The Life of George Washington, Research Paper Example

Being the first commander in chief of colonial Armies in the continental America during the American revolutionary war, and later becoming the first president of America, George Washington accomplished much in his life. He is often referred to as the founding father of America and his life is a fascination to any American citizen.

George Washington was born in February 22, 1732 in Westmoreland County Virginia at his father’s plantation. Augustine Washington, his father, was a farmer at the area during that time and also served as the justice of the county court. His mother Mary Ball was the second wife to Augustine Washington who remarried after his first wife died in 1729 leaving behind two children (Burian 24).

Early Life

In 1735, Augustine Washington moved with is family to Potomac River where they had a home. They later moved to Ferry farm a plantation located on the Rappahannock River near Fredericksburg in Virginia in 1738. This is the place that most historians record as the place where George Washington spend most of his early childhood life. His childhood still remains one of the areas in his life that very little is known. However, most historians record that he was a very honest and piety fellow in his childhood. His youth has been portrayed by many fables to have had good physical strength which today has been included as facts in his history (Burian 26). Though this has been included as a fact in his biographies, some of the fables about his physical strength are just plausible. A good example is the most popular one claiming that George Washington threw a dollar across Potomac River. However the reason for the inclusion of such stories in the history of George Washington by his early biographers was to project his physical strength

When George was 11 years old, his father died and left most of his property to George’s half siblings. This instilled the value of hard work to the young George who had to help his mother in the family upkeep. With his mother Mary, they had to manage the plantation farm, Rappahannock River plantation, where they lived for them to get income.

On education, very little is also known about his early educational backgrounds. The common way that education was carried out in those days in Virginia gentry was by children being taught at home by private tutors hired by the parents. Also children were taught in private schools by private tutors. George attended a primary school and got his first formal education in which those days included reading writing and arithmetic. He attended a local church school in sexton from the age of 7 years to 15 years before transferring to be taught by a school master by the name Williams (Irving & Neider 54). There are some archived works of George Washington of his early educational life which indicate that he performed fairly in mathematics and surveying. Unlike other gentlemen sons in those years, George Washington did not learn any foreign language or proceeded with college education. His formal schooling ended when he was 15 years of age (Irving, & Neider 58).

Most of George Washington’s early life was spent with his half brother who helped him a lot by tutoring him on both school work and in social life issues. He was tutored by his brother in many social life issues that were considered very essential in the life of any young man in the society in those days. Although he did not attend college, George was aware that his education was rudimentary and therefore read and studied a lot on his own. Over the years he developed a big library and subscribed to a number of newspapers. His effort paid off as he later developed to be a very good writer in his time. Also most of his education was formed by outdoor life issues as exemplified by his developing excellent surveying skills in his early teens (Randall 12).

George Washington met with Lord Thomas Fairfax who gave him his first job as a surveyor at the age of 16 years. Through his elder brother’s marriage to the Thomas Fairfax family who owned huge tracks of land, George was able to meet the Lord Fairfax who gave him his first job. With his great surveying skills, George was commissioned as the chief surveyor of Culpeper County in Virginia during the establishment of the town of Alexandria in Virginia.

Young Manhood

George’s brother Lawrence proposed that he join the British army in 1746. Though he wanted to join, his mother refused to give her consent on the idea. He continued with his surveying work and saved a lot of money and bought plots of land. Historical records indicate that when he was 21 years old, he had bought more than 1500 acres of land out of his savings (Grizzard 8).

In 1751, he accompanied his brother Lawrence who was suffering from tuberculosis on voyage to Barbados which was a British colony. While in Barbados, he socialized with military men and witnessed some amazing things in the British army. His interest in military career might have been aroused by this experience. One year later, Lawrence died and George inherited most of his property including Mount Venom which was his home. He was also granted a place in the Virginia militia in honor of his late brother. This marked the beginning of his military career (Randall 36).

The earliest records of George’s military assignments was that given by Governor of Virginia in 1753 Robert Dinwiddie to take message to the French troops from Canada in Lake Erie. Dinwiddie was afraid that the French might claim Ohio which by then was considered a strategic point. Dinwiddie send Washington who by then a 21 year old Major in the army to a mission to deliver a message to the French indicating that they should move out of the area. With the help of the native Indians, Washington was able to deliver the message to the French. However, his return trip was not as smooth as he had to pass through thickets and sailed in freezing waters. The journey gave Washington first international recognition as Dinwiddie published the journey in Williamsburg and London (Grizzard 37)

After this journey he was promoted to a lieutenant colonel. Dinwiddie sent him (George) with other men to assert French claims of Virginia. On reaching Virginia, French soldiers attacked them killing some of them. Washington and his men were defeated by the French soldiers. The results of this war led to a war between the French and Indians in the area. Due to the defeat, Washington suffered a humiliation and resigned in the army. In 1755, he rejoined the army as volunteer to help General Braddock who was sent by the king of England to drive the French from the Ohio country. Due the battle confusion, Braddock’s army fled to Virginia and Washington helped the fleeing survivors to safety amid heavy fire from the French troops. His bravery led him to be given the command of all the army in Virginia and protect a frontier of almost 350 miles long. Although manning this was a pretty hard assignment for him, it played a great role in giving him the appropriate experience in manning troops. By 1758 the British had regained Ohio and peace had been restored in Virginia. His duty fully completed, he resigned from the military forces. By then he was the most experienced local in the army in Virginia (Irving & Neider 120).

After retiring from the military service he returned to his home Mount Venom and in 1759 he married Martha D. Curtis the widow of one of the wealthiest men in the colony. He went to work on his plantation. Between 1759 and 1777, George Washington worked in his farm Mount Venom as gentleman farmer.  Much of his effort was to improve the houses (mansions) in the farm. In his time as a farmer, George Washington established himself as one of the most innovative farmers in his time. He practiced rotational cropping and was able to successfully switch from tobacco to wheat as the main crop in his farm. With the search of better farming methods he tried many fertilizers, crops, tools and also livestock breeding. His main aim was to be recognized as the best farmer in the colony by that time. He diversified the agricultural activities in his farm to even include commercial fishing to increase income for the farm. He also engaged in constant expansion of his land from 2000 acres to almost 8000 acres (Irving & Neider 123).

Though George Washington spent most of his time in his farm with his wife and children, he maintained an active public life. For example he was elected to the House of Burgesses in 1958 and served for several terms. By then there was growing number of disputes between Britain and its American colonies and George Washington viewed the developments with a lot of concern. Contrary to the common perceived character of great leaders, Washington was not a great orator, or a political firebrand but he was able to earn the trust of his peers through his character of being modest and dependable person. His political career got a big boost when he was elected as one of the seven representatives of Virginia in the Continental Congress in the fall of 1774. He made a huge impression in the delegates and was selected by the Congress a year later to lead the Continental Army fighting the British in Boston (Burian 67).

This commanding position was very challenging to him. Though he had earlier served in the military, he had never fought in such big position and therefore lacked experience in commanding roles such as moving in different battle formations and handling artillery and Calvary. His army suffered different problems such as lack of adequate supplies or other crucial material in the military. Though they suffered numerous problems, Washington had determination and constantly sought ways to make sure that his army was not disintegrated. He knew of the benefits of keeping the army intact in the revolutionary struggle that was going on by then. His efforts showed signs of success in 1776 when the British soldiers withdrew from Boston City. However, this was only temporary as the British come with a bigger number under Colonel Howe with orders to claim and occupy New York.  This marked another problem to the revolutionary armies as depending New York seemed to be a very difficult job given that New York is an island city with water canals everywhere presenting advantages to armies with superior naval capabilities. The British were in a better position of winning as they had superior weapons than Washington’s army. After several battles between the British forces and Washington’s revolutionary army with the later suffering loss after loss, New York City was taken by the British. The defeat of the American army led by Washington made the British believe that the Congress would call for truce and accept their settlement of the city.

Instead of the British under Howe putting the final blow to Washington’s army, they relied on their thinking that Congress was able to call for truce. Meanwhile Washington and his army were planning for a surprise retaliation attacks. On the Christmas day of 1776, Washington led his army to attack the unsuspecting British forces in Trenton and Princeton forcing them to surrender. Although the British were still big in number, Washington and his army were able to deal a heavy blow to the British army. The victories in the battles did not show anything in relation to the Americans being able to defeat the British forces. However Washington saw another dimension to the war. As much as the war was military, political and public opinion still played a big role in influencing the war. He used this strategy to continuously frustrate his opponents. On the other hand the British had different opinions on how the war was going to be won. Under Howe, the British believed that their occupation of the major American cities was the effective way that the war was going to be won. They moved to Philadelphia in the September of 1777. Washington’s army went and defended the city but suffered a defeat. Instead of surrendering as expected by the British, Washington and his army re-grouped and attacked the British army located just near Philadelphia. Although they were defeated, it clearly indicated the resilience of Washington’s army.

After capturing Philadelphia, the British realized that Philadelphia had very little importance in the control of all the issues of America. They realized that other ways can be used to bring supplies to America contrary to their belief that capturing Philadelphia would mean controlling all the supplies routes in America. The breakthrough for Washington’s army came in the battle of Cornwall in October 29, 1781 where they defeated the British. The war marked the end of the revolutionary wars in America. (Burian 69).

After the war, Washington presented himself to the Congress to be decommissioned and retire to his home. Having defeated a more superior British Army, his heroism was growing and yet he wanted to retire from public service this even increased his heroic status. He moved to his home Mount Venom and continued with his agricultural endeavors. He also served as a chairman of a Potomac farmers union dedicated to improving the performance of farmers through contracting roads to improve market accessibility.

First President of America (1789-1797)

In his retirement, Washington was frustrated at the way affairs were run in counties as guided by the articles of confederation. Finances were mismanaged by those in big positions and counties were unable to finance and run their operations. In 1787, he attended a convention at Philadelphia that was aimed and making changes to the articles of the confederation. He was chosen to preside over the convention which aimed at creating a constitution to help run a government. After this, campaigns for ratification of the constitution began and he campaigned for almost four months. After the ratification of the constitution, he again had the intentions of retiring to his home. However when calls for the election of the first president of America were made, he received the vote of everyone who voted. He was elected unopposed (Grizzard 134).

His first term in presidency from 1789 to 1793 mainly entailed creation and organization of structures of government especially the executive arm of the government. He surrounded himself with people of high integrity in the nation. Among the notable individuals that occupied high positions in the government of Washington in his first term in office include, Thomas Jefferson as secretary of state, Henry Knox as secretary of war, Alexander Hamilton as secretary of treasury and James Madison as presidential personal advisor. During his first term in office as the president, he was able to get rid of the debt crises that were common in counties. He also managed to end corruption in public offices. He also managed to bring peace in the country through signing of peace treaties with the different native communities such as the Indians

His second term in presidency of 1793-1797 was marked by a lot of involvement in international affairs. It was the period of the French revolution and occurrence of wars in Europe. His involvement in international affairs was due to his belief that war was detrimental to commerce and America would loose if such wars were not resolved. He successfully managed to keep America out of war in all his tenure as the president of America. Though there were calls for him to run for presidency for a third term Washington successfully retired after his second term in 1799. He died on December 14 1799 and was buried in Mount Venom. His death sent grief to many people and places, cities small and big. He was truly a great leader and achieved a lot in his lifetime as a leader.

Works Cited

Burian, A. W. George Washington’s Legacy of Leadership. New York: Morgan James Publishing, LLC, 2007

Grizzard, Frank E. George Washington: A Biographical Companion. New York: ABC-CLIO, 2002

Irving, W. & Neider, C. George Washington: A Biography. New York: Da Capo Press, 1994

Randall, W. S. George Washington: A Life. New York: Henry Holt & Co, 1998