George
Washington was born on February 22, 1732 in Westmore County, Virginia and spent
most of his childhood there. Until George Washington attained 16 years, he
lived at Wakefield Plantation, Virginia, as well as other plantations that are
along the Potomac River, including one that later came to be referred to as
Mount Vernon. Chernow assert “Washington’s education was rudimentary, possibly
being attained from tutors but probably as well from private schools, where he
learned surveying†(90). George Washington lost his father while he was eleven
years old, after which his half-brother, Lawrence, acted as his mentor, having
served in the Royal Navy. As a result, Washington as a youth, developed an
interest to pursue a naval career. However, his mother did encourage him to
join the navy.
In
1748, when Washington was sixteen, he enrolled in a surveying party that was
later sent by Lord Fairfax, who was a land baron, to Shenandoah. During the
next couple of years, George Washington carried out surveys within Virginia as
well as the present West Virginia. As a result, Washington developed a lifelong
interest in the West (Thayer 34). Washington accompanied Lawrence in 1752-1752
on a visit to Barbados, in West Indies, just prior to his death due to health
reasons.
The
following year, George Washington commenced on his military career after he was
appointed to adjutants within the militia by the royal governor, as a major.
During that same year, Washington, as a gubernatorial emissary in the company
of a guide, went to Fort Le Boeuf in the Ohio River Valley, where he gave an
ultimatum to the French authorities to stop fortification as well as settlement
within the English territory. While on this trip, he made an effort to smoothen
up the relationship of the British with the different Indian tribes.
George
Washington won the rank of a lieutenant in 1754. Then, as a colonel in the
militia, he led a force, which was seeking to challenge the control of the
French within the Ohio River Valley. However, he was defeated at Fort
Necessity- an occurrence that aided to trigger a war between the French and the
Indians between 1754-1763. Washington resigned his commission late in 1754,
displeased by the dilution of his position as a result of the imminent influx
of the British regulars.
Washington
rejoined the military service in 1755, with the courtesy position of a colonel,
and as an assistant to General Edward Braddock. He scarcely survived death when
the general’s forces were conquered during the Battle of the Monongahela. Owing
to his courage, Washington regained his colonelcy as well as command of the
militia forces in Virginia, with the responsibility of guarding the frontier of
the colony. In the late 1758, disheartened by the government’s neglect in
supporting the militia, as well as vexed for not ascending in rank, Washington
resigned and went back to Mount Vernon.
After
that, Washington married Martha Dandridge a rich widow and mother of two
children. The marriage did not however produce any offspring, even though
George Washington took care those of his wife s if they were his. Between the
years 1759-1774, Washington was managing his plantation along with sitting in
the Virginia House of Burgesses. Washington was in support of the initial
protests in opposition to the British policies, taking an active role in the
non-importation movement that was in Virginia; and specifically due to his vast
military experience, Washington became a Whig leader.
During
the 1770’s, the relationship of the colony with that of the mother nation
became very strained. Restrained by his behavior although strongly considerate
of the Whig post as well as resentful of the British constraints in addition to
commercial exploitation, George Washington represented Virginia during the
First as well as the Second Continental Congresses. Following the bloodshed that
took place at Lexington and Concord in 1775, Washington was appointed to
command the Continental Army by the Congress. Overcoming serious hindrances,
particularly in supply, he gradually came up with a well-trained as well as
disciplined fighting force (Lodge41).
George
Washington’s strategy underwent a revolution and also contained continuous
aggravation against the British forces while keeping off from general actions.
Even though his troops gained a lot of ground as well as lost during several
battles, they endured even throughout the dark winters which took place at
Valley Forge and Morristown (Lodge 56). Eventually, with the help of the French
fleet as well as an army, George Washington won a climactic conquest in 1781 at
the Battle of Yorktown.
Within
the following 2 years, while he was still a commandant of the Continental Army
that was agitated as a result of poor pay as well as supplied for, George
Washington condemned the proposals of the militia to take possession of the
government, where plans were made to choose him as King. In its place, he was
in support of the petitions by the army towards the Continental Congress for
appropriate compensation. Following the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783,
Washington resigned from his commission and went back again to Mount Vernon (Ellis).
George Washington’s financial sacrifices during the period of war as well as
the long absence, in addition to substantial loans to friends, his extensive
fortune were seriously impaired. During that time, he had little time to
rebuild his finances since his retirement was looming.
Discontented
with the national development under the Articles of Confederation, George
Washington was in favor of the formation of a strong central government. As a
result, in 1785, George Washington hosted a conference at his estate in Mount
Vernon following its early meetings in Alexandria, even though he clearly did
not take part directly during the discussions. Ellis state that “Despite
Washington’s sympathy with the objectives of the 1786 Annapolis Convention, he
made a decision not to attend†(45). However, the subsequent year, after he was
encouraged by a lot of his friends, he made a decision to direct the
Constitutional Convention, where a lot of success was influenced by his
attendance as well as dignity. In 1788, following the approval of the new tool
of government, Washington was unanimously selected as the first President by
the Electoral College (Ellis).
The
following year, after a successful trip from Mount Vernon to the city of New
York, George Washington, at the Federal Hall, took the oath of office. Within
his two standard-setting terms, Washington governed the nation with dignity and
restraint. In addition, he provide stability and authority to an emerging
country and reconciled rival factions as well as divergent policies in the
government as well as his administration. Even though not opposed to exercise
his presidential powers, Washington had respect towards the function of the
Congress, and he did not trespass on its prerogatives.
George
Washington took different steps in making the governmental authority strong,
including the 1794 conquest of the Whisky Rebellion (Wilson 21). In order to
unite the nation, in 1789, Washington journeyed the Northeast as well as the
South in 1791. Throughout his occupancy in the office, the government relocated
from New York in 1790 to Philadelphia. He oversaw the relocation plans to the
District of Columbia, as well as he laid the foundation of the Capitol in 1793
(Flexner 76).
In
terms of foreign affairs, regardless of the opposition that came from the
Senate, George Washington exerted domination. He looked after the interests of
the U.S. in the North American continent through treaties with both Britain and
Spain. Nonetheless, he insisted on the preservation of impartiality until the
country was stronger. For instance, when the French Revolution generated war
that involved France and Britain, he disregarded the protests of pro-French
Jefferson as well as pro-English Hamilton.
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