Junior Cert History Blog

This content was created/compiled by Sorcha Dolan.

In Brief:

George Washington was a wealthy plantation owner from the British colony of Virginia. He fought in the French and Indian War before representing Virginia at the first Continental Congress. He was later chosen as the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army that defeated the British in the American War of Independence. He then went on to become the first American president.

Key Dates:

• 1732 – Born in Virginia.
• 1752 His brother Lawrence dies, leaving him the Mount Vernon plantation.
• 1754 – Fights in the French and Indian war.
• 1759 – Marries Martha Dandridge.
• 1774 – Represents Virginia at first Continental Congress
• 1775  – American War of Independence begins with Washington as Commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary army.
• 1781 – Leads the Americans to an important victory at the Battle of Yorktown.
• 1783  – Treaty of Paris is signed bringing the war to an end and accepting American independence.
• 1787 – Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, during which the US Constitution was written.

• 1789 – Elected first president of the United States.
• 1793  Re-elected for a second term
• 1799 George Washington dies at his Mount Vernon estate.

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George Washington

(part one)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHxKPPkpXSM&NR=1[/youtube]

(part two)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdmuh5uEVTU&feature=related[/youtube]

(part three)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNVBlIn4jso&feature=related[/youtube]

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More information:

Early life

• George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, to Augustine Washington and his second wife, Mary Ball Washington in Westmoreland County, Virginia.
• His father died in 1743, and soon after George went to live with his half brother Lawrence at Mount Vernon, He trained to be a surveyor. This is a person who marks off people’s property and makes maps.
• Lawrence died in 1752 of tuberculosis. George inherited the large Mount Vernon estate. He got married to Martha Dandridge in 1759

Leader of the continental army

• George Washington was chosen to be the leader of the American army against the British because he knew the land so well.
• The second continental congress formed the Continental Army and made George Washington a general.
• On April 19, 1775, war broke out between the colonies and Great Britain.
• Washington’s men really trusted him; they were Patriots who would never give up, as was he.
• They used guerrilla warfare against the British.
• General George Washington led the American revolutionary troops across the Delaware River in order to surprise the English and Hessian troops in the Battle of Trenton the day after Christmas in 1776.
• By October 1781, the colonists were ready to trap the Redcoats. They attacked them and won the Battle of Yorktown. This ended the major Revolutionary War fighting. The Peace Treaty of Paris was signed on Sept. 3, 1783.

Involvement in politics.

• Washington is the only American president not to have been a member of one of the nation’s two main parties.
• He was A member of the Virginia house of burgess from 1759-1774
• He was a member of Continental Congress from 1774-1775
• He was the chairman of the Constitutional Convention from 1787-1788

George as president

• He was elected president for the first time in early 1789 and again in 1792.
• Both votes were unanimous.
  

  inauguration of Washington

• John Adams was his vice-president.
• His first inauguration took place in New York City, which was the first capital of the United States.
• His second was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which was the capital from 1790 to 1800.

Later life.

• Washington decided to return to Mount Vernon when his second term as President ended in 1797.
• Washington enjoyed less than three years of retirement at Mount Vernon.
• On December 14, 1799 he woke his wife and told her he was having trouble breathing.
• Washington’s last words were, “Tis well.”

The death of George Washington

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Useful links:

• http//www.enchantedlearning.com/history/us/pres/washington/ – Very useful site containing both a timeline and a revision quiz on Washington.

• http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312848/gwashington.htm

• http://sc94.ameslab.gov/tour/gwash.html

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History@Banagher College, Coláiste na Sionna.