George Washington Biography

George Washington Biography

George Washington was born on Feb. 22, 1732 (Feb. 11, 1731/2, old style) in Westmoreland County, Va. While in his teens, he trained as a surveyor, and at the age of 20 he was appointed adjutant in the Virginia militia. For the next three years, he fought in the wars against the French and Indians, serving as Gen. Edward Braddock's aide in the disastrous campaign against Fort Duquesne. In 1759, he resigned from the militia, married Martha Dandridge Custis, a widow, and settled down as a gentleman farmer at Mount Vernon, Va. As a militiaman, Washington had been exposed to the arrogance of the British officers, and his experience as a planter with British commercial restrictions increased his anti-British sentiment. He opposed the Stamp Act of 1765 and after 1770 became increasingly prominent in organizing resistance. A delegate to the Continental Congress, Washington was selected as commander in chief of the Continental Army and took command at Cambridge, Mass., on July 3, 1775. Inadequately supported and sometimes covertly sabotaged by the Congress, in charge of troops who were inexperienced, badly equipped, and impatient of discipline, Washington conducted the war on the policy of avoiding major engagements with the British and wearing them down by harassing tactics. His able generalship, along with the French alliance and the growing weariness within Britain, brought the war to a conclusion. The chaotic years under the Articles of Confederation led surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, Va., on Oct. 19, 1781. Washington to return to public life in the hope of promoting the formation of a strong central government. He presided over the Constitutional Convention and yielded to the universal demand that he serve as first president. He was inaugurated on April 30, 1789, in New York, the first national capital. In office, he sought to unite the nation and establish the authority of the new government at home and abroad. Greatly distressed by the emergence of the Hamilton-Jefferson rivalry, Washington worked to maintain neutrality but actually sympathized more with Hamilton. Following his unanimous re-election in 1792, the Federalists dominated his second term. His Farewell Address on Sept. 17, 1796(published but never delivered) rebuked party spirit and warned against "permanent alliances" with foreign powers. He died at Mount Vernon on Dec. 14, 1799.

Early Career

George Washington was born in Westmoreland county, Va., on a farm, later known as Wakefield, on Feb. 11, 1731. His first American ancestor, John Washington, came to Virginia from England in 1657. This immigrant's descendants remained in the colony and gained a respected place in society. Farming, land buying, trading, milling, and the iron industry were means by which the family rose in the world.

Of George's early life little is known. His formal education was slight. He soon revealed a skill in mathematics and surveying so marked as to suggest a gift for practical affairs akin to youthful genius in the arts. Men, plantation life, and the haunts of river, field, and forest were his principal teachers. When George's father died he took his place in the farm ambitious to gain wealth and eminence, mainly by acquiring land, he was obliged to depend chiefly on his own efforts. His mother once thought of a career for him in the British Navy but was evidently deterred by a report from her brother in England that an obscure colonial youth could not expect more at Britain's hands than a job as a common sailor. George's youthful model was Lawrence, a cultivated gentleman, whom he accompanied on a trip to Barbados, West Indies, in 1751. Here George was stricken with smallpox, which left lasting marks on his face.

George's early experiences had taught him the ways of living in the wilderness, had deepened his appreciation of the natural beauty of Virginia, had fostered his interest in the Great West, and had afforded opportunities for acquiring land. The days of his youth had revealed a striving nature. Strength and vigor heightened his enjoyment of activities out of doors. Quick to profit by mistakes, he was otherwise deliberate in thought. Not a fluent talker, he aspired to gain practical knowledge, to acquire agreeable manners, and to excel in his undertakings.

French and Indian War

In the early 1750's, Britain and France both strove to occupy the upper Ohio Valley. The French erected Fort Le Boeuf, at Waterford, Pa., and seized a British post, Venango, on the Allegheny River. Alarmed by these acts, Virginia's governor, Robert Dinwiddie, sent Washington late in 1753 on a mission to assert Britain's claim. He led a small party to Fort Le Boeuf, where its commander stated France's determination to possess the disputed area. Returning to Williamsburg, Washington delivered the defiant reply. He also wrote a report which told a vivid winter's tale of wilderness adventure that enhanced his reputation for resourcefulness and daring.

Dinwiddie then put Washington in command of an expedition to guard an intended British fort at the forks of the Ohio, at the present site of Pittsburgh. En route, he learned that the French had expelled the Virginia fort builders and were completing the works, which they named Fort Duquesne. He advanced to Great Meadows, Pa., about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of the fort, where he erected Fort Necessity. On May 28, 1754, occurred one of the most disputed incidents of his career. He ambushed a small French detachment, the commander of which, Joseph Coulon de Villiers, sieur de Jumonville, was killed along with nine of his men. The others were captured. This incident started the French and Indian War. The French claimed that their detachment was on a peaceful mission; Washington thought that it was engaged in spying. He returned to Fort Necessity, which a large French force attacked on July 3. It fell after a day's fighting. In making the surrender, Washington signed a paper that imputed to him the blame for "l'assassinat" (murder) of Jumonville. Not versed in French, Washington later explained that he had not understood the meaning of the incriminating word.

By the terms of the surrender, he and his men were permitted to return, disarmed, to the Virginia settlements. The news of his defeat moved Britain to send to Virginia an expedition under Gen. Edward Braddock, whom Washington joined as a voluntary aide-de-camp, without command of troops. Braddock's main force reached a point on the Monongahela River about 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Fort Duquesne where, on July 9, 1755, he suffered a surprise attack and a defeat that ended in disordered flight. Washington's part