest adventures lay ahead.
Gentleman Farmer: 1759-1775
George Washington spent the years between 1759 and 1775 as a
gentleman farmer at Mount Vernon. He worked constantly to improve and
expand the mansion house and its surrounding plantation. He established
himself as an innovative farmer, who switched from tobacco to wheat as his
main cash crop in the 1760's. In an effort to improve his farming operation,
he diligently experimented with new crops, fertilizers, crop rotation, tools, and
livestock breeding. He also expanded the work of the plantation to include
flour milling and commercial fishing in an effort to make Mount Vernon a
more profitable estate.
By the time of his death in 1799, he had expanded the plantation from 2,000
to 8,000 acres consisting of five farms, with more than 3,000 acres under
cultivation.
Although most of this time was dedicated to his private affairs and family life
with his wife, Martha, and her two children, Washington continued to
participate in public life. He was elected to the House of Burgesses in 1758
(after being twice defeated) and served several terms. He viewed the
growing disputes between Great Britain and her American colonies with
deep concern. He was not a political firebrand, stirring orator, or cloakroom
deal maker; but he impressed his peers as a modest dependable man of
strength and good sense.
In the fall of 1774, Washington was chosen as one of seven Virginia
representatives to the Continental Congress. Upon his arrival in
Philadelphia, other delegates immediately recognized him as a man of
patriotic views and sound judgment. At six feet three inches tall, he towered
over the other delegates; and he had an athletic grace and commanding
presence. Although Washington spoke very little in Congress, many of the
delegates noticed what one called his, easy, soldier-like air.
Commander-in-Chief: 1775-1783
In June 1775, Congress commissioned George Washington to take
command of the Continental Army besieging the British in Boston. He wrote
home to Martha that he expected to return safe to you in the fall. The
command kept him away from Mount Vernon for more than 8 years.
It was a command for which his military background, although greater than
that of any of the other available candidates, hardly prepared him. His
knowledge lay in frontier warfare, involving relatively small numbers of
soldiers. He had no practical experience maneuvering large formations,
handling cavalry or artillery, or maintaining supply lines adequate to support
thousands of men in the field. He learned on the job; and although his army
reeled from one misfortune to another, he had the courage, determination,
and mental agility to keep the American cause one step ahead of complete
disintegration until he figured out how to win the unprecedented
revolutionary struggle he was leading.
His task was not overwhelming at first. The British position in Boston was
untenable, and in March 1776 they withdrew from the city. But it was only a
temporary respite. In June a new British army, under the command of Sir
William Howe, arrived in the colonies with orders to take New York City. Howe
commanded the largest expeditionary force Britain had ever sent overseas.
Defending New York was almost impossible. An island city, New York is
surrounded by a maze of waterways that gave a substantial advantage to an
attacker with naval superiority. Howe's army was larger, better equipped,
and far better trained than Washington's. They defeated Washington's army
at Long Island in August and routed the Americans a few weeks later at Kip's
Bay, resulting in the loss of the city. Forced to retreat northward,
Washington was defeated again at White Plains. The American defense of
New York City came to a humiliating conclusion on November 16, 1776, with
the surrender of Fort Washington and some 2,800 men. Washington
ordered his army to retreat across New Jersey. The remains of his forces,
mud-soaked and exhausted, crossed the Delaware River into Pennsylvania
on December 7.
The British had good reason to believe that the American rebellion would be
over in a few months and that Congress would seek peace rather than face
complete subjugation of the colonies. The enlistments of most of
Washington's army were due to expire at the end of December.
However, instead of crushing the remains of Washington's army, Howe went
into winter quarters, with advanced garrisons at Trenton and Princeton,
leaving Washington open to execute one of the most daring military
operations in American history. On Christmas night Washington's troops
crossed the Delaware and attacked the unsuspecting Hessian garrison at
Trenton, forcing it to surrender. A few days later Washington again crossed
the Delaware, outmaneuvered the force sent to crush him, and fell on the
enemy at Princeton, inflicting a humiliating loss on the British.
Though the victories were not militarily decisive, this proved to be the pivotal
moment of the war. Washington had inflicted little damage on the British
army. Howe still enjoyed a numerical superiority, and there was nothing
about these modest victories to suggest that the Americans were capable of
defeating the British army in a pitched battle. Trenton and Princeton instead
marked a watershed in the way George Washington conceptualized the war.
He began to see it as a political problem as much as a military one. The
enthusiastic response to the victories at the Hessian garrison in Trenton and
Princeton taught him the importance of public opinion to sustaining a
popular war of resistance.
Washington had little conventional military education to discard. In an
unconventional conflict, he learned from experiences that perplexed and
frustrated his opponents. The truth of the situation -- that the American
rebellion would not end until Washington's army was destroyed -- ran
against the established conventions of European warfare. Howe never
seems to have abandoned the belief that once the Americans were deprived
of their major cities, the rebellion would wither. In the summer of 1777, he
mounted an offensive against Philadelphia. Washington moved to defend
the city and was defeated at the Battle of Brandywine. Philadelphia fell two
weeks later. An American counterattack on the main British camp at
Germantown, just outside Philadelphia, was repulsed -- but not without
demonstrating that Washington and his army, even though outmaneuvered
and outfought, still possessed considerable fighting spirit.
Gradually it occurred to the British high command that capturing
Philadelphia meant very little. The supplies that had flowed to Washington's
men through the city simply flowed to them through other channels. Rather
than ceasing operations, Congress simply packed up and moved to another
town. Philadelphia was no more essential to the American cause than was
New York City. Howe was relieved of command early in 1778; and his
replacement, Sir Henry Clinton, was ordered to evacuate Philadelphia.
Clinton decided to return from Philadelphia to New York by land in a rapid
retreat through the unsparing heat of the Middle Atlantic summer. Meanwhile
Washington planned a quick blow at Clinton's flank and attacked the British
near Monmouth Court House, New Jersey. The Battle of Monmouth,
although a tactical standoff, proved that the Continental Army could stand
up to British regulars in the open field without the element of surprise. It also
confirmed Washington's position as the pre-eminent American military leader
and energized the patriot cause.
For much of the remainder of the war, Washington's most important strategic
task was to keep the British bottled up in New York. Although he never gave
up hope of retaking the city, he was unwilling to risk his army without a fair
prospect of success. An alliance with France and the arrival of a French
army under the Comte de Rochambeau in July 1780 renewed Washington's
hopes to recapture New York; however, together Washington and
Rochambeau commanded about 9,000 men -- some 5,000 fewer than
Clinton. In the end, therefore, the allied generals concluded, that an attack
on New York could not succeed.
Instead, with the help of a French fleet and army, they decided to strike at
the British army under Cornwallis, which was camped at Yorktown, Virginia.
Washington's planning for the Battle of Yorktown was as bold as it had been
for Trenton and Princeton but on a much larger scale. Depending on
Clinton's inactivity, Washington marched south to lay siege on Cornwallis.
On October 19, 1781, he accepted the surrender of Cornwallis's army.
Although two more years passed before a peace treaty was completed, the
victory at Yorktown effectively brought the Revolutionary War to an end.
To the world's amazement, Washington had prevailed over the more
numerous, better supplied, and fully trained British army, mainly because he
was more flexible than his opponents. He learned that it was more important
to keep his army intact and to win an occasional victory to rally public
support than it was to hold American cities or defeat the British army in an
open field. Over the last 200 years revolutionary leaders in every part of the
world have employed this insight, but never with a result as startling as
Washington's victory over the British.
American Cincinnatus: 1783-1789
On December 23, 1783, Washington presented himself before Congress in
Annapolis, Maryland, and resigned his commission. Like Cincinnatus, the
hero of Classical antiquity whose conduct he most admired, Washington had
the wisdom to give up power when he could have been easily become
dictator. He left Annapolis and went home to Mount Vernon with the fixed
intention of never again serving in public life. This one act, without
precedent in modern history, made him an international hero.
In the years after the Revolutionary War, Washington devoted most of his
time to rebuilding Mount Vernon, which had suffered in his absence. He
experimented with new crops and fertilizers and bred some of the finest
mules in the nation. He also served as president of the Potomac Company,
which worked to improve the navigation of the river in order to make it easier
for upstream farmers to get their produce to market.
Although Washington longed for a peaceful life at Mount Vernon, the affairs
of the nation continued to command his attention. He watched with mounting
dismay as the weak union created by the Articles of Confederation gradually
disintegrated, unable to collect revenue or pay its debts. He was appalled by
the excesses of the state legislatures and frustrated by the diplomatic,
financial, and military impotence of the Confederation Congress. By 1785
Washington had concluded that reform was essential. What was needed, he
wrote to James Madison, was an energetic Constitution.
In 1787, Washington ended his self-imposed retirement and traveled to
Philadelphia to attend a convention assembled to recommend changes to
the Articles of Confederation. He was unanimously chosen to preside over
the Constitutional Convention, a job that took four months. He spoke very
little in the convention, but few delegates were more determined to devise a
government endowed with real energy and authority. My wish, he wrote, is
that the convention may adopt no temporizing expedients but probe the
defects of the Constiution to the bottom and provide a radical cure.
After the convention adjourned, Washington's reputation and support were
essential to overcome opposition to the ratification of the proposed
Constitution. He worked for months to rally support for the new instrument of
government. It was a difficult struggle. Even in Washington's native Virginia,
the Constitution was ratified by a majority of only one vote.
Once the Constitution was approved, Washington hoped to retire again to
private life. But when the first presidential election was held, he received a
vote from every elector. He remains the only President in American history to
be elected by the unanimous voice of the people.
First American President: 1789-1797
Washington served two terms as President. His first term (1789-1793) was
occupied primarily with organizing the executive branch of the new
government and establishing administrative procedures that would make it
possible for the government to operate with the energy and efficiency he
believed were essential to the republic's future. An astute judge of talent, he
surrounded himself with the most able men in the new nation. He appointed
his former aide-decamp, Alexander Hamilton, as Secretary of the Treasury;
Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State; and his former artillery chief, Henry
Knox, as Secretary of War. James Madison was one of his principal advisors.
In his First Inaugural Address, Washington confessed that he was
unpracticed in the duties of civil administration; however, he was one of the
most able administrators ever to serve as President. He administered the
government with fairness and integrity, assuring Americans that the
President could exercise extensive executive authority without corruption.
Further, he executed the laws with restraint, establishing precedents for
broad-ranging presidential authority. His integrity was most pure, Thomas
Jefferson wrote, his justice the most inflexible I have ever known, no motive
of interest or consanguinity, friendship, or hatred, being able to bias his
decision. Washington set a standard for presidential integrity rarely met by
his successors, although he established an ideal by which they all are
judged.
During Washington's first term the Federal Government adopted a series of
measures proposed by Alexander Hamilton to resolve the escalating debt
crisis and established the nation's finances on a sound basis, concluded
peace treaties with the southeastern Indian tribes, and designated a site on
the Potomac River for the permanent capital of the United States. But as
Washington's first term ended, a bloody Indian war continued on the
northwestern frontier. The warring tribes were encouraged by the British,
who retained military posts in the northwest. Further, the Spanish denied
Americans use of the Mississippi River. These problems limited the westward
expansion to which Washington was committed.
Growing partisanship within the government also concerned Washington.
Many men in the new government -- including Thomas Jefferson, James
Madison, and other leaders of the emerging Republican party -- were
opposed to Hamilton's financial program. Washington despised political
partisanship but could do little to slow the development of political parties.
During his first term Washington toured the northern and southern states
and found that the new government enjoyed the general support of the
American people. Convinced that the government could get along without
him, he planned to step down at the end of his first term. But his cabinet
members convinced him that he alone could command the respect of
members of both burgeoning political parties. Thomas Jefferson visited
Washington at Mount Vernon to urge him to accept a second term. Although
longing to return home permanently, Washington reluctantly agreed.
Washington's second term (1793-1797) was dominated by foreign affairs
and marred by a deepening partisanship in his own administration.
Washington assumed the Presidency on the eve of the French Revolution, a
time of great international crisis. The outbreak of a general Europen war in
1793 forced the crisis to the center of American politics. Washington
believed the national interest of the United States dictated neutrality. War
would be disastrous for commerce and shatter the nation's finances. The
country's future depended on the increase in wealth and opportunity that
would come from commerce and westward expansion. One of Washington's
most important accomplishments was keeping the United States out of the
war, giving the new nation an opportunity to grow in strength while
establishing the principle of neutrality that shaped American foreign policy
for more than a century.
Although Washington's department heads agreed that the United States
should remain neutral, disagreements over foreign policy aggravated
partisan tensions among them. The disagreements were part of the
deepening division between Federalists and Republicans. Opposition to
federal policies developed into resistance to the law in 1794 as distillers in
Western Pennsylvania rioted and refused to pay taxes. Washington directed
the army to restore order, a step applauded by Federalists and condemned
by Republicans.
Partisan tensions reached a height during the last years of Washington's
Presidency. To secure peace with Britain, Washington sent Chief Justice
John Jay to London to negotiate a treaty. The treaty was extremely
unpopular with Republicans, who charged that Washington himself had
become a tool of Britain. Few things ever troubled Washington more deeply
than these attacks on his character.
Despite Washington's disappointment with the rise of partisanship, the last
years of his Presidency were distinguished by important achievements. The
long Indian war on the northwest frontier was won, Britain surrendered its
forts in the northwest, and Spain opened the Mississippi to American
commerce. These achievements opened the West to settlement.
In Retirement: 1797-1799
By 1796, Washington was ready for retirement, and no one could persuade
him to accept a third term. With the help of Alexander Hamilton, he
composed his Farewell Address to the American people, which urged his
fellow citizens to cherish the Untion and avoid partisanship and permanent
foreign alliances. In March 1797, he turned over the government to John
Adams and returned to Mount Vernon, determined to live his last years as a
simple gentleman farmer.
In 1798, events conspired to draw him again into the public arena. President
John Adams named Washington commanding general of a provisional army
that would be raised to defend the country against a perceived French
invasion. For several months Washington devoted himself to organizing the
officer corps; however, he refused to assume another public role and
rejected a suggestion that he stand for President again in 1800.
Washington's Death
On December 12, 1799, Washington was caught out in sleet and snow while
riding over his farms. The resulting illness progressed rapidly, and
Washington suffered with a throat inflamation that made breathing extremely
painful. Doctors arrived early on the morning of December 14 but could do
little to ease his pain. He faced death with characteristic courage, saying, I
die hard, but I am not afraid to go. With his wife at his side, George
Washington died at around 10:00 p.m. on December 14, 1799. Four days
later a solemn funeral was held at Mount Vernon.
As news of Washington's death spread, the nation plunged into mourning.
Major cities and small towns alike held mock funerals. Hundreds of eulogies
and orations lamented the loss of the great and good Washington. Although
many feared his loss, Washington firmly believed that the new nation had
developed the character and strength to survive.
George Washington has been acclaimed for 200 years as the indispensable
man of our Revolution. But he secured immortality by insisting that he was
dispensible. He asserted that the cause of liberty was larger than any
individual.
He wrote, It should be the highest ambition of every American to extend his
views beyond himself and to bear in mind that his conduct will not only affect
himself, his country, and his immediate posterity; but that its influence may
be co-extensive with the world, and stamp political happiness or misery on
ages yet unborn. This call to his fellow citizens was meant for each of us as
well.
Jack D. Warren, Jr.
A Brief Biography of George Washington
A Brief Biography Of...
George Washington
George Washington
