He was the commander-in-chief and the leader of the colonial military army for the period of the American Revolution, george washington biography essay. Upon the return to Williamsburg of his small party from the shores of Lake Erie in JanuaryWashington received popular recognition through the publication of his detailed journal of the rugged four-month-long expedition. In Washington was chosen as a Virginia delegate to the Philadelphia Convention that was to revise the Articles of Confederation. Save and find your favorite essays easier. Not only did he receive substantial fees fur surveying, but he discovered firsthand how to speculate successfully in land, an especially important consideration in colonial America, where land equaled george washington biography essay.
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His father, Augustine, a third-generation English colonist firmly established in the middle ranks of the Virginia gentry, george washington biography essay, was twice married. George washington biography essay had two sons, Lawrence and Augustine, in andbefore his first wife, Jane Butler Washington, died in In Augustine married Mary Balland George was born a year later. Five other children followed Samuel, Elizabeth, John Augustine, Charles, and Mildred who died in infancy. About the Washington family moved from Westmoreland County to Augustine, Sr.
George himself inherited the more modest Rappahannock River plantation where he lived with his mother and siblings, but this was not enough to maintain his middling status in the Virginia gentry. Instead, he was trained as a land surveyor, a profession george washington biography essay considerable importance in Virginia, where colonial settlement was pushing rapidly into the Shenandoah Valley and other parts of western Virginia. He established a reputation for fairness, honesty, george washington biography essay, and dependability while making favorable impressions on members of the provincial elite.
Washington also learned self-dependence and earned the rewards of george washington biography essay fulfilled. Not only did he receive substantial fees fur surveying, but he discovered firsthand how to speculate successfully in land, an especially important consideration in colonial America, where land equaled power. Bywhen he accompanied Lawrence to Barbados, the younger Washington had accumulated almost as many acres of fertile soil in the Shenandoah as his half-brother had at Mount Vernon. Although Lawrence at that time possessed two of the great prerequisites of rising Virginia gentlemen-an inherited estate and impressive marriage connections-George enjoyed something more important in the long run: an impressive physique and the blessing of good health. Washington survived a case of smallpox while in the West Indies, thus acquiring immunity to the disease that claimed the lives of many colonial Americans, but his brother died in after returning from the Caribbean, probably of tuberculosis.
Upon the return to Williamsburg of his small party from the shores of Lake Erie in JanuaryWashington received popular recognition through the publication of his detailed journal of the rugged four-month-long expedition. That May the tweenty-one-year-old became commander of the Virginia Regiment, raised to oppose the French in the Ohio Valley, and French retaliation for the attack on a small party across the Alleghenies provided his first defeat-the surrender of the hastily-constructed Fort Necessity in July Thus commenced the French and Indian War, the colonial phase of the Great War for Empire between the French in Canada and the British along the Atlantic seaboard and their respective colonists and native American allies.
Washington learned much from the professionalism of British generals Edward Braddock and John Forbes under whom he served and earned a military reputation not only for courage and coolness under fire but also as an efficient administrator and a fair and able commander of men. He also developed a resentment of the British officials who denied him the regular army george washington biography essay to which he aspired and proper respect for the contributions made by provincial troops in general and his Virginia Regiment in particular. With his prestige enhanced by his military experiences and the potential of his land holdings vastly increased by bounties granted to officers and men of the Virginia Regiment he owned 45, acres west of the mountains at his deathWashington george washington biography essay to private life as a very eligible bachelor.
On 6 January the twenty-six-year-old married Martha Dandridge Custisthe widow of Daniel Parke Custis, who had left her and their two children, John Parke and Martha Parke Custis, one of the greatest fortunes in Virginia. Washington was named their legal guardian two years later and devoted much time and energy over the next sixteen years managing the Custis estate. The deference that glued Virginia society together required gentlemen like Washington to manifest their social status by maintaining a lavish lifestyle modeled after that of the British landed gentry and aristocracy. Washington especially enjoyed the displays this entailed, such george washington biography essay renovating his mansion in the latest style and filling it with the finest furnishings, stocking his cellars with vintage Madeira, acquiring the best-blooded horses for his stables, keeping a deer park and riding to the hounds, conducting agricultural experiments, extending expansive hospitality to neighbors and strangers, and sacrificing some of his leisure time to serve in public office.
Washington was first elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in as a representative of Frederick County, and he was later elected by Fairfax County landholders, serving a total of sixteen years in the colonial assembly. From to he also sat as a justice of the Fairfax County court at Alexandria. In the imperial crisis of the s and s, he became an early advocate of the patriot cause. After Governor Dunmore dissolved the Assembly inWashington met with other disgruntled Burgesses at the Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg and adopted a nonimportation agreement. In Mayless than a month after a shooting war commenced at Lexington and Concord, george washington biography essay, Massachusetts, Washington again traveled to Philadelphia to take his seat in the Second Continental Congress.
Washington also concentrated on instilling a professional ethic in the New England militia officers who remained in the Continental service, and in he reorganized the officer corps and ended the practice of having the troops elect their own officers. His greatest challenge, however, was to obtain dependable, long-term enlisted men without arousing deep-rooted American fears of a standing army. He derived more immediate satisfaction in March when he secretly fortified Dorchester Heights and compelled British forces to evacuate Boston. He learned from his errors in the New York campaign, in which his only success was to save the army from total annihilation, and brilliantly counter-attacked at Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey, in the winter of Only successful diplomatic efforts enlisting the assistance of the French army and navy enabled George washington biography essay to mount a strategic offensive.
Like the Roman hero Cincinnatus, Washington bid farewell to his george washington biography essay in arms inresigned his Continental commission, george washington biography essay, and retired to private life. America had won independence from Great Britain, but did not achieve effective self-governance. According to a circular letter to the states, Washington felt that a respectable national existence required an indissoluble union of the states under one federal head, george washington biography essay, a sacred regard for public justice, the establishment of proper national defense, george washington biography essay, and the suppression of local prejudices.
During the Revolution, the government under the Articles of Confederation was barely george washington biography essay to provide for the common defense, and after the war it failed to ensure domestic tranquility, especially in rural New England, george washington biography essay, where armed insurgents closed the Massachusetts courts. Washington lent the great military and political prestige he had gained as commander-in-chief to the cause of forming a more perfect union that would secure the blessings of liberty for which he had fought and so many had died. The meeting of joint commissioners for Virginia and Maryland at Mount Vernon to work out a code for use of the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River Washington had long been a proponent of canalizing the latter to create a water route to the interiorgeorge washington biography essay, led to the Annapolis Convention ofcalled to discuss regulation of interstate commerce.
In Washington was chosen as a Virginia delegate to the Philadelphia Convention that was to revise the Articles of Confederation. Against his wishes Washington was elected presiding officer. The resulting Federal constitution that was adopted in September did not bear much of his handiwork, but it breathed the spirit of his strong nationalism, george washington biography essay, and his reputation was tied to its success. Not very surprisingly, Washington was elected president after it was ratified and became the first executive officer to serve under the new government. The same rigorous sense of duty that saw him through the Revolutionary War compelled the fifty-seven-year-old Washington to take the presidential oath of office on 30 April in the new federal capital of New York City.
He had a difficult time in finding qualified individuals to serve in the new federal judiciary, but the heads of the executive departments of war, state, and the Treasury, were men of talent, integrity, and even brilliance. One final time he postponed retirement and again put his personal prestige on the line for the sake of the nation. Although he was unanimously elected to a second term as president, the nation was anything but united behind him. The small and ill-supplied United States Army suffered two disastrous defeats against Northwestern George washington biography essay nations. America found itself caught between warring European george washington biography essay as the French Revolution reached an international phase.
Democratic-Republican criticisms that he had become the head of a party instead of the nation boiled over in reaction to the treaty that John Jay had signed with the British and the Senate ratified in Although Washington himself was not satisfied with its terms, he was realistic enough to understand that it was the best that could then be negotiated and it did remove some major irritants from Anglo-American relations. In the face of growing newspaper attacks against him, which he tended to take personally, the president handed the reins of government over to his successor, John Adams, in the spring of Washington knew that his leadership was no longer indispensable to the survival of the nation, and he left as his political testament to the American people his Farewell Address, which was widely printed in newspapers and broadsides.
Only once more was the General called from his beloved plantation to serve the country. As war with France appeared imminent inPresident Adams appointed Washington as commander-in-chief of a new army, but the crisis passed before it was organized and raised. He had only a short time left to enjoy life at Mount Vernon, and Washington died with the eighteenth century. His end came suddenly on 14 December and the outpouring of grief over his death was widespread and sincere. The nation would have to wrestle with the challenge of slavery, as well as all its other great challenges of the new century, without his guiding hand. Your email address will not be published.
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Building a Record in the Military Although Lawrence at that time possessed two of the great prerequisites of rising Virginia gentlemen-an inherited estate george washington biography essay impressive marriage connections-George enjoyed something more important in the long run: an george washington biography essay physique and the blessing of good health. The Final Chapter Only once more was the General called from his beloved plantation to serve the country. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published.
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Accessed January 7, HOME JOIN NOW LOGIN HELP BOOKMARK CONTACT US. George Washington: Biography George Washington was born in Virginia on Feb. George spent his early years on the family estate on Pope's Creek along the Potomac River. His early education came by way of studying mathematics, surveying, the classics, and "rules of civility. This caused George to live with his half brother Lawrence at Mount Vernon, Lawrence's plantation on the Potomac. Lawrence became a substitute father for his brother, he'd married into the Fairfax family, prominent and influential Virginians who helped launch George's career. George wanted to go to sea, however, he was discouraged by his mother; Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50, other term papers.
Get instant access to over 50, essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Although Lawrence at that time possessed two of the great prerequisites of rising Virginia gentlemen-an inherited estate and impressive marriage connections-George enjoyed something more important in the long run: an impressive physique and the blessing of good health. Washington survived a case of smallpox while in the West Indies, thus acquiring immunity to the disease that claimed the lives of many colonial Americans, but his brother died in after returning from the Caribbean, probably of tuberculosis.
Upon the return to Williamsburg of his small party from the shores of Lake Erie in January , Washington received popular recognition through the publication of his detailed journal of the rugged four-month-long expedition. That May the tweenty-one-year-old became commander of the Virginia Regiment, raised to oppose the French in the Ohio Valley, and French retaliation for the attack on a small party across the Alleghenies provided his first defeat-the surrender of the hastily-constructed Fort Necessity in July Thus commenced the French and Indian War, the colonial phase of the Great War for Empire between the French in Canada and the British along the Atlantic seaboard and their respective colonists and native American allies.
Washington learned much from the professionalism of British generals Edward Braddock and John Forbes under whom he served and earned a military reputation not only for courage and coolness under fire but also as an efficient administrator and a fair and able commander of men. He also developed a resentment of the British officials who denied him the regular army commission to which he aspired and proper respect for the contributions made by provincial troops in general and his Virginia Regiment in particular. With his prestige enhanced by his military experiences and the potential of his land holdings vastly increased by bounties granted to officers and men of the Virginia Regiment he owned 45, acres west of the mountains at his death , Washington returned to private life as a very eligible bachelor.
On 6 January the twenty-six-year-old married Martha Dandridge Custis , the widow of Daniel Parke Custis, who had left her and their two children, John Parke and Martha Parke Custis, one of the greatest fortunes in Virginia. Washington was named their legal guardian two years later and devoted much time and energy over the next sixteen years managing the Custis estate. The deference that glued Virginia society together required gentlemen like Washington to manifest their social status by maintaining a lavish lifestyle modeled after that of the British landed gentry and aristocracy.
Washington especially enjoyed the displays this entailed, such as renovating his mansion in the latest style and filling it with the finest furnishings, stocking his cellars with vintage Madeira, acquiring the best-blooded horses for his stables, keeping a deer park and riding to the hounds, conducting agricultural experiments, extending expansive hospitality to neighbors and strangers, and sacrificing some of his leisure time to serve in public office. Washington was first elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in as a representative of Frederick County, and he was later elected by Fairfax County landholders, serving a total of sixteen years in the colonial assembly. From to he also sat as a justice of the Fairfax County court at Alexandria.
In the imperial crisis of the s and s, he became an early advocate of the patriot cause. After Governor Dunmore dissolved the Assembly in , Washington met with other disgruntled Burgesses at the Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg and adopted a nonimportation agreement. In May , less than a month after a shooting war commenced at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, Washington again traveled to Philadelphia to take his seat in the Second Continental Congress. Washington also concentrated on instilling a professional ethic in the New England militia officers who remained in the Continental service, and in he reorganized the officer corps and ended the practice of having the troops elect their own officers. His greatest challenge, however, was to obtain dependable, long-term enlisted men without arousing deep-rooted American fears of a standing army.
He derived more immediate satisfaction in March when he secretly fortified Dorchester Heights and compelled British forces to evacuate Boston. He learned from his errors in the New York campaign, in which his only success was to save the army from total annihilation, and brilliantly counter-attacked at Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey, in the winter of Only successful diplomatic efforts enlisting the assistance of the French army and navy enabled Washington to mount a strategic offensive. Like the Roman hero Cincinnatus, Washington bid farewell to his comrades in arms in , resigned his Continental commission, and retired to private life.
America had won independence from Great Britain, but did not achieve effective self-governance. According to a circular letter to the states, Washington felt that a respectable national existence required an indissoluble union of the states under one federal head, a sacred regard for public justice, the establishment of proper national defense, and the suppression of local prejudices. During the Revolution, the government under the Articles of Confederation was barely able to provide for the common defense, and after the war it failed to ensure domestic tranquility, especially in rural New England, where armed insurgents closed the Massachusetts courts.
Washington lent the great military and political prestige he had gained as commander-in-chief to the cause of forming a more perfect union that would secure the blessings of liberty for which he had fought and so many had died. The meeting of joint commissioners for Virginia and Maryland at Mount Vernon to work out a code for use of the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River Washington had long been a proponent of canalizing the latter to create a water route to the interior , led to the Annapolis Convention of , called to discuss regulation of interstate commerce. In Washington was chosen as a Virginia delegate to the Philadelphia Convention that was to revise the Articles of Confederation.
Against his wishes Washington was elected presiding officer. The resulting Federal constitution that was adopted in September did not bear much of his handiwork, but it breathed the spirit of his strong nationalism, and his reputation was tied to its success.
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