George Washington is the first president and founding father of the United States of America, a public and political figure, the founder of the institution of presidential power in the United States, and the commander-in-chief of the United States Continental Army.
George Washington's childhood
George Washington's childhood was rather modest. Despite the widespread belief that he comes from the aristocracy, artifacts found during excavations at the site of his home, where he lived as a child, testify otherwise. George Washington was not rich, but he was extremely ambitious and ambitious. On Christmas Eve 1740, he survived a fire as a child of eight. Most of the house was burned. It was an extremely harsh experience for a young child. But soon he had to endure another tragedy - the death of his father. He barely endured this ordeal. After the death of his father, he could not count on either education or financial assistance. Now he had to fight for a place in life without his father's support. But it was then that the young southerner set himself a life goal - to climb the social ladder and become famous. All his life he managed to hide his true motives, for which he was known as a modest person.
Career George Washington
At 16, Washington began working as a surveyor for wealthy landowners. At this time, he converges with representatives of influential families. It was with the West that he pinned all his hopes.
Fighting the French and Indians in the militia, Washington received a new boost in its career.
Autumn 1753 - England and France fight for undeveloped western lands. 21-year-old Washington decides to impress his military leader and takes on a difficult assignment. In the woods of Ohio, he met with the commander of the French army to convey a message from the governor. On the way back, he decides to leave most of the equipment, dividing his squad, and go further together with the guide. In a settlement called the City of Death, they find an Indian who is ready to lead them through the forests. But on the way, the Indian attempts to kill Washington and his guide. By a happy coincidence, the Indian fails to carry out his plan, and everyone remains alive. Fleeing from the Indian's relatives, Washington and his guide reach the riverbank. Swimming across the river, they almost die again, but remain alive. In the morning they are surprised to find that the river is covered with ice, and they easily manage to cross it. This is the first, but far from the last, time that George Washington was in the balance of death and miraculously escaped death.
At the age of 20, Washington joins the ranks of the Freemasons. He is attracted by their philosophy with the ideals of honesty and forbearance. The Masonic brotherhood opened the way for him to the upper strata of society. In parallel, he continues to establish contacts in the ranks of the Virginia army.
The courage, valor and composure of Washington are legendary. In July 1755, he fights against the French and Indians. During the bloody massacre, the commander of the British troops is mortally wounded. The soldiers flee from the battlefield in panic. Washington miraculously remains alive and takes command. Under fire, he leads the remaining soldiers away from death.
Personal life
In the same year, Washington makes an ambitious decision. He begins to look after one of the richest widows of Virginia - Martha Custis. She was a rather attractive and self-confident woman. And, despite the fact that Washington himself was in love with the wife of his best friend Sally Faafex, he marries Martha. Gradually, their union turned into a reliable union of two loving people, and Martha becomes his faithful companion in life.
Between the ages of 30 and 40, Washington was constantly struggling with debt. The cultivation of tobacco did not bring him profit, since the tobacco business was under the control of English merchants. Despite the fact that after his marriage with Martha, Washington became one of the richest landowners in Virginia, his debts continued to grow. However, he manages to get out of debt. He starts growing wheat and experiments with fertilizers quite successfully. As a result, he avoids ruin. Washington was an ordinary tactician and lost many battles, but his farming experience has helped him more than once and saved him from death.
War for independence
On December 26, 1776, Washington is in the balance of utter defeat. The British hold New York and gather an army of nearly thirty thousand. Washington manages to hold onto Trenton, New Jersey, but its army is exhausted and exhausted. The British came close to Trenton to defeat the army of Washington. His farming skills saved him that night. He realized that at midnight it would get colder, the mud would harden and his troops could retreat. They cleverly disguised their retreat under the noses of an unsuspecting enemy. Troops from Washington reach Princeton and triumph through the unpredictability effect. Thus, another great victory in the War of Independence was won.
The methods that Washington used in the war were varied. He did not disdain espionage, he loved encryption and invisible ink. He was particularly adept at using disinformation methods. Once he managed to successfully fool the British. He drew up forged papers on the count of provisions, weapons and ammunition and arranged for a British spy to receive these papers and report the inflated figures to the British. In the end, the British never dared to strike at Washington's fictional army.
Slavery
George Washington is often portrayed as an idealist. However, this is not quite true. Slavery surrounded him all his life. During his heyday, there were about 300 slaves in his house.
As president, he brought a group of slaves to his residence. Their involuntary labor was carefully hidden. While George Washington defended the principles of democracy and freedom of citizens, dozens of slaves worked for him. In his entire life, he never did anything to abolish slavery. But before his death, he wrote a will, according to which all slaves after the death of his wife were to be given freedom and education.
The personality of George Washington has long been idealized. But more than two hundred years later, we can say that before becoming a mature husband, a founding father of the nation, he was a little boy who survived a tragedy, a reckless young man who experienced unrequited love, and an impeccable leader who experienced both many victories and more than one defeat.
