American Biography – George Washington
(1732-1799)
George was born on his father’s plantation in
Virginia. His father was one of the wealthiest
plantation owners in the colony.
Very little is known about George’s youth.
The stories about his chopping down a cherry tree
with his little axe and confessing what he had done
by saying, “I will never tell a lie” or about his
reluctance to fight were made up long after he had
died.
He had little formal education. He was
taught by private tutors, learning practical
mathematics and some Latin, and reading of the
English classics of the day. When he was 11 years
old his parents died. He was taken in by his older
brother, who was married to the niece of an
English nobleman, Lord Fairfax. Fairfax owned
more than two million hectares of frontier land in western Virginia and he wanted his
land surveyed. George was sent with the surveyors as an apprentice. George soon
became a professional surveyor, working at this craft for the next few years.
While on the frontier he became very interested in the possibilities of settling the
land. He began to “speculate” in frontier land. George remained a speculator in
western or frontier land throughout his life.
When George was 20 years old, his brother died and George inherited the estate,
which was called Mount Vernon. It included 18 slaves. Over the next twenty years, he
expanded and improved his land. By 1760, it exceeded 3000 ha and had 49 slaves.
About the same time as he inherited Mount Vernon, Washington entered the
Virginia militia. At the onset of the French and Indian Wars, he was appointed a
Lieutenant Colonel. After he saw action against the French in 1754, he was promoted to
Colonel. In the next year, he took part in General Braddock’s campaign against the
French. After Braddock was killed in battle, Washington, although ill himself, led the
disorganized British troops and Virginian militia to safety.
After his resignation from the army, he married Martha Curtis, an extremely
wealthy widow who owned about 6000 ha of land and many slaves. He became the
wealthiest planter in Virginia.
Because of his social status, he was elected to the House of Burgesses in 1760.
He remained a member for the next 14 years. As well, he was a justice of the peace of
the county in which he lived.
Around this time, a friend described him as “straight as an Indian, measuring six
feet two inches in his stockings.” He was very muscular and broad-shouldered, with
penetrating blue-gray eyes and sunken cheeks (because his wooden false teeth pulled
his cheeks inward). He was obviously a country gentleman and an excellent horseman.
He was very reserved and somewhat aloof.
British policies after 1774 slowly caused him to support independence. He was
appointed by the House of Burgesses as one of its delegates to the Continental
Congress of 1774 and 1775.
Even before the Declaration of Independence was issued, George was
appointed Commander-in-Chief of the rebel army. His was a “political” appointment.
It was part of a bargain made by Virginian and Massachusetts rebels that the
commander of the rebel forces had to be a Virginian. George was chosen because of
previous military experience and his social standing.
Historians debate whether George was a
brilliant, or even a good general. He was a stern
disciplinarian, however; he whipped, branded and
hanged unruly soldiers. Also, he served without pay
during the revolution. He had been offered a salary
of $500 a month. He refused preferring to be paid
an expense account. In 1783, he submitted a bill to
Congress for $414 000. On the other hand, he kept
the rebel army intact, despite terrible hardships and
many military defeats, and kept the hopes of the
rebels, and therefore, the revolution itself alive.
When he resigned from the army he was the best
known person in the new independent nation.
He spent the next few years in retirement
working his plantation and speculating in western
lands. Efforts by his old army colleagues, especially
Alexander Hamilton, to persuade him to re-enter
political life failed. However, in 1786, they
convinced him that the new Republic was on the
brink of economic collapse, political disintegration, and ever social warfare.
George was a delegate from Virginia to the Convention of 1786 that hammered
out a new Constitution. In that new Constitution, the position of President was
created with Washington specifically in mind.
After the new Constitution was adopted by the thirteen states in 1787, he was
elected as the first President of the new government. He was very aware that his every
action set a precedent for the behaviour of future presidents. Therefore, he was very
careful and cautious in what he did. During his first term the foundations of the new
government were laid and made solid.
He was persuaded by Hamilton to serve a second term. However his second term
was far less happy for him than his first had been. The most prominent members of his
cabinet, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, bitterly attacked one another.
Washington tried to act as a referee between the two. When it was suggested that he
should have a third term, he refused, saying, “What does anyone see in the office?”
Nevertheless, his Farewell Address to the Nation, in which he advised his countrymen to
avoid “permanent alliances” with other nations (especially Europe), shaped American
foreign policy for then next one hundred years.
Worn out, he retired to his plantation where he died two years later. After his
death, Congress proclaimed that Washington was “first in war, first in peace, and first in
the heart of his countrymen”. He was not an exceptionally brilliant man (one
contemporary said he was “stolid as wood”). Nor was he a great general. But he was
an honest and honourable leader. He established the tradition of rule of law under the
new Constitution and by civilians. In his day he was the only common man to serve as
the head of a large state. For that achievement alone, Americans owe him a great debt
of gratitude.
Question for Thought:
Was Washington the right person to be the first president of the United States?
Why do you think so?