George Washington
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: The Young Years in Life
Chapter 3: The Affected Army
Battle of Trenton
How George Affected the Patriot Army
Chapter 5: Against His Own Will
Term 1
Term 2
Chapter 6: Conclusion
Introduction
Did you know that George Washington was known for his excellent dancing? Well, he was! George Washington was a great man during the Colonial Time Period. He had a great childhood where he liked to hunt ducks along the river. He was a great general during the American Revolution. He was also known for being the First President of the United States of America.
Chapter 1: The Young Years in Life
George Washington was born on February 11, 1732 in the Westmoreland County in Virginia on his father’s plantation. George was born into a family of 6. However, he had 2
half- brothers from George’s father’s first wife. George’s father’s name was Augustine and his mother’s name was Mary Ball. Mary was forceful, very religious, troubled, defensive, and over-protective of her children. Maybe if George’s mother was perhaps not protective of her children George would of had a very different childhood and an adulthood.
When George was 7, he moved to a farm on the Rappahannock River, which feeds into the Chesapeake Bay, called the Ferry Farm. When George was 11, Augustine died, leaving the plantation to George’s half-brother Lawrence and giving the family 10,000 acres of land and 50 slaves. Lawrence renamed the plantation, Mount Vernon.
If Augustine had stayed alive, George would have gone to a grammar school in England. That school was called Appley School. Historians are realizing that if George had went to school in England he maybe would not have been the person he grew up to be. Instead, George was homeschooled.
George did a lot of hobbies when he was outside of school. For example, he fished, he swam, he learned how to use a gun. George liked to hunt ducks along the Rappahannock River. Historians wonder if George liked to do different hobbies when he was a child, it could have changed Washington’s future. George was a very good horse rider too. He was better than all of the people George’s age. A few years later, according to Joan Heilbroner, George would be called “the best rider in Virginia”.
Chapter 3: Role in War
Battle of Trenton
George once said “Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us no choice but a brave resistance or the most abject submission.” This tells historians that the enemy is good in some ways. For example, the enemy forces you to fight or give up.
On Dec. 24, 1776, Washington and his army set out for Trenton in the afternoon. He had to travel throughout the night, crossing the Delaware river that had freezing, life threatening waters. The Delaware River was filled with ice. At 11:00 at night, there was a heavy sleet storm. When Washington finally got to the camp where the Hessians were, he attacked at the northwest end. Another general in the attack was John Sullivan. He lead his soldiers to the camp from the south. The rest of Americans went to the northeast end to make sure that the Hessians would not escape. Probably the Patriots thought very carefully about this attack because they made some soldiers go to one end, and another group go to another end and one group make sure that the Hessians do not escape.
Some Hessians reported to the commander of the Hessians, Colonel Rahl, that the Patriots were coming. Colonel Rahl ignored the message that the Patriots were coming. Since he ignored the message, he died. This makes historians wonder that if Colonel Rahl would have listened to the message maybe that would have changed the battle and the Revolutionary War.
How George Affected the Patriot Army
Washington affected the Patriot Army in many ways. George was brave, loyal, and had many more great traits.
Washington was in many battles such as the Battle of Trenton, Germantown, Brandywine, Princeton, Monmouth Courthouse, Stony Point, Cowpens, Eutaw Springs, and Yorktown. This tells historians that George Washington had a lot of experience in battles, so he could lead his army to great victories with his experience.
Chapter 4: Against His Own Will
George Washington was known for many things during his lifetime. He was in the Revolutionary War, he had a rich family, and, the most famous thing, he was the first president of the United States. In fact, 60% of the people that I surveyed said that the most famous thing that George Washington did is being the first president. As you know, Washington was the first president of the United States, but maybe you did not know that Washington served as president for two terms. He was elected against his own will, both terms. Washington's first term had some problems in it. George was also busy during his first term. However, he hired confident people by his side to help him through his journey.
Term 1
As mentioned earlier, he was busy during his first term. For example, since he was the first president, he had a lot of organizing to establish the government. Washington mainly was organizing the executive branch of the government. Also, he had to create laws, or rules, for people to follow. This makes historians think, George was the most important president the U.S had. They think that because he established the base of the government and the base of the U.S.A.
I also mentioned to you that Washington had confident people by his side. For example, he had Alexander Hamilton as the Secretary of Treasury. The Secretary of Treasury is head of the U.S. department of the Treasury. Washington also had the famous Henry Knox. Henry Knox was a general in the Revolutionary War. Henry was the Secretary of War. This is head of all military affairs.
There were some problems during Washington's first term. One problem is that the Spanish owned the west and would not allow the U.S to use the Mississippi River. Another problem is that there was a debt crisis in the U.S. The government adopted Alexander Hamilton’s proposal by creating peace treaties with Southern Indian tribes. One other problem is that at the end of Washington's first term, there was an Indian War, encouraged by the British on the northwestern frontier.
Also, at the end of his first term, George was thinking to step down after his first term was over. He thought that the government could get on without him. Thomas Jefferson went over to Mount Vernon to visit George and urge him to accept another term. Finally, after trying to get George to accept, Thomas succeeded in convincing George with another term. Historians wonder if Thomas Jefferson had not urged George into another term, he would not had been president for another 4 years.
Term 2
George’s second term was the years of 1793-1797. These are his last years of being president.
There was a major problem while George was in his second term. That problem was the French Revolution. The war started just 1 day after George became president for his second term. The French Revolution was a really bad thing. France was ruled by terrorists, the French king and queen were killed, it just was a terrible thing. Due to this, Britian and France went to war. Some people in the U.S. were pro-British-American. These people wanted the U.S. to join the British and to fight against the French. Some people were pro-French-American. These people wanted the U.S. to join the French and fight against the British. Washington chose not to choose a side and to stay neutral throughout the war. This was a great decision because this gave the United States to grow in strength.
There was a French Representative in the U.S. His name was Edmond Genet. He wanted the U.S. to support France and told people to overthrow Washington. Washington must have been flaming because he demanded the French government to take Edmond Genet back.
Washington also sent American, John Jay, to create a treaty with Britain. Jay came back with a treaty, sure enough. However, when John gave the treaty to the government, there were brutal debates in the government to say if the treaty was middling. Finally, the treaty was approved.
Chapter 5: Conclusion
George Washington was a compelling man during America’s history. His childhood seemed to have an impact on who George would eventually become as a leader. During the Battle of Trenton, he crossed the treacherous waters and passed a heavy sleet storm in the middle of the night. His intelligence led him and his troops to succeed in that battle. Also, he had a presidency filled with both great successes and some overwhelming problems, yet he persevered. If George Washington had not lived, would America be in the position that it is right now?
Sources:
Commons.wikimedia.org
Wikipedia.org
Sparknotes.com
Mountvernon.org
Britishbattles.com
Americacomesalive.com
