Bibliography of George Washington

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.