Encyclopedia
George Washington commanded the
American colonies' Continental Army during the
American Revolutionary War , and was the first
President of the United States, from 1789 to 1797. Because of his central role in the founding of the
United States, Washington is often called the "
Father of his Country". His devotion to republicanism and
civic virtue made him an exemplary figure among early American politicians.
In his youth, Washington worked as a surveyor of rural lands and acquired what would become invaluable knowledge of the terrain around his native
Virginia. Washington gained command experience during the
French and Indian War . Due to this experience, his military bearing, his dramatic charisma, and his political base in Virginia, the
Second Continental Congress chose him as commander-in-chief of the American forces. He scored a victory by
forcing the British out of Boston in 1776, but later that year was badly defeated and nearly captured as he
lost New York City. By crossing the Delaware and
defeating enemy units in New Jersey in the dead of winter he revived the Patriot cause. As a result of his strategic oversight, Revolutionary forces captured the two main British combat armies, first at
Saratoga in 1777 and then at Yorktown in 1781. He handled relations with the states and their militias, worked with Congress to supply and recruit the Continental army, dealt with disputing generals and colonels, and came to personally represent the military prowess of the new nation. Negotiating with Congress, the states, and French allies, he held together a fragile army and a fragile nation.
He retired to his plantation on Mount Vernon, an exemplar of the republican ideal of citizen leadership rejecting any sort of strong-man rule. Alarmed at the weaknesses of the new nation, he presided over the
Constitutional Convention that drafted the stronger
United States Constitution in 1787.
In 1789 Washington became President and created a system of cabinet government that marked a sharp departure from parliament. He established many of the customs and usages of the new government, all of whose leaders he selected. He sought to create a great nation capable of surviving in a world torn by war between Britain and France. He supported
Alexander Hamilton's plans to build a strong central government through funding of all the state and national debts, an effective tax system, and creation of a national bank. When rebels in Pennsylvania defied Federal authority, he rode at the head of the army to quiet the Whiskey rebellion. He avoided war and started a decade of peace with Britain with the
Jay Treaty in 1795 and used his popularity to get it ratified over intense opposition from the Jeffersonians. Although he never officially joined the Federalist Party, he supported its programs and was their hero. He set the norm that no president should serve more than two terms, retiring to his Virginia plantation in 1797. His Farewell address was a primer regarding republican virtue and a warning against involvement in European wars. As the symbol of republicanism he embodied American values and across the world was seen as the symbol of the new nation. Scholars
rank him among the three greatest presidents.
Early life
According to the
Julian calendar, Washington was born on February 11, 1731; according to the
Gregorian calendar, which was adopted in Britain and its colonies during Washington's lifetime, he was born on February 22, 1732. He was born at Popes Creek Plantation, on the
Potomac River southeast of modern-day Colonial Beach in . Washington's father, Augustine "Gus" Washington , was a
slave-owning planter. His mother, Mary Ball Washington , lived to see her son become famous, though she had a strained relationship with him. In George's youth, the Washingtons were moderately prosperous members of the Virginia gentry, of "middling rank", rather than one of the leading families.
Washington, the oldest child from his father's second marriage, had three older and four younger siblings. Gus Washington died when Washington was eleven years old, after which Washington's half-brother Lawrence Washington became a surrogate father and role model. Washington was home schooled by his father and Lawrence. He also received training as a surveyor. Thanks to his connections with the powerful Fairfax family, at 17 Washington was appointed official surveyor for Culpeper County in 1749, a well-paid position which allowed him to purchase land in the
Shenandoah Valley, the first of his many land acquisitions in western Virginia.
French and Indian War
At 22 years of age, Washington fired some of the first shots of the
French and Indian War, which became part of the worldwide
Seven Years' War. The trouble began in 1753, when France began building a series of forts in the
Ohio Country, a region also claimed by Virginia. Governor Dinwiddie sent young Major Washington to the Ohio Country to assess French military strength and intentions, and ask the French to leave. They refused. Washington's published report was widely read in both Virginia and Britain. In 1754, Dinwiddie sent Washington, now commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel in the newly created Virginia Regiment, to drive the French away. Along with his American Indian allies, Washington and his troops ambushed a French scouting party of some 30 men led by Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville which was sent from Fort Duquesne to discover if Washington had in fact invaded French-claimed territory. Were this to be the case he was to send word back to the fort, then deliver a formal summons to Washington calling on him to withdraw. His small force was an embassy, resembling Washington’s to Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre the preceding year, and he neglected to post sentries around his encampment. At daybreak on the 28th Washington with 40 men stole up on the French camp near present Jumonville, Pa. Some were still asleep, others preparing breakfast. Without warning Washington gave the order to fire. The Canadians who escaped the volley scrambled for their weapons but were swiftly overwhelmed. Jumonville, the French later claimed, was struck down while trying to proclaim his official summons. Ten of the Canadians were killed, one wounded, all but one of the rest taken prisoner. Washington and his men then retired, leaving the bodies of their victims for the wolves. Washington then built
Fort Necessity, which soon proved inadequate, as he was soon compelled to surrender to a larger French and Indian force. The surrender terms that Washington signed included an admission that he had assassinated Jumonville. Because the French claimed that Jumonville's party had been on a diplomatic mission, the "Jumonville affair" became an international incident and helped to ignite a wider war. Washington was released by the French.
In 1755 British General
Edward Braddock headed a major effort to retake the Ohio Country. Washington eagerly volunteered to serve as one of Braddock's aides, although the British officers held the colonials in contempt. The expedition ended in disaster at the
Battle of the Monongahela. Washington distinguished himself in the debacle—he had two horses shot out from under him, and four bullets pierced his coat—yet, he sustained no injuries and showed coolness under fire. In Virginia, Washington was acclaimed as a hero.
In fall 1755 Governor Dinwiddie appointed Washington commander in chief of all Virginia forces, with rank of colonel, with
responsibility of defending 300 miles of mountainous frontier with about 300 men. Washington supervised savage, frontier warfare that averaged two engagements a month. His letters show he was moved by the plight of the frontiersmen he was protecting. With too few troops and inadequate supplies, lacking sufficient authority with which to maintain complete discipline, and hampered by an antagonistic governor, he had a severe challenge. In 1758, he took part in the Forbes Expedition, which successfully drove the French away from
Fort Duquesne.
Washington's goal at the outset of his military career had been to secure a commission as a British officer, which had more prestige than serving in the provincial military. However the British officers had disdain for the amateurish, non-aristocratic Americans. Washington's commission never came; in 1758, Washington resigned from active military service and spent the next sixteen years as a Virginia planter and politician.
Between the wars
On January 6 1759, Washington married
Martha Dandridge Custis. They had a good marriage, and together raised her two children, John Parke Custis and Martha Parke Custis, affectionately called "Jackie" and "Patsy". Later the Washingtons raised two of Mrs. Washington's grandchildren, Eleanor Parke Custis and
George Washington Parke Custis. George and Martha never had any children together—his earlier bout with smallpox followed, possibly, by tuberculosis may have made him sterile. The newlywed couple moved to Mount Vernon, where he took up the life of a genteel planter and political figure.
Washington's marriage to a wealthy widow, greatly increased his property holdings and social standing. He acquired one-third of the 18,000-acre Custis estate upon his marriage, and managed the remainder on behalf of Martha's children. He frequently purchased additional acreage 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, 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.
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 regarded the passage of the
Intolerable Acts in 1774 as "an Invasion of our Rights and Priviledges". 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.
American Revolution
After
fighting broke out in April 1775, Washington appeared at the
Second Continental Congress in military uniform, signaling that he was prepared for war. Congress created the
Continental Army on June 14; the next day it selected Washington as commander-in-chief. There was no serious rival to his experience and confident leadership, let alone his base in the largest colony. Massachusetts delegate
John Adams nominated Washington, believing that appointing a southerner to lead what was at this stage primarily an army of northerners would help unite the colonies. Washington reluctantly accepted, declaring "with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the Command I [am] honoured with." He asked for no pay other than reimbursement of his expenses.
Washington assumed command of the American forces in Massachusetts in July 1775, during the ongoing
siege of Boston. Washington reorganized the army during the long standoff, and forced the British to withdraw by putting artillery on
Dorchester Heights overlooking the city. The British evacuated Boston and Washington moved his army to
New York City. In August 1776, British General
William Howe launched a massive naval and land
campaign to capture New York designed to seize New York City and offer a negotiated settlement. The Americans were committed to independence, but Washington was unable to hold New York. Defeated at the
Battle of Long Island on August 22, he barely managed to escape with most of his forces to the mainland. Several other defeats sent Washington scrambling across
New Jersey, leaving the future of the Continental Army in doubt. On the night of December 25, 1776, Washington staged a
counterattack, leading the American forces
across the Delaware River to capture nearly 1,000 Hessians in
Trenton, New Jersey. Washington followed up the assault with a surprise attack on British forces at
Princeton. These unexpected victories after a series of losses recaptured New Jersey, drove the British back to the New York City area, and gave a dramatic boost to Revolutionary morale.
In 1777 the British launched two uncoordinated attacks. The first was an invasion by General
John Burgoyne down the Hudson River from Canada designed to reach New York City and cut off New England. Simultaneously Howe left New York City and attacked the national capital at
Philadelphia. Washington sent General
Horatio Gates and state militias to deal with Burgoyne while he moved the main Continental army south to block Howe. Washington was defeated at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777. On September 26, Howe outmaneuvered Washington and marched into Philadelphia unopposed. Washington's army
unsuccessfully attacked the British garrison at
Germantown in early October. Meanwhile Burgoyne, out of reach from help from Howe, was trapped and forced to
surrender his entire army at Saratoga. The British had gained the empty prize of Philadelphia, while losing one of their two armies. The victory caused France to enter the war as an open ally , turning the Revolution into a major world-wide war in which Britain was no longer the dominant military force.
Washington's army encamped at
Valley Forge in December, 1777, where it stayed for the next six months. Over the winter, 2,500 men died from disease and exposure. The next spring, however, the army emerged from Valley Forge in good order, thanks in part to a full-scale training program supervised by
Baron von Steuben, a veteran of the Prussian general staff.
Washington's loss of Philadelphia prompted some members of Congress to discuss removing Washington from command. This episode failed after Washington's supporters rallied behind him.
French entry into the war changed the dynamics, for the British were no longer sure of command of the seas and had to worry about an invasion of their home islands. The British evacuated Philadelphia in 1778 and returned to New York City, with Washington attacking them along the way at the Battle of Monmouth; this was the last major battle in the north. The British tried a new strategy based on the assumption that most Southerners were Loyalists at heart. Ignoring the north , they tried to
capture the Southern states while fighting the French elsewhere around the globe. During this time, Washington remained with his army outside New York, looking for an opportunity to strike a decisive blow while dispatching other operations to the north and south. The long-awaited opportunity finally came in 1781, after a
French naval victory allowed American and French forces to trap a British army in Virginia. The
surrender at Yorktown on October 17, 1781 marked the end of fighting. The Treaty of Paris recognized the independence of the United States.
Washington's contribution to victory in the American Revolution was not that of a great battlefield tactician; in fact, he lost more battles than he won, and he sometimes planned operations that were too complicated for his amateur soldiers to execute. However, his overall strategy proved to be successful: keep control of 90% of the population at all times; keep the army intact, suppress the Loyalists; and avoid decisive battles except to exploit enemy mistakes . Washington was a military conservative: he preferred building a regular army on the European model and fighting a conventional war, and often complained about the undisciplined militia.
One of Washington's most important contributions as commander-in-chief was to establish the precedent that civilian-elected officials, rather than military officers, possessed ultimate
authority over the military. Throughout the war, he deferred to the authority of Congress and state officials, and he relinquished his considerable military power once the fighting was over. In March 1783, Washington used his influence to disperse a group of Army officers who had threatened to confront Congress regarding their back pay. Washington disbanded his army and, on November 2, gave an eloquent farewell address to his soldiers. A few days later, the British evacuated New York City, and Washington and the governor took possession of the city; at
Fraunces Tavern in the city on December 4, he formally bade his officers farewell. On December 23, 1783, Washington resigned his commission as commander-in-chief to the Congress of the Confederation.
Washington's retirement to Mount Vernon was short-lived. He was persuaded to attend the
Constitutional Convention in
Philadelphia in the summer of 1787, and he was unanimously elected president of the Convention. For the most part, he did not participate in the debates involved , but his prestige was great enough to maintain collegiality and to keep the delegates at their labors. The delegates designed the presidency with Washington in mind, and allowed him to define the office once elected. After the Convention, his support convinced many, including the Virginia legislature, to vote for ratification; all 13 states did ratify the new
Constitution.
Presidency: 1789–1797
Washington was elected unanimously by the
Electoral College in
1789, and he remains the only person ever to be elected president unanimously . As runner-up with 34 votes ,
John Adams became
vice president.
Washington took the oath of office as the first President on April 30, 1789 in New York City.
The
First U.S. Congress voted to pay Washington a salary of $25,000 a year—a large sum in 1789. Washington, already wealthy, declined the salary, since he valued his image as a selfless public servant. Washington attended carefully to the pomp and ceremony of office, making sure that the titles and trappings were suitably republican and never emulated European royal courts. To that end, he preferred the title "Mr. President" to the more majestic names suggested.
Washington proved an able administrator. An excellent delegator and judge of talent and character, he held regular cabinet meetings, which debated issues; he then made the final decision and moved on. In handling routine tasks, he was "systematic, orderly, energetic, solicitous of the opinion of others but decisive, intent upon general goals and the consistency of particular actions with them."
Washington only reluctantly agreed to serve a second term of office as president. He refused to run for a third, establishing the precedent of a maximum of two terms for a president.
Domestic issues
Washington was not a member of any political party, and hoped that they would not be formed. His closest advisors, however, became divided into two factions, setting the framework for political parties. Secretary of Treasury
Alexander Hamilton, who had bold plans to establish the national credit and build a financially powerful nation, formed the basis of the Federalist Party. Secretary of State
Thomas Jefferson, founder of the Jeffersonian Republicans, strenuously opposed Hamilton's agenda, but lost on every major issue. Washington publicly remained uninvolved in party politics, though his decisions generally favored Hamilton, which eventually prompted Jefferson to leave the administration.
In 1791, Congress imposed an excise tax on distilled
spirits, which led to protests in frontier districts, especially Pennsylvania. By 1794, after Washington ordered the protesters to appear in
U.S. district court, the protests turned into full-scale riots known as the Whiskey Rebellion. The federal army was too small to be used, so Washington invoked the Militia Law of 1792 to summon the militias of Pennsylvania, Virginia and several other states. The governors sent the troops and Washington took command, marching into the rebellious districts. There was no fighting, but Washington's forceful action proved the new government could protect itself. It was the only time that a sitting President would personally command the military in the field. These events marked the first time under the new constitution that the federal government used strong military force to exert authority over the states and citizens.
Foreign affairs
In 1793, the revolutionary government of France sent diplomat Edmond-Charles Genęt to America. He attempted to turn popular sentiment towards American involvement in the war against
Great Britain. Genęt issued
letters of marque and reprisal to American ships so they could capture British merchant ships. Genęt also started to create a network of Democratic-Republican Societies designed to mobilize American public opinion in favor of France. Washington demanded the French government recall Genęt, and denounced his societies.
To normalize trade relations with Britain, remove them from western forts, and resolve financial debts left over from the Revolution, Hamilton and Washington designed the
Jay Treaty. It was negotiated by John Jay, and signed on November 19 1794. The Jeffersonians supported France and strongly attacked the treaty. Washington and Hamilton, however, mobilized public opinion and won ratification by the Senate by emphasizing Washington's support. The British agreed to depart their forts around the
Great Lakes, the Canadian-U.S. boundary was adjusted, numerous pre-Revolutionary debts were liquidated, and the British opened their West Indies colonies to the American trade. The treaty avoided war and instead brought a decade of prosperous trade with Britain, but angered the French and became a central issue in the political debates of the emerging
First party System.
Farewell Address
Washington's Farewell Address was one of the most influential statements of American political values. Drafted primarily by Washington himself, with help from Hamilton, it gives advice on the necessity and importance of national union, the value of the Constitution and the rule of law, the evils of political parties, and the proper habits and dispositions of a republican people. In the address, he called morality "a necessary spring of popular government," and while "cautio[usly] indulg[ing] the supposition" that some people may be capable of morality without religion, he said that "reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle." He then asks rhetorically where would "security for property, for reputation, [and] for life" be "if the sense of religious obligation desert[s] the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice."
Washington warns against foreign influence in domestic affairs and American meddling in European affairs. He warns against bitter partisanship in domestic politics and called for men to move beyond partisanship and serve the common good. He called for an America wholly free of foreign attachments, as the United States must concentrate only on American interests. He counseled friendship and commerce with all nations, but warned against involvement in European wars and entering into long-term alliances. The address quickly set American values regarding religion and foreign affairs, and his advice was often repeated in political discourse well into the nineteenth century. However, the attacks on partisanship were ignored.
Retirement and death
After retiring from the presidency in March 1797, Washington returned to Mount Vernon with a profound sense of relief. In 1798, Washington was appointed Lieutenant General in the
United States Army by President
John Adams. Washington's appointment was to serve as a warning to
France, with which war seemed imminent.
In 1799, Washington fell ill from a bad cold with a fever and a throat infection called quinsy that turned into acute laryngitis and
pneumonia; he died on December 14, 1799, at his home, while attended by Dr. James Craik, one of his closest friends, and Tobias Lear, Washington's personal secretary. Lear would record the account in his journal. From Lear's account, we receive Washington's last words:
Tis well.Modern doctors believe that Washington died from either epiglottitis or, since he was
bled as part of the treatment, a combination of
shock from the loss of five pints of blood, as well as
asphyxia and dehydration. Washington's remains were buried at Mount Vernon. In order to protect their privacy, Martha Washington burned the correspondence between her husband and herself following his death. Only three letters between the couple have survived.
In 1861, Washington's remains were moved from Mount Vernon to Lexington, Virginia, as there was fear that Northern troops would desecrate them. They were returned at the end of the war.
Legacy
Congressman
Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee, a Revolutionary War comrade and father of the Civil War general Robert E. Lee, famously eulogized Washington as:
- First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to none in humble and enduring scenes of private life. Pious, just, humane, temperate, and sincere; uniform, dignified, and commanding; his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting. . . . Correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence and virtue always felt his fostering hand. The purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public virtues. . . . Such was the man for whom our nation mourns.
Lee's words set the standard by which Washington's overwhelming reputation was impressed upon the American memory. Washington set many precedents for the national government and the presidency in particular. His decision to relinquish the presidency after serving two terms in office would be formalized in the
22nd Amendment to the Constitution.
As early as 1778 Washington was lauded as the "
Father of His Country"
He was upheld as a shining example in schoolbooks and lessons: as courageous and farsighted, holding the Continental Army together through eight hard years of war and numerous privations, sometimes by sheer force of will; and as restrained: at war's end taking affront at the notion he should be King; and after two terms as President, stepping aside.
Washington became the exemplar of republican virtue in America. More than any American he was extolled for his great personal integrity, and a deeply held sense of duty, honor and patriotism. He is seen more as a character model than war hero or founding father. One of Washington's greatest achievements, in terms of republican values, was refraining from taking more power than was due. He was conscientious of maintaining a good reputation by avoiding political intrigue. He rejected nepotism or cronyism. Jefferson observed, "The moderation and virtue of a single character probably prevented this Revolution from being closed, as most others have been, by a subversion of that liberty it was intended to establish."
Monuments and memorials
Today, Washington's face and image are often used as national symbols of the United States, along with the icons such as the flag and great seal. Perhaps the most pervasive commemoration of his legacy is the use of his image on the
one-dollar bill and the quarter-dollar coin. Washington, together with
Theodore Roosevelt,
Thomas Jefferson, and
Abraham Lincoln, is depicted in stone at the
Mount Rushmore Memorial.
Many things have been named in honor of Washington. George Washington is the namesake of the nation's capital,
Washington, DC, and the
State of Washington.
Washington is the only state to be named for a president. The
Washington Monument, one of the most well-known American landmarks, was built in his honor.
Washington and slavery
For most of his life, Washington operated his plantations as a typical Virginia slave owner. In the 1760s he dropped tobacco and shifted to wheat growing and diversified into milling flour, weaving cloth, and distilling brandy. By the time of his death there were 317 slaves at Mount Vernon.
Before the American Revolution, Washington expressed no moral reservations about slavery, but by 1778 he had stopped selling slaves without their consent because he did not want to break up slave families.
In 1778, while Washington was at war, he wrote to his manager at Mount Vernon that he wished to sell his slaves and "to get quit of negroes", since maintaining a large slave population was no longer economically efficient. Washington could not legally sell the "dower slaves", however, and because these slaves had long intermarried with his own slaves, he could not sell his slaves without breaking up families.
After the war, Washington often privately expressed a dislike of the institution of slavery. Despite these privately expressed misgivings, Washington never criticized slavery in public. In fact, as President, Washington brought eight household slaves with him to the Executive Mansion in Philadelphia. By Pennsylvania law, slaves who resided in the state became legally free after six months. Washington rotated his household slaves between Mount Vernon and Philadelphia so that t
