George washington when was born

In , when George Washington was only eleven years old, Augustine Washington passed away and left the bulk of his estate to George's half-brothers, Lawrence and Augustine, Jr. George Washington inherited the more modest Rappahannock River plantation where he lived with his mother and siblings, but this was not enough to maintain his middling status in the Virginia gentry.

His half-brother Lawrence suggested that George enter the British navy, but Mary Ball Washington rejected the proposal. Instead, Washington was trained as a land surveyor , a profession of considerable importance in colonial Virginia.

Washington's surveying career benefited from Lawrence's patronage, as well as from the wealthy Fairfax family of Belvoir , Lawrence's neighbors and in-laws. Washington became a surveyor of Lord Fairfax 's extensive Northern Neck proprietary, and was appointed surveyor of Culpeper County in Washington gained familiarity with the colony's backcountry while developing frontier survival skills.

Not only did Washington receive substantial fees for surveying, but he also discovered firsthand how to successfully land speculate. By George Washington had accumulated almost as many acres of fertile soil in the Shenandoah as his half-brother Lawrence had at Mount Vernon. Although Lawrence possessed desirable qualities for a rising Virginia gentlemen—an inherited estate and impressive marriage connections—George enjoyed an impressive physique and the blessings of good health.

Washington survived a case of smallpox while in the West Indies , thus acquiring immunity to the disease that claimed the lives of many colonial Americans. However, his brother succumbed to disease in Lawrence's infant daughter, to whom he originally bequeathed Mount Vernon, died before reaching adulthood. Washington's desire for personal distinction compelled him to seek out honor on the battlefield rather than in the life of a tobacco planter.

He persuaded the Virginia governor to appoint him to his deceased brother's adjutancy in , gaining a commission as a major and an annual salary of pounds. He later transferred to the adjutancy of Virginia's Northern Neck and Eastern Shore with the responsibility of training the Northern District's militiamen. Upon the return to Williamsburg of his small party from the shores of Lake Erie in January , Washington received popular recognition through the publication of his detailed journal of the rugged four-month-long expedition.

French retaliation for the attack on a small party across the Alleghenies provided Washington's first military defeat with the surrender of the hastily-constructed Fort Necessity in July The skirmishes led to the French and Indian War , the colonial phase of the Seven Years War between the French and British, each aligned with their respective colonists and native American allies.

Washington learned much while serving under British generals Edward Braddock and John Forbes , earning a military reputation not only for courage under fire but also as an efficient administrator and commander of forces. He also developed a resentment of the British officials who denied him the regular army commission that he desired, and the respect for the contributions made by provincial troops during the war. After the war, Washington returned to private life as a bachelor, with his prestige enhanced by military experiences and the potential of his land holdings increasing from bounties granted to officers and men of the Virginia Regiment.

On January 6, the twenty-six year-old Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis , the widow of Daniel Parke Custis, who had left her and their two children a significant fortune. Washington was named the childrens' legal guardian two years later and devoted much time and energy over the next sixteen years managing the Custis estate.

Immediately, through his marriage to Martha and the death of Lawrence's widow, Washington controlled one of the wealthiest combined estates in Virginia. The next decade and a half of Washington's life at Mount Vernon were probably his happiest. Although he and Martha had no children of their own, the couple raised Martha's children, and later two of her grandchildren, Eleanor and George Washington Parke Custis. Washington was first elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in as a representative of Frederick County.

He was later elected by Fairfax County landholders and served a total of sixteen years in the colonial assembly. In the imperial crisis of the s and s, he became an early advocate of the patriot cause. After Governor Dunmore dissolved the Assembly in , Washington met with other disgruntled Burgesses at the Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg and adopted a nonimportation agreement. During the American Revolution, he led the colonial forces to victory over the British and became a national hero.

In , he was elected president of the convention that wrote the U. Realizing that the way he handled the job would impact how future presidents approached the position, he handed down a legacy of strength, integrity and national purpose.

Less than three years after leaving office, he died at his Virginia plantation, Mount Vernon, at age Explore George Washington's life in our interactive timeline. As a teenager, Washington, who had shown an aptitude for mathematics, became a successful surveyor. His surveying expeditions into the Virginia wilderness earned him enough money to begin acquiring land of his own. In , Washington made his only trip outside of America, when he travelled to Barbados with his older half-brother Lawrence Washington , who was suffering from tuberculosis and hoped the warm climate would help him recuperate.

Shortly after their arrival, George contracted smallpox. He survived, although the illness left him with permanent facial scars. In December , Washington, who had no previous military experience, was made a commander of the Virginia militia.

By , Washington had resigned his commission, returned to Mount Vernon and was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, where he served until In January , he married Martha Dandridge Custis , a wealthy widow with two children. Washington became a devoted stepfather to her children; he and Martha Washington never had any offspring of their own.

In the ensuing years, Washington expanded Mount Vernon from 2, acres into an 8,acre property with five farms. He grew a variety of crops, including wheat and corn, bred mules and maintained fruit orchards and a successful fishery. He was deeply interested in farming and continually experimented with new crops and methods of land conservation. By the late s, Washington had experienced firsthand the effects of rising taxes imposed on American colonists by the British, and came to believe that it was in the best interests of the colonists to declare independence from England.

Washington served as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in in Philadelphia. By the time the Second Continental Congress convened a year later, the American Revolution had begun in earnest, and Washington was named commander in chief of the Continental Army.

Washington proved to be a better general than military strategist. His strength lay not in his genius on the battlefield but in his ability to keep the struggling colonial army together. His troops were poorly trained and lacked food, ammunition and other supplies soldiers sometimes even went without shoes in winter. However, Washington was able to give them the direction and motivation.

His leadership during the winter of at Valley Forge was a testament to his power to inspire his men to keep going. Over the course of the grueling eight-year war, the colonial forces won few battles but consistently held their own against the British. In October , with the aid of the French who allied themselves with the colonists over their rivals the British , the Continental forces were able to capture British troops under General Charles Cornwallis in the Battle of Yorktown.

This action effectively ended the Revolutionary War and Washington was declared a national hero. However, in , he was asked to attend the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and head the committee to draft the new constitution. At first Washington balked. He wanted to, at last, return to a quiet life at home and leave governing the new nation to others.

This document created a strong federal government: two chambers of legislators also called lawmakers , a federal court system, and a president. The Constitution still serves as the foundation for the United States government today. Washington won the vote, making him the first-ever president of the United States. John Adams received the second most votes and became vice president. He worked out how the nation would negotiate treaties with other countries.

He decided how the president would select and get advice from cabinet members. He also established the practice of giving a regular State of the Union speech, a yearly update on how the country is doing. He appointed federal judges and established basic government services such as banks. As president, he also worked hard to keep the new country out of wars with Native Americans and European nations.

Although Washington helped plan a permanent national capital, his presidency ended before the federal government moved to the city later named in his honor: Washington, D. After serving two back-to-back terms as president, Washington retired to Mount Vernon in He died two years later on December 14, After his death, he was praised as being "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.

Just in case. Presidents by Brianna Dumont, revised for digital by Avery Hurt. All rights reserved.