Fade Resistance Performance:
George Washington led America's Continental Army to victory over Britain in the American Revolution (1775-1783), and in 1789 was elected the first President of the United States of America. He served two four-year terms from 1789 to 1797, winning reelection in 1792. Because of his central and critical role in the founding of the United States, Washington is referred to as father of the nation. His devotion to republicanism and civic virtue made him an exemplary figure among early American politicians.
Born in 1732 into a Virginia planter family, he learned the morals, manners, and body of knowledge requisite for an 18th century Virginia gentleman. At 16 he helped survey Shenandoah lands for Thomas, Lord Fairfax. Commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he fought the first skirmishes of what grew into the French-Indian War. The next year, as an aide to General Edward Braddock, he escaped injury although four bullets ripped his coat and two horses were shot from under him.
In the autumn of 1755, Governor Dinwiddie appointed Washington commander in chief of all Virginia forces, with rank of colonel and responsibility for defending 300 miles of mountainous frontier with about 300 men. With too few troops, inadequate supplies, and insufficient authority for discipline, and hampered by an antagonistic governor, he had a severe challenge.
Washington's goal at the outset of his military career had been to secure a commission as a British officer, which was more prestigious than the provincial military. His commission never came, so Washington resigned from active military service in 1758 and spent the next sixteen years as a Virginia planter and politician on his Mount Vernon farm.
His marriage in 1759 to Martha Dandridge Custis greatly increased Washington's 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 payment for his previous service in the French-Indian War. By 1775, Washington had doubled the size of his Mount Vernon plantation to 6,500 acres.
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by his friend George Mason which called for Virginia to boycott imported English goods until the Townshend Acts were repealed.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. 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.
After fighting broke out in April 1775, Washington appeared at the Second Continental Congress in military uniform, signaling that he was prepared for war. Washington had the prestige, the military experience, the charisma and military bearing, the reputation of being a strong patriot, and he was supported by the South, especially Virginia.
Congress created the Continental Army and selected Washington as commander-in-chief. He assumed command of the American forces in Massachusetts in July 1775, during the ongoing siege of Boston. Realizing his army's desperate shortage of gunpowder, Washington ordered raids on British arsenals and some manufacturing was attempted. About 2.5 million pounds was eventually obtained by the end of 1776, most of it from France.
Washington's army, now over 10,000 strong, encamped at Valley Forge in December 1777, where it stayed for the next six months. Over the winter, 2500 men died from disease and exposure. The following spring, however, the army emerged from Valley Forge rested and in good order, the British were forced to vacate Philadelphia in 1778 and returned to New York City.
As commander-in-chief, General Washington realized early that the best strategy was to harass the British. He reported to Congress, "we should on all Occasions avoid a general Action, or put anything to the Risque, unless compelled by a necessity, into which we ought never to be drawn." Ensuing battles saw him fall back slowly, then strike unexpectedly. Finally in 1781 with the aid of French allies--he forced the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
In March 1783, Washington used his influence to disperse a group of Army officers who had threatened Congress regarding their back pay. The Treaty of Paris recognized the independence of the United States and Washington disbanded his army giving an eloquent farewell address to his soldiers in November. In December 1783, Washington resigned his commission as commander-in-chief to the Congress of the Confederation.
Washington's retirement to Mount Vernon was short-lived as he was ultimately persuaded to attend the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. He was unanimously elected president of the Convention and for the most part, 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 Constitutional 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. By 1790, all 13 states eventually ratified the new Constitution.
Washington was elected in 1789, and remains the only president to be elected unanimously, a feat which he duplicated in the 1792 election. As runner-up, John Adams became vice president. Washington took the oath of office as the first President on April 30, 1789 at Federal Hall in New York City although he never wanted the position in the beginning.
The First U.S. Congress voted to pay Washington a salary of $25,000 a year - about $3,500,000 in today’s money. Washington, already wealthy, declined the salary, since he valued his image as a selfless public servant. At the urging of Congress, however, he ultimately accepted the payment, as the founding fathers wanted future presidents to come from a large pool of potential candidates - not just those citizens that could afford to do the work for free.
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 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.
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.
Washington's 1796 Farewell Address was one of the most influential statements of American political values. 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 virtues of a republican people. In the address, he called morality "a necessary spring of popular government." He suggests that "reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle." Washington thus makes the point that the value of religion is for the benefit of society as a whole.
Washington's address warned 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, saying 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.
After retiring from the presidency in March 1797, Washington returned to Mount Vernon with a profound sense of relief. He devoted much time to farming and constructed a 2,250 square foot distillery, which was one of the largest in the new republic, housing five copper stills, a boiler and 50 mash tubs, at the site of one of his unprofitable farms. At its peak, two years later, the distillery produced 11,000 gallons of corn and rye whiskey worth about $750,000.00 in today's money.
Washington enjoyed less than three years of retirement at Mount Vernon and on December 12, 1799, he spent several hours inspecting his farms on horseback, in snow and later hail and freezing rain. Washington sat down to dine that evening without changing his wet clothes and died of a throat infection two days later. For months the Nation mourned him.
Washington's remains were buried at Mount Vernon and in order to protect their privacy, Martha Washington reportedly burned the correspondence between her husband and herself following his death. Only three letters between the couple have survived. Mount Vernon was inherited by his nephew, Bushrod Washington, a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Today, Washington's face and image are often used as national symbols of the United States and perhaps the most pervasive commemoration is his image on the one-dollar bill and the quarter-dollar coin. The Washington Monument, one of the most well-known American landmarks, was built in his honor and the Mount Rushmore Memorial has him and three other presidents sculpted out of the side of a granite mountain in South Dakota. Washington's name became that of the nation's capital, Washington, DC.
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