His early married years were happy ones. Washington worked hard and learned everything he could about farming, but his new occupation gave him another reason to resent the mother country. He found that he was largely at the mercy of a trade system that heavily favored British merchants buying tobacco, his major crop.
Consequently, after a few years, he owed a significant debt. By , he abandoned tobacco farming and diversified Mount Vernon into crops that could be sold more easily in America. He also dabbled in light industry such as weaving and fishing.
All of these ventures were aimed at making his plantation more self-sufficient, thus minimizing his business ties to England.
Several hundred slaves labored at Mount Vernon. As Washington turned to crops that were less labor intensive than tobacco, he had more help than he needed. However, although he could pursue greater profits by minimizing labor expenses, he almost never sold or moved a slave to another property unless the slave wanted to leave.
As he approached middle age, Washington expressed increasing qualms about the practice of slavery. By the mids, colonial resentment of British rule was widespread.
To replenish its coffers that were drained for the war with the French, London imposed taxes on the colonies. Moreover, to force compliance, England established punitive laws against the colonials. Americans, who had no say in British parliamentary decisions, voiced their disdain for these tariffs that had suddenly raised the prices on necessities such as tea.
As the controversy grew hotter, more British troops poured into the colonies, which only compounded the problem. Generally, the southern colonies were less openly defiant toward England during the early stages of the independence movement. Like most Virginians, the master of Mount Vernon was slow to warm to revolutionary fervor, hoping that the British would end their oppressive ways. But a series of English provocations—the closure of Boston Harbor, new taxes, the shooting deaths of five colonials in an altercation with Royal troops, the abolition of the Massachusetts state charter—made Washington a firm believer in American independence by the early s.
He was one of the first leading citizens in Virginia to openly support resistance to English tyranny. In , the Virginia legislature voted him one of seven delegates to the First Continental Congress, an assembly devoted to resistance to British rule—interestingly, a thirty-one-year-old Virginian named Thomas Jefferson finished out of the running. Washington joined the majority of the assembly in voting for new economic reprisals against England.
In April , electrifying news came from the North. Local militias from towns around Boston had engaged British troops at Lexington and Concord. When Washington rode to the Second Continental Congress a month later, there was talk that he might be named commander of all the colonial forces. Washington, his confidence weakened by the misadventures against the French and Native Americans, resisted the appointment. But he was the natural choice for several reasons: he was still considered a hero from the French and Indian War; at forty-three, he was old enough to lead but young enough to withstand the rigors of the battlefield; and northerners hoped a general from Virginia would help draw the reluctant South into the conflict.
Above all, the leadership and charisma of the tall, quiet, stately Virginian was unsurpassed. Washington did not attend the congressional session that took the vote for the army's command. He was the last of its members to know that he had been chosen—by a unanimous vote. He refused a salary and told the Congress, "I beg it may be remembered that I, this day, declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with.
In accepting command of colonial forces, George Washington had crossed a deadly serious line. He was a traitor, and if the rebellion failed, he would soon find a rope around his neck. Any military expert would have given the Continentals little chance. After all, King George's army was the best-trained, best-equipped fighting force in the Western world. The matchless Royal Navy could deliver an army to any shore and strangle enemy nations by blockade.
England's forces were commanded by career soldiers who were veterans of wars all over the globe. In sharp contrast, the colonial force staring them down was less of an army than a large gang. Its soldiers came and went almost at will. The officers leading them had little command, let alone fighting experience. Furthermore, in the colonies, support for the rebellion was far from firm. Washington's first duty was to turn this unruly crowd into a real army by instituting disciplinary regulations.
To facilitate his efforts, he urged the Continental Congress to provide enough money to pay for longer enlistments for his soldiers. But when New Year's Day dawned in , much of his army had gone home because their enlistments had ended. Washington first commanded American forces arrayed around Boston.
Using cannon captured by Henry Knox from Fort Ticonderoga and heroically transported miles to Boston, Washington fortified a high point overlooking the city.
Unnerved by the colonials' sudden tactical advantage, the British withdrew from Boston by sea. Washington, however, had no illusions that his enemy was finished. The question was where they would strike next. By spring, it was plain that the British plan was to seize New York.
It offered several advantages including a large port, the propaganda value of holding one of the rebels' biggest cities, and a route by which troops could be delivered to the American interior via the Hudson River.
Washington moved to stop them. By August, 30, troops marched on Washington's force. On their first engagement late that month, much of the Continental army either surrendered or turned and fled in terror. On September 15, the British landed on Manhattan, and again Washington's troops ran away. Enraged, he shouted at them, "Are these the men with whom I am to defend America? But by November, the British had captured two forts that the Continentals had hoped would secure the Hudson River.
Washington was forced to withdraw into New Jersey and then Pennsylvania. The British thought this signaled the end of the conflict and dug in for the winter, not bothering to chase the Americans. Washington now realized that by trying to fight open-field, firing-line battles with the British, he was playing to their strengths. On Christmas Day, he led his army through a ferocious blizzard, crossed the Delaware River into New Jersey, and surprised an enemy force at Trenton.
A few days later, he took a British garrison at nearby Princeton. These actions were less large-scale battles than they were guerrilla raids. Nonetheless, these minor victories gave his army confidence, brightened the spirits of the American people, and told the British that they were in for a long and bitter struggle.
The Revolution's third year was its turning point. This victory convinced the French that the Revolution was winnable for the Americans. They began to consider an alliance with the colonial rebels—partly to get back at an old enemy, England, and partly to share in prizes from raids on British ships.
At the same time, the English embarked on an unfortunate military strategy that included an invasion of the southern colonies, which subjected them to guerrilla warfare. For Washington, however, was a profoundly trying year. He lost two major battles with the British and failed to keep them from taking Philadelphia, home to the new nation's government, which was forced into hiding.
In response to such a loss, an attempt was made by some in Congress and the army to oust Washington as commander. After the battles of Lexington and Concord in April , the political dispute between Great Britain and her North American colonies escalated into an armed conflict. In May, Washington traveled to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia dressed in a military uniform, indicating that he was prepared for war.
As was his custom, he did not seek out the office of commander, but he faced no serious competition. Washington was the best choice for a number of reasons: he had the prestige, military experience and charisma for the job and he had been advising Congress for months. Another factor was political: The Revolution had started in New England and at the time, they were the only colonies that had directly felt the brunt of British tyranny.
Virginia was the largest British colony and New England needed Southern colonial support. Political considerations and force of personality aside, Washington was not necessarily qualified to wage war on the world's most powerful nation. Washington's training and experience were primarily in frontier warfare involving small numbers of soldiers.
He wasn't trained in the open-field style of battle practiced by the commanding British generals. He also had no practical experience maneuvering large formations of infantry, commanding cavalry or artillery, or maintaining the flow of supplies for thousands of men in the field.
But he was courageous and determined and smart enough to keep one step ahead of the enemy. Washington and his small army did taste victory early in March by placing artillery above Boston, on Dorchester Heights, forcing the British to withdraw. Washington then moved his troops into New York City.
But in June, a new British commander, Sir William Howe , arrived in the Colonies with the largest expeditionary force Britain had ever deployed to date. In August , the British army launched an attack and quickly took New York City in the largest battle of the war.
Washington's army was routed and suffered the surrender of 2, men. He ordered the remains of his army to retreat into Pennsylvania across the Delaware River. Confident the war would be over in a few months, General Howe wintered his troops at Trenton and Princeton, leaving Washington free to attack at the time and place of his choosing. On Christmas night, , Washington and his men returned across the Delaware River and attacked unsuspecting Hessian mercenaries at Trenton, forcing their surrender.
A few days later, evading a force that had been sent to destroy his army, Washington attacked the British again, this time at Princeton, dealing them a humiliating loss. General Howe's strategy was to capture colonial cities and stop the rebellion at key economic and political centers. He never abandoned the belief that once the Americans were deprived of their major cities, the rebellion would wither.
In the summer of , he mounted an offensive against Philadelphia. Washington moved in his army to defend the city but was defeated at the Battle of Brandywine. Philadelphia fell two weeks later. In the late summer of , the British army sent a major force, under the command of John Burgoyne, south from Quebec to Saratoga, New York, to split the rebellion between New England and the southern colonies.
Without support from Howe, who couldn't reach him in time, Burgoyne was forced to surrender his entire 6, man army. The victory was a major turning point in the war as it encouraged France to openly ally itself with the American cause for independence. Through all of this, Washington discovered an important lesson: The political nature of war was just as important as the military one.
Washington began to understand that military victories were as important as keeping the resistance alive. Americans began to believe that they could meet their objective of independence without defeating the British army. Meanwhile, British General Howe clung to the strategy of capturing colonial cities in hopes of smothering the rebellion.
Howe didn't realize that capturing cities like Philadelphia and New York would not unseat colonial power. The Congress would just pack up and meet elsewhere. The 11,man force went into winter quarters and over the next six months suffered thousands of deaths, mostly from disease. But the army emerged from the winter still intact and in relatively good order.
Realizing their strategy of capturing colonial cities had failed, the British command replaced General Howe with Sir Henry Clinton. Washington and his men delivered several quick blows to the moving army, attacking the British flank near Monmouth Courthouse. Though a tactical standoff, the encounter proved Washington's army capable of open field battle. For the remainder of the war, Washington was content to keep the British confined to New York, although he never totally abandoned the idea of retaking the city.
The alliance with France had brought a large French army and a navy fleet. Facing the combined French and Colonial armies and the French fleet of 29 warships at his back, Cornwallis held out as long as he could, but on October 19, , he surrendered his forces. A near-mutiny was avoided when Washington convinced Congress to grant a five-year bonus for soldiers in March By November of that year, the British had evacuated New York City and other cities and the war was essentially over.
The Americans had won their independence. Washington formally bade his troops farewell and on December 23, , he resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the army and returned to Mount Vernon. For four years, Washington attempted to fulfill his dream of resuming life as a gentleman farmer and to give his much-neglected Mount Vernon plantation the care and attention it deserved. The war had been costly to the Washington family with lands neglected, no exports of goods, and the depreciation of paper money.
But Washington was able to repair his fortunes with a generous land grant from Congress for his military service and become profitable once again. In , Washington was again called to the duty of his country. Since independence, the young republic had been struggling under the Articles of Confederation , a structure of government that centered power with the states. But the states were not unified. They fought among themselves over boundaries and navigation rights and refused to contribute to paying off the nation's war debt.
In some instances, state legislatures imposed tyrannical tax policies on their own citizens. Washington was intensely dismayed at the state of affairs, but only slowly came to the realization that something should be done about it.
Perhaps he wasn't sure the time was right so soon after the Revolution to be making major adjustments to the democratic experiment. Or perhaps because he hoped he would not be called upon to serve, he remained noncommittal. In , Congress approved a convention to be held in Philadelphia to amend the Articles of Confederation. At the Constitutional Convention , Washington was unanimously chosen as president. Washington, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton had come to the conclusion that it wasn't amendments that were needed, but a new constitution that would give the national government more authority.
In the end, the Convention produced a plan for government that not only would address the country's current problems, but would endure through time. After the convention adjourned, Washington's reputation and support for the new government were indispensable to the ratification of the new U. The opposition was strident, if not organized, with many of America's leading political figures — including Patrick Henry and Sam Adams — condemning the proposed government as a grab for power.
Even in Washington's native Virginia, the Constitution was ratified by only one vote. Still hoping to retire to his beloved Mount Vernon, Washington was once again called upon to serve this country.
During the presidential election of , he received a vote from every elector to the Electoral College, the only president in American history to be elected by unanimous approval.
As the first president, Washington was astutely aware that his presidency would set a precedent for all that would follow. He carefully attended to the responsibilities and duties of his office, remaining vigilant to not emulate any European royal court. To that end, he preferred the title "Mr. President," instead of more imposing names that were suggested. However, Congress persuaded him to accept the compensation to avoid giving the impression that only wealthy men could serve as president.
Washington proved to be an able administrator. He surrounded himself with some of the most capable people in the country, appointing Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury and Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State. He delegated authority wisely and consulted regularly with his cabinet listening to their advice before making a decision.
Washington established broad-ranging presidential authority, but always with the highest integrity, exercising power with restraint and honesty.
He was recognized as being a leading authority when it came to the military since few native-born Americans had more experience than he did. He also had business experience having run Mount Vernon, his large plantation.
In essence, he was the total package and came with a commanding demeanor and an ability to instill confidence. Perhaps more than anything, he believed in the American cause with an unmatched fervor.
Many people are familiar with the painting of Washington in a rowboat with his men crossing the Delaware in choppy waters. This painting represents the crossing of a weary Army in sleet and snow to surprise the Hessian soldiers who had been hired to fight in the war for Britain.
Catching them by surprise, the fight lasted only an hour and a half, with Washington and his men taking many prisoners. Knowing the American people needed this victory emotionally, and feeling confident, he then took his men on to Princeton for another surprise battle, which was also successful. Washington and his men retreated to Valley Forge in December of , just 18 miles from Philadelphia. Although there was no battle fought here, the name Valley Forge is etched in the mind of many as one of the lowest points of the war.
Fighting off disease, hunger, and the elements, although Washington had proven to be a great commander, the low morale was palpable. The great man himself understood the suffering of his men; men without boots leaving trails of blood behind them, almost naked soldiers with only thin blankets to protect them from the elements, and virtually no food in sight.
However, after three months the supplies began to come in and as morale increased so did their resolve and the new American army began to take hold. Although there were a few deserters, many men believed in Washington enough to stay through the worst of it, emerging as victors in the end.
The battle at Yorktown began on October 14, George Washington, along with French General de Rochambeau, led their forces in a final attack. They were able to capture two British defenses which led to the British surrendering just five days later. Shortly after this battle, the British entered peace negotiations and the Revolutionary War was over, leaving America victorious. He was unanimously elected as the first President of the United States by the Electoral College, which would also unanimously elect him for his second term.
His prowess on the battlefield translated well into his Presidency and his victory over Britain ushered in 10 years of peace. Washington set up the first U. Cabinet as a group of individuals he trusted to give him advice and interact with his Presidency. George Washington understood the value of a checks and balances system which would prevent any one branch of the government from having too much power. Related: The accomplishments of Theodore Roosevelt. Although there had been a Rhode Island Navy some 19 years earlier and a Continental Navy from , what we think of now as the U.
Navy began on March 27, The U. Overall there had been peace with Britain after the Revolutionary War, but tensions began to rise between the two countries due to the British exporting many goods to the U.
The British also continued to occupy lands they had previously agreed to vacate, and there were ongoing attacks from Native Americans who still supported the British. Because of these issues, President Washington sent John Jay to get a treaty signed with the British, ensuring peace continued.
There was still much resentment of the Native American people towards the white people who had invaded their lands. Although they lent their support to the British, when the Revolutionary War was over there were still pockets of Native Americans who were angry with the settlers. The Greenville Treaty ended this war by giving the U. Government two-thirds of the land the tribes had been living on between the Ohio River and Lake Erie.
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