George Washington

George Washington (February 22, 1732–December 14, 1799) was an American planter, political figure, and military leader. Born of English descent into a moderately wealthy family in the Province of Virginia, Washington worked as a surveyor before inheriting his half-brother's plantation, Mount Vernon.

French and Indian War and afterwards

At twenty-two years of age, George Washington fired some of the first shots of what would become a world war. In 1752, France began the military occupation of the Ohio Country, a region that was also claimed by Virginia. In 1753, Washington volunteered to deliver an ultimatum to the French from Robert Dinwiddie, the governor of Virginia. The French declined to leave, and Dinwiddie moved to counter the French advance.

Related Topics:
World war - 1752 - France - Ohio Country - 1753 - Robert Dinwiddie

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In 1754, Washington, now commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the First Virginia Regiment, led a mission into the Ohio Country. He ambushed a French Canadian scouting party, killing ten, including its leader, Ensign Jumonville. Washington then built Fort Necessity, which soon proved inadequate, as he was compelled to surrender to a larger French and American Indian force. The surrender terms that Washington signed included an admission that he had "assassinated" Jumonville. (The document was written in French, which Washington could not read.) The "Jumonville affair" became an international incident and helped to ignite the French and Indian War, known outside the United States as the Seven Years' War.

Related Topics:
1754 - Lieutenant colonel - French Canadian - Ensign Jumonville - Fort Necessity - Compelled to surrender - American Indian - Jumonville affair - French and Indian War - Seven Years' War

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Washington was released by the French with the promise not to return to the Ohio Country for one year. In 1755, Washington accompanied the Braddock Expedition, a major effort by the British Army to retake the Ohio Country. The expedition ended in disaster at the Battle of the Monongahela. Washington distinguished himself in the debacle—he had two horses shot out from under him, and four bullets pierced his coat— yet he sustained no injuries and showed coolness under fire in organizing the retreat. In Virginia, Washington was acclaimed as a hero, and he commanded the First Virginia Regiment for several more years, although the focus of the war had shifted elsewhere. In 1758, he accompanied the Forbes Expedition, which successfully drove the French away from Fort Duquesne.

Related Topics:
1755 - Braddock Expedition - British Army - Battle of the Monongahela - 1758 - Forbes Expedition - Fort Duquesne

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Washington's goal at the outset of his military career had been to secure a commission as a British officer—which in the British colonies was a big step-up from being a mere colonial officer. The promotion did not come, and so in 1759 Washington resigned his commission and married Martha Dandridge Custis, a wealthy widow with two children. Washington adopted the two children, but never fathered any of his own. The newlywed couple moved to Mount Vernon where he took up the life of a genteel farmer and slave owner. He became a member of the House of Burgesses.

Related Topics:
1759 - Martha Dandridge Custis - Slave - House of Burgesses

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By 1774, Washington had become one of the colonies' wealthiest men. In that year, he was chosen as a delegate from Virginia to the First Continental Congress. Although the American Revolution had not yet devolved into open warfare, tensions between the colonies and Great Britain continued to rise, and Washington attended the Second Continental Congress (1775) in military uniform—the only delegate to do so.

Related Topics:
1774 - Delegate - Continental Congress - American Revolution - 1775

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