...Washington 2 I chose to research my final paper on the leader George Washington. Although I research other important leaders George Washington made the way for other American leaders in my eyes. George Washington was born on February 22. 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. “George Washington could trace his family’s presence in North America to his great-grandfather John Washington who migrated from England to Virginia.” George Washington family was wealthy, but lost most of their wealth during the Puritan Revolution. George Washington father died when he was 11, and his half- brother Lawrence and his wife Annie Fairfax raised him to be a very fine young man. In July, 1752, “George Washington’s Brother Lawrence, died of tuberculosis making him the heir apparent of the Washington lands.” George Washington was given a rank of major in the Virginia milita. George Washington was given the honorary rank of colonel and joined British General Edward Braddock’s army in Virginia in 1755. Although Washington went to war and escaped with our harm, some of his fellow soldiers were not as lucky. Washington held the position of being commander of all Virginia troops in August 1755. George Washington had already been in battle and had escaped death, so when he became ill in 1757 he was sent home with dysentery. George Washington applied for a commission and with the turn down of the position, he resigned in 1758. George Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis, a wealthy widow...
Words: 601 - Pages: 3
...George Washington Shaped America into Greatness Amanda Villeso American History Mr. David 4-24-17 “Give me liberty or give me death”(“Patrick Henry’s “Liberty or Death” Speech.”). George Washington definitely applied this saying when fighting in the Revolutionary War. Washington being called the Father of His Country has done many wonderful things for everyone. Being the leader of the Patriots, he had lived a successful and long life. Thomas Jefferson said “On the whole, his character was, in its mass, perfect, in nothing bad, in a few points indifferent; and it may truly be said that never did a nature and fortune combine more perfectly to make a man great…” (“Revolutionary-War.net.” “Greatest Stories Ever Told”) To think it all started here and in the end people like Jefferson would be saying things like this about him. George Washington’s family, education, and military career has helped America become a better country for all....
Words: 1853 - Pages: 8
...The Father of America: George Washington James Butler, a founding father of America, stated during the first Presidential elections, that “many of the members cast their eyes towards General Washington, as President, and shaped their ideas of the powers to be given a President, by their opinions of his virtue” (“George Washington” 127). In saying this, he meant that George Washington was a man that, in the eyes of all the chair-holders, fit all the characteristics that a President should have. For over 150 years before George Washington’s time, America was a colony of the British Empire that controlled the do’s and don’ts of the people living there. However, with the accumulation of laws and acts set forth by the distant British Empire, the...
Words: 2041 - Pages: 9
...HIST101 American History to 1877 A Man of Honor George Washington was the first president of the United States and is known as “the Father of Our Country. He was a man with much conviction, humility, and integrity. George Washington trusted in God, was willing to sacrifice much, and he was selfless. All of these qualities were important to his success as a military leader and as the leader of the nation. It is apparent by how revered Washington is today that he was a man of honor. George Washington begin life in Virginia in 1732. He was the son of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington. The tale of him cutting down the cherry tree, is just a tale created by author Mason Locke Weems. Weems wanted Washington's life to appear more interesting in the biography he wrote. The biography, A History of the Life and Death, Virtues and Exploits, of General George Washington, “supplied the American people with flattering (and often rhyming) renditions of the events that shaped their hero”. Lawrence Washington was George's older brother. Lawrence was a great influence on George's life. After the death of their father, George spent a lot of time with Lawrence at his home, Mount Vernon. Washington learned the gentlemanly ways and manners of the time from Lawrence. One of the things George enjoyed most was fox-hunting. When Lawrence died, Mount Vernon was left to George. Washington received little formal education. This was due to his father dying when he was a boy...
Words: 2311 - Pages: 10
...The presidential system of the United States was established to have a commander in chief, a president whom would be enforcing the laws of the land to lead the federal government and the people. George Washington became the first president and the role model for future presidents. Andrew Jackson was the seventh president and he was the first in many things. His election was a turning point in American politics because he was an innovator of the presidency in contrast to some of his predecessors. Andrew Jackson was both loved and hated at the same time. His innovations had positive and negative effects within the presidency, government and the people that in the end were helpful to guide his future successors. Andrew Jackson was the seventh...
Words: 898 - Pages: 4
...Von Steuben’s training of Washington’s army proved very useful in the Battle of Monmouth, NJ in June of 1778. They beat back the enraged British and skillfully employed use of their bayonets. General John Sullivan, useless against the British, was given a command against the Iroquois. He succeeded but sought recognition and rewards. This led to his resignation. 1779: fighting continues. In the North and South, fighting dragged on. Americans were able to destroy many Native Americans on the side of the British during this year. 1780: a significant defeat. The most important event of 1780 happens to be a devastating defeat. On May 12, the British captured Charleston along with its 5400-man garrison. This was basically the entire southern American Army. They also took four ships and a military arsenal. The British had a major...
Words: 884 - Pages: 4
... Part 1 Baptism of Pocahontas John Gadsby Chapman Chapman conveys sign of peace between the Indian tribes and the white colonists in this painting. Pocahontas brings peace between the two groups. The feeling that Chapman had captured were feelings were that of acceptance by the colonists because Pocahontas has become one of them by accepting their faith and practices, eventually marrying colonist John Rolfe. The Indian tribe not so much, they want to befriend the colonist just not at the cost of one of their own; not all felt that way as you can tell in the painting. Mr. Chapman received the commission in 1837, and the painting hung or “installed” in 1840. The events in this painting had occurred when America was breaking away from British rule. Then the rift between the English colonist and the Indian tribes that already inhabited the new world. The message of this painting is that no matter the differences that people face they can come together as one and live in harmony. Mr. Chapman is successful in communicating his message through the painting because it makes aware that part of history and what Pocahontas did to bring peace between the two groups. There is a clear connection between the context and content of the piece the two groups coming together to witness the momentous occasion in this young woman’s life. Once bitter enemies, and now friends and family together in unity. Declaration of Independence John Trumbull Mr. Trumbull...
Words: 1402 - Pages: 6
...When people think of our most prominent founding fathers, who comes to mind? George Washington? Benjamin Franklin? How about Alexander Hamilton? Often an overlooked founding father, Hamilton was a very important person in our country's history. He expertly juggled his time-consuming position in the newly-independent country with having a wife and children. He had a very rich, interesting childhood, an interesting education, and made many great achievements for a man who died at the young age of 49. Nevis of the British West Indies was his birthplace, the second of two boys. The west Indies’s distance from everything else made it the ideal dumping place for those not bad enough to be executed, yet not good enough to live with civilized people....
Words: 1026 - Pages: 5
...Adams started to excel. Under the tutelage of Joseph March, who influenced John greatly, he quickly advanced in studies and was within a year ready for school at Harvard. He studied Bumgardner 2 there for 4 years, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1755. Although his father wanted to see his son as a minister, he started out at the bar after several years of school teaching, officially becoming a lawyer after graduating from a Master’s degree at Harvard. He traveled the country and tried cases of many types. Perhaps his most memorable case, in 1770 John successfully defended the British soldiers involved in the Boston massacre, a remarkable insight of John’s character; for the British were his political enemies. It was also during this time that he courted and married Abigail Smith, his beloved wife of many years. John rapidly became a big name in politics over the next 20 years, speaking out against the Stamp Act of 1765, helping represent Massachusetts at the first Continental Congress, sailing to France in 1778 and helping set up the Treaty of Paris, and was in 1785 appointed the U.S. minister to England, remaining there for three years with his wife and daughter. In 1788, he came back to the states for the first time in ten years. Upon hearing that George Washington would be elected president, he ran for vice president and was...
Words: 2389 - Pages: 10
...stories of the past that share the story of where we have been and who we really are as a society. In particular, American literature has captivated countless readers from as far back as the 1600s to now, and many of these works have sparked movements that had a great impact on history. American literature is full of creativity, variety, and innovation. Thanks to these works, we have a clear image of what kind of life our ancestors lived and the hardships that they had to face. American literature is an essential piece of the mysterious puzzle that is our history, and it answers the questions that...
Words: 1275 - Pages: 6
...system. Thomas Jefferson, who supported a small national government and individual rights, changed American politics by advocating rights of small planters and western farmers to divide the nation once united behind Federalist ideals. By dividing the once united Federalist party into two separate groups, he was able to gain the support needed to take the office of the President away from the Federalist party. This feat was more than a challenge for Jefferson and would shape the structure of American political parties forever. (1) In 1788, George Washington was the first President of the United States and he chose two men with contrasting views on what the fate of the United States should be as part of his advisory board. Thomas Jefferson was chosen by Washington as the head of Department of State. Jefferson was a Virginian and diplomat, known for his views on small national government and representing the small planters and western farmers of America. George Washington then chose Alexander Hamilton as his secretary of the Treasury. Born and raised in the Caribbean, he worked for Washington as his aid during the revolutionary war and was a lawyer. Hamilton was known for his views on a strong national government. He favored merchants and financiers by implementing bold financial policies which gave the national government more authority. (1) As secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton submitted to Washington and Congress three major proposals which shaped American Treasury forever...
Words: 1916 - Pages: 8
...community college History 203: Fall 2014 Manipulated: African Americans and the Revolution One of the most notable intellectual paradoxes in American history is how the founding fathers could promote the equal rights of man and their perceived enslavement by the crown while simultaneously holding a fifth of their own population in bondage. Another question that plaques the history of this great nation is why abolition, or widespread emancipation, did not occur at this period in time when revolutionary and republican rhetoric existed alongside of anti-slavery sentiments. A case can be made that Americans were speaking more loudly for the end of political enslavement, rather than the freedom of slaves themselves. The exclusion of slaves from the political forefront made it easier for Americans to make these hypocritical claims. Whether or not whites were able to justify themselves the exclusion of the black community from their cries for freedom, the parallels revolutionary rhetoric had on their own condition were not lost on slaves. Many took advantage of the revolutionary crisis and ran away and joined either side in hopes to attain their own independence. There reasons that Blacks chose to join the revolutionary fight are as varied as the individuals who made them. The motives were, at times, a desire for adventure and a belief in justice and the cause of the revolution, but the more likely reasoning behind their joining was the promise of a monetary reward and eventually...
Words: 2286 - Pages: 10
...America has had many men change the shape of the presidency and the country . Men like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt have changed the presidency in unprecedented ways. With not only the foreign policies they shaped, but the ways they were able to impact America domestically and socially. There have been few presidents to have a large enough impact on America, both socially and culturally. With Dwight D. Eisenhower and his collective demeanor or even John F. Kennedy and the charismatic change he bought to America with his youth and television look, they both lacked one true thing in their presidencies. It was the lack of a true impact as a president. America from 1945-1963 had lacked a president who would make an...
Words: 655 - Pages: 3
...19 2014 Founding Brothers "Founding Brothers" by Joseph Ellis is a non-fiction book that analyzes several important events in America among the nation's founding fathers, that take place after the Revolutionary War. The author goes into detail chronologically describing how these events shaped the history of the United States. Joseph Ellis is an American historian and professor. He specializes in American history, and more specifically the founding fathers of America. Ellis has an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Yale University. He has written several biographies about the founders of America, including Adams, Jefferson and Washington. His book about Jefferson titled, "American Sphinx: The...
Words: 1076 - Pages: 5
...Jefferson vs. Hamilton: Confrontations that shaped the Nation Thomas Jefferson was born in affluence to his father, Peter Jefferson, a rising young planter in the Virginia colony, and his mother, Jane Randolph, who held a high status within the colony as well. Due to his father’s prosperity Jefferson was afforded the absolute best in the ways of education, starting with private tutors at the age of five, then moving on to learn how to read Greek and Roman and finally taking his studies to the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg which he would say is “…what probably fixed the destinies of my life…” (5). On the other side of the spectrum, Alexander Hamilton son of James Hamilton, a Scotsman of a well-known family but never flourished on his own, and his mother, Rachel Fawcett Lavien, who had left her husband to live with James Hamilton. Hamilton’s early life was just that his father “drifted away” and his mother passed in 1768. Lacking wealth, Hamilton’s educational opportunities in his young life were nonexistent; however this did not stop him from gaining a vast knowledge of business and finance that he would later on use in his services to President George Washington. In addition to these politically influential men’s different early lives, they have their differences in opinions. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were not just on different issues that shaped the nation, but they were at the head of those differences. Jefferson distrusted the federal government...
Words: 1128 - Pages: 5
