His father was a justice of the peace and a prominent public figure who had four additional children from his first marriage to Jane Butler. He was the first of six children of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington. George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, at Popes Creek in Westmoreland County, in the British colony of Virginia. Washington's great-grandfather John Washington emigrated in 1656 from Sulgrave, Northamptonshire, England, to the English colony of Virginia where he accumulated 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) of land, including Little Hunting Creek on the Potomac River. The Washington family was a wealthy Virginia planter family that had made its fortune through land speculation and the cultivation of tobacco. His legacy is marred, however, due to his ownership of slaves and his complicated relationship with slavery, as well as his policy to assimilate Native Americans into the Anglo-American culture and waging war against Native American nations during the Revolutionary Wars and the Northwest Indian War.įurther information: Washington family and British America Ferry Farm, the Washington family's residence on the Rappahannock River in Stafford County, Virginia, where Washington spent much of his youth In 1976, Washington was posthumously promoted to the rank of General of the Armies, the highest rank in the U.S. Many scholars and ordinary Americans alike rank him among the greatest U.S. He has been memorialized by monuments, a federal holiday, various media depictions, geographical locations including the national capital, the State of Washington, stamps, and currency. Upon his death, Washington was eulogized by Henry Lee as "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen". His Farewell Address on September 19, 1796, is a preeminent statement on republicanism in which he writes about the importance of national unity and the dangers regionalism, partisanship and foreign influence pose to it. President" and taking an Oath of Office with his hand on a Bible. He set enduring precedents for the office of president, including use of the title " Mr.
During the French Revolution, he proclaimed a policy of neutrality while sanctioning the Jay Treaty. president, Washington implemented a strong, well-financed national government while remaining impartial in a fierce rivalry that emerged between cabinet members Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton.
He was then twice elected president by the Electoral College unanimously. Washington played an indispensable role in adopting and ratifying the Constitution of the United States, which replaced the Articles of Confederation in 1789 and remains the world's longest-standing written and codified national constitution to this day. He resigned his commission in 1783 after the Treaty of Paris was signed. He was later elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses and was named a delegate to the Continental Congress, where he was appointed Commanding General of the Continental Army and led American forces allied with France to a decisive victory over the British at the siege of Yorktown in 1781 during the Revolutionary War, paving the way for American independence. He subsequently received his first military training and was assigned command of the Virginia Regiment during the French and Indian War. Washington's first public office, from 1749 to 1750, was as surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia. Washington has been called the " Father of his Country" for his manifold leadership in the nation's founding. Appointed by the Second Continental Congress as commander of the Continental Army in June 1775, Washington led Patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War and then served as president of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which created and ratified the Constitution of the United States and the American federal government. George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses 7th Senior Officer of the United States ArmyĬommander in Chief of the Continental Armyġ4th Chancellor of the College of William & Maryĭelegate from Virginia to the Continental Congress
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