Download GEORGE WASHINGTON History in an Hour

GEORGE WASHINGTON
History in an Hour
David B. McCoy
About History in an Hour
History in an Hour is a series of ebooks to help the reader learn the basic facts of a given subject area.
Everything you need to know is presented in a straightforward narrative and in chronological order.
No embedded links to divert your attention, nor a daunting book of 600 pages with a 35-page
introduction. Just straight in, to the point, sixty minutes, done. Then, having absorbed the basics, you
may feel inspired to explore further.
Give yourself sixty minutes and see what you can learn …
To find out more visit
http://twitter.com/historyinanhour
http://historyinanhour.com
or
follow
us
on
Twitter:
Contents
Title Page
About History in an Hour
Introduction
Early Years in the Colony of Virginia
French and Indian War
Marriage and Gentleman Farmer
Growing Colonial Resentment
Commander-in-Chief
The Greatest Man in the World
Washington’s Short-lived Return to Mount Vernon and the Constitutional Convention
Ratification and Election
The First Term in Office
The Second Term: Relations at Home
Relations with Britain
A Farewell into Immortality
Appendix 1: Key Players
Appendix 2: Timeline of George Washington
Copyright
Got Another Hour?
About the Publisher
Introduction
George Washington has become such an institutional figure, at least in the United States, that the
source of his prominence is easily lost. Cities, streets, bridges, schools, parks, and an entire State have
all been named in his honour. His image is on the US currency, coins and postage stamps. Many
manufacturers, keen for association with his reputation of virtue, strength and honesty, put his image
on their products to boost sales. As recently as 2010, Washington was shown leading a charge in a
Dodge Challenger TV commercial. Turning him into a symbol, however, risks losing him as a man.
Born into a middle-class family, Washington became one of the richest men in the colonies. By the
age of twenty-two, his name was well known on both sides of the Atlantic. He was unanimously
elected as commander-in-chief of an army that would go on to win independence. Behind the scenes,
he orchestrated a coup d’état which resulted in the creation and implementation of the Constitution,
still used in the United States today. Subsequently, he went on to be unanimously elected as its first
president. In voluntarily resigning his office, Washington singlehandedly redefined the idea of
greatness itself. Formerly, ‘great’ leaders earned esteem by conquering an enemy and subduing its
people; during the Age of Divine Right, greatness was a reflection of the ruler’s ability to put down
threats to the throne. Washington defied these definitions when he walked away from power twice, at
the end of the Revolution and after the presidency (which he could have held for life).
When compared with fellow American leaders, Washington was not a particularly original thinker,
but his ego-less leadership proved a vital and assured presence. So who was the man George
Washington, what did he achieve, and why is he still considered one of the most influential people in
history?
This, in an hour, is the story of George Washington.
Early Years in the Colony of Virginia
George Washington was born on 22 February 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia, son of
Augustine Washington, a leading planter in the area. Augustine’s first wife died in 1729, leaving him
two sons, Lawrence and Augustine Jr, and a daughter, Jane. Augustine Sr soon married Mary Ball with
whom he had six children, the first of which was George. Mary was wealthy in her own right, and
reputedly a self-centred and formidable woman. In addition to inheriting her strong health and
disposition to endure hardship, George also seemed to have inherited her temper, which he struggled
his whole life to control.
By 1738, the family had moved to a plantation near Fredericksburg, Virginia where George spent
much of his youth. This period remains the least documented and understood part of his life. Many of
the widely accepted fables of George’s youth concern his physical strength and honesty as told by his
early (and unreliable) biographer, Mason Locke ‘Parson’ Weems.
The education of a son of a wealthy planter normally included (as it did with George’s older halfbrothers) English grammar and arithmetic. Adolescent years would have included instruction in
geometry, geography, book keeping and surveying, and would have culminated in a year or two
studying abroad in England. Unfortunately, when he reached the age of eleven, his father died and
George’s formal education ended. From what little we do know of his education, Washington excelled
in mathematics and surveying. As George grew into a young man, he found it increasingly difficult to
tolerate his domineering mother, and spent most of his time away from home studying surveying or
spending time with his step-brothers, especially Lawrence.
Becoming the ward of his eldest half-brother, George relished spending time at Lawrence’s Mount
Vernon estate. Lawrence eagerly assumed the role of mentor, aiding and encouraging George’s
studies. More importantly, Lawrence introduced his young charge to the sophisticated world of the
Virginia gentry. It was during this time that George captured the interest of the powerful Fairfax
family into which Lawrence had married.
With most of his late father’s estate being inherited by his older half-brother, George decided to
pursue surveying as his profession. It was a respectable occupation for someone of his social rank,
approximately the same status as a doctor or lawyer.
In 1748, George joined a surveying expedition into western Virginia at the invitation of Lord
Fairfax, a land-baron and his brother’s father-in-law. Impressed with his skills and work ethic, the
Fairfax family secured George an appointment as a county surveyor. By the age of seventeen, he was
operating his own surveying business. In the following years, he crossed and re-crossed the
Appalachian Mountains, mapping the far reaches of the American wilderness for weeks at a time. He
began buying up favourable lands, gradually taking his first steps toward becoming one of Virginia’s
wealthiest men. George Washington’s first profession, then, entailed the measuring, understanding
and, incrementally, the realising of the American landscape.
Washington the surveyor
The years 1752–1753 marked a turning point in his life. Lawrence contracted an aggressive strain of
tuberculosis. Hoping that the tropical climate would help his condition, he travelled to Barbados,
accompanied by George. While there, George contracted a case of smallpox, which may have left him
sterile. Lawrence’s health did not improve: he returned to Mount Vernon and died in 1752. George
was made executor and, at the age of twenty, residuary heir of one of the best estates in Virginia. With
this turn of fate, he no longer needed to survey professionally, and turned his attention instead to the
running of his various farms and execution of his new duties as an adjutant general in the Virginia
Militia.
Washington as the Virginia Colonel
Prior to entering the military, his brother Lawrence held Virginia’s single position of adjutant. After
Lawrence’s death, four military districts were created, each needing an adjutant that would be
responsible for recruiting and training troops. Seeing a chance to enhance his status in the colony, in
1753 Washington rode to Williamsburg, Virginia’s capital, and petitioned Governor Dinwiddie for an
appointment. George had no military training, except for having read two books on the art of warfare,
but stood nearly six feet three inches tall – enormous by eighteenth-century averages, and weighed
about 220 pounds. Impressed with the young man’s presence and spirit, Dinwiddie appointed him
adjutant to one of the four military districts.
French and Indian War
Virginia was, at the time, part of The Thirteen Colonies of America. These were under the extended
colonial governance of King George II of England, who reigned until his death in 1760, when his
grandson, King George III, succeeded. In this part of British North America, the colonies had their
own systems of local self-government, but the George II and George III ministries nevertheless
defended their North American territory jealously against fellow colonialists, France and Spain.
As George Washington joined with Governor Dinwiddie, relations between France and Britain
reached a critical point. For years, French trappers had roamed the area west of the Appalachian
Mountains. However, in 1753, Governor Dinwiddie learned that French troops were moving south
from Canada and constructing forts in the area south of Lake Erie. By this time, English settlers were
beginning to push across the mountains, and Dinwiddie knew that if the French built forts throughout
the Ohio Valley, it would block British expansion. His major concern was that the French would take
control of the Ohio River – the main shipping route to the Mississippi River and ultimately the world.
On orders from King George II, Dinwiddie was directed to send a military envoy to inform the
French they were trespassing on British soil and to return to Canada. The envoy he selected was
twenty-one-year-old George Washington.
Leaving in November 1753, Washington and his small party faced a brutal winter, hundreds of
miles of road-less forest, and hostile Indians. Despite these obstacles, they reached Fort LeBoeuf
(Waterford, Pennsylvania) on 11 December.
Washington was warmly greeted by the resident French commander, Le Gardeur de Saint Pierre,
and delivered the letter. Saint Pierre’s response was cool: ‘I do not think myself obliged to obey it.’
Upon Washington’s return to Williamsburg in January 1754, Dinwiddie had him write up a full report.
This was then presented to the House of Burgesses (an assembly of elected representatives from the
Virginia area), printed and sent to London, thereby establishing Washington’s international reputation.
In March 1754, Washington was sent back to the Ohio Valley to build a fort at the forks of the
Ohio River. While carrying out this mission, he ambushed a French scouting party. One of the
individuals killed was Ensign Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville, who was carrying out a
diplomatic assignment. Convinced a larger French force would descend upon them, Washington
ordered the construction of a makeshift stockade, Fort Necessity. When over 900 French and Indians
attacked, Washington was outnumbered and agreed to surrender the fort and troops, on condition that
he and his men retire with the honours of war. What Washington did not realize – because he could
not read French – was that the surrender document stated that he, personally, had assassinated de
Jumonville.
Regardless of the fact that the French and British were already on a collision course in the Ohio
Valley due to the perceived threat by British expansion towards French territories, Washington was
blamed for starting the French and Indian War. When news of Washington’s actions reached London,
the politician and writer Horace Walpole wrote, ‘The volley fired by a young Virginian in the
backwoods of America set the world on fire’.
Upon his return to Virginia, Washington learned that his regiment was to be disbanded and
replaced with independent companies commanded by captains. Accepting command of one of these
companies would mean losing his rank of colonel. Refusing such a humiliation, he resigned and
returned to Mount Vernon. However, soldiering remained foremost in his heart. He yearned for a royal
commission from London, but this now seemed out of reach. But in 1755, Major General Edward
Braddock arrived from England, with two regiments of British regulars. Braddock had orders to settle
the French and Indian issue by marching west, with overwhelming numbers to expel the French from
Ohio County. As soon as Washington heard of this he wrote to Braddock to volunteer as an aide.
Despite his best efforts to convince Braddock that the ‘Canadian’ French and Indians would not
fight according to conventional European tactics, Braddock rejected Washington’s advice and
marched straight into a devastating pour of musket fire that lead to a large loss of life. When
Braddock was fatally wounded, Washington took control by riding back and forth across the
battlefield, rallying troops, and bringing order to the chaos. Despite having two horses shot from under
him, and four bullets shot through his coat, Washington led the demoralized survivors to safety.
Impressed with the way Washington salvaged Braddock’s disastrous campaign, Governor Dinwiddie
gave him command of all Virginia forces in 1758. For three years, Washington successfully defended
Virginia against French and Indian attacks. He found the task maddening: the Virginian legislature did
not fund him properly; recruits were poor quality; and despite his numerous petitions to London for a
commission in the Royal British Army, it was never granted.
Though only twenty-six years old, Washington was the most experienced colonial military officer in
all the Americas. He had learned to organize, train, drill and discipline men; he understood British,
French and Indian battle tactics. He also knew that in war, being able to hold an army together was
perhaps more important than winning every battle.
Marriage and Gentleman Farmer
On 6 January 1759, George Washington married Martha Dandridge, the widow of Daniel Parke Custis.
Martha was the mother of two children and possessed one of the largest fortunes in Virginia. The
marriage was harmonious and one of happiness, but not one of romantic love. While not highly
educated, Martha was an intelligent, dignified hostess and experienced in managing a plantation. It is
difficult to form a more detailed picture of their relationship, because Martha burned all their letters
soon after his death. As a stepfather, Washington lavished great affection and care upon Martha’s
children. Together, they produced no children. Again, some speculate that this may have been due to
Washington’s former bout of smallpox that may have left him sterile.
Martha, John (Jack), George and Martha (Patsy)
The marriage raised Washington from a moderately wealthy planter to the top of Virginia’s planter
class. Turning his attention away from a military life, he now devoted his energies to perfecting the
elegant lifestyle of a Virginian aristocrat. With his new status, he became a member of the House of
Burgesses and for several years served as Justice of the Peace for Fairfax County. He also played a
prominent role in the social life of Tidewater (the eastern area of Virginia). He enjoyed plays, fox
hunting, dancing, and entertaining guests at Mount Vernon.
Unwilling to grant his appointed managers complete control of his farms, Washington made a
point of riding to each farm every day. He took the art of farming seriously and experimented with
new crops, fertilizers, crop rotation, tools and livestock breeding. By the 1760s, well before his fellow
planters, he concluded that tobacco was less than profitable, in part because tobacco was harsh on
regional soils, but also because English merchants insisted on paying planters a fraction of tobacco’s
true market value.
Boston Tea Party
The arrangement of buying and selling in the South was relatively simple. Wealthy planters ordered
clothing, furniture, dishes, wines, spices, and carriages from London merchants, and these merchants
purchased tobacco. But due to reduced prices paid for tobacco and the increasing cost of British goods,
Washington’s fellow planters found themselves in debt. Refusing to play this losing game, he
switched from growing tobacco as a primary cash crop to growing wheat and corn. He would further
diversify his operations by adding flour milling, commercial fishing and weaving. These products
were then sold throughout the American colonies. He still purchased London-made products, but now
bought them from colonial importers with whom he could negotiate reasonable prices. Forced into
such drastic changes only exacerbated the resentment he already felt toward the ‘Mother Country’.
Growing Colonial Resentment
Following the French and Indian War, the British Ministry, now under the rule of King George III
(who had succeeded his grandfather George II in 1760), faced a huge post-war debt. Adding to this
debt was the continued military costs of housing troops in North America. Armed forces were needed
to make sure the French did not try to regain lost territory, and to protect settlers from Native
American attacks.
Parliament, believing that colonists had profited most from the various Crown expenditures, felt
that they should help pay their fair share of the debt. To implement this, it was decided that the
colonists should be subject to taxes passed by Parliament in London. Colonists quickly responded by
declaring that since they had no elected representatives in Parliament, the taxes were a violation of
British law dating back to the Magna Carta of 1215.
Parliament ignored this, and in 1765 passed the Stamp Act which required every newspaper,
pamphlet and legal document to carry a stamp or British seal. The stamp, of course, cost money.
Washington was upset by this; saw it as ill-judged and unconstitutional, and harmful to lawyers, ship
owners and publishers. In response, he deemed the economic pressures of refusal to buy the stamps to
be more effective than petitions and protests.
Parliament passed the Townshend Acts in 1767, demanding taxes on paint, glass, paper, and tea.
Washington didn’t attend the 1768 session of the Virginia House of Burgesses where the duties were
debated, and it was not until 1769 that he took a public position against British policies. When he did
so, his convictions were met with overwhelming support. While speaking to House members on 18
May, he proposed that Virginians join other Americans in boycotting taxed products. With that
speech, everything changed for Washington, he now became the acknowledged leader of Virginia’s
resistance movement. Yet in Washington’s mind, a severance with England at this point was not
inevitable.
The Colonies-wide boycott had the desired effect. In 1770, the Townshend duties were repealed,
and an element of peace returned. 1773 however saw the passage of the Tea Act. This act was passed
in reaction to the fact the East India Company, one of Britain’s most powerful companies, was in dire
financial straits. To help support this key business, Parliament granted the East India Company a
monopoly in exporting tea to the American colonies. What was particularly galling about the Tea Act,
was that it allowed the Company to hand-pick which colonial merchants could handle its products –
putting tea middlemen out of work. The price of tea dropped, but the consequent unemployment and
suppression of the market became a symbol of colonial opposition.
In December 1773 a group disguised as Indians and calling themselves The Sons of Liberty
boarded three ships loaded with tea docked in Boston and dumped hundreds of crates of tea overboard,
in an act of defiance that became known as the Boston Tea Party. By this time, King George III and
Parliament’s patience had fully dwindled. Swiftly, a series of laws were passed as part of an intense
crackdown. The Coercive Acts, or ‘Intolerable Acts’ to the colonists, demanded payment for the
destroyed tea, imposed martial law, and closed the port of Boston. This left Boston isolated,
surrounded by water and with only one road to the mainland.
On the day the port was to be closed, Washington and the House members called for a congress of
delegates from all the colonies to discuss the matters concerning the united interests of British North
America. On 18 July 1774, at a gathering in Alexandria, Virginia, Washington chaired the body that
adopted the Fairfax Resolution which called for a comprehensive boycott of British imports. It was
also at this meeting that he stated, ‘I will raise one thousand men, subsist them at my own expense,
and march myself at their head for the relief of Boston.’ Unsurprisingly, Washington was then elected
as one of Virginia’s seven delegates to the First Continental Congress.
After two months, the Congress demanded that Parliament agree to a full repeal all of the
Intolerable Acts. They also resolved that, henceforth, only colonies had the right to tax and govern;
that colonies should form and begin training militias; and in solidarity with Virginia, they called for a
colonies-wide boycott of all British goods. The members also agreed to convene again in May 1775 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, if its demands were not met. Significantly, this Congress of the colonies
proved that they could deliberate and act collectively, and became the de facto government in
America.
Having enjoyed life on his Mount Vernon plantation for seventeen years, Washington was now
dispirited, remaining unconvinced by the idea of independence. Upon his return to Virginia,
Washington found that his Fairfax County neighbours had already formed a militia and elected him as
their commander. By that winter, five Virginia counties had organized militias, also selecting
Washington as their senior officer. In the interim between the First and Second Continental
Congresses, Washington split his time between drilling militia companies, and the renovation and
expansion of Mount Vernon.
Washington taking command of the Continental army
What hope Washington had for reconciliation with Parliament and King George III was shattered
when British regulars used force in their attempt to confiscate a Massachusetts militia’s stash of
weapons and gunpowder at Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775 – just weeks before the planned
gathering of the Second Continental Congress.
Consequently, when the Second Continental Congress convened, delegates found themselves in a
delicate position. The citizens of the American colonies were divided: one third, Patriots, favoured
independence from the increasing aggression of King George; another third, Loyalists, were still loyal
to Britain and the King; the remaining third had no agenda. After much debate, Congress agreed to a
compromise. To please Loyalists, a petition was sent to King George III declaring American loyalty
and making an appeal to settle disputes peacefully. To please Patriots, authority was granted for the
creation of a Continental army whereby all colonial militias would be under the control of Congress.
In the appointment of a commander-in-chief of the new army, George Washington was the logical
choice. He was one of the few men in the colonies that had any military experience; his appointment
would assure the allegiance of the most populous and wealthiest colony to the cause; and as a sign of
his suitability for the post, he was the only delegate to attend both Congresses in full military dress.
Commander-in-Chief
With all his military knowledge, Washington must have understood that he had no chance of defeating
the British in traditional open battle. King George’s Royal British Army was the best-trained, bestequipped military force in the Western Hemisphere. The Royal Navy could not only deliver an army
and supplies to any shore, it could establish a near-impenetrable naval blockade. Washington, when he
arrived at Cambridge, Massachusetts on 3 July 1775, took command of a large gang of 14,000 poorly
disciplined and short-term enlistments. He also discovered that there was not enough gunpowder to
put up even the feeblest resistance to an attack. Luckily, the British had no intentions of mounting
another assault against the Massachusetts militia. They had lost almost 300 men on 19 April at
Lexington and Concord, and another 1,000 at their ‘victory’ on 17 June at the Battle of Bunker Hill,
across the harbour from Boston.
With the British in control of Boston and its harbour, and the colonials having tenuous control of
the land surrounding Boston, Washington implemented a three-stage plan. First, he went about the
arduous task of turning the New England colonial militias into the Continental army. Second, he
ordered the Continental army’s first major assault – on the British Province of Quebec – which ended
in heavy defeat at the cost of very few enemy casualties. Finally, he sent Henry Knox to the recently
captured Fort Ticonderoga at the southern end of Lake Champlain in New York for cannons and
ammunition.
In March 1776, Washington placed the Ticonderoga artillery on the Dorchester Heights,
overlooking Boston. The stunned British commander, Sir William Howe, ordered a full British
evacuation. While the British sailed to Nova Scotia to regroup, Washington moved his army south to
New York City.
On July 4, 1776 the Declaration of Independence, a statement which announced that the thirteen
American colonies regarded themselves as independent States, and no longer a part of the British
Empire, was adopted by the Continental Congress. A few days later, the British landed a huge force of
32,000 Redcoats in New York City – vastly outnumbering the Continental’s 19,000. Washington’s
inexperience in large-scale warfare told as he left his flank open on Long Island, allowing the British
to easily surround his force and inflict heavy casualties. Much of the killing was carried out by
German Hessian mercenaries, hired by the Crown to increase their numbers. Washington’s army
would have been completely destroyed had Sir William Howe not halted his attack to await
Washington’s surrender, which was the time-honoured tradition in European warfare. Capitalizing on
this opportunity to save his army, Washington led an amphibious retreat across the East River.
Washington’s troubled attempt at holding New York City continued with a rout, retreat and escape
of his forces a few weeks later at Manhattan, then a defeat at White Plains, and finally the surrender of
2,800 men on 16 November 1776 at Fort Washington. Suffering one defeat after another, he was left
with only one choice – to completely leave the State of New York, cross into New Jersey, and continue
to Pennsylvania. With these humiliations, and the fact that enlistments of most of Washington’s army
were due to expire at the end of December, the British had good reason to believe this revolution
would be over in a few months. Convinced of this, Sir William Howe went into winter quarters,
confidently leaving advanced garrisons at Trenton and Princeton. This allowed Washington to execute
one of the most daring military operations in American history.
On 18 December 1776, Washington wrote to John Augustine Washington, ‘I think the game is
pretty near up’. He had lost New York and now the British had New Jersey under their control.
Trenton, New Jersey, less than thirty miles from Philadelphia and the capital, was the foremost British
post and held by hired German Hessians. No longer content with consulting his aides or with
Congress, Washington decided to adopt the type of hit-and-run tactics he had seen the ‘Canadian’
French and Indians use during the previous war.
On Christmas Day, Hessian commanders scoffed at ridiculous reports of an approaching column of
American troops. But while the Hessians enjoyed themselves, Washington marched 2,400 men north
along the Delaware River, and under darkness, crossed the river in large cargo boats. Once across, they
marched nine miles to Trenton, and on 26 December, caught the Hessians by surprise. Shocked and
prevented from getting into formation, 900 Hessians quickly surrendered.
Once back across the Delaware, Washington made clear to his officers the reality of their victory:
it was one day of glory but little more. The British were still in control of New Jersey and a threat to
Philadelphia. He told them that they must quickly strike again. So traversing back across the Delaware
River they camped behind the Assunpink Creek west of Trenton. By nightfall, a large British force,
under the command of Lord Charles Cornwallis, arrived to retake the town. When they tried to cross
the Assunpink Creek, they were repulsed by Continental cannons and halted to stake tents for the
night.
From across the river, the British watched the American army’s campfires burn throughout the
night. The next morning they discovered that Washington had, in fact, left a few men to tend the fires
while his army continued on. His next objective was the British garrison at Princeton where three
regiments were stationed.
Arriving in full daylight on 3 January 1777, Washington’s advance guard ran into two of the
regiments that were on their way to support Cornwallis at Trenton. Panic ensued when the advanced
guard retreated and ran into the main force of their American comrades. The professional British
soldiers coolly formed ranks and prepared fire. Washington, on a tall white horse, galloped up, took
control, and personally led the charge. When the two forces came within thirty yards of one another,
with Washington still between the lines, both fired. One of Washington’s aides covered his face to
keep from seeing his commander killed. In the exchange of volley, heavy killing and bloodshed, the
British line was broken and, with great fortune, Washington remained untouched.
The third British regiment, still in Princeton, surrendered without resistance on hearing the
astonishing news of the defeat of their companion regiments. Then Washington’s youthful
recklessness resurfaced with a yearning to attack Brunswick, the main British base in New Jersey.
This time, though, his aides prevailed, and Washington moved his exhausted troops to Morristown,
New Jersey to sit out the winter. The British, unwilling to see any more outposts taken, withdrew north
to within a few miles of New York City.
The military damage inflicted on the British by Washington’s two victories was minor, but the
psychological impact on both sides was huge. For the British, these victories forced Howe to rethink
his strategies of holding down large areas of ground with a network of posts against an army as mobile
and unconventional as Washington’s. For the Americans, they were a boost for morale and gave them
renewed hope. They convinced Washington to broaden his hit-and-run tactics to a war of attrition. As
he had learned from the French and Indian War, one does not need to win all the battles to win the
war.
Howe began his 1777 campaign by moving back into New Jersey. He hoped to lure Washington out
of his Morristown encampment onto a nearby plain for one decisive battle. Howe also believed that
the New Jersey citizens, still loyal to the Crown, would rally to his support. Howe was wrong on both
counts. Washington refused to leave the safety of the Morristown Heights and the citizens grabbed
their weapons and harassed the British flanks. Howe consequently returned to New York City and
began preparing a naval transport of his army to Philadelphia: surely Washington would not allow the
Continental Capital to fall without a fight.
However, Howe was unaware that in March 1777 Washington had informed Congress that he had
no intentions of defending Philadelphia if Howe made it his target. Washington’s objective was now
to preserve his army, not to occupy or protect ground.
At the end of July 1777, over two hundred British ships sailed from New York Harbour, and by
mid-August, the British entered the Chesapeake Bay on their way to Philadelphia. Washington made a
stand against the British behind a seemingly strong position at Brandywine River, but due to poor
intelligence about the region’s geography the British easily swept behind American defences. As at
Long Island, Washington succeeded in leading his army to safety, but suffered the ignominy of
looking incompetent, especially in comparison with General Horatio Gates’ resounding victory over
General John Burgoyne’s army at Saratoga, New York. It was during this time that Gates started
rivalling Washington to displace him as commander-in-chief. Gates’ success at Saratoga, combined
with Washington’s inability to hold New York, the loss of Philadelphia, and then Brandywine, gave
him real grounds for his appeal but the attempt was ultimately and controversially unsuccessful,
ending with his own discrediting.
Gates’ victory marked the turning point of the war. Now Louis XVI of France officially recognized
America’s struggle for independence and began supplying money, weapons, troops and warships. The
capture of the rebel capital accomplished little in advancing the British cause, except in allowing
Howe and his army to live in great comfort. Largely made up of Loyalists, the citizens of Philadelphia
vied with each other to stage fashionable balls. At any time Howe could have marched his troops to
Washington’s winter camp at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and crushed his army – near-naked and
starving by comparison. Failing in this respect to wage a continuous, all-weather war, and pursue his
enemy, Howe was replaced by General Sir Henry Clinton in 1778.
When Clinton arrived to take command, Washington, in an exchange of prisoners, was reunited
with his once second-in-command, General Charles Lee. Years earlier, having served with distinction
in the British army as a brilliant tactician, Lee had emigrated from England after insulting King
George III in person. In 1775, when Washington took command of the newly created Continental
army, he had made Lee his second-in-command. En route from New York to their camp near Trenton,
Lee had allowed himself to be captured by the British.
The British marched out of Philadelphia on their way back to New York in early June 1778, and
Washington caught up with them at Monmouth Courthouse, New Jersey. Lee was assigned to make the
first assault, but believing he was outnumbered by superior British troops, instead ordered a retreat.
Washington, perturbed by the lack of cannon and gunfire from the first assault, rode to the front where
he found Lee comfortably chatting with his staff. Before Lee could explain his actions, Washington
lashed out, according to one account, ‘Till the leaves shook … never have I enjoyed such swearing
before or since’. (There is good reason to believe that Lee’s actions were an act of treason in order to
regain acceptance in the British Army.) Having dismissed Lee, Washington stopped the retreat,
brought order out of chaos, and led them to success.
With the main British army confined to New York City and New Jersey to the north, Sir Henry
Clinton decided to re-strategise, moving the fighting to the Southern States. His campaign began with
a successful attack on Savannah, Georgia, and within a month his army controlled the State. From
there he planned to move north and conquer each State consecutively. Clinton would not remain in the
South to command, returning instead to New York City, leaving this phase of the war to Lord Charles
Cornwallis.
In late 1780, Washington sent General Nathaniel Greene south with orders to slow and harass the
British advance, but to never face Cornwallis in a major battle. From 1780 to 1781, Greene fought six
small battles, losing five. His method was simple: ‘We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again.’ Despite
the losses, Greene’s strategy worked wonderfully, and by April 1781, Cornwallis moved his tired and
frustrated army to Yorktown, Virginia, a sleepy tobacco port on the Chesapeake Bay to rest.
In response to this news, Washington and the French troops moved south and surrounded the town. In
August, twenty-nine French warships arrived and sealed off the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. Their
arrival cut Cornwallis off from the British navy and any hope of rescue by sea. After days of an
unremitting cannonade, Cornwallis had no choice but to surrender on 19 October 1781. The Battle of
Yorktown would be the last major battle of the American Revolution.
The Greatest Man in the World
Despite winning the most important engagement in American history, Washington refused to believe
the war was over. The British had lost only a quarter of its army and still held New York City,
Charleston, North Carolina, Savannah, and Georgia, and when the French fleet left for the Indies, the
British would once again control the Atlantic Ocean.
Washington also refused to believe reports from Europe that the British recognized that they had
lost their American Empire. He was convinced that King George III would ‘push the war as long as the
nation would find men and money’. Washington therefore insisted on maintaining his army in a state
of readiness until a treaty acknowledging American independence was signed.
Washington at the Constitutional Convention
This insistence on maintaining the Continental army at full strength was not well received by the
public or Congress. History had shown that experiments with Republicanism ended in military
dictatorships. Was Washington positioning himself to become the next Julius Caesar or Oliver
Cromwell? Washington’s aide, Alexander Hamilton, did little to help matters when he voiced the
opinion that the new nation would be in better hands if Washington, with force of arms, ordered the
Continental Congress to disperse.
Matters came to a head in May 1782 when one of Washington’s young officers put into writing
what many officers believed, that anarchy would befall post-war America unless Washington declared
himself king. Washington’s response was quick and stern:
No occurrence in the course of the War has given me more painful sensations than your
information of there being such ideas existing in the Army ... If you have any regard for your
country, concern for yourself or posterity, or respect for me, you must banish these thoughts
from your mind.
When King George learned of this, he said if Washington could resist becoming the monarch of the
Americans, he would be ‘the greatest man in the world’. True to his word, that is exactly what he did.
Washington resigned his commission on 22 December 1783, following the signing of the Paris Peace
Treaty, which recognized America as a free and independent nation.
Washington’s Short-lived Return to Mount Vernon and
the Constitutional Convention
Washington retired to Mount Vernon after the Revolution, where as his step-grandson claims, he
enjoyed the happiest period of his life. With great enthusiasm he again rode between and supervised
his five farms, there resuming his agricultural experiments. He rekindled an interest in building a
trans-Appalachian canal system linking the Potomac River with the Allegheny River system. Such a
network would aid both the young nation and Washington. It would help discourage those Americans
living west of the Appalachian Mountains from rejoining the British. (While the Treaty of Paris
recognized the Mississippi River as the new boundary for the United States, the British still occupied
much of the land, as well as Canada.) Second, it would give farmers in the western lands access to
reliable markets for their agricultural goods, instead of having to ship them down the Ohio River to
the Mississippi River, then south to New Orleans where there was no guarantee of a sale. While
brokering the deal, by way of some (still dubious) back-room dealings, Washington came to own over
6,000 hand-picked acres, through which a canal granting easy access would generate him a fortune.
One of many obstacles involved with such a project derived from the political atmosphere created
under the Articles of Confederation. This was a Constitution hastily written to loosely bind the States
together during their struggle against Britain. Each State retained many semi-sovereign powers,
including powers to charge for the use of its waterways and impose inter-State taxes. Even if goods
could be shipped via a trans-Appalachian canal system, fees and taxes would far exceed profitability.
In March 1787, representatives from Virginia and Maryland gathered together to coordinate their
common commercial interests on the Potomac River. They met first in Alexandria, Virginia, but soon
moved to Washington’s Mount Vernon. Under the pretence of revising the Articles of Confederation,
it was here that Washington laid the groundwork for unification of all the States (or, in fact, to replace
them). In letter after letter he made his views known that the Articles were ‘fatally flawed [and that]
something must be done, or the fabric must fall, for it certainly is tottering.’
Mount Vernon
Washington saw the primary goal of the Revolution as a means to create a single, unified nation. To
his dismay, this was not the view embraced by State leaders who, once independence was achieved,
wrote constitutions so local in nature that each State’s ideas took precedence over anything national. If
Congress needed money, it could only ask States to pay its fair share, Congress could pass laws only if
every State gave its consent – but even then Congress could not enforce them. Because no national
judiciary existed, disputes between States often verged on conflict. And because Congress was so far
in debt, it could not raise an army to maintain order or deal with national crises.
As Washington had predicted, the ‘tottering’ began to resemble a ‘fall’ when disgruntled citizens
in Massachusetts staged what is now known as Shays’ Rebellion. Judges had ordered farmers there to
sell their land and livestock to pay off their debts and taxes. To prevent the confiscation of land and
property, Daniel Shays and his followers forcibly closed down the courthouses to keep judges from
issuing orders. Then they marched on the national arsenal to seize weapons. The Massachusetts militia
restored order, but the rebellion was the crisis that turned public opinion in favour of reform. As
Washington had hoped, a gathering of the States ‘for the sole and express purpose of revising the
Articles of Confederation’ was called for.
At first Washington had no interest in attending the 1787 Philadelphia convention, instead placing
faith in Alexander Hamilton and James Madison to secure a strong central government. However,
when it became clear that unless he attended, a quorum of States would not be reached, he pledged to
play his now indispensable role; his standing was such that he was thus elected the convention’s
president. Once debate began, it also became clear to others that the Articles were beyond repair and
had to be replaced, or in other words, a coup d’état. Washington’s presence, though, gave the
gathering an air of calm and legitimacy and put such concerns to rest.
For four months Washington presided over debates that lasted five to six hours a day. As had been
his practice in legislative functions, he said little, except to enforce strict parliamentary procedures.
Washington did not simply play the role of elder statesmen at the convention, he was always present
at evening gatherings where he brought diverse points of view into dialogue and strove to find
common ground beneath disagreement.
Under his stewardship, the new Constitution created a federal government, by which powers are
divided between national government and the governments of individual States. At the national level,
there was a legislative body (Congress) to make laws affecting the entire nation; an executive branch
(president) to enforce laws; and a judicial branch (the courts) to determine the constitutionality of
laws and settle disputes. Powers reserved to the national government included: printing money,
establishing an army and navy, declaring war, making treaties with foreign governments, establishing
post offices, and the making of laws necessary to enforce the Constitution. Powers reserved for States
included: establishing of local governments, running of elections, and provision for public health,
safety and welfare. Both divisions shared the powers of collecting taxes, making and enforcing laws,
chartering banks and corporations, building highways, and the taking of private property with just
compensation.
Ratification and Election
After the Constitution was signed and approved by delegates of the Constitutional Convention of
1787, it had to be ratified by the States. And while the new Constitution was written in the spirit of the
Declaration of Independence, ‘That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government’, its
acceptance was hardly a foregone conclusion. Washington, in a letter to his friend Henry Knox, wrote:
The Constitution is now before the judgment-seat. It has, as was expected, its adversaries and
supporters … the former more than probably will be most active, as the major part of them will
… be governed by sinister and self-important motives.
In addition to State-ratifying conventions, debates took the form of a public conversation in taverns,
streets, and particularly in newspaper editorials and pamphlets. Those objecting to the Constitution
became known as Anti-Federalists, with those supporting it known as Federalists. Washington took no
active part in the debate but did arrange, at his own expense, to have the Federalist Papers reprinted in
Richmond. One central issue for Anti-Federalists was whether it would be possible to unite the
thirteen individual States into one huge nation in such a way that they could not, in time, be
eliminated. Federalists responded with assurances that while new government would strengthen the
national government, each State was guaranteed certain powers and responsibilities. For nearly ten
months writers from both sides tried to persuade the public that their recently won liberty and selfgovernment were potentially endangered by the other. By mid-1788, a required nine States had ratified
the Constitution, thus making it the supreme law of the land. The Federalists had prevailed.
Washington taking the oath of office
In February 1789, members of the Electoral College met in their respective States to vote for their
national president and dispatch their results to Congress for the official count in March 1789. In the
event, the official count was postponed until April due to bad weather and the poor road conditions
throughout the country. Fortunately for Washington, this was an election in which he never had to
deliver a stump speech – public speaking was not his strength, and when in front of a large audience,
he tended to speak slowly with his voice being weak and barely audible. Washington was unanimously
elected to be the first President of the United States – having demonstrated his statesmanship as
president of the Constitutional Convention, his integrity, republican virtue, and calm amid chaos.