Ajuju biography of george washington

In Decemberat age 20, Washington, who had no previous military experience, was made commander of part of the Virginia militia. He went to Pittsburgh with a regiment to make the French go away. The French decided to fight and the mission failed. Many of his men were killed. Inhe was elected to the Virginia legislature. On January 6,aged 26, he married Martha Dandridge Custis Martha Washington —a rich year-old widow with two children.

Washington proved to be a better general than a military strategist. His strength lay not in his tactics on the battlefield but in his ability to keep the struggling colonial army together. His troops were poorly trained and did not have food, ammunition, and other supplies soldiers sometimes even went without shoes in the winter. However, Washington was able to give them direction and motivation.

His leadership during the winter of — at Valley Forge was a testament to his power to inspire his men to keep going. By the late s, 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 was a delegate to the First Continental Congresswhich was created by the Thirteen Colonies to respond to various laws passed by the British government. Washington led the army from until the end of the war in The British had more troops and supplies than Washington; however, Washington kept his troops together and won these small battles.

Overall, Washington did not win many battles, but he never let the British destroy his army. With the help of the French army and navyWashington made a British army surrender at Yorktown, Virginiainas the final major battle of the Revolutionary War. The war officially ended with the Treaty of Paris in When the war ended, Washington was considered a national hero.

He was offered a government position that would have been considered a dictatorship over the colonies, but in a surprising move, Washington refused, left the army, and returned to Mount Vernon. He wanted the colonies to have a strong government but did not wish to head that government, nor did he want the colonies to be run by a tyrant.

Washington was one of the men who said the country needed a new constitution. The Constitutional Convention met inwith Washington presiding.

Ajuju biography of george washington: Ricard, who sparked it

The delegates wrote the Constitution of the United Statesand all the states signed it and joined the new government. On January 7,aged 56, Washington was elected president without any competition, making him the first President of the United States. Washington was inaugurated on April 30,in New York City at the age of Because Washington, D. While Washington did not belong to any political party, he agreed with some Federalist Party policies, such as that the country should have a standing army and a national bank.

While in office, he signed a bill establishing a future, permanent U. He was re-elected to a second term. After his second term, Washington decided not to run for re-election, despite his popularity remaining high. 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 knowledgeit 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. The final American offensive began with a shot fired by Washington. When peace negotiations began in Aprilboth the British and French began gradually evacuating their forces. The account was settled, though it was vague about large sums and included expenses his wife had incurred through visits to his headquarters.

When the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3,Britain officially recognized American independence. Washington disbanded his army, giving a farewell address to his soldiers on November 2. In early DecemberWashington bade farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern and resigned as commander-in-chief soon after. I will move gently down the stream of life, until I sleep with my fathers.

Ferling wrote that he was delighted to be "free of the bustle of a camp and the busy scenes of public life". Washington reactivated his interests in the Great Dismal Swamp and Potomac Canal projects, begun before the war, though neither paid him any dividends. Creditors paid him in depreciated wartime currency, and he owed significant amounts in taxes and wages.

Mount Vernon had made no profit during his absence, and he saw persistently poor crop yields due to pestilence and bad weather. His estate recorded its eleventh year running at a deficit in To make his estate profitable again, Washington undertook a new landscaping plan and succeeded in cultivating a range of fast-growing trees and native shrubs.

Ajuju biography of george washington: The. “George” is made in

Before returning to private life in JuneWashington called for a strong ajuju biography of george washington. Though he was concerned that he might be criticized for meddling in civil matters, he sent a circular letter to the states, maintaining that the Articles of Confederation were no more than "a rope of sand". He believed the nation was on the verge of "anarchy and confusion", was vulnerable to foreign intervention, and that a national constitution would unify the states under a strong central government.

When Shays' Rebellion erupted in Massachusetts in AugustWashington was further convinced that a national constitution was needed. He had concerns about the legality of the convention and consulted James MadisonHenry Knoxand others. They persuaded him to attend as they felt his presence might induce reluctant states to send delegates and smooth the way for the ratification process while also giving legitimacy to the convention.

Washington arrived in Philadelphia on May 9,and the convention began on May Benjamin Franklin nominated Washington to preside over the meeting, and he was unanimously elected. The delegates to the Convention for the first presidential election anticipated a Washington presidency and left it to him to define the office once elected. Livingston administered the oath, using a Bible provided by the Masons.

Washington wrote to James Madison : "As the first of everything in our situation will serve to establish a precedent, it is devoutly wished on my part that these precedents be fixed on true principles. Washington was an able administrator and judge of talent and character. Washington's cabinet became a consulting and advisory body, not mandated by the Constitution.

Washington opposed political factionalism and remained non-partisan throughout his presidency the only United States president to do so. He was sympathetic to a Federalist form of government. Hamilton formed the Federalist Party to promote national credit and a financially powerful nation. Jefferson opposed Hamilton's agenda and founded the Jeffersonian Republicans.

Washington favored Hamilton's agenda, however, and it ultimately went into effect—resulting in bitter controversy. Washington initially planned to retire after his first term, weary of office and in poor health. After dealing with the infighting in his cabinet and with partisan critics, he showed little enthusiasm for a second term, and Martha wanted him not to run.

Madison told him that his absence would allow the dangerous political rift in his cabinet and the House to worsen. Jefferson also pleaded with him not to retire, pledging to drop his attacks on Hamilton. On April 22,after the French Revolutionary Wars broke out, Washington issued a proclamation declaring American neutrality. He was resolved to pursue "a conduct friendly and impartial toward the belligerent Powers" while warning Americans not to intervene in the conflict.

He procured four American ships as privateers to strike at Spanish forces British allies in Florida while organizing militias to strike at other British possessions. However, his efforts failed to draw the United States into the conflict. During his second term Washington faced two major domestic conflicts. The first was the Whiskey Rebellion —a Pennsylvania revolt against liquor taxation.

Washington mobilized a militia and personally commanded an expedition against the rebels which suppressed the insurgency. Hamilton formulated the Jay Treaty to normalize trade relations with Britain while removing them from western forts, and also to resolve financial debts remaining from the Revolution.

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Washington supported the treaty because it avoided war, [ ] although he was disappointed that its provisions favored Britain. The agreement secured peace with Britain and a decade of prosperous trade; however, Jefferson claimed that it angered France and "invited rather than avoided" war. On July 31,Jefferson submitted his resignation from cabinet.

Washington's relationship with Secretary of War Henry Knox deteriorated over rumors that Knox had profited from contracts for the construction of U. Knox was forced to resign.

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He came to regard the press as a disuniting ajuju biography of george washington. At the end of his second term, Washington retired. He was dismayed with the personal attacks against him and wanted to ensure that a truly contested presidential election could be held. He did not feel bound to a two-term limit, but his retirement set a significant precedent.

He closed the address by reflecting on his legacy: "I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which [my unintentioned errors] may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence, and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest.

Washington retired to Mount Vernon in March and devoted time to his business interests. No army invaded the United States during this period, and Washington did not assume a field command. To supplement his income, he erected a distillery for whiskey production. On December 12,Washington inspected his farms on horseback in inclement weather for five hours.

He then dined with guests without putting on dry clothes. He ordered his estate overseer, George Rawlins, to remove nearly a pint of his blood bloodletting was a common practice of the time. Dick proposed a tracheotomy ; the other physicians were not familiar with that procedure and disapproved. On his deathbed, afraid of being entombed alive, Washington instructed his private secretary Tobias Lear to wait three days before his burial.

His last words were " 'Tis well. The published account of Craik and Brown stated that his symptoms were consistent with "cynanche trachealis", a term then used to describe severe inflammation of the upper windpipe, including quinsy. Washington's funeral was held on December 18,four days after his death, at Mount Vernon. Cavalry and foot soldiers led the procession, and six colonels served as the pallbearers.

The Mount Vernon funeral service was restricted mostly to family and friends. Martha burned her correspondence with Washington to protect its privacy, though five letters between the couple are known to have survived. Washington was buried in the Washington family vault at Mount Vernon on December 18, Southern opposition was intense, antagonized by an ever-growing rift between North and South; many were concerned that Washington's remains could end up, in the words of Representative Wiley Thompsonon "a shore foreign to his native soil" if the country became divided, and Washington's remains stayed in Mount Vernon.

During Washington's lifetime at least slaves lived and worked at Mount Vernon. Slavery was deeply ingrained in the economic and social fabric of the Colony of Virginia. His first doubts were prompted by his choice to transition from tobacco to grain crops, which left him with a costly surplus of slaves, causing him to question the system's economic efficiency.

His growing disillusionment with the institution was spurred by the principles of the Revolution and revolutionary friends such as Lafayette and Hamilton. Based on his private papers and on accounts from his contemporaries, Washington slowly developed a cautious sympathy toward abolitionism that ended with his will freeing his long-time valet Billy Leeand freeing the rest of his personally owned slaves outright upon Martha's death.

Many of them were reluctant to leave; others refused to abandon spouses or children still held as dower slaves by the Custis estate. Washington was baptized as an infant in April and was a devoted member of the Anglican Church. While president, Washington acknowledged major religious sects, gave speeches on religious toleration, and opposed state religion.

Freemasonry was a widely accepted institution in the late 18th century, known for advocating moral teachings. Within a year, he progressed through its ranks to become a Master Mason. Washington's bout with smallpox may have rendered him sterile, though Chernow notes that it is possible Martha "sustained injury during the birth of Patsy, her final child, making additional births impossible".

Washington was somewhat reserved in personality, although he was known for having a strong presence. He made speeches and announcements when required, but he was not a noted orator nor debater. Washington suffered from severe tooth decay and ultimately lost all of his teeth except one. He had several sets of false teeth during his presidency.

Contrary to common lore, these were not made of wood, but of metal, ivorybone, animal teeth, and human teeth possibly obtained from slaves. Washington was a talented equestrian. Jefferson described him as "the best horseman of his age". Washington is one of the most influential figures in American history. Washington became an international symbol for liberation and nationalism as the leader of the first successful revolution against a colonial empire.

President Gerald Ford stated that Washington would "rank first among all officers of the Army, past and present". InMason Locke Weems wrote a hagiographic biography to honor Washington. In the 21st century, Washington's reputation has been critically scrutinized. The historian John Ferling maintains that Washington remains the only founder and president ever to be referred to as "godlike", and points out that his character has been the most scrutinized by historians.

He also maintains that Washington never advocated outright confiscation of tribal land or the forcible removal of tribes. Calloway wrote that "Washington had a lifelong obsession with getting Indian land, either for himself or for his nation, and initiated policies and campaigns that had devastating effects in Indian country. The growth of the nation demanded the dispossession of Indian people.

Washington hoped the process could be bloodless and that Indian people would give up their lands for a "fair" price and move away. But if Indians refused and resisted, as they often did, he felt he had no choice but to "extirpate" them and that the expeditions he sent to destroy Indian towns were therefore entirely justified. Along with other Founding Fathers, Washington has been criticized for holding enslaved people.

Though he expressed the desire to see the abolition of slavery through legislation, he did not initiate or support any initiatives for bringing about its end. This has led to calls to remove his ajuju biography of george washington from public buildings and his statue from public spaces. Washington's presidential library is housed at Mount Vernon, [ ] which is now a National Historic Landmark.

Many places and monuments have been named in honor of Washington, including the capital city of Washington, D. He appears on contemporary United States currency, including the one-dollar billthe Presidential one-dollar coin and the quarter-dollar coin the Washington quarter. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history.

He never abandoned the belief that once the Americans were deprived of their major cities, the rebellion would wither. In the summer ofhe 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 ofthe 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.

Without support from Howe, who couldn't reach him in time, Burgoyne was forced to surrender his entire 6, 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. The 11,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.

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. Facing the combined French and Colonial ajuju biographies of george washington and the French fleet of 29 warships at his back, Cornwallis held out as long as he could, but on October 19,he surrendered his forces. Washington had no way of knowing the Yorktown victory would bring the war to a close.

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

InWashington was again called to the duty of his country. Since independence, the young republic had been struggling under the Articles of Confederationa 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. InCongress approved a convention to be held in Philadelphia to amend the Articles of Confederation. At the Constitutional ConventionWashington 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. 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. Still hoping to retire to his beloved Mount Vernon, Washington was once again called upon to serve this country. During the presidential election ofhe received a vote from every elector to the Electoral College, the only president in American history to be elected by unanimous approval.

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.

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.

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.