George Washington

George Washington (, 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 the 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, and opposed the perceived oppression of the American colonists by the British Crown. When the American Revolutionary War against the British began in 1775, Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. He directed a poorly organized and equipped force against disciplined British troops. Washington and his army achieved an early victory at the Siege of Boston in March 1776 but were forced to retreat from New York City in November. Washington crossed the Delaware River and won the battles of Trenton in late 1776 and of Princeton in early 1777, then lost the battles of Brandywine and Germantown later that year. He faced criticism of his command, low troop morale, and a lack of provisions for his forces as the war continued. Ultimately Washington led a combined French and American force to a decisive victory over the British at Yorktown in 1781. In the resulting Treaty of Paris in 1783, the British acknowledged 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 1788 and 1792. He established a strong, well-financed national government while remaining impartial in the fierce rivalry that emerged 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 enduring precedents 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 preeminent statement on republicanism: 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 provided in his will for the eventual manumission 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)

left|thumb|alt=Sketch of a cabin with the caption "Residence of the Washington Family"|[[Ferry Farm, the Washington family residence on the Rappahannock River in Stafford County, Virginia, where Washington spent much of his youth]]

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 prominent public figure who had four additional children from his first marriage to Jane Butler. Washington was not close to his father and rarely mentioned him in later years; he had a fractious relationship with his mother. Among his siblings, he was particularly close to his older half-brother Lawrence.

The family moved to a plantation on Little Hunting Creek in 1735 before settling at Ferry Farm near Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1738. When Augustine died in 1743, Washington inherited Ferry Farm and ten slaves; Lawrence inherited Little Hunting Creek and renamed it Mount Vernon. Because of his father's death, Washington did not have the formal education his elder half-brothers had received at Appleby Grammar School in England; he instead attended the Lower Church School in Hartfield. He learned mathematics and land surveying, and became a talented draftsman and mapmaker. By early adulthood, he was writing with what his biographer Ron Chernow described as "considerable force" and "precision". As a teenager, Washington compiled over a hundred rules for social interaction styled The Rules of Civility, copied from an English translation of a French guidebook.

Washington often visited Belvoir, the plantation of William Fairfax, Lawrence's father-in-law, and Mount Vernon. Fairfax became Washington's patron and surrogate father. In 1748, Washington spent a month with a team surveying Fairfax's Shenandoah Valley property. The following year, he received a surveyor's license from the College of William & Mary. Even though Washington had not served the customary apprenticeship, Thomas Fairfax (William's cousin) appointed him surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia. Washington took his oath of office on July 20, 1749, and resigned in 1750. The Jumonville affair became the incident which ignited the French and Indian War.

In 1755, Washington volunteered as an aide to General Edward Braddock, who led a British expedition to expel the French from Fort Duquesne and the Ohio Country. On Washington's recommendation, Braddock split the army into one main column and a smaller "flying column". Washington was suffering from severe dysentery so did not initially travel with the expedition forces. When he rejoined Braddock at Monongahela, still very ill, the French and their Indian allies ambushed the divided army. Two-thirds of the British force became casualties in the ensuing Battle of the Monongahela, and Braddock was killed. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Gage, Washington rallied the survivors and formed a rear guard, allowing the remnants of the force to retreat. During the engagement, Washington had two horses shot out from under him, and his hat and coat were pierced by bullets. His conduct redeemed his reputation among critics of his command in the Battle of Fort Necessity, but he was not included by the succeeding commander (Colonel Thomas Dunbar) in planning subsequent operations.

The Virginia Regiment was reconstituted in August 1755, and Dinwiddie appointed Washington its commander, again with the rank of colonel. Washington clashed over seniority almost immediately, this time with Captain John Dagworthy, who commanded a detachment of Marylanders at the regiment's headquarters in Fort Cumberland. Washington, impatient for an offensive against Fort Duquesne, was convinced Braddock would have granted him a royal commission and pressed his case in February 1756 with Braddock's successor as Commander-in-Chief, William Shirley, and again in January 1757 with Shirley's successor, Lord Loudoun. Loudoun humiliated Washington, refused him a royal commission, and agreed only to relieve him of the responsibility of manning Fort Cumberland.

In 1758, the Virginia Regiment was assigned to the British Forbes Expedition to capture Fort Duquesne.

Constitutional Convention of 1787

thumb|upright=1.2|alt=Painting by Howard Chandler Christy, depicting the signing of the Constitution of the United States, with Washington as the presiding officer standing at right|[[Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, a 1940 portrait by Howard Chandler Christy depicting Washington as the presiding officer at the Constitutional Convention in 1787]]

Before returning to private life in June 1783, Washington called for a strong union. Though he was concerned that he might be criticized for meddling in civil matters, he sent a circular letter to the states, maintaining that the Articles of Confederation were no more than "a rope of sand". He believed the nation was on the verge of "anarchy and confusion", was vulnerable to foreign intervention, and that a national constitution would unify the states under a strong central government.

When Shays's Rebellion erupted in Massachusetts in August 1786, Washington was further convinced that a national constitution was needed.

First presidential election

Just prior to the first presidential election of 1789, in 1788 Washington was appointed chancellor of the College of William & Mary. He continued to serve through his presidency until his death. The delegates to the convention for the first presidential election anticipated a Washington presidency and left it to him to define the office once elected. When the state electors voted on February 4, 1789, Washington was unanimously elected, unique among U.S. presidents. John Adams was elected vice president. Despite writing that he felt "anxious and painful sensations" about leaving Mount Vernon, Washington departed for New York City on April 16.

Presidency (1789–1797)

First term

thumb|George Washington, , by Gilbert Stuart, an early inaugural portrait, [[Metropolitan Museum of Art|left]]Washington was inaugurated on April 30, 1789, taking the oath of office at Federal Hall in New York City. His coach was led by militia and a marching band and followed by statesmen and foreign dignitaries in an inaugural parade, with a crowd of 10,000. Robert R. Livingston administered the oath, using a Bible provided by the Freemasons. Washington read a speech in the Senate Chamber, asking "that Almighty Being ... consecrate the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States". Though he wished to serve without a salary, Congress insisted that he receive one, and Cheatham in 2008.

Funeral and burial

Washington's funeral was held on December 18, 1799, four days after his death, at Mount Vernon. Cavalry and foot soldiers led the procession, and six colonels served as the pallbearers. The Mount Vernon funeral service was restricted mostly to family and friends. Reverend Thomas Davis read a brief funeral service, followed by a ceremony performed by members of Washington's Masonic lodge; Washington had been a Freemason since 1752. Word of his death traveled slowly, but as it reached other regions, church bells rang and many businesses closed. Memorial processions were held in major cities of the United States. Martha burned her correspondence with Washington to protect its privacy, though five letters between the couple are known to have survived.

thumb|right|alt=A picture of the two sarcophagi of George (at right) and Martha Washington at the present tomb at Mount Vernon|The [[Sarcophagus|sarcophagi of George (right) and Martha Washington at the entrance to their tomb in Mount Vernon]]

Washington was buried in the Washington family vault at Mount Vernon on December 18, 1799. In his will, Washington left instructions for the construction of a new vault; this was completed in 1831, after a disgruntled ex-employee of the estate attempted to steal what he thought was Washington's skull. In 1832, a joint Congressional committee debated moving his body from Mount Vernon to a crypt in the United States Capitol. Southern opposition was intense, antagonized by an ever-growing rift between North and South; many were concerned that Washington's remains could end up, in the words of Representative Wiley Thompson, on "a shore foreign to his native soil" if the country became divided, and Washington's remains stayed in Mount Vernon. On October 7, 1837, Washington's remains, still in the original lead coffin, were placed within a marble sarcophagus designed by William Strickland and constructed by John Struthers.

Philosophy and views

Slavery

thumb|alt=Washington the farmer is shown standing on his plantation talking to an overseer as children play and slaves work. Work is by Junius Stearns.|An 1851 portrait by [[Junius Brutus Stearns depicting an idealized version of plantation work]]

During Washington's lifetime at least 577 slaves lived and worked at Mount Vernon. He inherited some, gained control of 84 dower slaves upon his marriage to Martha, and purchased at least 71 slaves between 1752 and 1773. From 1786, he rented slaves as part of an agreement regarding a neighboring estate; they totaled 40 in 1799.

Slavery was deeply ingrained in the economic and social fabric of the Colony of Virginia. Prior to the Revolutionary War, Washington's views on slavery matched those of most Virginia planters of the time: "his principal interest was still their contribution to the economic life of the plantation." Beginning in the 1760s, however, Washington gradually grew to oppose it. His first doubts were prompted by his choice to transition from tobacco to grain crops, which left him with a costly surplus of slaves, causing him to question the system's economic efficiency. In a 1778 letter to Lund Washington, he made clear his desire "to get quit of Negroes".

His growing disillusionment with the institution was spurred by the principles of the Revolution and revolutionary friends such as Lafayette and Hamilton. Most historians agree the Revolution was central to the evolution of Washington's attitudes; Kenneth Morgan writes that after 1783, "[Washington] began to express inner tensions about the problem of slavery more frequently, though always in private". As president, he remained publicly silent on the topic, believing it was a nationally divisive issue that could undermine the union. He gave moral support to a plan proposed by Lafayette to purchase land and free slaves to work on it, but chose not to participate in the experiment. Washington privately expressed support for emancipation to prominent Methodists Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury in 1785 but declined to sign their petition. In personal correspondence the next year, he made clear his desire to see the institution of slavery ended by a gradual legislative process, a view that correlated with the mainstream antislavery literature published in the 1780s. Washington emancipated 123 or 124 slaves, which was highly unusual among the large slave-holding Virginians during the Revolutionary era. However, he remained dependent on slave labor to work his farms.

Based on his private papers and on accounts from his contemporaries, Washington slowly developed a cautious sympathy toward abolitionism that ended with his will freeing his long-time valet Billy Lee, and freeing the rest of his personally owned slaves outright upon Martha's death. On January 1, 1801, one year after George Washington's death, Martha Washington signed an order to free his slaves. Many of them were reluctant to leave; others refused to abandon spouses or children still held as dower slaves by the Custis estate. Following Washington's instructions in his will, funds were used to feed and clothe the young, aged, and infirm slaves until the early 1830s.

Washington suffered from severe tooth decay and ultimately lost all of his teeth except one. He had several sets of false teeth during his presidency. Contrary to common lore, these were not made of wood, but of metal, ivory, bone, animal teeth, and human teeth possibly obtained from slaves. His dental problems left him in constant pain, which he treated with laudanum. He also experienced a painful growth in his thigh early in his first presidential term, followed by a life-threatening bout of pneumonia in 1790 from which he never fully recovered.

Washington was a talented equestrian. Jefferson described him as "the best horseman of his age". He collected thoroughbreds at Mount Vernon; his two favorite horses were Blueskin and Nelson.

Legacy

thumb|alt=Washington and other figures engraved into the side of a mountain|[[Mount Rushmore National Memorial|upright=1.2]]

Washington is one of the most influential figures in American history. Virginia's Governor Henry Lee III eulogized him as "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen".

Washington became an international symbol for liberation and nationalism as the leader of the first successful revolution against a colonial empire. In 1879, Congress proclaimed Washington's Birthday to be a federal holiday. In 1976, he was posthumously appointed General of the Armies of the United States during the American Bicentennial. President Gerald Ford stated that Washington would "rank first among all officers of the Army, past and present". On March 13, 1978, Washington was officially promoted by the Army.

In 1809, Mason Locke Weems wrote a hagiographic biography to honor Washington. Chernow maintains that Weems attempted to humanize Washington, inspire "patriotism and morality", and foster "enduring myths", such as that of Washington's refusal to lie about damaging his father's cherry tree. Weems' accounts have never been proven or disproven.

In the 21st century, Washington's reputation has been critically scrutinized. The historian John Ferling maintains that Washington remains the only founder and president ever to be referred to as "godlike", and points out that his character has been the most scrutinized by historians. The historian David Hackett Fischer defined Washington's character as "integrity, self-discipline, courage, absolute honesty, resolve, and decision, but also forbearance, decency, and respect for others".

Washington's legacy with Native Americans is mixed. Chernow describes Washington as always trying to be even-handed in dealing with Indigenous peoples, hoping they would abandon their itinerant hunting life and adapt to fixed agricultural communities in the manner of White settlers. He also maintains that Washington never advocated outright confiscation of tribal land or the forcible removal of tribes. By contrast, Colin G. Calloway wrote that "Washington had a lifelong obsession with getting Indian land, either for himself or for his nation, and initiated policies and campaigns that had devastating effects in Indian country." He stated:

Along with other Founding Fathers, Washington has been criticized for holding enslaved people. Though he expressed the desire to see the abolition of slavery through legislation, he did not initiate or support any initiatives for bringing about its end. This has led to calls to remove his name from public buildings and his statue from public spaces.

Washington's presidential library is housed at Mount Vernon, which is now a National Historic Landmark. His papers are held by the Library of Congress.

Namesakes, monuments and commemorations

thumb|alt=White obelisk|The [[Washington Monument|upright=0.8]]

Many places and monuments have been named in honor of Washington, including the capital city of Washington, D.C., and the state of Washington. On February 21, 1885, the Washington Monument was dedicated, a marble obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Washington appears as one of four presidents on the Shrine of Democracy, a colossal sculpture by Gutzon Borglum on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. The George Washington Bridge, opened in 1931, connects New York City to New Jersey. A number of secondary schools and universities are named in honor of Washington, including George Washington University and Washington University in St. Louis.

He appears on contemporary United States currency, including the one-dollar bill, a presidential one-dollar coin and the quarter-dollar coin (the Washington quarter). Washington was pictured on the nation's first postage stamp in 1847, and has since appeared on more United States postage stamps than anyone else. Young Washington is an upcoming 2026 American drama film from Angel Studios based on the early life of Washington, featuring Mary-Louise Parker and Kelsey Grammer.

Notes

References

Sources

Books

Journals

External links

George Washington on C-SPAN
George Washington's Mount Vernon
The Papers of George Washington, subset of Founders Online from the National Archives
In Our Time: Washington and the American Revolution, BBC Radio 4 discussion with Carol Berkin, Simon Middleton, and Colin Bonwick (June 24, 2004)
Great Lives: George Washington, BBC Radio4 discussion with Matthew Parris, Michael Rose, and Frank Grizzard (October 21, 2016)
Scholarly coverage of Washington at the Miller Center, University of Virginia