George Washington (February 22, 1732[1][2][3] – December 14, 1799) led the Continental Army to victory over the Kingdom of Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and served as the first President of the United States of America (1789–1797).[4]
The Continental Congress appointed Washington commander-in-chief of the American revolutionary forces in 1775. The following year, he forced the British out of Boston, lost New York City, and crossed the Delaware River in New Jersey, defeating the surprised enemy units later that year. As a result of his strategy, Revolutionary forces captured the two main British combat armies at Saratoga and Yorktown. Negotiating with Congress, the colonial states, and French allies, he held together a tenuous army and a fragile nation amid the threats of disintegration and failure. Following the end of the war in 1783, Washington returned to private life and retired to his plantation at Mount Vernon, prompting an incredulous King George III to state, "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world."[5][6]
He presided over the Philadelphia Convention that drafted the United States Constitution in 1787 because of general dissatisfaction with the Articles of Confederation. Washington became President of the United States in 1789 and established many of the customs and usages of the new government's executive department. He sought to create a great nation capable of surviving in a world torn asunder by war between Britain and France. His unilateral Proclamation of Neutrality of 1793 provided a basis for avoiding any involvement in foreign conflicts. He supported plans to build a strong central government by funding the national debt, implementing an effective tax system, and creating a national bank. Washington avoided the temptation of war and began a decade of peace with Britain via the Jay Treaty in 1795; he used his prestige to get it ratified over intense opposition from the Jeffersonians. Although never officially joining the Federalist Party, he supported its programs and was its inspirational leader. Washington's farewell address was a primer on republican virtue and a stern warning against partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars.
Washington is seen as a symbol of the United States and republicanism in practice.[7] His devotion to civic virtue made him an exemplary figure among early American politicians.[7][8]
Washington died in 1799, and the funeral oration delivered by Henry Lee stated that of all Americans, he was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."[9] Washington has been consistently ranked by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents.
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George Washington
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| In office April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797 |
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| Vice President | John Adams |
| Preceded by | None, Office created a |
| Succeeded by | John Adams |
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| In office June 15, 1775 – December 23, 1783 |
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| Appointed by | Continental Congress |
| Preceded by | None, Office created |
| Succeeded by | Henry Knoxb |
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| In office July 13, 1798 – December 14, 1799 |
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| President | John Adams |
| Preceded by | James Wilkinson |
| Succeeded by | Alexander Hamilton |
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| Born | February 22, 1732 Westmoreland County, Colony of Virginia, British America |
| Died | December 14, 1799 (aged 67) Mount Vernon, Virginia, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | None |
| Spouse | Martha Dandridge Custis Washington |
| Children | John Parke Custis (stepson) Martha Parke Custis (stepdaughter) Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis (step-granddaughter, raised by Washington) George Washington Parke Custis (step-grandson, raised by Washington) |
| Occupation | Farmer (Planter) Soldier (General) |
| Religion | Church of England / Episcopal |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | .svg){kind=small} United Kingdom of Great Britain United States |
| Years of service | 1752–1758 1775-1783 1798-1799 |
| Rank |  General of the Armies of the United States |
| Commands | British Army's Virginia Regiment Continental Army United States Army |
| a See President of the United States, in Congress Assembled. b General Knox served as the Senior Officer of the United States Army. |
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Early life
George Washington was born on February 22 1732 [O.S. February 11, 1732][1] the first son of Augustine Washington and his second wife, Mary Ball Washington, on the family's Pope's Creek Estate near present-day Colonial Beach in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Moving to Ferry Farm in Stafford County at age six, he was educated in the home by his father and older brother.[10]
In his youth, Washington worked as a surveyor, and acquired what would become invaluable knowledge of the terrain around his native Colony of Virginia.[11] Washington embarked upon a career as a planter and in 1748 was invited to help survey Baron Fairfax's lands west of the Blue Ridge. In 1749, he was appointed to his first public office, surveyor of newly created Culpeper County,[10][12] and through his half-brother, Lawrence Washington, he became interested in the Ohio Company, which aimed to exploit Western lands. In 1751, George and his half-brother traveled to Barbados, staying at Bush Hill House,[13] hoping for an improvement in Lawrence's tuberculosis. This was the only time George Washington traveled outside what is now the United States.[14] After Lawrence's death in 1752, George inherited part of his estate and took over some of Lawrence's duties as adjutant of the colony.[15]
Washington was appointed a district adjutant general in the Virginia militia in 1752,[10] which made him Major Washington at the age of 20. He was charged with training the militia in the quarter assigned to him.[16] At age 21, in Fredericksburg, Washington became a Master Mason in the organization of Freemasons, a fraternal organization that was a lifelong influence.[17][18]
In December 1753, Washington was asked by Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia to carry a British ultimatum to the French on the Ohio frontier.[10] Washington assessed French military strength and intentions, and delivered the message to the French at Fort Le Boeuf in present day Waterford, Pennsylvania. The message, which went unheeded, called for the French to abandon their development of the Ohio country, setting in motion two colonial powers toward worldwide conflict. Washington's report on the affair was widely read on both sides of the Atlantic.
French and Indian War (Seven Years War)
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In 1754, Dinwiddie commissioned Washington a lieutenant colonel and ordered him to lead an expedition to Fort Duquesne to drive out the French.[10] With his American Indian allies led by Tanacharison, Washington and his troops ambushed a French scouting party of some 30 men, led by Joseph Coulon de Jumonville.[19] Washington and his troops were overwhelmed at Fort Necessity by a larger and better positioned French and Indian force. The terms of surrender included a statement that Washington had assassinated Jumonville after the ambush. Washington could not read French, and, unaware of what it said, signed his name.[20] Released by the French, Washington returned to Virginia, where he was cleared of blame for the defeat, but resigned because he did not like the new arrangement of the Virginia Militia.[20]
In 1755, Washington was an aide to British General Edward Braddock on the ill-fated Monongahela expedition.[10] This was a major effort to retake the Ohio Country. While Braddock was killed and the expedition ended in disaster, Washington distinguished himself as the Hero of the Monongahela.[21] While Washington's role during the battle has been debated, biographer Joseph Ellis asserts that Washington rode back and forth across the battlefield, rallying the remnant of the British and Virginian forces to a retreat.[22] Subsequent to this action, Washington was given a difficult frontier command in the Virginia mountains, and was rewarded by being promoted to colonel and named commander of all Virginia forces.[10]
In 1758, Washington participated as a brigadier general in the Forbes expedition that prompted French evacuation of Fort Duquesne, and British establishment of Pittsburgh.[10] Later that year, Washington resigned from active military service and spent the next sixteen years as a Virginia planter and politician.[23]
Between the wars
George Washington was introduced to Martha Dandridge Custis, a widow who was living at the White House Plantation on the south shore of the Pamunkey River in New Kent County, Virginia, by friends of Martha when George was on leave from the French and Indian War. George only visited her home twice before proposing marriage to her 3 weeks after they met. George and Martha were each 27 years old when they married on January 6, 1759 at her home, known as The White House, which shares its name with the future presidential mansion. The newlywed couple moved to Mount Vernon, where he took up the tuckahoe life of a genteel planter and political figure. They had a good marriage, and together they raised her two children by her previous marriage to Daniel Parke Custis, John Parke Custis and Martha Parke Custis, affectionately called "Jackie" and "Patsy."[24] George and Martha never had any children together – an earlier bout with smallpox followed by tuberculosis may have left him sterile.[25] Later the Washingtons raised two of Mrs. Washington's grandchildren, Eleanor Parke Custis ("Nelly") and George Washington Parke Custis ("Washy") after their father died in 1781.[26]
Washington's marriage to a wealthy widow greatly increased his property holdings and social standing, and after his marriage, George Washington was the wealthiest man in Virginia, if not in the colonies.[27] He acquired one-third of the 18,000 acre (73 km²
Custis estate upon his marriage, and managed the remainder on behalf of Martha's children. He frequently purchased additional land in his own name, and was granted land in what is now West Virginia as a bounty for his service in the French and Indian War. By 1775, Washington had doubled the size of Mount Vernon to 6,500 acres (26 km², with over 100 slaves. As a respected military hero and large landowner, he held local office and was elected to the Virginia provincial legislature, the House of Burgesses, beginning in 1758,[28] and he served as a justice of Fairfax, and held court in Alexandria, Virginia between 1760 and 1774.[10]
Washington first took a leading role in the growing colonial resistance in 1769, when he introduced a proposal drafted by his friend George Mason which called for Virginia to boycott imported English goods until the Townshend Acts were repealed. Parliament repealed the Acts in 1770. Washington also took an active interest in helping his fellow citizens. On September 21, 1771, Washington wrote a letter to Neil Jameson on behalf of Jonathan Plowman Jr., a merchant from Baltimore whose ship had been seized for exporting non-permitted items by the Boston Frigate, and requested his help toward recovery of Plowman's ship.[29] Washington regarded the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774 as "an Invasion of our Rights and Privileges." In July 1774, he chaired the meeting at which the Fairfax Resolves were adopted, which called for, among other things, the convening of a Continental Congress. In August, he attended the First Virginia Convention where he was selected as a delegate to the First Continental Congress.[30]
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