george washington biography american revolution

• History Classics
• Your Profile
• Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window)
• This Day In History
• History Podcasts
• History Vault

George Washington

By: History.com Editors

Updated: June 25, 2024 | Original: October 29, 2009

George Washington (1732-99) was commander in chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War (1775-83) and served two terms as the first U.S. president, from 1789 to 1797. The son of a prosperous planter, Washington was raised in colonial Virginia. As a young man, he worked as a surveyor then fought in the French and Indian War (1754-63). 

During the American Revolution, he led the colonial forces to victory over the British and became a national hero. In 1787, he was elected president of the convention that wrote the U.S. Constitution. Two years later, Washington became America’s first president. Realizing that the way he handled the job would impact how future presidents approached the position, he handed down a legacy of strength, integrity and national purpose. Less than three years after leaving office, he died at his Virginia plantation, Mount Vernon, at age 67.

George Washington's Early Years

George Washington was born on February 22, 1732 , at his family’s plantation on Pope’s Creek in Westmoreland County, in the British colony of Virginia , to Augustine Washington (1694-1743) and his second wife, Mary Ball Washington (1708-89). George, the eldest of Augustine and Mary Washington’s six children, spent much of his childhood at Ferry Farm, a plantation near Fredericksburg, Virginia. After Washington’s father died when he was 11, it’s likely he helped his mother manage the plantation.

Did you know? At the time of his death in 1799, George Washington owned some 300 enslaved people. However, before his passing, he had become opposed to slavery, and in his will, he ordered that his enslaved workers be freed after his wife's death.

Few details about Washington’s early education are known, although children of prosperous families like his typically were taught at home by private tutors or attended private schools. It’s believed he finished his formal schooling at around age 15.

As a teenager, Washington, who had shown an aptitude for mathematics, became a successful surveyor. His surveying expeditions into the Virginia wilderness earned him enough money to begin acquiring land of his own.

In 1751, Washington made his only trip outside of America, when he traveled to Barbados with his older half-brother Lawrence Washington (1718-52), who was suffering from tuberculosis and hoped the warm climate would help him recuperate. Shortly after their arrival, George contracted smallpox. He survived, although the illness left him with permanent facial scars. In 1752, Lawrence, who had been educated in England and served as Washington’s mentor, died. Washington eventually inherited Lawrence’s estate, Mount Vernon , on the Potomac River near Alexandria, Virginia.

An Officer and Gentleman Farmer

In December 1752, Washington, who had no previous military experience, was made a commander of the Virginia militia. He saw action in the French and Indian War and was eventually put in charge of all of Virginia’s militia forces. By 1759, Washington had resigned his commission, returned to Mount Vernon and was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, where he served until 1774. In January 1759, he married Martha Dandridge Custis (1731-1802), a wealthy widow with two children. Washington became a devoted stepfather to her children; he and Martha Washington never had any offspring of their own.

In the ensuing years, Washington expanded Mount Vernon from 2,000 acres into an 8,000-acre property with five farms. He grew a variety of crops, including wheat and corn, bred mules and maintained fruit orchards and a successful fishery. He was deeply interested in farming and continually experimented with new crops and methods of land conservation.

George Washington During the American Revolution

Washington proved to be a better general than military strategist. His strength lay not in his genius on the battlefield but in his ability to keep the struggling colonial army together. His troops were poorly trained and lacked food, ammunition and other supplies (soldiers sometimes even went without shoes in winter). However, Washington was able to give them direction and motivation. His leadership during the winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge was a testament to his power to inspire his men to keep going.

By the late 1760s, Washington had experienced firsthand the effects of rising taxes imposed on American colonists by the British and came to believe that it was in the best interests of the colonists to declare independence from England. Washington served as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in 1774 in Philadelphia. By the time the Second Continental Congress convened a year later, the American Revolution had begun in earnest, and Washington was named commander in chief of the Continental Army.

Over the course of the grueling eight-year war, the colonial forces won few battles but consistently held their own against the British. In October 1781, with the aid of the French (who allied themselves with the colonists over their rivals the British), the Continental forces were able to capture British troops under General Charles Cornwallis (1738-1805) in the Battle of Yorktown . This action effectively ended the Revolutionary War and Washington was declared a national hero.

America’s First President

In 1783, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris between Great Britain and the U.S., Washington, believing he had done his duty, gave up his command of the army and returned to Mount Vernon, intent on resuming his life as a gentleman farmer and family man. However, in 1787, he was asked to attend the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and head the committee to draft the new constitution . His impressive leadership there convinced the delegates that he was by far the most qualified man to become the nation’s first president.

At first, Washington balked. He wanted to, at last, return to a quiet life at home and leave governing the new nation to others. But public opinion was so strong that eventually he gave in. The first presidential election was held on January 7, 1789, and Washington won handily. John Adams (1735-1826), who received the second-largest number of votes, became the nation’s first vice president. The 57-year-old Washington was inaugurated on April 30, 1789, in New York City. Because Washington, D.C. , America’s future capital city wasn’t yet built, he lived in New York and Philadelphia. While in office, he signed a bill establishing a future, permanent U.S. capital along the Potomac River—the city later named Washington, D.C., in his honor.

George Washington Raised Martha’s Children and Grandchildren as His Own

The 'Father of the Nation' stressed education among his family's younger generations and even offered advice on navigating love.

How 22‑Year‑Old George Washington Inadvertently Sparked a World War

The first U.S. president’s celebrated military career actually started out quite poorly, in the French and Indian War.

11 Little‑Known Facts About George Washington

He's America's first president. The icon we all think we know. But in reality, he was a complicated human being.

George Washington’s Accomplishments

The United States was a small nation when Washington took office, consisting of 11 states and approximately 4 million people, and there was no precedent for how the new president should conduct domestic or foreign business. Mindful that his actions would likely determine how future presidents were expected to govern, Washington worked hard to set an example of fairness, prudence and integrity. In foreign matters, he supported cordial relations with other countries but also favored a position of neutrality in foreign conflicts. Domestically, he nominated the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court , John Jay (1745-1829), signed a bill establishing the first national bank, the Bank of the United States , and set up his own presidential cabinet . 

His two most prominent cabinet appointees were Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) and Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), two men who disagreed strongly on the role of the federal government. Hamilton favored a strong central government and was part of the Federalist Party , while Jefferson favored stronger states’ rights as part of the Democratic-Republican Party, the forerunner to the Democratic Party . Washington believed that divergent views were critical for the health of the new government, but he was distressed at what he saw as an emerging partisanship.

How George Washington Used Spies to Win the American Revolution

Secret agents, invisible ink, ciphers and codes—the gritty and dangerous underworld of the colonial insurgency

5 Myths About George Washington, Debunked

No, he didn’t really chop down that cherry tree, and his teeth weren’t wooden.

George Washington’s Final Years—And Sudden, Agonizing Death

The Founding Father left the presidency a healthy man, but then died from a sudden illness less than three years later.

George Washington’s presidency was marked by a series of firsts. He signed the first United States copyright law, protecting the copyrights of authors. He also signed the first Thanksgiving proclamation, making November 26 a national day of Thanksgiving for the end of the war for American independence and the successful ratification of the Constitution.

During Washington’s presidency, Congress passed the first federal revenue law, a tax on distilled spirits. In July 1794, farmers in Western Pennsylvania rebelled over the so-called “whiskey tax.” Washington called in over 12,000 militiamen to Pennsylvania to dissolve the Whiskey Rebellion in one of the first major tests of the authority of the national government.

Under Washington’s leadership, the states ratified the Bill of Rights , and five new states entered the union: North Carolina (1789), Rhode Island (1790), Vermont (1791), Kentucky (1792) and Tennessee (1796).

In his second term, Washington issued the proclamation of neutrality to avoid entering the 1793 war between Great Britain and France. But when French minister to the United States Edmond Charles Genet—known to history as “Citizen Genet”—toured the United States, he boldly flaunted the proclamation, attempting to set up American ports as French military bases and gain support for his cause in the Western United States. His meddling caused a stir between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans, widening the rift between parties and making consensus-building more difficult.

In 1795, Washington signed the “Treaty of Amity Commerce and Navigation, between His Britannic Majesty; and The United States of America,” or Jay’s Treaty , so-named for John Jay , who had negotiated it with the government of King George III . It helped the U.S. avoid war with Great Britain, but also rankled certain members of Congress back home and was fiercely opposed by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison . Internationally, it caused a stir among the French, who believed it violated previous treaties between the United States and France.

Washington’s administration signed two other influential international treaties. Pinckney’s Treaty of 1795, also known as the Treaty of San Lorenzo, established friendly relations between the United States and Spain, firming up borders between the U.S. and Spanish territories in North America and opening up the Mississippi to American traders. The Treaty of Tripoli, signed the following year, gave American ships access to Mediterranean shipping lanes in exchange for a yearly tribute to the Pasha of Tripoli.

George Washington’s Retirement to Mount Vernon and Death

In 1796, after two terms as president and declining to serve a third term, Washington finally retired. In Washington’s farewell address , he urged the new nation to maintain the highest standards domestically and to keep involvement with foreign powers to a minimum. The address is still read each February in the U.S. Senate to commemorate Washington’s birthday.

Washington returned to Mount Vernon and devoted his attentions to making the plantation as productive as it had been before he became president. More than four decades of public service had aged him, but he was still a commanding figure. In December 1799, he caught a cold after inspecting his properties in the rain. The cold developed into a throat infection and Washington died on the night of December 14, 1799, at the age of 67. He was entombed at Mount Vernon, which in 1960 was designated a national historic landmark.

Washington left one of the most enduring legacies of any American in history. Known as the “Father of His Country,” his face appears on the U.S. dollar bill and quarter, and dozens of U.S. schools, towns and counties, as well as the state of Washington and the nation’s capital city, are named for him.

HISTORY Vault: Washington

Watch HISTORY's mini-series, 'Washington,' which brings to life the man whose name is known to all, but whose epic story is understood by few.

Sign up for Inside History

Get HISTORY’s most fascinating stories delivered to your inbox three times a week.

By submitting your information, you agree to receive emails from HISTORY and A+E Networks. You can opt out at any time. You must be 16 years or older and a resident of the United States.

More details : Privacy Notice | Terms of Use | Contact Us

George Washington

George Washington, a Founding Father of the United States, led the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War and was America’s first president.

(1732-1799)

Who Was George Washington?

George Washington was a Virginia plantation owner who served as a general and commander-in-chief of the colonial armies during the American Revolutionary War, and later became the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797.

Early Life and Family

Washington was born on February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was the eldest of Augustine and Mary’s six children, all of whom survived into adulthood.

The family lived on Pope's Creek in Westmoreland County, Virginia. They were moderately prosperous members of Virginia's "middling class."

Washington could trace his family's presence in North America to his great-grandfather, John Washington, who migrated from England to Virginia. The family held some distinction in England and was granted land by Henry VIII .

But much of the family’s wealth in England was lost under the Puritan government of Oliver Cromwell . In 1657 Washington’s grandfather, Lawrence Washington, migrated to Virginia. Little information is available about the family in North America until Washington’s father, Augustine, was born in 1694.

Augustine Washington was an ambitious man who acquired land and enslaved people, built mills, and grew tobacco. For a time, he had an interest in opening iron mines. He married his first wife, Jane Butler, and they had three children. Jane died in 1729 and Augustine married Mary Ball in 1731.

Mount Vernon

In 1735, Augustine moved the family up the Potomac River to another Washington family home, Little Hunting Creek Plantation — later renamed Mount Vernon .

They moved again in 1738 to Ferry Farm on the Rappahannock River, opposite Fredericksburg, Virginia, where Washington spent much of his youth.

Childhood and Education

Little is known about Washington's childhood, which fostered many of the fables later biographers manufactured to fill in the gap. Among these are the stories that Washington threw a silver dollar across the Potomac and after chopping down his father's prize cherry tree, he openly confessed to the crime.

It is known that from age seven to 15, Washington was home-schooled and studied with the local church sexton and later a schoolmaster in practical math, geography, Latin and the English classics.

But much of the knowledge he would use the rest of his life was through his acquaintance with woodsmen and the plantation foreman. By his early teens, he had mastered growing tobacco, stock raising and surveying.

Washington’s father died when he was 11 and he became the ward of his half-brother, Lawrence, who gave him a good upbringing. Lawrence had inherited the family's Little Hunting Creek Plantation and married Anne Fairfax, the daughter of Colonel William Fairfax, patriarch of the well-to-do Fairfax family. Under her tutelage, Washington was schooled in the finer aspects of colonial culture.

In 1748, when he was 16, Washington traveled with a surveying party plotting land in Virginia’s western territory. The following year, aided by Lord Fairfax, Washington received an appointment as the official surveyor of Culpeper County.

For two years he was very busy surveying the land in Culpeper, Frederick and Augusta counties. The experience made him resourceful and toughened his body and mind. It also piqued his interest in western land holdings, an interest that endured throughout his life with speculative land purchases and a belief that the future of the nation lay in colonizing the West.

In July 1752, Washington's brother, Lawrence, died of tuberculosis, making him the heir apparent of the Washington lands. Lawrence’s only child, Sarah, died two months later and Washington became the head of one of Virginia's most prominent estates, Mount Vernon. He was 20 years old.

Throughout his life, he would hold farming as one of the most honorable professions and he was most proud of Mount Vernon. Washington would gradually increase his landholdings there to about 8,000 acres

Pre-Revolutionary Military Career

In the early 1750s, France and Britain were at peace. However, the French military had begun occupying much of the Ohio Valley, protecting the King's land interests, particularly fur trappers and French settlers. But the borderlands of this area were unclear and prone to dispute between the two countries.

Washington showed early signs of natural leadership and shortly after Lawrence's death, Virginia's Lieutenant Governor, Robert Dinwiddie, appointed Washington adjutant with a rank of major in the Virginia militia.

French and Indian War

On October 31, 1753, Dinwiddie sent Washington to Fort LeBoeuf, at what is now Waterford, Pennsylvania, to warn the French to remove themselves from land claimed by Britain. The French politely refused and Washington made a hasty ride back to Williamsburg, Virginia's colonial capital.

Dinwiddie sent Washington back with troops and they set up a post at Great Meadows. Washington's small force attacked a French post at Fort Duquesne, killing the commander, Coulon de Jumonville, and nine others and taking the rest prisoners. The French and Indian War had begun.

The French counterattacked and drove Washington and his men back to his post at Great Meadows (later named "Fort Necessity.") After a full day siege, Washington surrendered and was soon released and returned to Williamsburg, promising not to build another fort on the Ohio River.

Though a little embarrassed at being captured, he was grateful to receive the thanks from the House of Burgesses and see his name mentioned in the London gazettes.

Washington was given the honorary rank of colonel and joined British General Edward Braddock's army in Virginia in 1755. The British had devised a plan for a three-prong assault on French forces attacking Fort Duquesne, Fort Niagara and Crown Point.

During the encounter, the French and their Indian allies ambushed Braddock, who was mortally wounded. Washington escaped injury with four bullet holes in his cloak and two horses shot out from under him. Though he fought bravely, he could do little to turn back the rout and led the defeated army back to safety.

Commander of Virginia Troops

In August 1755, Washington was made commander of all Virginia troops at age 23. He was sent to the frontier to patrol and protect nearly 400 miles of border with some 700 ill-disciplined colonial troops and a Virginia colonial legislature unwilling to support him.

It was a frustrating assignment. His health failed in the closing months of 1757 and he was sent home with dysentery.

In 1758, Washington returned to duty on another expedition to capture Fort Duquesne. A friendly-fire incident took place, killing 14 and wounding 26 of Washington's men. However, the British were able to score a major victory, capturing Fort Duquesne and control of the Ohio Valley.

Washington retired from his Virginia regiment in December 1758. His experience during the war was generally frustrating, with key decisions made slowly, poor support from the colonial legislature and poorly trained recruits.

Washington applied for a commission with the British army but was turned down. In 1758, he resigned his commission and returned to Mount Vernon disillusioned. The same year, he entered politics and was elected to Virginia's House of Burgesses.

Martha Washington

A month after leaving the army, Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis, a widow, who was only a few months older than he. Martha brought to the marriage a considerable fortune: an 18,000-acre estate, from which Washington personally acquired 6,000 acres.

With this and land he was granted for his military service, Washington became one of the more wealthy landowners in Virginia. The marriage also brought Martha's two young children, John (Jacky) and Martha (Patsy), ages six and four, respectively.

Washington lavished great affection on both of them, and was heartbroken when Patsy died just before the Revolution. Jacky died during the Revolution, and Washington adopted two of his children.

Enslaved People

During his retirement from the Virginia militia until the start of the Revolution, Washington devoted himself to the care and development of his land holdings, attending the rotation of crops, managing livestock and keeping up with the latest scientific advances.

By the 1790s, Washington kept over 300 enslaved people at Mount Vernon. He was said to dislike the institution of slavery , but accepted the fact that it was legal.

Washington, in his will, made his displeasure with slavery known, as he ordered that all his enslaved people be granted their freedom upon the death of his wife Martha. (This act of generosity, however, applied to fewer than half of Mount Vernon's enslaved people: Those enslaved people owned by the Custis family were given to Martha’s grandchildren after her death.)

Washington loved the landed gentry's life of horseback riding, fox hunts, fishing and cotillions. He worked six days a week, often taking off his coat and performing manual labor with his workers. He was an innovative and responsible landowner, breeding cattle and horses and tending to his fruit orchards.

Much has been made of the fact that Washington used false teeth or dentures for most of his adult life. Indeed, Washington's correspondence to friends and family makes frequent references to aching teeth, inflamed gums and various dental woes.

Washington had one tooth pulled when he was just 24 years old, and by the time of his inauguration in 1789 he had just one natural tooth left. But his false teeth weren't made of wood, as some legends suggest.

Instead, Washington's false teeth were fashioned from human teeth — including teeth from enslaved people and his own pulled teeth — ivory, animal teeth and assorted metals.

Washington's dental problems, according to some historians, probably impacted the shape of his face and may have contributed to his quiet, somber demeanor: During the Constitutional Convention, Washington addressed the gathered dignitaries only once.

American Revolution

Though the British Proclamation Act of 1763 — prohibiting settlement beyond the Alleghenies — irritated Washington and he opposed the Stamp Act of 1765, he did not take a leading role in the growing colonial resistance against the British until the widespread protest of the Townshend Acts in 1767.

His letters of this period indicate he was totally opposed to the colonies declaring independence. However, by 1767, he wasn't opposed to resisting what he believed were fundamental violations by the Crown of the rights of Englishmen.

In 1769, Washington introduced a resolution to the House of Burgesses calling for Virginia to boycott British goods until the Acts were repealed.

After the passage of the Coercive Acts in 1774, Washington chaired a meeting in which the Fairfax Resolves were adopted, calling for the convening of the Continental Congress and the use of armed resistance as a last resort. He was selected as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in March 1775.

Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army

After the battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, 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.

On June 15th, he was appointed Major General and Commander-in-Chief of the colonial forces against Great Britain. 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 1776 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.

Crossing the Delaware

In August 1776, 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 2,800 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, 1776, 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.

Victories and Losses

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 1777, 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 1777, 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. But the strategy backfired, as Burgoyne became trapped by the American armies led by Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold at the Battle of Saratoga .

Without support from Howe, who couldn't reach him in time, Burgoyne was forced to surrender his entire 6,200 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.

Valley Forge

The darkest time for Washington and the Continental Army was during the winter of 1777 at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The 11,000-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. The British army evacuated Philadelphia to return to New York City. 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.

Washington and his French counterparts decided to let Clinton be and attack British General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. 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, 1781, he surrendered his forces.

Revolutionary War Victory

Washington had no way of knowing the Yorktown victory would bring the war to a close.

The British still had 26,000 troops occupying New York City, Charleston and Savannah, plus a large fleet of warships in the Colonies. By 1782, the French army and navy had departed, the Continental treasury was depleted, and most of his soldiers hadn’t been paid for several years.

A near-mutiny was avoided when Washington convinced Congress to grant a five-year bonus for soldiers in March 1783. 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, 1783, 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.

Constitutional Convention

In 1787, 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.

But when Shays' Rebellion erupted in Massachusetts, Washington knew something needed to be done to improve the nation’s government. In 1786, 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.S. Constitution .

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.

DOWNLOAD BIOGRAPHY'S GEORGE WASHINGTON FACT CARD

George Washington: Presidency

Still hoping to retire to his beloved Mount Vernon, Washington was once again called upon to serve this country.

During the presidential election of 1789, he received a vote from every elector to the Electoral College, the only president in American history to be elected by unanimous approval. He took the oath of office at Federal Hall in New York City, the capital of the United States at the time.

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.

At first he declined the $25,000 salary Congress offered the office of the presidency, for he was already wealthy and wanted to protect his image as a selfless public servant. 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. In doing so, he set a standard rarely met by his successors, but one that established an ideal by which all are judged.

READ MORE: How George Washington’s Personal and Physical Characteristics Helped Him Win the Presidency

Accomplishments

During his first term, Washington adopted a series of measures proposed by Treasury Secretary Hamilton to reduce the nation's debt and place its finances on sound footing.

His administration also established several peace treaties with Native American tribes and approved a bill establishing the nation's capital in a permanent district along the Potomac River.

Whiskey Rebellion

Then, in 1791, Washington signed a bill authorizing Congress to place a tax on distilled spirits, which stirred protests in rural areas of Pennsylvania.

Quickly, the protests turned into a full-scale defiance of federal law known as the Whiskey Rebellion . Washington invoked the Militia Act of 1792, summoning local militias from several states to put down the rebellion.

Washington personally took command, marching the troops into the areas of rebellion and demonstrating that the federal government would use force, when necessary, to enforce the law. This was also the only time a sitting U.S. president has led troops into battle.

In foreign affairs, Washington took a cautious approach, realizing that the weak young nation could not succumb to Europe's political intrigues. In 1793, France and Great Britain were once again at war.

At the urging of Hamilton, Washington disregarded the U.S. alliance with France and pursued a course of neutrality. In 1794, he sent John Jay to Britain to negotiate a treaty (known as the "Jay Treaty") to secure a peace with Britain and clear up some issues held over from the Revolutionary War.

The action infuriated Jefferson, who supported the French and felt that the U.S. needed to honor its treaty obligations. Washington was able to mobilize public support for the treaty, which proved decisive in securing ratification in the Senate.

Though controversial, the treaty proved beneficial to the United States by removing British forts along the western frontier, establishing a clear boundary between Canada and the United States, and most importantly, delaying a war with Britain and providing over a decade of prosperous trade and development the fledgling country so desperately needed.

Political Parties

All through his two terms as president, Washington was dismayed at the growing partisanship within the government and the nation. The power bestowed on the federal government by the Constitution made for important decisions, and people joined together to influence those decisions. The formation of political parties at first were influenced more by personality than by issues.

As Treasury secretary, Hamilton pushed for a strong national government and an economy built in industry. Secretary of State Jefferson desired to keep government small and center power more at the local level, where citizens' freedom could be better protected. He envisioned an economy based on farming.

Those who followed Hamilton's vision took the name Federalists and people who opposed those ideas and tended to lean toward Jefferson’s view began calling themselves Democratic-Republicans. Washington despised political partisanship, believing that ideological differences should never become institutionalized. He strongly felt that political leaders should be free to debate important issues without being bound by party loyalty.

However, Washington could do little to slow the development of political parties. The ideals promoted by Hamilton and Jefferson produced a two-party system that proved remarkably durable. These opposing viewpoints represented a continuation of the debate over the proper role of government, a debate that began with the conception of the Constitution and continues today.

Washington's administration was not without its critics who questioned what they saw as extravagant conventions in the office of the president. During his two terms, Washington rented the best houses available and was driven in a coach drawn by four horses, with outriders and lackeys in rich uniforms.

After being overwhelmed by callers, he announced that except for the scheduled weekly reception open to all, he would only see people by appointment. Washington entertained lavishly, but in private dinners and receptions at invitation only. He was, by some, accused of conducting himself like a king.

However, ever mindful his presidency would set the precedent for those to follow, he was careful to avoid the trappings of a monarchy. At public ceremonies, he did not appear in a military uniform or the monarchical robes. Instead, he dressed in a black velvet suit with gold buckles and powdered hair, as was the common custom. His reserved manner was more due to inherent reticence than any excessive sense of dignity.

Desiring to return to Mount Vernon and his farming, and feeling the decline of his physical powers with age, Washington refused to yield to the pressures to serve a third term, even though he would probably not have faced any opposition.

By doing this, he was again mindful of the precedent of being the "first president," and chose to establish a peaceful transition of government.

Farewell Address

In the last months of his presidency, Washington felt he needed to give his country one last measure of himself. With the help of Hamilton, he composed his Farewell Address to the American people, which urged his fellow citizens to cherish the Union and avoid partisanship and permanent foreign alliances.

In March 1797, he turned over the government to John Adams and returned to Mount Vernon, determined to live his last years as a simple gentleman farmer. His last official act was to pardon the participants in the Whiskey Rebellion.

Upon returning to Mount Vernon in the spring of 1797, Washington felt a reflective sense of relief and accomplishment. He had left the government in capable hands, at peace, its debts well-managed, and set on a course of prosperity.

He devoted much of his time to tending the farm's operations and management. Although he was perceived to be wealthy, his land holdings were only marginally profitable.

On a cold December day in 1799, Washington spent much of it inspecting the farm on horseback in a driving snowstorm. When he returned home, he hastily ate his supper in his wet clothes and then went to bed.

The next morning, on December 13, he awoke with a severe sore throat and became increasingly hoarse. He retired early, but awoke around 3 a.m. and told Martha that he felt very sick. The illness progressed until he died late in the evening of December 14, 1799.

The news of Washington's death at age 67 spread throughout the country, plunging the nation into a deep mourning. Many towns and cities held mock funerals and presented hundreds of eulogies to honor their fallen hero. When the news of this death reached Europe, the British fleet paid tribute to his memory, and Napoleon ordered ten days of mourning.

Washington could have been a king. Instead, he chose to be a citizen. He set many precedents for the national government and the presidency: The two-term limit in office, only broken once by Franklin D. Roosevelt , was later ensconced in the Constitution's 22nd Amendment.

He crystallized the power of the presidency as a part of the government’s three branches of government , able to exercise authority when necessary, but also accept the checks and balances of power inherent in the system.

He was not only considered a military and revolutionary hero, but a man of great personal integrity, with a deep sense of duty, honor and patriotism. For over 200 years, Washington has been acclaimed as indispensable to the success of the Revolution and the birth of the nation.

But his most important legacy may be that he insisted he was dispensable, asserting that the cause of liberty was larger than any single individual.

Watch "George Washington: Founding Father" on HISTORY Vault

QUICK FACTS

• Name: George Washington
• Birth Year: 1732
• Birth date: February 22, 1732
• Birth State: Virginia
• Birth City: Westmoreland County
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: George Washington, a Founding Father of the United States, led the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War and was America’s first president.
• U.S. Politics
• Astrological Sign: Pisces
• Death Year: 1799
• Death date: December 14, 1799
• Death State: Virginia
• Death City: Mount Vernon
• Death Country: United States

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: George Washington Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/political-figures/george-washington
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: September 11, 2020
• Original Published Date: April 3, 2014
• Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all.
• When we assumed the soldier, we did not lay aside the citizen.
• Be courteous to all, but intimate with few.
• [T]he preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.
• We should never despair, our situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth new exertions and proportion our efforts to the exigency of the times.
• There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation.
• [M]y movements to the chair of government will be accompanied by feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution.
• True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.
• Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.
• I heard the bullets whistle, and, believe me, there is something charming in the sound.
• Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all.
• The basis of our political Systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, 'till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole People, is sacredly obligatory upon all.
• I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is the best policy.
• The bosom of America is open to receive not only the opulent and respectable stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all nations and religions.

U.S. Presidents

Ronald Reagan

How Ronald Reagan Went from Movies to Politics

Teddy Roosevelt’s Stolen Watch Recovered by FBI

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Thomas Jefferson

A Car Accident Killed Joe Biden’s Wife and Baby

These Are the Major 2024 Presidential Candidates

Oppenheimer and Truman Met Once. It Went Badly.

Who Killed JFK? You Won’t Believe Us Anyway

John F. Kennedy

Jimmy Carter

Inside Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter’s 77-Year Love

George Washington

Server costs fundraiser 2024.

George Washington (1732-1799) was an American military officer and statesman who led the Continental Army to victory during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) and served as the first president of the United States (1789-1797). Often regarded as the 'Father of His Country', Washington remains one of the most revered and iconic figures in US history.

George Washington was born at 10 am on 22 February 1732 at Pope's Creek plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was the first of six children born to Augustine Washington, a wealthy Virginian landowner, and his second wife Mary Ball Washington; George also had four older half-siblings from his father's first marriage. Little is known about George's childhood. His early years were mostly spent on the family property of Ferry Farm on the Rappahannock River, and he likely attended school in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he excelled in the subjects of geometry, trigonometry, and mapmaking. When his father suddenly died in 1743, 11-year-old George inherited Ferry Farm as well as ten enslaved people. Too young to fend for himself, he went to live with his eldest half-brother, Lawrence Washington (b.1718), at Mount Vernon. George idolized Lawrence, who he came to regard as both a father figure and a best friend.

George's aptitude for mathematics led him to consider a career as a land surveyor, a respectable path to wealth and social advancement. In 1748, at the age of 16, he embarked on his first expedition into the Shenandoah Valley to survey the property of his influential neighbor, Thomas Fairfax. The next year, he earned his surveyor's license and, through Fairfax's patronage, was appointed surveyor for Culpeper County. Over the next three years, Washington completed 200 surveying expeditions and measured a total of 60,000 acres along Virginia's western frontier. But just as George's career was taking off, Lawrence came down with tuberculosis. In November 1751, he went to the Caribbean island of Barbados in the hopes that the tropical air would improve his condition. George accompanied him, and contracted a painful case of smallpox during his brief stay on the island. George soon recovered but Lawrence was not so lucky, as he died shortly after returning to Virginia in 1752. After his brother's death , George started leasing Mount Vernon from Lawrence's widow and became the legal owner of the property after her own death in 1761.

In 1753, George Washington reached the age of maturity, and was eager to find a way to make a name for himself. He would soon have an opportunity. The French had begun to construct forts on the forks of the Ohio River, fertile territory that had been claimed by Virginia. In November, Washington was sent as an envoy to demand that the French vacate the Ohio Country at once. On his journey into the west, he was joined by Christopher Gist, an experienced frontiersman and guide, and Tanacharison, a Mingo chieftain called the 'Half-King' by Virginians. It was Tanacharison who gave Washington the Seneca name of ' Conotocaurius ' or 'Devourer of Villages', in reference to Washington's great-grandfather, who had helped expel Native Americans from their lands in Virginia. The small party reached the French Fort LeBoeuf during a snowstorm; although they were received cordially by the fort's commander, Washington's demands were firmly rebuffed. Washington then embarked on his trek back to Virginia which included several perilous episodes. While crossing the icy Alleghany River in a raft, Washington fell overboard, and likely would have drowned had Gist not pulled him from the water.

French and Indian War

In April 1754, Washington was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the newly formed Virginia Regiment and was sent back to the Ohio Country, this time with a company of 159 men, to again demand that the French leave. He set up camp in a grassy field called Great Meadows, where he was informed by one of Tanacharison's scouts that a party of French soldiers was encamped nearby. Early in the morning of 28 May 1754, Washington and Tanacharison ambushed the French camp; in the short skirmish that followed, several French troops were killed, including their commander, Joseph Coulon de Jumonville. Washington immediately withdrew back to Great Meadows, where his men hastily constructed Fort Necessity. But when the French attacked on 3 July, the fort was unable to hold out; after eight hours of fighting, Washington agreed to surrender on the condition that his surviving men could return to Virginia. The incident greatly heightened tensions between Britain and France, helping to spark a global conflict, the Seven Years' War (1756-1763).

The next year, Brigadier General Edward Braddock landed in Virginia with two regiments of British regulars, tasked with capturing Fort Duquesne and forcing the French from the Ohio Country once and for all. When Braddock's Expedition set out in May 1755, Washington accompanied it as one of Braddock's aides-de-camp , but was forced to remain behind for much of the campaign on account of his dysentery. He was, however, with the army when it was ambushed by the French and their Indigenous allies on 9 July at the Battle of the Monongahela. Despite having two horses killed from under him, Washington managed to rally the panicked British army and help lead the retreat. Over 800 British and provincial soldiers had become casualties in the ambush including Braddock, who was mortally wounded. Over the next two years, Washington, now a full colonel in command of the Virginia Regiment, oversaw the defense of the colony's western frontier. In 1758, he joined the Forbes Expedition which succeeded in capturing Fort Duquesne without firing a shot. This campaign helped turn the tide of the French and Indian War, which ultimately resulted in a British victory in 1763.

Marriage & Plantation Life

Frustrated that his exploits had not won him a commission in the regular British army, Washington resigned from the Virginia Regiment and returned to Mount Vernon. He won election to the House of Burgesses in 1758 and, the following January, married the wealthy widow Martha Dandridge Custis. The marriage gave Washington control over the 18,000-acre Custis estate as well as 84 enslaved people, making him one of the most influential landowners in Virginia. He and Martha never had any children together; indeed, some scholars have speculated that Washington's 1751 bout with smallpox rendered him sterile. Instead, Washington treated Martha's children from her first marriage, John Parke Custis and Martha 'Patsy' Parke Custis, as if they were his own. Sadly, he would outlive them both; Patsy died of an epileptic seizure in 1773 at the age of 17, while John died of 'camp fever' in 1781 while serving at Yorktown. After their deaths, Washington found joy in raising John's children.

Washington spent the 1760s tending to his beloved home of Mount Vernon, where wheat and tobacco were grown and harvested by hundreds of slaves; over the course of Washington's lifetime, 577 enslaved people lived and worked at Mount Vernon. Although Washington was not considered a cruel slaveowner by the standards of the day, his slaves often had to subsist on insufficient rations, live in cramped, one-room dwellings, and exist perpetually under the supervision of Washington's overseers; Washington also had no qualms about whipping or selling enslaved people who tried to run away. Washington's views on the institution of slavery evolved over time and, by the advent of the Revolution, he found the practice to be abhorrent. Nevertheless, he did little to work toward the abolition of slavery and, indeed, continued to rent and purchase slaves until his death.

As Washington concerned himself with his life at Mount Vernon, tensions between Britain and the Thirteen Colonies were escalating. Disagreement over the colonists' rights and liberties – expressed over the constitutional authority of Parliament to issue tax policies like the Stamp Act and Townshend Acts , policies which the colonists had never consented to – led to riots and incidents of violence like the Boston Massacre (1770). Washington increasingly sided against Parliament; his status as one of Virginia's leading citizens automatically made him a leader in the colony's Whig, or Patriot, movement. In 1774, he attended the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia and helped train Virginia militias for potential conflict with British soldiers. When, on 19 April 1775, blood was spilled at the Battles of Lexington and Concord , Washington was prepared to fight for his homeland.

Commander-in-Chief

On 14 June 1775, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Continental Army and nominated Washington as its commander-in-chief; their decision was informed both by Washington's military experience and because they felt the southern colonies were more likely to rally behind one of their own. On 2 July, Washington rode into the army headquarters of Cambridge, Massachusetts, where the Continental Army was carrying out the Siege of Boston . Washington was dismayed to find that his new army was little more than a jumble of undisciplined colonial militias, and immediately went to work drilling the troops and enforcing strict discipline. In early 1776, he finally found an opportunity to win the siege, when Colonel Henry Knox arrived with heavy artillery captured from Fort Ticonderoga, which Washington positioned on the Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston. Rather than face an artillery bombardment, the British evacuated the city by sea on 17 March, and Boston fell back into American hands.

Washington then marched his army to New York City, which he correctly predicted would be the next target of the British. In July, as he was preparing the city's defenses, he received word that the Congress had declared the independence of the United States; on 9 July, Washington assembled his army and read the Declaration of Independence aloud to his cheering soldiers. Meanwhile, a British army of 32,000 men was gathering on nearby Staten Island. The British finally struck at the Battle of Long Island (27 August 1776), pushing Washington's men off their fortifications atop the Heights of Guan and inflicting over 2,000 American casualties. The British could have defeated the Continental Army there and then, had Washington not been able to successfully evacuate his troops from Long Island during the stormy night of 29-30 August. He was, however, forced to abandon New York City, which was occupied by the British on 15 September.

Over the next several weeks, Washington was chased through lower New York and New Jersey, fighting desperate actions at Harlem Heights (16 September), White Plains (28 October), and Fort Washington (16 November) as his army was whittled away by attrition. By mid-December, his army had been reduced to barely 3,000 men, and many assumed it would not survive the winter. But Washington had come to believe that the success of the entire Revolution depended on the survival of his army and was therefore determined to preserve it at all costs. This led him to adopt a Fabian strategy, whereby he would avoid pitched battles whenever possible, preferring to wear down the enemy with minor raids and scorched earth tactics. This did not mean Washington was a timid commander, however, as he constantly looked for opportunities to strike at the enemy when their guard was down. In one such instance, Washington crossed the icy Delaware River on the night of 25 December 1776, surprising and defeating a Hessian garrison at the Battle of Trenton the next morning. This and his follow up victory at the Battle of Princeton (3 January 1777) galvanized renewed support for the Revolution.

The next year, Washington marched into Pennsylvania to defend the US capital of Philadelphia. He lost two hard-fought actions at the Battle of Brandywine (11 September) and Battle of Germantown (4 October) and was unable to prevent the British from occupying Philadelphia in late September. But the loss of the capital did not have the adverse effect on American morale that the British had hoped for. In December, Washington moved his army to Valley Forge , where he spent the winter implementing vital supply reforms, inoculating his soldiers against smallpox, and fending off a political threat to his leadership known as the Conway Cabal . During this time, officers like Baron Friedrich von Steuben retrained the Continental Army into a more disciplined and effective fighting force. When the Continental Army marched out of Valley Forge in June 1778, it was eager to put its new skills to the test – at the Battle of Monmouth (28 June), the Continentals fought the British to a standstill in scorching summer heat. That same year, France entered the war as a US ally.

Washington then moved his army outside New York City, maintaining that approximate position for the next two years as the focus of the war shifted to the South. Washington dispatched his trusted general Nathanael Greene to lead the southern army, as he remained in the North to keep an eye on the sizable British presence on Manhattan. In autumn 1781, Washington finally led a combined Franco-American army south, to lay siege to a British army under Lord Charles Cornwallis , which was trapped in Yorktown, Virginia. Caught between Washington's army on land and the French navy at sea, Cornwallis had no choice but to surrender to Washington on 19 October 1781, ending the active phase of the war. Two years later, the Treaty of Paris of 1783 was finalized, and in November, the last British soldiers evacuated New York City.

Constitutional Crisis

In December 1783, Washington resigned as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and returned to Mount Vernon, intending to retire to a life of gentleman farming. For the next several years, he oversaw his beloved plantation as national concern began to grow over the feebleness of the Articles of Confederation ; under the Articles, which kept the federal government weak to protect the sovereignty of the states, Congress was powerless to raise taxes or put down armed insurrections such as Shays' Rebellion (1786-87). Washington eventually concluded that the Articles would have to be totally replaced, and hesitantly agreed to serve as the president of the Constitutional Convention when it met in Philadelphia in May 1787.

The Convention produced a new framework of government, the United States Constitution, that was ratified by the necessary nine states by 1788. The new Constitution called for the election of a president to serve as the nation's chief executive; there was never any question that Washington was the man for the job, and indeed, no other candidate was seriously considered. In the US presidential election of 1789 , the electors unanimously voted him in as the first president, with John Adams elected vice president. Washington was inaugurated on 30 April 1789 at Federal Hall in New York City, burdened with defining the office of the presidency and guiding the fragile young republic through the tumultuous years to come.

During his two terms in office, Washington utilized the same caution that had served him so well on the battlefield. He refrained from adopting any title or official procedure that smacked of monarchy – preferring to go by the humble title of 'Mr. President' – and held himself aloof from the partisanship that was bubbling in his cabinet. In the first years of the Washington Administration, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton proposed a controversial financial program that called for the federal government to assume state debts and for the establishment of a national bank. This plan was hotly opposed by Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and his southern supporters. Hamilton and Jefferson frequently clashed in cabinet meetings until the Compromise of 1790, in which Jefferson agreed to support Hamilton's plan in return for the new Federal City – to be named in Washington's honor – to be built on the Potomac River. The partisan struggles were only beginning, however, and would escalate throughout the remainder of Washington's presidency and beyond.

In 1794, the Whiskey Rebellion broke out in western Pennsylvania, when farmers rose in revolt against a new liquor excise tax imposed by Hamilton. Washington, though initially reluctant to resort to military force, raised a 13,000-man federalized militia that suppressed the rebellion without having to fight a single battle. The incident strengthened the authority of the federal government. The Washington Administration also prosecuted the Northwest Indian War (1790-1795), which was fought between the US and a coalition of Native American nations for control of the Northwest Territory. General 'Mad' Anthony Wayne led US troops to victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, forcing the Native Americans to cede their claims in the territory to the US in the resultant Treaty of Greenville; the British, who had offered clandestine support to the natives, were also compelled to abandon their forts in the region.

Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter!

Much of Washington's second term was defined by the concurrent French Revolution (1789-1799), which was engulfing Europe in a total war. Although Jefferson and the emerging Democratic-Republican Party urged him to support Revolutionary France, Washington pursued a policy of neutrality and refused to get involved in the French Revolutionary Wars . Controversy over this decision was compounded by the Jay Treaty of 1794, which strengthened the United States' economic ties to Britain. Both of these issues provided fodder for the growing rivalry between the Democratic-Republicans and Hamilton's Federalist Party.

Retirement & Death

At the end of his second term, Washington decided not to stand for reelection; his refusal to seek a third term set a precedent followed by every subsequent US president except for Franklin D. Roosevelt. Washington gave his Farewell Address on 19 September 1796, in which he famously warned of the dangers of political parties. He left office when his term expired on 4 March 1797 and returned to Mount Vernon. On the evening of 12 December 1799, after a day spent in the rain, supervising farming activities on horseback, Washington returned to the house with a sore throat. He fell severely ill the next morning and was heavily bled four times by his doctors. He died at 10 pm on 14 December 1799, at the age of 67. His death was mourned both in the United States and across the Western world, where he was hailed as a champion of freedom and liberty.

Subscribe to topic Related Content Books Cite This Work License

Bibliography

• Anderson, Fred. The War That Made America. Penguin Books, 2006.
• Boatner, Mark M. Cassell's Biographical Dictionary of the American War of Independence. London: Cassell, 1973., 1973.
• Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton. Penguin Books, 2005.
• Fleming, Thomas . The Strategy of Victory. Hachette Audio, 2017.
• Freeman, Douglas Southall. Washington. Simon & Schuster, 1995.
• George Washington and Slavery , accessed 8 Aug 2024.
• George Washington Biography - Encyclopedia Britannica , accessed 8 Aug 2024.
• McCullough, David. 1776. Simon & Schuster, 2006.
• Middlekauff, Robert. The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789. Oxford University Press, 2007.
• Wood, Gordon S. Empire of Liberty. Oxford University Press, 2009.

About the Author

Translations

We want people all over the world to learn about history. Help us and translate this definition into another language!

Questions & Answers

Who was george washington, where did george washington live, how did george washington win the american revolution, when was george washington elected president, related content.

Whiskey Rebellion

George Washington in the French and Indian War

Battle of Fort Washington

Youth of George Washington

Egyptian Gods - The Complete List

US Presidential Election of 1789

Free for the world, supported by you.

World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide.

Recommended Books

Cite This Work

Mark, H. W. (2024, August 12). George Washington . World History Encyclopedia . Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/George_Washington/

Chicago Style

Mark, Harrison W.. " George Washington ." World History Encyclopedia . Last modified August 12, 2024. https://www.worldhistory.org/George_Washington/.

Mark, Harrison W.. " George Washington ." World History Encyclopedia . World History Encyclopedia, 12 Aug 2024. Web. 06 Sep 2024.

License & Copyright

Submitted by Harrison W. Mark , published on 12 August 2024. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike . This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.

Biography of George Washington, First President of the United States

• U.S. Presidents
• Important Historical Figures
• Native American History
• American Revolution
• America Moves Westward
• The Gilded Age
• Crimes & Disasters
• The Most Important Inventions of the Industrial Revolution
• African American History
• African History
• Ancient History and Culture
• Asian History
• European History
• Latin American History
• Medieval & Renaissance History
• Military History
• The 20th Century
• Women's History
• M.A., History, University of Florida
• B.A., History, University of Florida

George Washington (February 22, 1732–December 14, 1799) was America's first president. He served as commander-in-chief of the Colonial Army during the American Revolution , leading the Patriot forces to victory over the British. In 1787 he presided at the  Constitutional Convention , which determined the structure of the new government of the United States, and in 1789 he was elected its president.

Fast Facts: George Washington

• Known For : Revolutionary War hero and America's first president
• Also Known As : The Father of His Country
• Born : February 22, 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia
• Parents : Augustine Washington, Mary Ball
• Died : December 14, 1799 in Mount Vernon, Virginia
• Spouse : Martha Dandridge Custis
• Notable Quote : "To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace."

George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia to Augustine Washington and Mary Ball. The couple had six children—George was the oldest—to go with three from Augustine's first marriage. During George's youth his father, a prosperous planter who owned more than 10,000 acres of land, moved the family among three properties he owned in Virginia. He died when George was 11. His half-brother Lawrence stepped in as a father figure for George and the other children.

Mary Washington was a protective and demanding mother, keeping George from joining the British Navy as Lawrence had wanted. Lawrence owned the Little Hunting Creek plantation—later renamed Mount Vernon—and George lived with him from the age of 16. He was schooled entirely in Colonial Virginia, mostly at home, and didn't go to college. He was good at math, which suited his chosen profession of surveying, and he also studied geography, Latin, and English classics. He learned what he really needed from backwoodsmen and the plantation foreman.

In 1748 when he was 16, Washington traveled with a surveying party plotting land in Virginia’s western territory. The following year, aided by Lord Fairfax—a relative of Lawrence's wife—Washington was appointed official surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia. Lawrence died of tuberculosis in 1752, leaving Washington with Mount Vernon, one of Virginia's most prominent estates, among other family properties.

Early Career

The same year his half-brother died, Washington joined the Virginia militia. He showed signs of being a natural leader, and Virginia Lt. Gov. Robert Dinwiddie appointed Washington adjutant and made him a major.

On Oct. 31, 1753, Dinwiddie sent Washington to Fort LeBoeuf, later the site of Waterford, Pennsylvania, to warn the French to leave land claimed by Britain. When the French refused, Washington had to retreat hastily. Dinwiddie sent him back with troops and Washington's small force attacked a French post, killing 10 and taking the rest prisoner. The battle marked the start of the French and Indian War, part of the worldwide conflict known as the Seven Years War between Britain and France.

Washington was given the honorary rank of colonel and fought a number of other battles, winning some and losing others, until he was made commander of all Virginia troops. He was only 23. Later, he was sent home briefly with dysentery and finally, after being turned down for a commission with the British Army, he retired from his Virginia command and returned to Mount Vernon. He was frustrated by poor support from the Colonial legislature, poorly trained recruits, and slow decision-making by his superiors.

On January 6, 1759, a month after he had left the army, Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis, a widow with two children. They had no children together. With the land he had inherited, property his wife brought with her to the marriage, and land granted him for his military service, he was one of the wealthiest landowners in Virginia. After his retirement he managed his property, often pitching in alongside the workers. He also entered politics and was elected to Virginia's House of Burgesses in 1758.

Revolutionary Fever

Washington opposed British actions against the Colonies such as the British Proclamation Act of 1763 and the Stamp Act of 1765, but he continued to resist moves to declare independence from Britain. In 1769, Washington introduced a resolution to the House of Burgesses calling for Virginia to boycott British goods until the Acts were repealed. He began to take a leading role in Colonial resistance against the British following of the Townshend Acts in 1767.

in 1774, Washington chaired a meeting that called for convening a Continental Congress, to which he became a delegate, and for using armed resistance as a last resort. After the battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the political dispute became an armed conflict.

Commander-in-Chief

On June 15, Washington was named commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. On paper, Washington and his army were no match for the mighty British forces. But although Washington had little experience in high-level military command, he had prestige, charisma, courage, intelligence, and some battlefield experience. He also represented Virginia, the largest British colony. He led his forces to retake Boston and win huge victories at Trenton and Princeton, but he suffered major defeats, including the loss of New York City.

After the harrowing winter at Valley Forge in 1777, the French recognized American Independence, contributing a large French Army and a navy fleet. More American victories followed, leading to the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781. Washington formally said farewell to his troops and on December 23, 1783, he resigned his commission as commander-in-chief, returning to Mount Vernon.

New Constitution

After four years of living the life of a plantation owner, Washington and other leaders concluded that the Articles of Confederation that had governed the young country left too much power to the states and failed to unify the nation. In 1786, Congress approved the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to amend the Articles of Confederation. Washington was unanimously chosen as convention president.

He and other leaders, such as  James Madison  and  Alexander Hamilton , concluded that instead of amendments, a new constitution was needed. Though many leading American figures, such as  Patrick Henry  and  Sam Adams , opposed the proposed constitution, calling it a power grab, the document was approved.

Washington was elected unanimously by the Electoral College in 1789 as the nation's first president. ​Runner-up John Adams became vice president. In 1792 another unanimous vote by the Electoral College gave Washington a second term. In 1794, he stopped the first major challenge to federal authority, the Whiskey Rebellion, in which Pennsylvania farmers refused to pay federal tax on distilled spirits, by sending in troops to ensure compliance.

Washington did not run for a third term and retired to Mount Vernon. He was again asked to be the American commander if the U.S. went to war with France over the XYZ affair , but fighting never broke out. He died on December 14, 1799, possibly from a streptococcal infection of his throat made worse when he was bled four times.

Washington's impact on American history was massive. He led the Continental Army to victory over the British. He served as the nation's first president. He believed in a strong federal government, which was accomplished through the Constitutional Convention that he led. He promoted and worked on the principle of merit. He cautioned against foreign entanglements, a warning that was heeded by future presidents. He declined a third term, setting a precedent for a two-term limit that was codified in the 22nd Amendment.

In foreign affairs, Washington supported neutrality, declaring in the Proclamation of Neutrality in 1793 that the U.S. would be impartial toward belligerent powers in a war. He reiterated his opposition to foreign entanglements in his farewell address in 1796.

George Washington is considered one of the most important and influential U.S. presidents whose legacy has survived for centuries.

• " George Washington Biography ." Biography.com.
• " George Washington: President of the United States ." Encyclopedia Brittanica.
• George Washington's First Cabinet
• US Presidents With No Political Experience
• One-Term US Presidents
• President James Madison: Facts and Biography
• 10 Facts About George Washington
• The First Ten Presidents of the United States
• 10 Things to Know About John F. Kennedy
• 10 of the Most Influential Presidents of the United States
• 9 Presidents Who Were War Heroes
• Biography of Sally Jewell, Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior
• Chart of the Presidents and Vice Presidents
• Presidential Salaries Through the Years
• Top 10 Things to Know About John Adams
• Executive Orders Definition and Application
• Early American Presidents
• Biography of John Adams, 2nd President of the United States

George Washington

February 22, 1732–December 14, 1799

George Washington led the Continental Army to victory over the British in the Revolutionary War. He then served two terms as the first President of the United States under the Constitution.

George Washington commanded the Colonial Army during the Revolutionary War and served as the first President of the United States. [ Wikimedia Commons]

George Washington Biography

George Washington is often referred to as the “Father of his Country” and he is widely regarded as one of the most important figures in American history. After leading the Continental Army to victory against the British in the American Revolution, Washington helped draft the US Constitution. Afterward, he was unanimously elected as the First President of the United States in 1789 and 1792 . He is the only person to receive 100% of the electoral votes in any presidential election.

Quick Facts About George Washington

• Date of Birth: George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia.
• Parents: Washington was the first child of Augustine and Mary Washington.
• Date of Death: Washington died at his home, Mt. Vernon on December 14, 1799.
• Buried: Washington is buried on his estate, Mt. Vernon in Virginia.
• Nicknames: Washington’s nickname is “the Father of His Country.”

Overview of the Life and Career of George Washington

Washington was born on February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was the first child of Augustine and Mary Washington, who would have five more children. At the time George was born, they lived in Pope’s Creek.

In 1735, the family moved to Little Hunting Creek Plantation, on the Potomac River. The Plantation would eventually be renamed Mount Vernon. They lived there for a short time, and moved to Ferry Farm on the Rappahannock River, across from Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1738. Washington spent most of his youth at Ferry Farm, although very little is known about his childhood.

His father died when he was 11, and he became the ward of Lawrence Washington, his half-brother. Augustine had three children with his first wife, Jane, who died in 1729. Lawrence inherited Little Hunting Creek Plantation. Lawrence was married to Anne Fairfax, the daughter of Colonel William Fairfax. Fairfax had political connections and had been an appointee of the British Crown in the Bahamas and the Colonies.

At the of 16, in 1748, Washington helped survey Virginia’s western frontier. He spent the next few years surveying land and received an appointment as the official surveyor of Culpepper County, Virginia.

He inherited Mount Vernon in 1752. Lawrence died in July from tuberculosis. Soon after, his only heir, his daughter Sarah, also died. This left the estate to Washington. He was 20 years old at the time. Adding to his responsibilities, Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor, Robert Dinwiddie, appointed him as major in the Virginia militia.

First Trip to the Ohio Country

In late October 1753, Dinwiddie sent Washington, along with escorts, to a French fort — Fort Le Boeuf — in northern Pennsylvania. Washington’s mission was to deliver a warning to the French and tell them to leave British territory. Although the French refused to leave, they graciously hosted Washington and his small party for three days. During that time, Washington took detailed notes about the fort. When Washington left, he took with him a letter from the commander of the fort, Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre. The letter was to be delivered to Dinwiddie, and the message was for Dinwiddie to deliver his demand to the Major General of New France, which was in the capital, Quebec City.

After Washington returned to Virginia, Dinwiddie sent another group of Virginians to the Forks of the Ohio River. Dinwiddie instructed them to build Fort Prince George at that place. On April 2, Washington was part of a regiment under the command of Colonel Joshua Fry that was sent to Fort Prince George. Their orders were to build a road to the fort and help defend it. On April 18, while Fry’s regiment was en route, a French force of 500 troops arrived at the Forks of the Ohio. They forced the Virginians to surrender, knocked down what they had built, and eventually constructed Fort Duquesne.

Battle of Jumonville Glen

Washington assumed command of the expedition on May 25, when Fry died from injuries sustained after falling from his horse. On May 27, at Jumonville Glen, the expedition became aware of a French scouting party in the area near them. Washington, along with a group of Mingo warriors, attacked the camp early on the morning of May 28. Washington’s forces were victorious at the Battle of Jumonville Glen.

Washington and his troops returned to Great Meadows, where they built Fort Necessity. On July 3, 1754, Fort Necessity was overwhelmed by French forces. The French forced Washington to sign Articles of Capitulation by the French. In doing so, he mistakenly admitted to assassinating Joseph Coulon de Villiers, Sier de Jumonville, who was the leader of the French scouting party. The French were outraged and used it to press for a declaration of war against England. Some consider this to be the actual start of the French and Indian War, although Britain did not formally declare war until 1756.

French and Indian War

In 1755, Washington served under British General Edward Braddock on a failed mission to retake the Ohio Country from the French. Despite the defeat, he was promoted to Colonel and named Commander of all military forces in Virginia.

In 1758, Washington participated in the Forbes Expedition, which retook Fort Duquesne, paving the way for the settlement of Pittsburgh.

Marriage to Martha Custis

Following the French and Indian War, Washington returned to Virginia where he married Martha Dandridge Custis on January 6, 1759. She was a wealthy widow and immediately increased his property holdings and social standing. The two of them never had any children together, but they did raise her two children, John Parke Custis, and Martha Parke Custis. Later, they would raise two of Martha’s grandchildren, Eleanor Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis.

American Revolutionary War

When the Second Continental Congress convened in 1775, Washington attended dressed in military uniform. On June 14, 1775, Congress created the Continental Army. On the following day, John Adams nominated Washington to lead the Army. He was then appointed Major General and elected by Congress to be Commander-in-Chief. After successfully leading the new nation to victory in 1783, Washington retired to his home in Mount Vernon, Virginia.

Life After the American Revolution

Washington’s retirement was short-lived, as he was asked to attend the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the summer of  1787. The convention led to the ratification of the new Constitution by all 13 states.

He won the first Presidential Election in 1789 and was reelected in 1792. Upon completing his second term as President, Washington again retired to Mount Vernon. Again, his retirement was interrupted when President John Adams asked him to serve as Lieutenant General and Commander-in-Chief of the armies, which were being raised due to the threat of war with France. From 1788 to 1799, he served as the Senior Officer of the United States Army and participated in the planning of a standing army.

After riding in the rain while inspecting his farm on December 12, 1799, Washington fell ill. He died two days later, on December 14 at his home. His personal secretary, Tobias Lear V, recorded his last words as, “‘Tis well.”

Washington’s funeral was held on December 18, 1799, at Mount Vernon. He was eulogized by Congressman Henry Lee, “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to none in humble and enduring scenes of private life. Pious, just, humane, temperate, and sincere; uniform, dignified, and commanding; his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting…Correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence and virtue always felt his fostering hand. The purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public virtues…Such was the man for whom our nation mourns.”

• Written by Randal Rust

George Washington Biography

George Washington, the first American general, president, and national hero was born in rural colonial Virginia on February 22, 1732. After the early death of his father, a young George Washington (only seven years old at the time) learned the ways of farming and planting as he became the primary owner of his family's plantation farm. He stayed at home throughout his early teenage years, helping his mother run the family's estate.

At the age of fifteen, George became a surveyor. He was able to land this prestigious job through vital connections that his older brother, Lawrence Washington, possessed. Lawrence Washington was close partners with the wealthy Colonel William Fairfax, a very wealthy Virginian politician and landholder. After receiving a good word from the influential Colonel Fairfax, George Washington not only became a successful surveyor, but also was placed in a position to gain land and political positions. Upon the death of his brother Lawrence, George achieved his first political position in Virginia's Northern District. Furthermore, Colonel Fairfax took the young Washington under his wing as a role model and a sort of surrogate father, fostering in the ambitious George Washington a yearning to also learn about the art of war.

Following a failed attempt to enter the British Royal Navy (thwarted, in part, by George's mother), Washington finally got his chance to serve in the militia. Much of the surveying work that George did was for the Ohio Company, operated by the Fairfax family. A dispute between France and Great Britain over western lands in the Ohio territory prompted Fairfax to send George Washington on a scouting expedition to the lands in question. His mission was to deliver notice to the encamped French forces that the land was claimed by the British. Straying from his original orders, the impulsive young commander led an attack on a French scouting party. Not only was this attack Washington's first taste of the battlefield, but also it was crucial in sparking the Seven Years War between the two main colonizers of North America: France and Britain.

Upon returning to Virginia, Washington joined the British imperial army, serving under General Braddock. It was during the Seven Year's War that Washington first achieved a hero's status on the battlefield during his mid-twenties. In one account, General Braddock and his army walked into a French and Indian ambush. As British officers rapidly fell in the battle, George Washington remained alive, surviving bullet holes in his jacket and horses being shot out from underneath him. He did his best to carry out the wounded General Braddock's orders for the remainder of the tragic battle. Although the battle was a horrific loss for the British forces, Washington returned to Virginia as a war hero. Although this status was not fully merited (due to Washington's significant lack of military knowledge), it helped to boost his popularity in the eyes of both the public and the prominent.

After the end of the Seven Years War, Washington returned to civilian life with his marriage to a wealthy Virginian widow named Martha Dandridge Custis. George's marriage to Martha united both of their already wealthy estates. Therefore, Washington spent much of his time after the war tending and expanding his vast estate. Moreover, the newly famous Washington re-entered politics as a representative in the Virginia House of Burgesses. However, life during this time of peace was short-lived as the pivotal encounters with the British at the battles of Lexington and Concord soon propelled the American colonies into the Revolutionary War against their mother country, Great Britain.

In June 1775, George Washington was appointed the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. Washington's experience as the commander of the colonial forces was a mixture of success and failure, embarrassment and glory. One of his most significant losses was the capture and occupation of New York City by the British forces. The loss of this major colonial city greatly frustrated Washington, but every latter attempt he made to retake New York either failed or never materialized. On the other hand, his two small victories at Trenton, New Jersey and Princeton, New Jersey were crucial in both mending Washington's reputation as a war general and in boosting morale among the rebel colonial forces and civilians. After several other key victories with the aid of the colonies' foreign ally France, the British ended the Revolutionary War and relinquished their control of the American colonies with the signing of the Treaty of Paris at Yorktown, Virginia on September 3, 1783.

Following the conclusion of the American War for Independence, George Washington initially refused to become the national leader and instead returned again to civilian life in order to tend to his suffering estate. However, Washington did shortly accept the invitation to run for the office of the first President of the United States of America. At the age of fifty-seven, he became the only U.S. President to receive every vote from the Electoral College. George Washington served two terms as President, afterwards retiring for one last time to his home at Mount Vernon. The United State's first President, icon, and national hero died in his home on December 14, 1799. Nowadays George Washington is recognized as the most admired founding fathers of the United States of America, along with Thomas Jefferson , and Benjamin Franklin .

Mobile Menu Overlay

The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500

George Washington

The 1st President of the United States

The biography for President Washington and past presidents is courtesy of the White House Historical Association.

On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. “As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent,” he wrote James Madison, “it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles.”

Born in 1732 into a Virginia planter family, he learned the morals, manners, and body of knowledge requisite for an 18th century Virginia gentleman.

He pursued two intertwined interests: military arts and western expansion. 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 and Indian War. The next year, as an aide to Gen. Edward Braddock, he escaped injury although four bullets ripped his coat and two horses were shot from under him.

From 1759 to the outbreak of the American Revolution, Washington managed his lands around Mount Vernon and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses. Married to a widow, Martha Dandridge Custis, he devoted himself to a busy and happy life. But like his fellow planters, Washington felt himself exploited by British merchants and hampered by British regulations. As the quarrel with the mother country grew acute, he moderately but firmly voiced his resistance to the restrictions.

When the Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia in May 1775, Washington, one of the Virginia delegates, was elected Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. On July 3, 1775, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, he took command of his ill-trained troops and embarked upon a war that was to last six grueling years.

He 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.

Washington longed to retire to his fields at Mount Vernon. But he soon realized that the Nation under its Articles of Confederation was not functioning well, so he became a prime mover in the steps leading to the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in 1787. When the new Constitution was ratified, the Electoral College unanimously elected Washington President.

He did not infringe upon the policy making powers that he felt the Constitution gave Congress. But the determination of foreign policy became preponderantly a Presidential concern. When the French Revolution led to a major war between France and England, Washington refused to accept entirely the recommendations of either his Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who was pro-French, or his Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who was pro-British. Rather, he insisted upon a neutral course until the United States could grow stronger.

To his disappointment, two parties were developing by the end of his first term. Wearied of politics, feeling old, he retired at the end of his second. In his Farewell Address, he urged his countrymen to forswear excessive party spirit and geographical distinctions. In foreign affairs, he warned against long-term alliances.

Washington enjoyed less than three years of retirement at Mount Vernon, for he died of a throat infection December 14, 1799. For months the Nation mourned him.

Learn more about George Washington’s spouse, Martha Dandridge Custis Washington.

Stay Connected

We'll be in touch with the latest information on how President Biden and his administration are working for the American people, as well as ways you can get involved and help our country build back better.

Opt in to send and receive text messages from President Biden.

George Washington

On December 14, 1799, George Washington, the first President of the United States, died at his home in Mount Vernon, Virginia. Congress commissioned Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee a fellow Virginian, army veteran, and friend to pen an appropriate eulogy. In 3,500 words, Lee attempted to encapsulate one of the most influential Founding Fathers. He wrote that Washington was the:

“First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”

Before he was this influential leader, Washington was the son of a wealthy Virginian land speculator. He was born on February 22, 1732, and received little formal education in his youth. After his father’s death in 1743, he inherited a large farm, with ten slaves to work the property, and became a land surveyor. In 1750, he resigned his position to devote himself to farming and acquiring new farmland.

Two years later, inspired by his recently deceased brother Lawrence’s military service, Washington joined the Virginian Militia. He was given the rank of major and appointed to command one of the four militia districts in Virginia. His enlistment occurred as tensions between France and England ignited. British officials ordered Washington to force the French army off “British" land and Washington impressed his superiors by making a treacherous winter round-trip 77-day trek to the French Fort Le Boeuf to inform France of these commands. When France refused to comply, Washington was given the honor to force their hand. Unfortunately, he attacked the French during the Battle of Jumonville Glen , also known as the Jumonville affair, and the French commander Joseph Coulon de Jumonville died. A month later, South Carolinian militia joined Washington and the militia again tried to attack French fortifications but were unsuccessful. This incident led to the French and Indian War , also known as the Seven Years’ War. In response, Washington surrendered his troops and resigned his commission with essential military knowledge that proved vital later in his career.

After leaving the militia, Washington married the wealthy widow Martha Dandridge Custis on January 6, 1759. This marriage gave Washington land, wealth, and status as he transitioned into a gentleman farmer in the Virginian countryside. In addition, he became active in local politics during the preceding decades. When the “shot heard round the world” was fired in the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, Washington set off to join other delegates in Philadelphia to attend the Continental Congress.

Several months later, when the Continental Army was officially formed to combat the British, Washington was unanimously elected as its commander. For the next eight years, Washington fought the British. Throughout this time, he only spent ten days at his Virginia home and suffered along with his men in the chilly New England winters and warm Southern summers. Only after General Charles Cornwallis surrendered after the Siege of Yorktown in October 1781 and the Treaty of Paris was signed in September 1783, did Washington resign his command and return to his home in Mount Vernon. Once there, he hoped to resume his life as a Virginia gentleman farmer.

However, the Articles of Confederation that were established after the Revolutionary War were weak in ruling the newly established United States of America. With a lack of central government, the country struggled to pay veterans, levy taxes, or make any changes in the political landscape. The Continental Congress met again to revise the plans and asked George Washington to be in attendance. When a new constitution was established, the need for a “president” of the United States was evident. George Washington, the former military commander, and public figure was the perfect candidate and he accepted. For the next eight years, Washington served tirelessly as the first president of the United States. Then, in an unprecedented move at a time when political leaders usually served for life, Washington retired. With this last act, he helped the blooming democracy to move on and form a new nation.

Lee was apt when he described Washington: he was the “first in war,” when he served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army; “first in peace,” when he lead his country through its turbulent first years as President of the United States; and “first in the hearts of his countrymen,” when he helped the country become the democracy it is today.

Sarah Osborn Benjamin

Johann Ewald

Armand Louis de Gontaut

Related battles, you may also like.

Biography Online

George Washington Biography

“The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for giving to Mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy: a policy worthy of imitation.”

– George Washington

George Washington was born in 1732 in Virginia. His family were wealthy and they owned many slaves who worked on the plantations. As a planter, he felt constrained by British regulations and taxes and this proved one factor in encouraging him to fight the British in the later Wars of Independence. As well as working as a planter, Washington was interested in military matters and exploring the Western territories. In May 1775, his military experiences were used as delegates voted Washington to be head of the US Continental Army.

“Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world that a Freeman, contending for liberty on his own ground, is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.”

– General Orders, Headquarters, New York (2 July 1776).

The War of Independence was to last six years. Especially in the beginning, Washington had to deal with ill-trained and poorly equipped soldiers. In the early days of the war, he adopted a strategy of harassing the British but avoiding them in full-scale war. It was not until 1781 when, with the help of French forces, Washington was able to defeat the British at Yorktown.

After victory had been finalised in 1783, Washington resigned as Commander in Chief. He wanted to make the point that he would not become the  de facto military ruler. Washington wanted the new American constitution and democratic system to be used. To Washington, the new constitution and Declaration of Independence were a chance to institute a new type of government and society based on human rights.

“The foundation of our Empire was not laid in the gloomy age of Ignorance and Superstition, but at an Epoch when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined, than at any former period.”  – Washington Circular to the States, 8 June 1783 .

As a successful military leader, Washington retained widespread support and, given the difficulties faced by the emerging republic, Washington stood for public office and the Presidency. By a large majority, Washington was elected the first President of America and he served from April 1789 to March 1797. As President, Washington skillfully kept the United States out of conflicts with Great Britain and France. This period of peace enabled the new country to improve its national finances and gain an important period of stability.

“In politics as in philosophy, my tenets are few and simple. The leading one of which, and indeed that which embraces most others, is to be honest and just ourselves and to exact it from others, meddling as little as possible in their affairs where our own are not involved. If this maxim was generally adopted, wars would cease and our swords would soon be converted into reap hooks and our harvests be more peaceful, abundant, and happy.”

In 1791, Washington imposed an excise duty on spirits. The Federal government needed to raise tax revenue for debts incurred by the war. The so-called ‘Whiskey Tax’ was deeply unpopular and many rebelled against tax officials who tried to collect the tax. Washington himself rode out to Western Pennsylvania to negotiate with the rebels. Although the tax was hard to collect, Washington avoided an escalation of the rebellion and helped to establish the principle of federal taxes.

Washington’s presidency helped to establish many protocols and traditions that are still in use today. This included the creation of a cabinet system, the inaugural address and title of Mr President. His Republican values had a lasting impact on American society and government. Despite being a popular president, he had to be persuaded to stand for a second term.  Both Thomas Jefferson (of Democrat-Republicans) and Alexander Hamilton (Federalist Party) put aside their policy difference to encourage Washington to stand for a second term. They believed Washington was the only one who could hold the new country together.

Washington agreed, but towards the end of his second term he grew weary of politics, in particular, he didn’t like the factionalization of politics into different parties. He refused to join the Federalists, despite mostly agreeing with their policies. In some respects, Washington preferred the idea of strong central government. Although he fought the British, he appreciated the strength of a unified political body. However, Washington was keen to avoid the pomp and ceremony associated with Monarchs.

In 1796, he published a Farewell Address which offered his thoughts on civic virtue and political governance. It expressed Washington’s belief in the virtue of the union of states, seeking a peaceful foreign policy and adherence to the constitution and democracy.

“The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize.”( Farewell address )

George Washington was widely considered to be an able administrator and person of exemplary character. Washington is considered to embody qualities of integrity, self-discipline, courage, honesty, resolve,  and respect for others.

“Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to appellation.”

George Washington died aged 67, on 14 December 1799, three years after his retirement, at his home of Mount Vernon. He succombed to a mystery illness where he felt cold and feverish. Doctors were summonded and they bled up to 40% of his blood – in a vain attempt to reverse the illness. His last words were

“’I am just going! Have me decently buried; and do not let my body be put into the vault less than three days after I am dead. Do you understand me? . . . Tis well!’”

Views on slavery

Washington rarely spoke against slavery in public. He knew how divisive the issue was and feared it could split the emerging union. Washington rarely addressed the issue during his presidency, but he did pass the Slave Trade Act of 1794, which limited America’s involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. On a personal note, he did inherit slaves from his father’s plantations. As a young man he purchased another 8 slaves. During his life, he became more concerned about the issue, and aware of the human cost of the practise.

“The unfortunate condition of the persons, whose labour in part I employed, has been the only unavoidable subject of regret. To make the Adults among them as easy & as comfortable in their circumstances as their actual state of ignorance & improvidence would admit; & to lay a foundation to prepare the rising generation for a destiny different from that in which they were born; afforded some satisfaction to my mind, & could not I hoped be displeasing to the justice of the Creator.” – Comment by George Washington, recorded by David Humphries

He left provisions in his will to free his slaves after his death.

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan . “Biography of George Washington”, Oxford, www.biographyonline.net. Updated: 8th February 2017. Last updated 13 November 2019.

Washington – A Life

• Washington: A Life – by George Chernow at Amazon

The Constitution of the United States of America

• The Constitution of the United States of America at Amazon

Related pages

Famous Americans – Great Americans from the Founding Fathers to modern civil rights activists. Including presidents, authors, musicians, entrepreneurs and businessmen.

• George Washington Quotes
• Thomas Jefferson Biography
• People who built America

Everything you've ever wanted to know about the American Revolution

George Washington Biography & Facts

About the author.

Edward A. St. Germain created AmericanRevolution.org in 1996. He was an avid historian with a keen interest in the Revolutionary War and American culture and society in the 18th century. On this website, he created and collated a huge collection of articles, images, and other media pertaining to the American Revolution. Edward was also a Vietnam veteran, and his investigative skills led to a career as a private detective in later life.

Quick facts

• Born: 22 February 1732 at the family Pope Creek Estate (near present-day Colonial Beach, Virgina).
• George Washington served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797 and is widely regarded as the “Father of His Country.”
• He was the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, leading the American forces to victory over the British.
• Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787, playing a crucial role in the formation and ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
• During the American Revolutionary War, George Washington’s leadership at the winter encampment at Valley Forge (1777-1778) was crucial in maintaining the morale and cohesion of the Continental Army, despite severe hardships and lack of supplies.
• Washington engineered the pivotal victory at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781, collaborating with French forces under General Rochambeau and Admiral de Grasse, which led to the British surrender and effectively ended the Revolutionary War.
• Despite owning enslaved people, Washington’s views on slavery evolved over his lifetime, and he eventually freed his slaves, the only Founding Father to do so.
• Died: 14 December 1799 at Mount Vernon.
• Buried with his wife,  Martha , at Mount Vernon.

Introduction

George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and the first president of the United States, was born at Bridges Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia, on 22 February 1732. His father, Augustine (1694—1743), married twice. First to Jane Butler, with whom he had four children, then to Mary Ball — descendant of a family which migrated to Virginia in 1657 — with whom he had six children, George being the eldest.

Early years

Of Washington’s early life little is known, probably because there was little unusual to tell. There is nothing to show that the boy’s life was markedly different from that common to Virginia families in easy circumstances — plantation affairs, hunting, fishing, and a little reading making up its substance. From 1735 to 1739 he lived at what is now called Mount Vernon, and afterwards at the estate on the Rappahannock River, near Fredericksburg, where his father usually lived.

His education was only elementary and very defective, except in mathematics, in which he was largely self-taught. And although at his death he left a considerable library, Washington was never an assiduous reader. Throughout his life he had a good deal of official contact with the French, but he never mastered their language. Some careful reading of good books there must have been, however, for in spite of pervading illiteracy in matters of grammar and spelling, he acquired a dignified and effective English style. Washington left school in the autumn of 1747, and from this time we begin to know something of his life.

He was then at Mount Vernon with his half-brother Lawrence, who was also his guardian. Lawrence was a son-in-law of William Fairfax, proprietor of the neighboring plantation of Belvoir, and agent for the extensive Fairfax lands in the colony. Lawrence had served with Fairfax at Cartagena, and had made the acquaintance of Admiral Edward Vernon, from whom Mount Vernon was named. In 1748, through the influence of Thomas, Lord Fairfax — the head of the family, who had come to America to live — Washington was appointed surveyor of the Fairfax property. He was only sixteen years of age, but an appointment as public surveyor soon followed.

The next three years were spent in this service, most of the time on the frontier. He always retained a disposition to speculate in western lands, the ultimate value of which he early appreciated. He seems too, to have already impressed others with his force of mind and character. In 1751 he accompanied Lawrence, stricken with consumption, to the West Indies. There he had an attack of smallpox which left him scarred for life. Lawrence died the following year, making George executor and residuary heir of Mount Vernon; the latter estate became his in 1761.

The French and Indian War

In October 1753, on the eve of the French and Indian War, Washington was chosen by Governor Robert Dinwiddie as the agent to warn the French away from their new posts on the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania. He accomplished the winter journey safely, though with considerable danger and hardship; and shortly after his return was appointed lieutenant colonel of a Virginia regiment, under Colonel Joshua Fry.

In April 1754 he set out with two companies for the Ohio River. On 28 May he defeated a force of French and Indians at Great Meadows (in present Fayette County, Pennsylvania), and his surrender at Fort Necessity shortly afterwards — despite a vigorous defense — was the first opening salvo of the French and Indian War.

When General Edward Braddock arrived in Virginia in February 1755, Washington wrote him a diplomatically worded letter, and was presently made a member of the staff with the rank of colonel. His personal relations with Braddock were friendly throughout, and in the calamitous defeat, he showed for the first time that fiery energy which always lay hidden beneath his calm and unruffled exterior. He ranged the whole field on horseback, making himself the most conspicuous target for Indian bullets, and, despite what he called the  dastardly behavior  of the regular troops, saved the expedition from annihilation and brought the remnant of his Virginians out of action in fair order. Washington was one of the few unwounded officers.

In August, after his return, he was commissioned commander of the Virginia forces. He was 23.

For about two years his task was  defending a frontier of more than 350 men with 700 men,  a task rendered the more difficult by the insubordination and irregular service of his soldiers, as well as irritating controversies over official precedence. To settle the latter question, he made a journey to Boston in 1756 to confer with Governor William Shirley. In the winter of 1757 his health broke down, but in the next year he had the pleasure of commanding the advance guard of the expedition under General John Forbes, which occupied Fort Duquesne and renamed it Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh).

Marriage and the Mount Vernon Plantation

At the end of the year with the war in Virginia at an end, he resigned his commission. In January 1759 he married  Martha Custis  (née Dandridge; 1732—1802), widow of Daniel Parke Custis. The marriage brought him an increase of about $100,000 in his property, making him one of the richest men in the colonies; and he was able to develop his plantation and enlarge it.

For the next fifteen years Washington’s life at Mount Vernon, where he made his home after his marriage, was that of a typical Virginia planter of the more prosperous sort, a consistent member and vestryman of the Established (Episcopal) Church, a large slaveholder, a strict but generally considerate master, and a widely trusted man of affairs. His extraordinary escape in Braddock’s Defeat had led a colonial preacher to declare in a sermon his belief that the young man had been preserved to be  the savior of his country.  But if there was any such impression it soon died away, and Washington gave his associates no reason to consider him a man of uncommon endowments.

His attitude towards slavery has been much discussed, but it does not seem to have been different from that of many other planters of that day. He did not think highly of the system, but had no invincible repugnance to it, and saw no way of getting rid of it. In his treatment of slaves, he was exacting, but not harsh, and was averse to selling them, except by necessity. His diaries show a minutely methodical conduct of business, generous indulgence in hunting, comparatively little reading, and a wide acquaintance with the leading men of the colonies — but no marked indications of what is usually considered to be  greatness.  As in the case of Lincoln, he was educated into greatness by the increasing weight of his responsibilities and the manner in which he met them. Like others of the dominant planter class in Virginia, he was repeatedly elected to the House of Burgesses, but the business which came before the colonial Assembly was for some years of only local importance, and he is not known to have made any set speeches in the House, or to have said anything beyond a statement of his opinion and the reasons for it.

Conflict with England

Washington was present on 29 May 1765 when Patrick Henry introduced his famous resolutions against the Stamp Act. That he thought a great deal on public questions, and took full advantage of his legislative experience as a means of political education, is shown by his letter (5 April 1769) to his neighbor,  George Mason , communicating the Philadelphia non-importation resolutions, which had just reached him. In this he briefly considers the best means of peaceable resistance to the policy of the ministry, but even at that early date faces, frankly and fully, the probable final necessity of resisting by force, and endorses it — though only as a last resort.

The following May, when the House of Burgesses was dissolved, he was among the members who met at the Raleigh Tavern and adopted a non-importation agreement — which he himself kept when others did not. Though on friendly terms with Governor Norborne Berkeley, Baron Botetourt and his successor, John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, he nevertheless took a prominent part in the struggles of the Assembly against Dunmore, and his position was always a radical one.

As the breach widened, he even opposed petitions to  King George  and Parliament. This, on the ground that the claims to taxation and control had been put forward by the ministry on the basis of right, not of expediency, that the ministry could not abandon the claim of right and the colonies could not admit it, and that petitions must be, as they already had been, rejected.  Shall we,  he writes in a letter,  after this whine and cry for relief?

The First Continental Congress

On the 5 August 1774, the Virginia Convention appointed Washington as one of seven delegates to the Continental Congress, which met at Philadelphia on 5 September, and with this appointment his national career began (with but two brief intervals until his death). His letters during his service in Congress show that he fully grasped the questions at issue, that he was under no delusions as to the outcome of the struggle over taxation, and that he expected war.  More blood will be spilled on this occasion,  he wrote,  if the ministry are determined to push matters to extremity, than history has ever yet furnished instances of in the annals of North America.

His associates in Congress at once recognized his military ability, and although he was not a member of any of the committees of Congress, he seems to have aided materially in securing the endorsement by Congress of the Suffolk County Massachusetts Resolves, looking towards organized resistance. On the adjournment of the Congress, he returned to Virginia where he continued to be active, as a member of the House of Burgesses, in urging on the organization, equipment, and training of troops, and even undertook in person to drill volunteers. His attitude towards the mother country at this time, however, must not be misunderstood. Much as he expected war, he was not yet ready to declare in favor of independence, and he did not ally himself with the party of independence until the course of events made the adoption of any other course impossible.

The Second Continental Congress

In March 1775, he was appointed a delegate from Virginia to the Second Continental Congress . He served on committees for fortifying New York, collecting ammunition, raising money, and formulating army rules. It seems to have been generally understood that in case of war, Virginia would expect him to act as her commander-in-chief, and it was noticed that he was the only member who habitually appeared in uniform.

History, however, was to settle the matter on broader lines. The two most powerful colonies were Virginia and Massachusetts. The war began in Massachusetts and troops from New England flocked to the neighborhood of Boston almost spontaneously. But the resistance, if it was to be effective, had to have the support of the southern colonies, and the Virginia colonel who was serving on all the military committees of Congress, and whose experience in the Braddock campaign had made his name favorably known in England, was the obvious as well as the political choice.

Commander-in-Chief and first battles

When Congress, after the fights at Lexington and Concord, resolved that the colonies ought to be put in a position of defense, the first practical step — on the motion of  John Adams  of Massachusetts — was the unanimous selection of Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the United Colonies (15 June). Refusing any salary and asking only the reimbursement of his expenses, he accepted the position, asking  every gentleman in the room,  however, to remember his declaration that he did not believe himself to be equal to the command, and that he accepted it only as a duty made imperative by the unanimity of the call. He reiterated this belief in private letters, even to his wife; and there seems to be no doubt that, to the day of his death, he was the most determined skeptic as to his fitness for the positions to which he was successively called.

He was commissioned on 17 June 1775 and set out at once for Cambridge, Massachusetts. Contemporary accounts agree that Washington was an imposing presence. In his prime his height was six feet three inches — as given in his orders for clothes from London. His weight was about 220 pounds. The  marquis de Lafayette  said that his hands were  the largest he ever saw on a man.  Evidently it was his extraordinary dignify and poise — forbidding even the suggestion of familiarity — quite as much as his stature, that impressed those who knew him.

On 3 July he took command of the Continental Army and the levies there assembled for action against the British garrison in Boston. The Battle of Bunker Hill had already taken place, news of it reaching him on his way north. Until the following March, Washington’s work was to bring about some semblance of military organization and discipline, to collect ammunition and military stores, to correspond with Congress and the colonial authorities, to guide military operations in widely separate parts of the country, to create a military system for a people entirely unaccustomed to such a thing (and impatient and suspicious under it), and to bend the course of events steadily towards driving the British out of Boston.

He planned the expeditions against Canada under  Richard Montgomery  and  Benedict Arnold , and sent out privateers to harass British commerce. It is not easy to see how Washington survived the year 1775; the colonial poverty, the exasperating annoyances, the outspoken criticism of those who demanded active operations, the personal and party dissensions in Congress, the selfishness or stupidity which cropped up again and again among some of the most patriotic of his co-adjutors were enough to have broken down most men. The change in this one winter is very evident. If Washington was not a great man when he went to Cambridge, he was both a general and a statesman in the fullest sense when he drove the British out of Boston in March 1776. From that time until his death he was the foremost man of the continent.

The military operations of the war will not be detailed here, but they include Washington’s near defeat in the Battle of Long Island, and his escape through Manhattan to New Jersey. The manner in which he turned and struck his pursuers at Trenton and Princeton, and then established himself at Morristown, so as to make the way to Philadelphia impassable; the vigor with which he handled his army at Brandywine and Germantown; the persistence with which he held the strategic position of Valley Forge through the dreadful winter of 1777—78, in spite of the misery of his men, the clamors of the people, and the impotence and meddling of the fugitive Congress.

These are the times that try men’s souls,  wrote  Thomas Paine  at the beginning of 1776, and the words had added meaning in each year that followed. But Washington had no need to fear the test. The fiber of his public character was soon hardened to its permanent quality.

“The Conway Cabal”

The spirit which culminated in the treason of Benedict Arnold was a serious addition to his burdens — for what Arnold did, others were almost ready to do. Many of the American officers, too, had taken offense at the close personal friendship that had sprung up between the marquis de Lafayette and Washington, and at the diplomatic deference which the Commander-in-Chief felt compelled to show to other foreign officers. Some of the foreign volunteers were eventually dismissed politely by Congress on the ground that suitable employment could not be found for them.

The name of one of them, Thomas Conway, an Irish soldier of fortune from the French service, is attached to what is called the  Conway Cabal,  a scheme for superseding Washington by General  Horatio Gates , who in October 1777 succeeded in forcing British General  John Burgoyne  to capitulate at Saratoga, and who had been persistent in his depreciation of the Commander-in-Chief and intrigued with members of Congress. A number of officers and politicians were mixed up in the plot, while the methods employed were the lowest forms of anonymous slander. But at the first breath of exposure, everyone concerned hurried to cover up his part in it, leaving Conway to shoulder both the responsibility and the disgrace.

The Treaty of Alliance with France (1778) — following the surrender of Burgoyne — put an end to all such plans. It was absurd to expect foreign nations to deal with a second-rate man as Commander-in-Chief while Washington was in the field, and he seems to have had no further trouble of this kind.

Washington’s final battles

The prompt and vigorous pursuit of Sir  Henry Clinton  across New Jersey towards New York, and the Battle of Monmouth (June 1778), in which the plan of battle was thwarted by General Charles Lee, closed the military record of Washington — so far as active campaigning was concerned — until the end of the war. The British confined their operations to other parts of the continent, and Washington, alive as ever to the importance of keeping a connection with New England, appointed General  Nathanael Greene  to lead the Southern Campaign, and devoted himself to administrating the war and watching the British in and about New York City.

It was in every way fitting, however, that he who had been the mainspring of the war from the beginning, and who had borne far more than his share of its burdens and discouragements, should end it with the campaign at Yorktown and the surrender of General Lord  Cornwallis  (October 1781). Although peace was not concluded until September 1783, there was no more important fighting. Washington retained his commission until the 23rd of December 1783, when, in a memorable scene, he returned it to Congress in Annapolis, Maryland, and retired to Mount Vernon.

American Cincinnatus

By this time the popular canonization of Washington had begun. On hearing that Washington would resign his commission and retire from power, the King said if true that made Washington the greatest man in the world. He was compared to Cincinnatus, the Roman who was appointed dictator in 458 — and when the crisis was over, retired to his farm.

He occupied a position in American public life and in the American political system which no one could possibly hold again. He may be said to have become a political element quite apart from the Union, or the states, or the people of either. In a country in which newspapers had at best only a local circulation, and where communication was still slow and difficult, the knowledge that Washington favored something, superseded with many men, both argument and the necessity of information. His constant correspondence with the governors of the states gave him a quasi-paternal attitude towards government in general.

On relinquishing his command, he was able to do what no other man could have done with either propriety or safety: he addressed a circular letter to the governors, pointing out changes in the existing form of government which he believed to be necessary, and urging  an indissoluble union of the states under one federal head,   a regard to public justice,  the adoption of a suitable military establishment for a time of peace, and the making of  those mutual concessions which are requisite to the general prosperity.  His refusal to accept a salary, either as commander-in-chief or as president, might have been taken as affectation or impertinence in any one else; it seemed natural and proper enough in the case of Washington.

It is even possible that he might have had a crown, had he been willing to accept it. The army, at the end of the war, was justly dissatisfied with its treatment. The officers were called to meet at Newburgh, New York, and it was the avowed purpose of the leaders to march the army westward, appropriate vacant public lands as part compensation for arrears of pay, leave Congress to negotiate for peace without an army, and  mock at their calamity and laugh when their fear cometh.  Less publicly avowed was the purpose to make their Commander-in-Chief king, if he could be persuaded to aid in establishing a monarchy. A letter written to him by Colonel Lewis Nicola, on behalf of this coterie, detailed the weakness of a republican form of government as they had experienced it, their desire for  mixed government,  with him at its head, and their belief that  the title of king  would be objectionable to but few and of material advantage to the country.

Washington put a stop to the whole proceeding

His reply was peremptory and indignant. In plain terms he stated his abhorrence of the proposal. He was at a loss to conceive what part of his conduct could have encouraged their address; they could not have found  a person to whom their schemes were more disagreeable ; and, he charged them,  if you have any regard for yourself or posterity, or respect for me, to banish these thoughts from your mind, and never communicate, as from yourself or anyone else, a sentiment of the like nature.  His influence, and his alone, secured the quiet disbanding of the discontented army.

Return to Mount Vernon

Washington’s influence was as powerful after he had retired to Mount Vernon as before the resignation of his command. The Society of the Cincinnati, an organization composed of officers of the late war, chose him as its first president; but he insisted that the Society should abandon its plan of hereditary membership, and change other features of the organization against which there had been a public clamor. When the legislature of Virginia gave him 150 shares of stock in companies formed for the improvement of the Potomac and James rivers, and he was unable to refuse them lest his action should be misinterpreted. He extricated himself by giving them to educational institutions.

His voluminous correspondence shows his continued concern for a standing army and the immediate possession of the western military posts, and his interest in the development of the western territory. From public men in all parts of the country he received such a store of suggestions as came to no other man, digested it, and was enabled by means of it to speak with what seemed infallible wisdom. Despite the burden of letter writing, tree-planting and rotation of crops (as evidenced in his diaries), and his increasing reading on the political side of history, he found time to entertain a stream of visitors from all parts of the United States and from abroad.

Among these, in March 1785, were the commissioners from Virginia and Maryland, who met at Alexandria to form a commercial code for Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac, and then visited Mount Vernon. From that moment the current of events, leading into the Annapolis Convention of 1786 and the Federal Convention of the following year, shows Washington’s close supervision at every point.

The Constitutional Convention

When the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia in May 1787, it rapidly disposed of improving the The Articles of Confederation and moved to frame a new constitution. Washington was present as a delegate from Virginia, though much against his will; and a unanimous vote at once made him the presiding officer. Naturally, therefore, he did not participate in debate; and he seems to have spoken but once, and then to favor an amendment reducing to 30,000 — from 40,000 —the minimum population required for representation in the House of Representatives. The mere suggestion, coming from him, was sufficient, and the change was at once agreed to. He approved the constitution, which was decided upon, believing, as he said,  that it was the best constitution which could be obtained at that epoch, and that this or a dissolution awaits our choice, and is the only alternative.  As president of the convention, he signed the constitution, and kept the papers of the convention until the adoption of the new government, when they were deposited at the Department of State.

Washington used all of his vast influence to secure the ratification of the new instrument, and this was probably decisive. When enough states had ratified to assure the success of the new government, and the time came to elect a president, there was no hesitation. The office of president had been  cut to fit the measure of George Washington,  and no one thought of any other person in connection with it. The unanimous vote of the electors made him the first President of the United States; their unanimous vote elected him for a second time in (1792—93); and even after he had positively refused to serve for a third term, two electors voted for him (1796—97).

President of the United States

While the success of the new government was the work of many men and many causes, one cannot resist the conviction that the factor of chief importance was the existence, at the head of the executive department, of such a character as Washington. It was he who gave to official intercourse formal dignity and distinction. It was he who secured for the president the power of removal from office without the intervention of the Senate. His support of Hamilton’s financial plans not only insured a speedy restoration of public credit, but also, and even more important, gave the new government a constitutional ground on which to stand. His firmness in dealing with the  Whisky Rebellion  (1794) taught a much needed and wholesome lesson of respect for the Federal power.

His official visits to New England in 1789, to Rhode Island in 1790, and to the South in 1791, enabled him to test public opinion and at the same time increase popular interest in the national government. He was not a political partisan and he held the two natural parties apart, preventing party contest, until the government had become too firmly established to be shaken by them. It would be a great mistake, however, to suppose that the influence of the president was fairly appreciated during his term of office, or that he himself was uniformly respected. Washington seems never to have fully understood either the nature, the significance, or the inevitable necessity of party government in a republic. Instead, he attempted to balance party against party, selected representatives of opposing political views to serve in his first cabinet, and sought in that way to neutralize the effects of parties.

The consequence was that the two leading members of the cabinet,  Alexander Hamilton  and  Thomas Jefferson  — exponents for nearly opposite political doctrines — soon fought, to use the words of one of them, like  two game-cocks in a pit.  Consciously or not, Washington had a natural bias for Federalist party; his letters to Lafayette and to  Patrick Henry  in December 1798 and January 1799, make that evident even without the record of his earlier career as president. It is inconceivable that, to a man with his type of mind and his extraordinary experience, the practical sagacity, farsightedness, and aggressive courage of the Federalists should not have seemed to embody the best political wisdom, however little he may have been disposed to ally himself with any party group or subscribe to any comprehensive creed.

Accordingly, about 1793 when the Democratic-Republican party came to be formed, it was not to be expected that its leaders would long submit with patience to the continual interposition of Washington’s name and influence between themselves and their opponents; but they maintained a calm exterior. Some of their followers were less discreet. The president’s proclamation of neutrality, in the war between England and France, excited them to anger and his support of  John Jay ’s treaty with Great Britain roused them to fury. His firmness in thwarting the activities of Edmond Charles Edouard Genet, minister from France, alienated the partisans of France; his suppression of the  Whisky Rebellion  aroused in some the fear of a military despotism.

Forged letters, purporting to show his desire to abandon the revolutionary struggle, were published; he was accused of drawing more than his salary; his manners were ridiculed as  aping monarchy ; hints of the propriety of a guillotine for his benefit began to appear; he was spoken of as the  stepfather of his country.  The brutal attacks, exceeding in virulence even what happens today, embittered Washington, especially during his second term. In 1793 he is reported to have declared in a cabinet meeting that  he would rather be in his grave than in his present situation,  and that  he had never repented but once the having slipped the moment of resigning his office, and that was every moment since.  The most unpleasant portions of Jefferson’s  Anas  are those in which, with an air of psychological dissection, he details the storms of passion into which the president was driven by the newspaper attacks upon him. There is no reason to believe, however, that these attacks represented the feeling of any save a small minority of politicians. The people never wavered in their devotion to the president, and his election would have been unanimous in 1796, as in 1792 and 1789, had he been willing to serve.

Retirement and final years

Washington retired from the presidency in 4 March 1797 and returned to Mount Vernon — his journey marked by popular demonstrations of affection and esteem. At Mount Vernon, which had suffered from neglect during his absence, he resumed the plantation life which he loved, the society of his family, and the management of his slaves. He had resolved some time before never to obtain another slave, and  wished from his soul  that Virginia could be persuaded to abolish slavery;  it might prevent much future mischief ; but the unprecedented profitableness of the cotton industry, under the impetus of the recently invented cotton gin, had already begun to change public sentiment regarding slavery, and Washington was too old to attempt further innovation.

Visitors continued to flock to him, and his correspondence, as always, took a wide range. In 1798 he was made Commander-in-Chief of the provisional army raised in anticipation of war with France; he was fretted almost beyond endurance by the quarrels of Federalist politicians over the distribution of commissions. During these military preparations and following a long ride in a snow storm, he returned to Mount Vernon late. The next morning he came down with a seriously sore throat and had trouble breathing. This was aggravated by such contemporary remedies as blood-letting, gargles of  molasses, vinegar and butter,  and  vinegar and sage tea  — which  almost suffocated him,  — and a blister of cantharides on the throat.

Within 48 hours, on 14 December 1799, Washington died. His last words were only business directions, affectionate remembrances to relatives, and repeated apologies to the physicians and attendants for the trouble he was giving them. Just before he died — according to his secretary Tobias Lear — he felt his own pulse, his countenance changed, the attending physician placed his hands over the eyes of the dying man,  and he expired without a struggle or a sigh.  At age 67, he had lived several extraordinary lives. In his eulogy,  Henry Lee  eloquently summarized that Washington had been  first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.  His remains rest in the family vault at Mount Vernon.

Related posts

Morehouse family history – 17th/18th century.

Learn about the family history of the Morehouse family, who emigrated to the New World in the 17th century.

1781 Entries | James Thatcher’s Military Journal

Read entries from 1781 in the journal of James Thatcher, Continental Army surgeon during the American Revolution.

1777 Entries | James Thatcher’s Military Journal

Read entries from 1777 in the journal of James Thatcher, Continental Army surgeon during the American Revolution.

Plan Your Visit

• Things to Do
• Where to Eat
• Hours & Directions
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Accessibility
• Washington, D.C. Metro Area
• Guest Policies
• Historic Area
• Distillery & Gristmill
• Virtual Tour

George Washington

• French & Indian War
• Revolutionary War
• Constitution
• First President
• Martha Washington
• Native Americans
• Back to Main menu
• Why Did George Washington Join the Revolution?
• African Americans in the Revolutionary War

Declaration of Independence

• Revolutionary War Battles
• Spying and Espionage
• The Newburgh Conspiracy

Preservation

• Collections
• Archaeology
• Architecture
• The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association
• Restoration Projects
• Preserving the View
• Preservation Timeline
• For Teachers
• Primary Source Collections
• Secondary Sources
• Educational Events
• Interactive Tools
• Videos and Podcasts
• Hands on History at Home

Washington Library

• Catalogs and Digital Resources
• Research Fellowships
• The Papers of George Washington
• Library Events & Programs
• Leadership Institute
• Center for Digital History
• George Washington Prize
• About the Library

Estate Hours

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

u_turn_left Directions & Parking

General Washington in the American Revolution

George Washington was appointed commander of the Continental Army in 1775. Despite having little experience in commanding large, conventional military forces, his leadership presence and fortitude held the American military together long enough to secure victory at Yorktown and independence for his new nation in 1781.

Appointed Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army

Attending the Second Continental Congress in military uniform, George Washington was appointed as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army by his fellow congressmen.

Washington Takes Command at Cambridge, Massachusetts

After his appointment as Commander-in-Chief in Philadelphia, Washington traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts to take command of the newly formed Continental Army positioned around Boston.

The Bombardment of Boston Begins

With the arrival of heavy guns from Fort Ticonderoga, Washington made the bold decision to place these artillery pieces upon Dorchester Heights. From this lofty position Washington could target the British ships in Boston harbor. British attempts to deny the American's this position failed and the British forces departed Boston on March 17, 1776.

The Continental Congress had voted for independence on July 2, 1776. Two days later, on July 4, a declaration explaining the reasons for independence, largely written by Thomas Jefferson , had also been adopted.

Washington received official notification when a letter dated July 6 arrived from John Hancock , the president of the Continental Congress, along with a copy of the declaration.

Author Nathaniel Philbrick on Congress during the Revolutionary Era

The Battle of Long Island

A British amphibious assault upon the American positions atop Brooklyn Heights led to a signal British victory. Facing the prospect of a total defeat, Washington was able to save his remaining forces by shuttling them across the East River to Manhattan.

The Battle of White Plains

William Howe's regulars attacked and defeated Washington's Continental Army at White Plains as part of the 1776 New York Campaign.

The Battle of Trenton

After crossing the icy Delaware River on Christmas Day 1776, Washington led his forces in an attack upon the Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey. Washington's lightning attack surprised the Hessians and led to the capture of almost two-thirds of the 1,500 man force - at the cost of zero American combat casualties. This victory greatly bolstered the sagging morale of the Continental Army.

The Winter Patriots

Facing one of the darkest moments of the Revolution, Washington was forced to deal with not only the enemy to his front, but also the host of issues within his own ranks. After crossing over the Delaware River on Christmas Day, Washington’s Continentals swiftly defeat three different armies at three different battlefields around Trenton and Princeton. Washington’s lightning campaign, coupled with timely guerilla actions, completely unhinged the British position, forcing their precipitous retreat back towards New York.

The Battle of Princeton

Continental Army soldiers under the command of General George Washington defeated a force of British troops near Princeton, New Jersey.  The action was part of a larger campaign to regain momentum following a string of defeats in the New York City area throughout the summer and fall of 1776.

With the main Continental Army able to threaten major British supply lines following the Battle of Princeton, Crown forces pulled back to more defensible positions near the Hudson River freeing much of New Jersey from British occupation. 

Author Rick Atkinson discusses whether the battles of Second Trenton and Princeton mattered

The Battle of Brandywine

George Washington and the Continental Army are defeated by General Howe's force marching north. Howe was able to successfully flank the American forces holding positions across the Brandywine Creek near Chadds Ford.

The Brandywine Campaign of 1777: An Interview with Michael Harris

Mount Vernon had the opportunity to speak with Michael Harris, author of the new book, Brandywine: A Military History of the Battle that Lost Philadelphia but Saved America, September 11, 1777 . Michael shares his views about the Brandywine Campaign and its importance to the American Revolution. 

Brandywine Quickstep, Performed by The United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps

The Battle of Germantown

Despite losing yet another battle to Gen. William Howe, Washington and his French allies were impressed with the vigor and determination shown by the Americans at the Battle of Germantown.

Washington Arrives at Valley Forge

Upon the conclusion of the 1777 Philadelphia Campaign, Washington led his poorly fed and weary army to winter quarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Washington's army was ravaged by disease, cold, and sickness during its time in Valley Forge. Washington repeatedly asked Congress and other local magistrates for support of his wasting army. During the time at Valley Forge, the Continental Army did receive improved field training from Baron Friedrich von Steuben.

The Battle of Monmouth

Seeking to strike the British army as it made its way north from Philadelphia, Washington's Continental Army attacked the British forces under the command of Sir Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis near Monmouth Courthouse, New Jersey.

Washington's Spy Network in New York

In November 1778, George Washington appointed Major Benjamin Tallmadge as director of military intelligence, charged with creating a spy ring in New York City, the site of British headquarters. This network became known as the Culper Spy Ring and operated successfully for five years, during which time no spy was ever unmasked.

Agent 711, America's First Spymaster

Winter Encampment at Morristown

While Valley Forge is more famous, the winter that Washington's army confronted in its winter quarters at Jockey Hollow, near Morristown, New Jersey, was the coldest in recent memory.  It was here at Morristown that the Continental Army was nearly starved out of existence.  The constant lack of food and the never-ending hard winter led to the mutiny of several Continental regiments.  Washington declared that the army could "perish for want of food."

Winters with Martha Washington

Every year, during the long winter months when the fighting was at a standstill, the General asked Martha Washington to join him at his winter encampment. Each winter she made the arduous journey to her husband's camp, whether it was at Cambridge, Valley Forge, Philadelphia, Morristown, Newburgh, or elsewhere. The General regarded his wife’s presence as so essential to the cause that he sought reimbursement from Congress for her traveling expenses.

Journalist Cokie Roberts on Martha Washington's Role in the American Revolution

Double Agent Benedict Arnold Betrays Washington

After receiving command of the Hudson Highlands in June 1780, double agent Benedict Arnold agrees to help the British capture West Point. Arnold meets with his British contact, Major John André. They devise a plan to help the British capture West Point which includes a plot to capture General Washington while he dined with Arnold at his site on the Hudson River.

Author Dr. James Kirby Martin on Benedict Arnold's Betrayal

Major John André is Executed

On September 23, André was returning to British lines when he was stopped by the New York militia. After questioning the prisoner, Washington's military court decided that he should be executed as a spy. Washington accepted this determination, though he offered the British the opportunity to save André's life by exchanging him for Arnold. The British refused, lest it dissuade others from deserting to the British cause. As a result, Washington ordered André's execution which took place on October 2, 1780 at Tappan, New York.

Washington and Rochambeau March South

After deciding to take advantage of the arrival of the French West Indies fleet off the coast of Virginia and the precarious position of Lord Cornwallis' army, Washington and Rochambeau agreed to march their armies south in a bold attempt to attack the isolated British garrison.

George Washington's Role in the Battle of the Chesapeake

Briefly Home at Mount Vernon

As the combined American and French forces made their way down to Yorktown, Virginia, General Washington was able to make a brief visit to his home along the Potomac River. During this visit Washington and Rochambeau refined their plan for defeating Charles Cornwallis’ forces trapped on the York Peninsula.

Now or Never: The Yorktown Campaign

Victory at Yorktown

After almost a month since the start of the American and French siege of Yorktown, Lord Cornwallis agrees to surrender his British and Hessian forces to Gen. Washington.  This total victory over the British is the final major military action upon the continent.

Military Badges

George Washington created three new military badges that would honor the service of ordinary, common soldiers. As Washington explained, his motives were to honor acts of bravery amongst his regular soldiers, because "The road to glory in a patriot army and a free country is thus open to all." In his General Orders of August 7, 1782, Washington outlined the creation of both Honorary Badges of Distinction and a Badge of Military Merit.

With this order, Washington established a policy of formal recognition of the heroic contributions of regular soldiers, rather than just solely members of the officer class. In addition, Washington created the precedence for the eventual establishment of the Purple Heart, adopted by the army in 1932 at the behest of General Douglas MacArthur in conjunction with the two hundredth anniversary of Washington's birth.

Washington Delivers the Newburgh Address

Aware of the growing dissatisfaction within his officer corps stationed near Newburgh, New York, Washington deftly confronted a group of officers planning to march on Congress.  Asking to speak to the officers during their gathering at the "Temple", Washington's plea for patience and continued loyalty won over the conspirators and defused a potential military coup.

General Washington Surrenders His Commission

With the war now at an end, General George Washington surrendered his commission to Congress in Annapolis, Maryland.  Washington's actions reaffirmed his core belief that the military was subordinate to civilian rule - a central principle of the new United States.

Senator Tim Kaine discusses Washington's Renunciation of Power

The Revolutionary War

Learn more about how General George Washington led the American army to victory in the Revolutionary War.

President George Washington

• He was the only president unanimously elected. Meaning all of the state representatives voted for him.
• He never served as president in Washington D.C., the capital that was named for him. In his first year the capital was in New York City, then moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• He was six feet tall, which was very tall for the 1700s.
• The story of George Washington chopping down his father's cherry tree is considered fiction and likely never happened.
• George Washington did not have wooden teeth, but did wear dentures made from ivory.
• Washington gave freedom to his slaves in his will.
• Listen to a recorded reading of this page:

• History & Society
• Science & Tech
• Biographies
• Animals & Nature
• Geography & Travel
• Arts & Culture
• Games & Quizzes
• On This Day
• One Good Fact
• New Articles
• Lifestyles & Social Issues
• Philosophy & Religion
• Politics, Law & Government
• World History
• Health & Medicine
• Browse Biographies
• Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates
• Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates
• Environment
• Fossils & Geologic Time
• Entertainment & Pop Culture
• Sports & Recreation
• Visual Arts
• Demystified
• Image Galleries
• Infographics
• Top Questions
• Britannica Kids
• Saving Earth
• Space Next 50
• Student Center

George Washington Timeline

February 22, 1732.

Late 1752–53

May 28, 1754

January 6, 1759.

September 1774

April 30, 1789

December 14, 1799