George Washington
George Washington served as the first president of the United States from 1789 - 1797. Born on February 22, 1732, Washington was a key leader in the American Revolution, serving as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army.
Washington had a mixed legacy with slavery. He personally owned hundreds of slaves at one point in his life. However, he later changed his stance, though he never spoke publicly against the practice. Washington stated in a letter to John Francis Mercer, "With respect to the first. I never mean (unless some particular circumstances should compel me to it) to possess another slave by purchase; it being among my first wishes to see some plan adopted by, [inserted: The Legislature by] which slavery in this Country may be abolished by slow, sure, & imperceptable degrees" (The Gilder Lehrman Institutde of American History). Upon his death, Washington freed all of his slaves.
Washington died at his home, Mount Vernon, on December 14, 1799.
Resources
- The Enslaved Household of President George WashingtonThis article is part of the Slavery in the President’s Neighborhood initiative and covers the enslaved household of President George Washington.
- George Washington: White HouseOn April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. “As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent,” he wrote James Madison, “it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles.”
- George Washington on the abolition of slavery, 1786A Spotlight on a Primary Source by George Washington.
- Mount VernonLearn more about George Washington and life during the 18th century.
Reference, Archives, & Primary Sources
- George Washington: Credo ReferenceA Credo Reference landing page on George Washington. This page includes links to reference works, journal articles, and a mind map.
- George Washington PapersThe papers of army officer and first U.S. president George Washington (1732-1799) held in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress constitute the largest collection of original Washington papers in the world. They consist of approximately 77,000 items accumulated by Washington between 1745 and 1799, including correspondence, diaries, and financial and military records.
- Papers of George WashingtonA comprehensive edition of the papers of George Washington (1732 –1799), first President of the United States, the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He presided over the convention that drafted the Constitution.
- Special Collections and Archives: Mount VernonThe Special Collections and Archives includes materials related to George and Martha Washington and family, the Mount Vernon Estate, and the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association.
George Washington: Founding Father
Portrait of the surveyor, land baron, farmer, slave owner, general, and first President. George Washington rose to prominence on the shoulders of his dynamic half-brother Lawrence.
Source: Kanopy
Perspectives
Washington
From the author of Alexander Hamilton, the New York Times bestselling biography that inspired the musical, comes a gripping portrait of the first president of the United States. Winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Biography "Truly magnificent . . . [a] well-researched, well-written and absolutely definitive biography" --Andrew Roberts, The Wall Street Journal "Until recently, I'd never believed that there could be such a thing as a truly gripping biography of George Washington . . . Well, I was wrong. I can't recommend it highly enough--as history, as epic, and, not least, as entertainment." --Hendrik Hertzberg, The New Yorker Celebrated biographer Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation and the first president of the United States. With a breadth and depth matched by no other one volume biography of George Washington, this crisply paced narrative carries the reader through his adventurous early years, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his magnificent performance as America's first president. In this groundbreaking work, based on massive research, Chernow shatters forever the stereotype of George Washington as a stolid, unemotional figure and brings to vivid life a dashing, passionate man of fiery opinions and many moods. Lin-Manuel Miranda's smash Broadway musical Hamilton has sparked new interest in the Revolutionary War and the Founding Fathers. In addition to Alexander Hamilton, the production also features George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Aaron Burr, Lafayette, and many more.
Being George Washington
#1 New York Times bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio host Glenn Beck puts his unique spin on the life and legacy of Founding Father George Washington. IF YOU THINK YOU KNOW GEORGE WASHINGTON, THINK AGAIN. This is the amazing true story of a real-life superhero who wore no cape and possessed no special powers--yet changed the world forever. It's a story about a man whose life reads as if it were torn from the pages of an action novel: Bullet holes through his clothing. Horses shot out from under him. Unimaginable hardship. Disease. Heroism. Spies and double-agents. And, of course, the unmistakable hand of Divine Providence that guided it all. Being George Washington is a whole new way to look at history. You won't simply read about the awful winter spent at Valley Forge--you'll live it right alongside Washington. You'll be on the boat with him crossing the Delaware, in the trenches with him at Yorktown, and standing next to him at the Constitutional Convention as a new republic is finally born. Through these stories you'll not only learn our real history (and how it applies to today), you'll also see how the media and others have distorted our view of it. It's ironic that the best-known fact about George Washington--that he chopped down a cherry tree--is a complete lie. It's even more ironic when you consider that a lie was thought necessary to prove he could not tell one. For all of his heroism and triumphs, Washington's single greatest accomplishment was the man he created in the process: courageous and principled, fair and just, respectful to all. But he was also something else: flawed. It's those flaws that should give us hope for today. After all, if Washington had been perfect, then there would be no way to build another one. That's why this book is not just about being George Washington in 1776, it's about the struggle to be him every single day of our lives. Understanding the way he turned himself from an uneducated farmer into the Indispensable (yet imperfect) Man, is the only way to build a new generation of George Washingtons that can take on the extraordinary challenges that America is once again facing.
George Washington: a Life in Books
When it comes to the Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton are generally considered the great minds of early America. George Washington, instead, is toasted with accolades regarding his solid common sense and strength in battle. Indeed, John Adams oncesnobbishly dismissed him as "too illiterate, unlearned, unread for his station and reputation." Yet Adams, as well as the majority of the men who knew Washington in his life, were unaware of his singular devotion to self-improvement.Based on a comprehensive amount of research at the Library of Congress, the collections at Mount Vernon, and rare book archives scattered across the country, Kevin J. Hayes corrects this misconception and reconstructs in vivid detail the active intellectual life that has gone largely unnoticed inconventional narratives of Washington. Despite being a lifelong reader, Washington felt an acute sense of embarrassment about his relative lack of formal education and cultural sophistication, and in this sparkling literary biography, Hayes illustrates just how tirelessly Washington worked toimprove. Beginning with the primers, forgotten periodicals, conduct books, and classic eighteenth-century novels such as Tom Jones that shaped Washington's early life, Hayes studies Washington's letters and journals, charting the many ways the books of his upbringing affected decisions before andduring the Revolutionary War. The final section of the book covers the voluminous reading that occurred during Washington's presidency and his retirement at Mount Vernon. Throughout, Hayes examines Washington's writing as well as his reading, from The Journal of Major George Washington through hisFarewell Address. The sheer breadth of titles under review here allow readers to glimpse Washington's views on foreign policy, economics, the law, art, slavery, marriage, and religion-and how those views shaped the young nation.Ultimately, this sharply written biography offers a fresh perspective on America's Father, uncovering the ideas that shaped his intellectual journey and, subsequently, the development of America.
The Indian World of George Washington
A biography of America's founding father and those on whose land he based the nation's futureGeorge Washington dominates the narrative of the nation's birth, yet American history has largely forgotten what he knew: that the country's fate depended less on grand rhetorical statements of independence and self-governance than on land - Indian land. While other histories have overlooked thecentral importance of Indian power during the country's formative years, Colin G. Calloway here gives Native American leaders their due, revealing the relationship between the man who rose to become the most powerful figure in his country and the Native tribes whose dominion he usurped.In this sweeping new biography, Calloway uses the prism of Washington's life to bring focus to the great Native leaders of his time - Shingas, Tanaghrisson, Bloody Fellow, Joseph Brant, Red Jacket, Little Turtle - and the tribes they represented: the Iroquois Confederacy, Lenape, Miami, Creek,Delaware; in the process, he returns them to their rightful place in the story of America's founding. The Indian World of George Washington spans decades of Native American leaders' interaction with Washington, from his early days as surveyor of Indian lands, to his military career against both theFrench and the British, to his presidency, when he dealt with Native Americans as a head of state would with a foreign power, using every means of diplomacy and persuasion to fulfill the new republic's destiny by appropriating their land. By the end of his life, Washington knew more than anyone elsein America about the frontier and its significance to the future of his country.The Indian World of George Washington offers a fresh portrait of the most revered American and the Native Americans whose story has been only partially told. Calloway's biography invites us to look again at the story of America's beginnings and see the country in a whole new light.
Washington's Immortals
In August 1776, little over a month after the Continental Congress had formally declared independence from Britain, the revolution was on the verge of a sudden and disastrous end. General George Washington found his troops outmanned and outmaneuvered at the Battle of Brooklyn, and it looked like there was no escape. But thanks to a series of desperate rear guard attacks by a single heroic regiment, famously known as the "Immortal 400," Washington was able to evacuate his men andthe nascent Continental Army lived to fight another day. Today, only a modest, rusted and scarred metal sign near a dilapidated auto garage marks the mass grave where the bodies of the "Maryland Heroes" lie--256 men "who fell in the Battle of Brooklyn." InWashington's Immortals, best-selling military historian Patrick K. O'Donnell brings to life the forgotten story of this remarkable band of brothers. Known as "gentlemen of honour, family, and fortune," they fought not just in Brooklyn, but in key battles including Trenton, Princeton, Camden, Cowpens, Guilford Courthouse, and Yorktown, where their heroism changed the course of the war. Drawing on extensive original sources, from letters to diaries to pension applications, O'Donnell pieces together the stories of these brave men--their friendships, loves, defeats, and triumphs. He explores their arms and tactics, their struggles with hostile loyalists and shortages of clothing and food, their development into an elite unit, and their dogged opponents, including British General Lord Cornwallis. And through the prism of this one group, O'Donnell tells the larger story of the Revolutionary War.Washington's Immortals is gripping and inspiring boots-on-the-ground history, sure to appeal to a wide readership.
George Washington's Doubts
Could the American experiment succeed? George Washington, one of the most iconic Founders, had strong doubts. After explaining the importance of getting a well-rounded understanding of the Founders, Professor Guelzo explores Washington's fears about post-Revolutionary America and his concerns about how people could administer their own affairs.
Source: Kanopy