The Life of George Washington

Written by: Anna Pafenberg

Ask anyone to name presidents, they will name Lincoln, Roosevelt, Obama, and many others. But firstly, they will name George Washington, the first President of the United States of America. Washington was born in Popes Creek, Virginia on February 22, 1732. George grew up on vast land to a wealthy family. He had 9 brothers and sisters, four from his father’s first marriage and six from Mary Bell Washington, his stepmother. Besides being extremely rich, Washington was educated on reading, math, and other mundane and basic subjects. He was not college educated, but that wasn’t too important when he had a wealthy family. Washington’s father passed away when he was eleven, and he soon looked to his older brother Lawrence for advice, and he became somewhat of a father figure to George. 

Washington inherited slaves from his father, and would go on to be apart of the slave trade for the rest of his life, owning about 500 in his lifetime. During the French and Indian War, a war between Britain and France in order to get land in Ohio. When he came home, he worked as a farmer for his family. When he was 26, he was elected to be a part of the Virginia state legislature. Soon, he got married to Martha Custis, a widow with two children from her previous marriage. They settled together at Mount Vernon, an estate with much land that Washington inherited. Washington was firmly against British rule and was a part of the first and second continental congress. This group helped Thomas Jefferson write the declaration of independence and tell Britain they wanted America to be an independent country.

Washington is partly famous not just for being the President, but how he got that role. He was a decorated soldier during the French and Indian war which made him qualified to lead the army in the Revolutionary War. After the war was won, there was confusion on what to do with an independent set of states that were currently very divided. For example there were the Federalists that wanted a strong central government that would control all of the states. The Anti-Federalists, otherwise known as Democratic Republicans, wanted almost no central government and power to the states. Soon, there was a Constitutional Convention seeking to find a set of rules to pursue between states and federally. Washington was elected as the leader of our country in response to the Constitution. George Washington retired after two terms as President, and then passed away two years later at his home Mount Vernon.