George Washington

George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799) was a Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War against the British Empire. He is commonly known as the Father of His Country for his role in bringing about American independence.

Born in the Colony of Virginia, Washington became commander of the Virginia Regiment during the French and Indian War from 1754 to 1763. He was later elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, where he opposed the way the British Crown was oppressing the American colonists. When the American Revolutionary War against the British began in 1775, Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. He had to lead a poorly organized and poorly equipped force against disciplined British troops.

Washington and his army won an early victory at the Siege of Boston in March 1776, but they were forced to retreat from New York City in November. He crossed the Delaware River and won the battles of Trenton in late 1776 and of Princeton in early 1777, but later that year he lost the battles of Brandywine and Germantown. As the war went on, he faced criticism of his command, low troop morale, and a lack of supplies for his forces. In the end, Washington led a combined French and American force to a decisive victory over the British at Yorktown in 1781. The resulting Treaty of Paris in 1783 saw the British acknowledge the sovereign independence of the United States. Washington then served as president of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which drafted the current Constitution of the United States.

Washington was unanimously elected the first U.S. president by the Electoral College in the 1788–89 United States presidential election and the 1792 United States presidential election. He set up a strong, well-financed national government while staying impartial in the fierce rivalry that developed within his cabinet between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. During the French Revolution, he adopted a policy of neutrality while supporting the Jay Treaty with Britain. Washington set lasting examples for the office of president, including republicanism, a peaceful transfer of power, the use of the title "Mr. President", and the two-term tradition.

His 1796 farewell address became a famous statement on republicanism, in which Washington wrote about the importance of national unity and the dangers that regionalism, partisanship, and foreign influence pose to it. As a planter of tobacco and wheat at Mount Vernon, Washington owned many slaves. He began opposing slavery near the end of his life, and his will provided for the eventual manumission (freeing) of his slaves. Washington's image is an icon of American culture, and he has been extensively memorialized. His namesakes include the national capital and the State of Washington. In both popular and scholarly polls, he is consistently considered one of the greatest presidents in American history.

Early life (1732–1752)

Further information: Washington family and Surveying career of George Washington

George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, at Popes Creek in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was the first of six children of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington. His father was a justice of the peace and a well-known public figure. Washington was not close to his father and rarely mentioned him later, and he had a difficult relationship with his mother. He was especially close to his older half-brother Lawrence. The family moved to Little Hunting Creek in 1735 and settled at Ferry Farm near Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1738. After Augustine died in 1743, Lawrence renamed Little Hunting Creek Mount Vernon. Because of his father's death, Washington did not get the formal schooling his older half-brothers had at Appleby Grammar School in England. He attended the Lower Church School in Hartfield instead, learning mathematics and land surveying. He became a talented draftsman and mapmaker. As a teenager, he copied over a hundred rules for polite behavior, called The Rules of Civility, from an English translation of a French guidebook. His biographer Ron Chernow later described his writing as having "considerable force" and "precision."

Washington often visited Belvoir, the plantation of William Fairfax, and Mount Vernon. Fairfax became his patron and a kind of surrogate father. In 1748, Washington spent a month surveying Fairfax's land in the Shenandoah Valley. The next year, he received a surveyor's license from the College of William & Mary. Even though he had not served the usual apprenticeship, Thomas Fairfax appointed him surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia. Washington took his oath of office on July 20, 1749, and resigned in 1750. In 1751, he traveled to Barbados with Lawrence, who hoped the climate would cure his tuberculosis. Washington caught smallpox on the trip, which left his face slightly scarred. Lawrence died in 1752, and Washington leased Mount Vernon from his widow, Ann.

Colonial military career (1752–1758)

Lawrence Washington's work as adjutant general of the Virginia militia inspired George to seek a militia commission. Virginia's lieutenant governor, Robert Dinwiddie, made him a major and commander of one of the four militia districts. The British and French both wanted control of the Ohio River Valley. The British built forts along the river, and the French built between the river and Lake Erie. In 1753, Dinwiddie sent Washington as a special envoy to tell the French to leave land the British claimed. He was also asked to make peace with the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy and to learn about French forces. Washington met the Haudenosaunee leader Tanacharison at Logstown. Washington said Tanacharison gave him the name Conotocaurius, meaning "devourer of villages." That name had earlier been given to his great-grandfather John Washington by the Susquehannock. The French escorted Washington to Fort Le Boeuf, where he gave the British demand to the French commander Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre. The French refused to leave, but Washington completed the difficult winter mission, and his report was published in Virginia and London.

French and Indian War

In February 1754, Dinwiddie promoted Washington to lieutenant colonel and second-in-command of the 300-strong Virginia Regiment. He was ordered to confront the French at the Forks of the Ohio, where the French were building Fort Duquesne. Washington set up a defensive position at Great Meadows, then carried out an ambush on May 28, 1754. The French commander Joseph Coulon de Jumonville, who was carrying a message for the British, was among those killed. Washington then retreated to Fort Necessity. On July 3, 900 French soldiers attacked Fort Necessity, and the ensuing battle ended in Washington's surrender. He signed a document that wrongly described Jumonville's death as "assassinating," and he later blamed the translator. The Jumonville affair started the French and Indian War. In 1755, Washington joined General Edward Braddock on a British expedition to drive the French from Fort Duquesne and the Ohio Country. Braddock split the army into a main column and a smaller "flying column." Washington was very ill with dysentery and joined later. The French and their allies ambushed the divided army at the Battle of the Monongahela, where Braddock was killed. Under Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Gage, Washington rallied the survivors and formed a rear guard so the army could retreat. Washington later clashed over seniority with Captain John Dagworthy at Fort Cumberland. He pressed for a royal commission with Commander-in-Chief William Shirley and then with Lord Loudoun, who refused him. In 1758, the Virginia Regiment joined the Forbes Expedition to capture Fort Duquesne. General John Forbes gave Washington a brevet brigadier general rank, but the French had already left the fort. A friendly fire incident left 14 dead and 26 injured. Washington resigned soon afterwards and returned to Mount Vernon. Through these years, he gained leadership skills and knowledge of British military tactics, though he remained unhappy with the British for not granting him a royal commission.

Marriage, civilian and political life (1759–1775)

On January 6, 1759, Washington, at age 26, married Martha Dandridge Custis, a 27-year-old widow whose first husband, Daniel Parke Custis, had been a wealthy plantation owner. Martha was intelligent, kind, and good at running a large estate, and the couple had a happy marriage. They lived at Mount Vernon, where Washington grew tobacco and wheat. Through the marriage, he gained control of Martha's one-third dower share of the 18,000-acre (7,300 ha) Custis estate and managed the rest for her children, which made him one of the wealthiest men in Virginia. He later expanded Mount Vernon to 6,500 acres (2,600 ha), and he also moved into flour milling and hemp farming. His debts grew after he spent heavily on goods from England, and in 1764 he owed £1,800. He settled those debts after his stepdaughter Patsy, who had epileptic attacks, died at Mount Vernon in 1773 and left him part of her estate. In 1758, Washington was elected to represent Frederick County in the Virginia House of Burgesses for seven years. He became more active in politics in the 1760s, when he began to criticize Britain's mercantilist policies and the taxes that British Parliament placed on the colonies without proper representation. He was glad when the Stamp Act 1765 was repealed, and he urged Virginians to boycott British goods in response to the Townshend Acts.

Washington was also upset by the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which banned settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains, and by British control over land speculation, in which he took part himself. After colonists took part in the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts in 1774, which Washington saw as "an invasion of our rights and privileges." That July, he and George Mason wrote a list of resolutions for the Fairfax County committee, which included a call to end the Atlantic slave trade. In August, Washington attended the First Virginia Convention and was chosen as a delegate to the First Continental Congress. As tensions grew, he helped train militias in Virginia and worked to enforce the Continental Association, a boycott of British goods set up by the Congress.

Commander in chief of the army (1775–1783)

Further information: Military career of George Washington

When the American Revolutionary War began in April 1775, Washington left his home at Mount Vernon to join the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. In June, Congress created the Continental Army and chose Washington as its commander-in-chief, mainly because of his military experience. He did not ask for a salary. Over the next years, Washington led the Patriot forces through many battles. He forced the British to leave Boston in March 1776, won a surprise attack at Trenton in December 1776, and struggled through a hard winter at Valley Forge. His army's victory at Yorktown in 1781 led to a British surrender, and the peace was later settled in the Treaty of Paris, which recognized American independence. In December 1783, Washington resigned as commander-in-chief, returning power to Congress.

Main article: Siege of Boston

Main article: New York and New Jersey Campaign

Main article: Battle of Long Island

Main article: Philadelphia campaign

Main articles: Battle of Brandywine, Battle of Germantown, and Battles of Saratoga

Main articles: Valley Forge and Battle of Monmouth

Main articles: Culper Ring and Military career of Benedict Arnold, 1777–1779

Main articles: Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War and Siege of Yorktown

Early republic (1783–1789)

Further information: Confederation Period and Articles of Confederation

Main article: Constitutional Convention (United States)

Main article: 1788–1789 United States presidential election

After just ten days at Mount Vernon in 8 and a half years of war, Washington was eager to return home. He arrived on Christmas Eve, and Professor John E. Ferling wrote that he was happy to be "free of the bustle of a camp and the busy scenes of public life." Many visitors came to pay their respects. Washington took up his interest in the Great Dismal Swamp and Potomac Canal projects, though neither paid him any money. His farm was not profitable, and he had money problems. To improve his estate, he planted fast-growing trees and began breeding mules after receiving a stud from King Charles III of Spain in 1785.

Before returning to private life in 1783, Washington called for a strong union. He said the Articles of Confederation were "a rope of sand." When Shays's Rebellion broke out in Massachusetts in 1786, he became more sure that a new constitution was needed. Nationalists met at Annapolis, and Congress agreed to a Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. Washington was chosen to lead Virginia's group but at first declined. James Madison and others persuaded him to attend, and the convention elected him to preside. Delegates debated two plans, the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan, before adopting the Connecticut Compromise. The Constitution was signed by 39 of 55 delegates on September 17, 1787. In 1788, Washington was appointed chancellor of the College of William & Mary. In February 1789, the electors voted unanimously for him as the first president, and John Adams became vice president.

Presidency (1789–1797)

Main article: Presidency of George Washington

Further information: History of Washington, D.C.; American School (economics); Whiskey Rebellion; Northwest Indian War; Treaty of New York (1790); and Cabinet of the United States

Washington was inaugurated on April 30, 1789, taking the oath of office at Federal Hall in New York City. Robert R. Livingston gave the oath, using a Bible provided by the Freemasons. Washington wanted to serve without pay, but Congress insisted that he receive a salary. He chose the simple title "Mr. President" instead of grand titles, hoping his choices would set good examples for later leaders. He used a cabinet form of the executive branch and selected the first justices for the Supreme Court. Congress created the State Department, the War Department, and the Treasury Department. Washington chose Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State and Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury. Washington's closest advisors split into two groups, which led to the First Party System. Hamilton founded the Federalist Party, and Jefferson founded the Jeffersonian Republicans. Washington stayed non-partisan, but he favored Hamilton's plans. Washington was re-elected in the election of 1792, and he was sworn in again on March 4, 1793, in Congress Hall in Philadelphia.

When war broke out in Europe during the French Revolutionary Wars, Washington issued a proclamation declaring American neutrality. He later asked that the French minister, Edmond-Charles Genêt, be recalled. During his second term, Washington faced the Whiskey Rebellion, a revolt in Pennsylvania against liquor taxes, which he put down with a militia. He also dealt with the Northwest Indian War, which ended when American troops won the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. Hamilton helped create the Jay Treaty, signed by John Jay, which kept peace with Britain and settled some debts, though it disappointed Washington in some ways. Relations with Spain improved when Thomas Pinckney negotiated the Treaty of San Lorenzo in 1795, which gave Americans access to the Mississippi River. Washington faced strong criticism in his final months, and he was upset by personal attacks against him. He chose to retire at the end of his second term and set an important example by not running again.

Farewell Address

In his valedictory address, Washington stressed national identity, warned against political parties and foreign alliances, and said that "religion and morality are indispensable supports" for a republic. The address was published in the American Daily Advertiser in 1796. Many people admired it over time, and writers later compared it to the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln.

Post-presidency (1797–1799)

Main article: Post-presidency of George Washington

See also: Finances of George Washington

After Washington retired to Mount Vernon in March 1797, he worked on his business interests, though his farms made only a small profit. Most of his wealth was in land and enslaved people rather than cash, so he built a distillery to make whiskey using his enslaved workers. He also bought land to help the new capital, Washington, D.C., grow. The capital had been named in his honor in 1791. He held land in the west, on the Piedmont, which earned little money. He became an even stronger Federalist. He supported the Alien and Sedition Acts and convinced John Marshall to run for Congress to weaken the Jeffersonian hold on Virginia. When French privateers began seizing American ships in 1798, Washington wrote to James McHenry offering to help organize the army during the "Quasi-War." President Adams named him commander-in-chief of the armies in July 1798. Washington served until his death 17 months later. He helped plan the army's work but left active leadership to Hamilton.

On December 12, 1799, Washington rode out to inspect his farms in bad weather for five hours, then dined with guests without changing his wet clothes. He woke the next morning with a sore throat and trouble breathing. Because bloodletting was a common practice of the time, blood was removed from him, and doctors James Craik, Gustavus Richard Brown, and Elisha C. Dick were called. His condition kept getting worse. He died on the night of December 14, 1799, with Martha beside him. His last words were "'Tis well." Historians still discuss the cause of his death. Modern medical writers have mostly concluded that he likely died from severe epiglottitis, made worse by his treatments, which may have caused hypovolemic shock. Washington was buried at Mount Vernon on December 18, 1799, in a service attended mostly by family and friends. His remains were later moved into a marble sarcophagus in 1837.

Beliefs

Slavery

Further information: Slavery in the colonial United States, Slavery in the United States, and Abolitionism in the United States

During Washington's lifetime, at least 577 slaves lived and worked at Mount Vernon. He inherited some, gained control of 84 dower slaves when he married Martha, and bought at least 71 slaves between 1752 and 1773. From 1786, he rented slaves as part of an agreement about a neighboring estate.

Slavery was deeply ingrained in life in the Colony of Virginia. At first, Washington shared the views of most Virginia planters. From the 1760s, however, he slowly came to oppose slavery. His first doubts came when he changed from tobacco to grain crops, which left him with costly extra slaves. As president, he stayed publicly silent on the issue, believing it could divide the nation. In his will, he freed his long-time valet Billy Lee and freed his other slaves after Martha's death.

Religious and spiritual views

Main article: Religious views of George Washington

Washington was baptized as an infant in April 1732 and was a devoted Anglican. For more than 20 years, he served as a vestryman and churchwarden at the Fairfax and Truro parishes in Virginia. He prayed and read the Bible every day. He may have taken communion regularly before the Revolution, but not afterwards.

He spoke of God using American Enlightenment words, such as Providence, the Almighty, and the Divine Author. He believed a divine power watched over his life and the nation. He often quoted the Bible and the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. As president, he opposed state religion and gave speeches on religious freedom. In 1793, speaking to members of the New Church in Baltimore, he said that the light of truth and reason had triumphed over bigotry and superstition.

Freemasonry was widely accepted in the late 1700s and was known for its moral teachings. American Masonic lodges did not share the anti-clerical views of controversial European lodges. A lodge was set up in Fredericksburg, Virginia in September 1752, and Washington joined two months later at age 20. In 1777, he was recommended to be Grand Master of the newly formed Grand Lodge of Virginia, but he did not take the role.

Personal life

Washington and his wife Martha did not have any children together. Washington's illness with smallpox in 1751 may have left him unable to have children. Chernow notes that Martha may have been hurt when she gave birth to Patsy, her last child, which made more births impossible. The couple raised Martha's children John Parke Custis (Jacky) and Martha Parke Custis (Patsy), and later Jacky's two youngest children, Eleanor Parke Custis (Nelly) and George Washington Parke Custis (Washy). They also helped many nieces and nephews.

Washington was somewhat reserved, but he had a strong presence. He was not a noted speaker, though he gave speeches when needed. He drank alcohol in moderation but opposed drinking too much, smoking tobacco, gambling, and swearing. He was taller than most people of his time and was known for his strength. He did not wear a powdered wig. Instead, he wore his hair curled, powdered, and tied in a queue in the fashion of the day. He suffered from severe tooth decay, lost nearly all of his teeth, and used false teeth made of metal, ivory, bone, animal teeth, and possibly human teeth. To ease his pain, he took laudanum. He was also a talented horseman, and his favorite horses were Blueskin and Nelson.

Legacy

Further information: Legacy of George Washington and Historical rankings of presidents of the United States

See also: Cultural depictions of George Washington

Washington is one of the most influential figures in American history. Virginia's Governor Henry Lee III praised him as "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." Polls have consistently ranked Washington among the highest of presidents. Washington became an international symbol for freedom and nationalism as the leader of the first successful revolution against a colonial empire. In 1879, Congress made Washington's Birthday a federal holiday. Historians have looked closely at his reputation in recent times. Some say his character was the most closely studied of any founder. Historians also disagree about how he treated Native Americans. Some say he tried to be fair, while Colin G. Calloway wrote that Washington had a lifelong wish to get Native American land, and his policies had devastating effects. Like other Founding Fathers, Washington held enslaved people. Some people today want his name removed from public buildings.

Further information: List of memorials to George Washington, List of statues of George Washington, and List of paintings of George Washington

Many places have been named after Washington, including the capital city of Washington, D.C. and the state of Washington. The Washington Monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Washington is also one of four presidents carved on Mount Rushmore. The George Washington Bridge, opened in 1931, connects New York City to New Jersey. Many secondary schools and universities are named after him, including George Washington University and Washington University in St. Louis. He appears on the one-dollar bill and the quarter-dollar coin, and he was pictured on the nation's first postage stamp in 1847.