![]() ![]() SETTING TRADITIONSĪs the nation’s first president, Washington set the example for other presidents. John Adams received the second most votes and became vice president. Washington won the vote, making him the first-ever president of the United States. The Constitution still serves as the foundation for the United States government today.īased on the Constitution’s directions, states chose representatives to elect a president. This document created a strong federal government: two chambers of legislators (also called lawmakers), a federal court system, and a president. There, the delegates wrote the Constitution of the United States. In 1787 state representatives gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the Constitutional Convention to fix these problems. The individual states were not supporting each other as one country, and the new nation seemed to be in trouble. For example, each state printed its own money. PATH TO PRESIDENCYĪfter the end of the war, the former colonies operated under the Articles of Confederation, a document that placed most power with the states. After the war, Washington retired from the army and returned to private life. Washington was now a hero, seen as an important person who helped the colonies finally gain independence from Great Britain. The British finally surrendered in 1781 at Yorktown, Virginia. An army was formed to oppose the British, and Washington was selected to lead it.įor five years, Washington served as the head of the army as the Revolutionary War against the British raged. The Second Congress helped future third president, Thomas Jefferson, write the Declaration of Independence in July 1776, proclaiming that the 13 colonies were now independent states, no longer under British rule. In 17, he was one of Virginia’s representatives at the First and Second Continental Congresses, a group of representatives from the 13 colonies that would eventually become the United States. REVOLUTIONARY WAR HEROĪs a government official, Washington spoke out against unfair laws, such as high taxes, during Great Britain’s rule. They settled at Mount Vernon, a family home Washington had inherited. Soon after, he married Martha Dandridge Custis, a wealthy widow with two young children. Virginians elected Washington to their colonial legislature, or government, when he was 26. After the war, Washington returned to Virginia to work as a farmer. Stories about his virtues-such as his confession of chopping down his father’s cherry tree-were actually invented by an admiring writer soon after Washington’s death.ĭuring his 20s, he fought as a soldier in the French and Indian War, Great Britain’s fight with France over the Ohio River Valley territory. ![]() Not much else is known about his childhood. Washington was educated in basic subjects including reading, writing, and mathematics, but he didn’t attend college. His father died when he was 11, and his older brother, Lawrence, helped raise him. The son of a landowner and planter, George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, in the British-ruled colony of Virginia. ![]()
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