Chapter 1 Early Life Early Life Early Life and Career and Career and Career and Career and Career and Career G eorge Washington occupies a pre eminent place among the heroes of American history As a military leader he guided the colonial forces to victory against Great Britain in the American Revolution After the war he was a delegate to and presiding offi cer of the Constitutional Convention and helped secure ratifi cation of the United States Constitution When the state electors met to select the fi rst president Washington was the unanimous choice and in his eight years as president 1789 97 he did much to establish a strong central government Before becoming the Father of His Country as he is often called Washington was a young boy growing up on plantations and a farm in Virginia 10
Early Life and Career 1657 Childhood and Youth In John Washington George Washington’s great-grandfather came to Virginia from England John obtained a grant of 150 acres 61 hectares in Westmoreland County on the Potomac River He soon saw a future in the wilderness upriver In 1674 John secured a second grant of 5,000 acres The fi rst president was born at the Wakefi eld estate in Virginia It is now George Washington Birthplace National Monument National Park Service 11
George Washington 2,023 hectares about 15 miles 24 kilome ters south of modern-day Washington D C where he established the Wakefi eld plantation for his family John’s grandson Augustine Washington also was a prosperous landowner Augustine managed farms businesses and mines Augustine added to the Wakefi eld plantation until it included the entire peninsula between Popes Creek and Bridges Creek small streams emptying into the Potomac River Augustine’s fi rst wife died in 1730 and the following year he married Mary Ball Their fi rst child George Washington was born on Feb 22 Feb 11 on the calendar used then 1732 on the Wakefi eld plantation in Westmoreland County Va The couple had fi ve more children Elizabeth Samuel John Augustine Charles and Mildred who died in infancy George also had two older half brothers Lawrence and Augustine children from Augustine’s fi rst marriage In 1735 the Washington family moved far ther up the Potomac River to the Epsewasson Little Hunting Creek plantation named after the stream it faced A few years later they moved to Ferry Farm on the Rappahannock River opposite Fredericksburg Va Ferry Farm 12
Early Life and Career Portrait of a young George Washington admitting to his father that he had chopped down a cherry tree The story is meant to show Washington had a history of being honest Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division was the setting of George’s boyhood adven tures described by Mason Locke Weems in his book The Life and Memorable Actions of George Washington 1800 According to Weems George chopped down a cherry tree with a hatchet and later admitted it to his father stating that he could not tell a lie Weems also related how George threw a stone across the Rappahannock River but it is unknown whether or not these stories are based on facts George’s father died in 1743 and his property was divided among his nearest heirs 13
