George Washington started out as an ordinary boy who soon would become an
American hero and a man that would never be forgotten in American history. Washington grew up on a family farm in colonial Virginia, and later became a land surveyor. Eventually this ordinary boy, fought in the French and Indian War, was commander in chief during the
Revolutionary War, and became America’s first president where he served for two terms. He left a legacy of strength and leadership that has been passed down for generations (Chernow,
20). He has had an impact on Americans for centuries. However, most of that we know about
Washington is a blend of fact and myth (Marrin, 16). Children, teens, and adults grow up learning about Washington’s magnificent strength
and
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In the original story, a young George Washington received a hatchet as a gift. With this hatchet, he damaged his father’s prized cherry tree. This angered his father and he then confronted George. The story tells us that George honestly confesses to his father and says, “I cannot tell a lie, I did damage it with my Hatchet” (Marrin, 15). Washington’s father looked past the fact that his son had cut down his tree and rejoiced because he was proud of the honesty and character that George had shown at such a young age.
This myth was also conjured by the author, and one of Washington’s first biographers,
Mason Locke Weems. Weems was the same author who wrote the silver dollar myth. He wrote the story of the cherry tree after Washington’s death in 1799 because people were desperate to know about the legendary George Washington. It is ironic that the legendary story about honesty was written with no factual evidence to support it. It was written to supply the demands of the people who wanted to know about Washington’s life (mountvernon.org). This story was published in the fifth addition of Weems biography “The Life of Washington” in 1806.
Weems had many motives for writing this legend. Profit was a definite motive.
Washington was the embodiment of everything fine in the American character. He had no delusions of grandeur and was second only to Benjamin Franklin as a diplomat with the French. In caring fo...
George Washington became President in 1789 and since then has been regarded as America’s “Founding Father”(10). This grand and hero-like status is said to have “began gravitating to Washington six months before the Declaration of Independence, when one Levi Allen addressed him in a letter as ‘our political Father.’”(10). The preservation of Washington’s role as a national hero has been allowed by authors and the media omitting his many flaws as if they had either been forgotten or were no longer important. Yet by excluding these human faults, they have projected an almost god-like hero and inflicted him upon the nation as their Father, somebody whose “life still has the power to inspire anyone”(10).
George Washington’s Farewell Address, written in 1796, was a letter informing the citizen’s of the United States that he was retiring and would not seek a third term in office as President. Nine years after completion of the Constitution, 45 years of devotion to his country, and being up in years, Washington felt the time had come for him to decisively retreat to his home in Mount Vernon (Graff, 2015). Though he had desired to do so before the second term, he felt the country’s state of affairs were not yet in order. Included in his letter, he bestowed gratitude, blessings, advice and warnings for the still comparatively new country.
Before George Washington was president he was a politician and a soldier. He wanted freedom for America and all the people that lived there. George Washington's parents owned a tobacco farm
George Washington was born at his father’s plantation on Pope’s Creek, in Westmoreland County, Virginia on February 22, 1732. Washington was the eldest of his parents Augustine and Mary Ball Washington’s six children. Little is known about Washington’s childhood and eduction. His father died when he was eleven. But most of the stories that make up his legend, such as his honesty, piety, throwing a silver dollar across the Potomac River, are not documented facts. After the death of his father, Washington helped his mother run the plantation. As a young man he focused on his informal, self-education, his early military contributions, and his career as a
When George Washington, the hero of the American Revolution, died on December 14, 1799 the nation was overwhelmed with emotion and mourned not only for days, but for weeks and months over the loss of their patriarch. People all across the country began to organize ceremonies to honor their dead leader. Most Americans looked at George Washington as the symbol of their nation. Washington had become known as the as the father and protector of the young republic. When Washington died many Americans felt that in a sense that the country had just died, because he embodied everything they believed in.
Washington, George, and Donald Jackson. George Washington: A Biography in His Own Words. Ed. Ralph K. Andrist and Joan Paterson Kerr. Vol. 1-2. New York: Newsweek, 1972. Print.
George Washington showed amazing leadership skills while remaining aware that he is not greater then everyone else. When Washington was first brought the idea of presidency he declined not wanting to be viewed as a king or anything greater then the people around him. He didn't want to and didn't become president for power or anything other then to be a leader and guide the country through the good and bad. Washington was the respectable general of an army and was a strong leader through many important historical battles that changed the course of history.
George Washington deserves a tremendous amount of credit for his contributions in the War for Independence. He stepped up to the plate and fought the greatest military power in the world with an in-experienced Army and a severe shortage of food and war supplies. His encouraging personality, determination, and skillful warfare tactics helped the colonies escape the thumb of their mother country.
George Washington was the father of the United States of America. He created our country from the beginning. Not only was he a great leader, but he was also a great commander. He helped us win the Revolutionary War, which gave our country independence. We finally became free, and that’s the greatest thing in America. The fact that he motivated regular people to fight a huge army is amazing.
Something that Washington was known for is his infallible nature, at least in terms of tyrannical behavior when given the opportunity. He may truly have been the man responsible for the wonderful country we live in today, with our freedom, and cheeseburgers. With the way things are now, and how often we see corruption in politics, I'm not
Viewed as a moral figure, George Washington is an honest and pious child, one who knows when to admit he is wrong despite the consequences. Yet as Washington coaxed his friends into mounting him onto the horse, he had no idea that he would be uttering the
History.com. George Washington - History.com ARticles, Video, Pictures and Facts. n.d. http://www.history.com/topics/george-washington (accessed December 8, 2013).
To understand who George Washington was, we have to go back to his early years to witness the growing boy turned man that became America’s first President. He was the first son, and the eldest, of his father’s second marriage. Instead of Washington going abroad to school as usual, he was taught by his father and brother subjects like math to include trigonometry and surveying. When Washington was around the age of eleven, his father passed, which changed his life course. Upon his father’s passing, George eventually went to live with his brother and sister-in-law. Washington’s sister-in-law was from a very prominent family of the time, the Fairfax’s.
Washington was a key role in developing the United States after the Revolutionary War. George Washington is one of the most famous American hero’s, remembered as the 'father of his country'. He is known for being commanding general of the revolutionary army which won American independence. Also for his amazing performance as the first president of the United States. Washington's military and political career is a model of leadership that set the stage for all future military leaders and US presidents.