George Washington and his Hopes for and Effect on America Jakob A. Grimm St. Petersburg College Prof. Zombek AMH 2010 18th April, 2015 George Washington and his Hopes for and Effect on America American history began as a result of the actions and decisions of the leaders in the colonies who represented the constituents and their beliefs. These leaders fought vigorously for the right to do what they thought best for their country. This powerful belief led them into a clouded battle field that they came out of victorious. Many of these leaders were commanders, diplomats, rich upperclassmen, but they were also the embodiment of the people and what they desired. One of these men in specific, guided the Americans to-be through the …show more content…
Cavitch takes on the point that the original President had been spread too thin, and Cassel and others discuss the major influence he had on the nation along with his political partners and cabinet. U.S. Citizens should still listen to some of Washington’s words. For example, Washington has in his Farewell Address the statement, “The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you.” (151). American citizens have to do their part in how their government works and participate when it comes time. The study of Washington’s tactics and influence should continue to be researched to see the effect of his efforts and what he would’ve seen as the ideal society for us …show more content…
He shaped the U.S. and had an enormous effect on the world. Many of the achievements of Washington, whether they were in the office as president or on the battlefield as commander, left major ripples in the pond of history. These deeds affected the life of Americans throughout the years and helped to shape the U.S. today. After enduring most of the war Washington knew a final push would crush British support for the war. Soon the French decided to fight alongside the Americans. Cassel (1994) points out that it was, “Franklin that brought a French force of 7,800 regular soldiers, splendidly uniformed in white broadcloth alongside of an ill-clad American contingent of roughly equal size under Washington at Yorktown.” (n.p.). Washington, in collaboration with the French navy, defeated Cornwallis at Yorktown and the British support for the war. Also, he led his troops through a disastrous blizzard to fight a battle on Christmas, where they conquered the Hessian troops in Trenton. He led his men with brilliant control and raw
In the book Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis, the author relates the stories of six crucial historic events that manage to capture the flavor and fervor of the revolutionary generation and its great leaders. While each chapter or story can be read separately and completely understood, they do relate to a broader common theme. One of Ellis' main purposes in writing the book was to illustrate the early stages and tribulations of the American government and its system through his use of well blended stories. The idea that a republican government of this nature was completely unprecedented is emphasized through out the book. Ellis discusses the unique problems that the revolutionary generation experienced as a result of governing under the new concept of a democracy. These problems included- the interpretation of constitutional powers, the regulation of governmental power through checks and balances, the first presidential elections, the surprising emergence of political parties, states rights vs. federal authority, and the issue of slavery in a otherwise free society. Ellis dives even deeper into the subject by exposing the readers to true insight of the major players of the founding generation. The book attempts to capture the ideals of the early revolutionary generation leaders and their conflicting political viewpoints. The personalities of Hamilton, Burr, Adams, Washington, Madison, and Jefferson are presented in great detail. Ellis exposes the reality of the internal and partisan conflict endured by each of these figures in relation to each other. Ellis emphasizes that despite these difficult hurdles, the young American nation survived its early stages because of its great collection of charismatic leaders and their ability to ...
Washington's selection to be the leader of the Continental Army was the wisest choice that the newly formed Continental Congress could have made. Washington's selection as Commander of the Continental Army did more to win the Revolutionary war than any other decision made during the conflict. His personal character epitomizes perfectly the five traits required in a successful general: wisdom, sincerity, humanity, courage, and strictness. (Sun Tzu p. 65) These five crucial traits will become apparent and Washington's strategy to win the War of Independence is elaborated on further
America was born and survived, its rough road into a nation, through a series of events, or moments in history. The founding brother’s book is about a few important figures during and after the American Revolution. These important figures consisted of Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, John Adams, George Washington, James Madison, and Thomas Jefferson. Each of these men, contributed to the building of America in one way or another. The book breaks these contributions into a few short stories, to help understand what these important figures did.
The Americans started out as a bunch of uncivilized colonies, but after the revolutionary war, they become a strong country that beat Britain for freedom. On Christmas night General George Washington makes a bold decision to cross the Delaware and ambushed the Hessians. Although risky, Washington brought new life to his rag tag army. General Burgoyne decides that in order to win this war, he needs to cut off New England from the rest of the colonies. Burgoyne’s plan sounded like a good idea to the British, but this action could be argued to be the reason why Britain did not win this war. Nearing the end of the war, the British were scarce on man and supplies. Washington took his army and his French allies to Yorktown and finished the British off ending the war. The most pivotal battles in determining the outcome of the American Revolution were battle of Trenton, Battle of Saratoga, and battle of Yorktown.
The plans for Yorktown actually started up in May of 1781 when General Washington joined up with French General Rochambeau. The American forces at this time were stationed in the area of New York City closely watching British General Clinton’s forces. Washington knew that General Cornwallis who had been dominating in the south would soon be moving northward to rendezvous with Clinton’s and General Nathaniel Green’s forces. He also knew that if this happened it would be near impossible of defeating the British. As Cornwallis continued his northern track he ran into trouble at the Battle of Cowpens. In fact he lost much of his light infantry and cavalry in the Carolinas. He did score a victory at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, but this would prove to not help him much as he took severe losses and consumed a lot of time.
The overall effect of the battle of Trenton was out of all proportion to the numbers involved and the casualties. General Washington and his troop’s efforts at Trenton spread across the colonies and the psychological governance achieved by the British in the previous year was no turning. Congress and the American people were stunned that such a strong German contingent could be surprised in such a manner with such little resistance.
There have been many great presidents and each president carries on the work of the past presidents. George Washington, being the first president of the United states, started it all. There are presidents that have made huge difference in slavery, rights, laws and plenty of other significant changes but none of this would have happened without George Washington. Washington lead by example and defined what the rule of a true leader and president is.
Being a strong figure that many looked upon, Washington's intent for his policy of isolation and neutrality was to serve as a prescription for future years. By using VALID reasoning combined with hope for his nation, Washington denounced the idea of favorites and enemies in order to for our nation to be "a free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great nation to give mankind the maganimous and too novel example of a people always guided by exhalted justice and benevolence..." His speech was also addressed at the end of term, in order to serve as a basis for the future of our country to follow. Despite this GRATUITUS attempt, his address did not succeed in being the precedent it was designed to.
The junction in Virginia had to be coordinated by two different national commands separated across an ocean without benefit of telephone, telegraph or wireless. That this was carried out without a fault seems accountable only by a series of miracles." A “miracle” is defined as “a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency,” but the story of Yorktown is not really a miracle, it really is in large part the story of four generals; Washington and Rochambeau on the allies side and Clinton and Cornwallis on the British side. The generals’ traits and how they worked together helped shape the battle. Washington and Rochambeau were opposites in many ways. Washington was self-taught in military tactics but his sheer determination had carried the American army through six years without a decisive victory. Rochambeau was a battle-scarred veteran of many European conflicts, in other words a professional soldier. One of the keys to the two generals’ success at Yorktown is likely this combination of traits and the fact that they worked well together. On the other hand, Clinton and Cornwallis actually disliked and distrusted each other. Cornwallis was arrogant and ambitious. He had weakened his own army by trying to take South and North Carolina but was outsmarted by the local commanders there, losing many men and supplies. His arrogance caused him to retreat to Yorktown where he waited for rescue by Clinton. Clinton too mismanaged the campaign. He was cowardly and believed that he had to remain in New York rather than attempt to rescue
Washington’s feelings in regard to national unity encompass a majority of the points in his address. To Washington, the creation of political parties would serve only as a means of breaking the American people away from one another. He feared people would become so consumed in gaining political dominance for their political party that parties would forget or overlook the fact that all of them were still Americans and should be united by this. Washington’s foresight in this matter is an utterly precise prediction of the current political climates in America. The American political arena today appears to be a completely binary system divided between Democrats and Republicans and that views differing from the two are largely ignored. Washington was even able to predict the forming of modern parties “with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations”; this insight seems to hint at his realization at the inevitable split between the North and the South over the issue of slavery. (p. 6) Modern Republicans and Democrats seem much more interested in proving the other party corrupt or inept so that the American...
The two authors of the book spoke of the many accomplishments of George Washington. They conversed about how he defended that the one of the most important jobs for the president was managing the executive branch. And when Washington left office, the president became known as the “undisputed master” of the executive branch. George Washington was a man that defined an era of history, he was a man who did everything to benefit the United States for the future of his country. He wanted America to be the land of freedom that everyone could enjoy. George Washington will be remembered as not only our first president but he will always be remembered as one of our greatest
it is the generous agreement among students of history that Washington's residency in office set the country on a way that has persevered through now in excess of 200 years, longer than some other republic ever. He made points of reference that would keep going for eras and accomplished more to substance out the skeleton of the presidential office than anybody could have expected or anticipated. As one researcher has said, he "created custom as he came." His activities, more than those of some other Founding Father, turned into an a piece of the "unwritten Constitution."
The founding of the United States went through a tough time to unite a whole nation. The U.S., at many times, was almost doomed to failure. Many decisions and beneficial people kept what is known as America today alive. Some of the most unexpected people to help shape the U.S. was Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. Not like any of the other feuds between politicians at that time that ended in choice words, Burr and Hamilton ended in death. Many crucial moments occurred during the early years of America and most of the time America was simply a dream that most felt would never be accomplished. Without the influence of the men who shaped the nation, this sort of "experiment" would have failed.
When one explains his or her ingenious yet, enterprising interpretation, one views the nature of history from a single standpoint: motivation. In The American Revolution: A History, Gordon Wood, the author, explains the complexities and motivations of the people who partook in the American Revolution, and he shows the significance of numerous themes, that emerge during the American Revolution, such as democracy, discontent, tyranny, and independence. Wood’s interpretation, throughout his literary work, shows that the true nature of the American Revolution leads to the development of United State’s current government: a federal republic. Wood, the author, views the treatment of the American Revolution in the early twentieth century as scholastic yet, innovative and views the American Revolution’s true nature as
He didn’t permit a defeat to stop him. With persistence and dedication, George Washington worked hard and was named chief of the continental army on December 23, 1783. Bravery and heroism and battle gained him respect always being in front lines of battle. Despite his army starving, cold, barefoot and outnumbered Washington managed to keep his soldiers standing during the American revolution.