George Washington for Kids: His Life and Times with 21 Activities
Note to Readers any of George Washington's diaries letters and other papers have survived for over 200 years So throughout this book many of the words you'll read were written by Washington himself written in joy in anger in despair and in pride A real man not a cold marble statue wrote these words Can you see Washington in flick ering candle flame dipping his quill pen in ink and writing the very words you read Do you feel a connection to a real person Think about it Research materials that actually come from a certain his toric period such as diaries letters paintings clothes tools and newspapers are called primary sources They were written or used by people of that time Spelling gram mar and punctuation have all changed over the centuries A letter looking much like an fmeant ans in George Washing ton's time To see some of Washington's papers for yourself go online to the Library of Congress www loc gov or the University of Virginia www virginia
Preface A Young Virginian Sets the World on Fire May 28 1754 The rain pounded down the night black as pitch Through darkness the Virginia militia soldiers strug gled to find a path They crashed through trees lost their way stumbled into one another in the Pennsylvania wilderness At daybreak they reached the camp of Native American leader Half King and his warriors Half King and the militia leader a newly appointed lieutenant colonel at age 22 agreed to strike an encampment of French soldiers in a ravine a few miles away The Virginians and Indians surrounded the camp screened by huge boulders and trees Smoke from breakfast fires drifted upward Suddenly a French soldier spied the red coats of the militia looming above and cried out send ing men racing for their guns The young Virginian ordered his men to fire The sudden blast of muskets thundered down the ravine The skirmish the young Virginian's first battle lasted only 15 minutes He climbed down ready to accept the French surrender Ten French soldiers lay dead including French commander Joseph Coulon de Villiers Sieur de Jumonville But instead of surrender chaos erupted Native American warriors swarmed down the ravine to claim their trophies of war the scalps of the dead French prisoners yelled at the young Vir ginian and shoved papers in his face He listened as his two interpreters rapidly turned French
and Native American into English His French interpreter stood between the Virginian and the angry French translat ing as fast as he could The French claimed they had come on a peaceful diplomatic mission they were not a war par ty not spies They waved their diplomatic papers as proof They'd been sent to warn the British off the Ohio Valley lands claimed by the king of France The young Virginian accused the French had murdered an ambassador On that May morning an unsteady peace existed between old enemies France and Great Britain The young Virginian's actions in the Pennsylvania wilderness exploded into an international affair His orders sparked a war that spread across North America and Europe The son of Britain's prime minister noted The volley fired by a young Virginian in the backwoods of America set the world on fire That summer of 1754 few people would have bet the young Virginian's future held any glimmer of fame honor or greatness His name was George
