Because the old Julian calendar was still used in England, Washington's birth is recorded as February 11, 1732;  changes to the Georgian calendar moved that date to February 22 nd . His father, Augustine, was a fairly ,successful farmer of Westmoreland County, Virginia, and though Augustine was born in Virginia, he spent most of his life in England.  When George was eleven, he watched his father grow hoarse, struggle for breath and die from a lung and throat infection, which worsened as a result of riding in a cold, wintry day. Could George have had a premonition, as he watched, that fifty six years later the same set of circumstances would bring about the same affliction and the same result for himself?

His fathers death precluded the possibility of his attending school in England as his older brothers had. George's education was therefore to be strictly Virginian in nature and scope. Thus an American attitude was ingrained in the mind of an adult Washington. This was revealed later when conflict of interests was to develop between the Colonies and the mother country.  With Washington's flair for mathematics and his love for the outdoors, it was only natural he would turn to surveying.  At seventeen, he was the official surveyor for Culpepper County. Surveying 200 years ago meant venturing into the wilderness, where Indians constituted a real and present danger.  Washington thrived on this kind of life.

At twenty two, a Lieutenant Colonel, he led the Virginia Militia, unsuccessfully, in a frontier campaign against the French and Indians.  He was a fighting officer. In a letter to his brother he made the following comment, "I heard the bullets whistle, and believe me, there is something charming in the sound.".  At twenty three, 6' 2" tall and 200 pounds of trained muscle and bone, he was commander of the entire Virginia Militia. He collaborated with the British General Braddock in an attempt to drive the French out of the Ohio Valley.  But again, failure.  In addition to the death of General Braddock, Washington was almost killed in the melee as two horses were shot out from under him and four bullets tore through his clothing.  This bloody slaughter of over 1000 English and Virginian troops had a sobering effect on Washington. War lost its charm.  It almost marked the end of Washington's fervent hope for a commission from the King. Had Braddock lived it is very likely that Washington would have received the King's commission.

The whole course of US. history would have changed with Washington as a commissioned officer in the King's army. This commission was one of Washington's deep desires, it went unfulfilled as did his love for Sarah Cary.  Even after Martha had accepted his marriage proposal he wrote to Sarah (now Sally Fairfax). . . "The world has no business to know the object of love declared in this manner to you. . . " Sarah kept the letter, but apparently did not support or encourage his feelings. She had married Washington's friend and neighbor, George Fairfax. Indicative of the character of Washington and the Fairfaxes is seen, that these two remained his closest and very best friends.  His desire for a family also went unfulfilled. Martha, in her previous marriage, had given birth four times in rapid succession, so it indicated to Washington, but never quite convinced him, that he was sterile.  Finally, his dreams and plans for a peaceful existence at Mt. Vernon never materialized.  So, disappointed, in love, and a self admitted failure on the field of battle(he never won a battle until he became General Washington) he sought solace in the affection of Martha Curtis, a recent widow with two children (two had died in infancy) and a considerable fortune.

To be mercenary for a bit, we may note that Martha's estate included one hundred thousand dollars in cash and Bank of England bonds; 45,000 acres of land, (one third to Martha and one third to each of her two children) seven hundred and fifty slaves, (again one third to Martha and one third to each.child). Of course, in those days, as Martha's husband, he controlled her portion of the estate, and as guardian of the children he controlled the rest of the estate.  Slaves at that time had not reached their height in economic value. That didn't come until Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin, but at the lowest estimate, they represented at least one hundred per head, or a total of seventy five thousand dollars. So, Martha brought to the marriage close to one half million dollars in money, bonds, slaves and land, all tax free.  A substantial sum even by today's standards. Washington now became a very busy man.

His daily work started at 4 A.M.;  correspondence, accounts, planning, and assignments took until 7 A.M. Then he rode out to oversee the five farms and plantations of Mt. Vernon, an inheritance from his beloved halfbrother Lawrence, which by wise planning and shrewd purchases, had by now grown to nine thousand two hundred acres.  The home was completely remodeled.  In the 1760's it was a plain one and a half story house, chimney on either end and placed in a drab setting. Washington changed this into one of the most beautiful country places in the world.  It was a beehive of activity: shoemakers, tailors, smiths, carpenters, hostelers, fishermen, millers, wheelwrights, masons, charcoal burners a total of about four hundred workers.

The organization of this alone would be a full job .  Evidence of Washington's shrewd planning is seen in his construction of large baking ovens .  Then if wheat, one of his major crops, was at a low price he would have his own mills grind it into flour and bake it into hard tack, which he sold to ship owners.  The Mt. Vernon stamp was recognized as a stamp of quality throughout the colonies.  One contract alone called for one thousand barrels of flour.  Mt. Vernon was more than just a big farm, it was an industry, almost a conglomerate.  In addition to this he made continual trips to Winchester and down the river to Williamsburg and New Kent to oversee nearly a dozen plantations.  Then there were always new land purchases to engineer, all the way from the Shenandoah, north into Pennsylvania and west to the great Kanawah River, to the Ohio and into Kentucky.

In addition to these many duties he was regularly elected to the House of Burgesses for sixteen years.  His term ended only when he left to become Commander in Chief in 1775. This immense enterprise was a challenge even to a man of great vitality and energy. Unknowingly, he was being trained for the tremendous task that lay ahead.  In Colonial Virginia, you had to have time for social life and Washington enjoyed it.  There was much entertaining.  In the seven years prior to leaving for war, the Washingtons hosted some two thousand guests at Mt. Vernon;   frequently there were weekend guests.  Card playing (losses of $30 to $50 per night are recorded by Washington), wine drinking, fox hunting, horse racing, and lottery were popular forms of entertainment.  For Washington these were at all times in the nature of diversions and never became controlling vices.

Characteristic of Washington, his rise to wealth did not make him a snob, but saw him cling closer than ever to his old friends and acquaintances.  He remained a firm believer in the principles of the Masonic Order and valued his Mason's apron and the many friendships it had led him into.  He was likewise very active as a vestryman at the Pohick church.  But strangely, although regular in his duties as a vestryman, it is doubtful if he truly believed the Episcopal Creed, for he never took communion, and when Martha did, he usually walked out and waited for her outside.  In none of his thousands of letters does the name Jesus Christ appear, nor St. Paul;  seldom even the word God.  Providence was the word he invariably used.

Washington did feel there was value in religion for society, but where his personal belief was concerned, he remained silent except, as we mentioned, he strongly endorsed the principles of Masonry:  good works and the spirit of brotherhood.  Religiously he is best classified, with most of our Founding Fathers, as a Deist.  Deism was the belief that a divine force, incapable of defining or explaining, had created the universe and the Natural Laws under which it grew, developed and endured.  Once this force had, so to speak, wound up the universe machine it retired to the side linesit became a spectator. It was now up to man to live according to his abilities;  reasoning being a big factor. This is far from revealed religion where God is all powerful and everpresent and can be bribed and rewarded for helping with any problem no matter how insignificant.

Washington was born a rebel of authority;  whether it was his mother's, Governor Dinwiddie's, the King's ministers, Continental Congress, or Martha's. It was natural to find Washington leading the fight against British taxes.  He proposed and organized a non-importation plan of English goods.  The opposition to taxes was based on the premise that Englishmen could only be taxed by their representatives (remember Colonists were English and proud of it);  so, Colonists could not be taxed by parliament because they were not represented in that body.  The slogan was: "No taxation without representation", not no taxes, or even lower taxes.  To unite the Colonies in their common cause the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia.  Virginia selected Washington as one of her delegates.  Patrick Henry, another Virginian, judged Washington to be, "Unquestionably the greatest man of the floor."

The Second Continental Congress also found Washington as a delegate.  War had by now broken out and someone was needed to unite and lead the Colonial forces.  Washington was selected.  To his wife, the one person to whom he could bare his heart, he wrote, "I assure you in the most solemn manner that so far from seeking this appointment, I have used every endeavor in my power to avoid it...from consciousness of it being a trust too great for my capacity".  But of course chosen, he would do his very best.

Why should a man of his wealth, power, and position;  happily married and doing the work he loved (running his plantations) become a leader opposing the King?  He stood to gain nothing, the chances were good he would lose allincluding his life.  No rule of reason or logic can explain itremember he had accumulated all this:  position, power, prestige, and wealth while under the King's dominion.  Why take the chance to lose all?  Washington in a letter to a friend wrote: "An innate spirit of freedom first told me that the measures which the administration have for some time been and still are violently pursuing, are opposed to every principle of justice".  So straightforward and simple, it is difficult to comprehend. There was an injustice, not to himself personally, but to fellow human beings, and injustices had to be righted. In our world of looking after number one, this is difficult to understand.  How smug and satisfied he could have been;  he was rich and daily grew richer, on his way to becoming a millionaire.  In addition he had influential friends in England.

He became involved because there was a call from his fellow man;  his response was that of a humanist.  For eight long, trying, torturous years he persevered.  Returning in all that time just once to his beloved Mt. Vernon, and that after six years of service.  Then returning for another two years of uninterrupted, dedicated service.  Service that was performed under crushingly cruel conditions.  Never was he to have the army he pleaded for.  He was forced to borrow bullets and powder from the French fleet;  to beg old clothes from the ladies of Philadelphia so his soldiers could keep from freezing.  His soldiers had to forage for food like rejected animals.

Pay for his men was a cruel hoax;  twenty five cents a day when socks sold for three dollars and shoes for six dollars a pair.  Washington served without pay.  Any generals doing that today?  Congress abdicated.  Without the loyal support of men like Robert Morris, who had spent three years in debtor's prison, and the incomparable Jewish merchant, Haym Salomon, the Polish Jew who gave six hundred thousand dollars, his entire fortune and the cause might well have been lost.

Compounding the misery and inadequacy was abuse, jealousy, intrigue, treachery, and treason.  What unbelievable strength of character to endure all this and continue the fight against the greatest military power in the world.  Britain ruled the world and her armies had been undefeated for two centuries.  By contrast, Washington represented a new and divided conglomeration of colonies with a total population less than present day Chicago, and of these, one third were Tories and another one third were totally indifferent.  Through supreme effort and sacrifice on the part of many there finally came the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.

Washington was now near fifty.  The years of abuse had taken their toll, his health was poor, his teeth were held together with iron wires.  He deeply yearned for Mt. Vernon, but two more years had yet to pass before he could return.  The arrogant British generals:  Gage, Howe, Burgoyne, Clinton, and now Cornwallis had all met defeat or had been removed;  Washington alone served until the final victory.  Worn and weary, he returned to Mt. Vernon.  He bought books planning to indulge in leisure reading.  Significantly, he retired as vestryman of his church, but the public, in the form of friends, relatives, veterans, inquisitive and admiring foreigners, people seeking advice or a hand out, harassed Washington in an unending flow.  It wasn't, believe it or not, until June 1785, two years after his return home that Washington wrote in his diary:  "Dined alone with Mrs. Washington, which I believe, is the first instance since my retirement".

Now the nation faced real and perplexing problems.  The national government, established under the Articles of Confederation, was weak and without leadership.  It was in the nature of a league rather than a federation.  The divergent states jealously guarded their sovereignty, which was to them regarded as more precious than national unity and survival.  Just as nations today selfishly view each problem from a narrow nationalistic position, thus the welfare of humanity, even its very survival, is lost in a morass of Jingoism.  The main weakness of the Articles of Confederation was similar to the weakness of the U. N. today, it lacked executive power.

There were endless quarrels, foreign disrespect, business failures, foreclosures and riots (Shay's Rebellion).  Wild inflation and bankruptcy ensued. An emasculated Congress stood helplessly by, watching the disintegration of the new nation.  Washington wrote to his friend, John Jay:  "Good God!  Who besides a Tory or a Briton could have foreseen this?  We are fast verging to anarchy and confusion".

The nation wanted and needed Washington. Reluctantly, as his rheumatism was bothering him, he again left his beloved Mt. Vernon. This time for Philadelphia, for the purpose of instilling firmness and vitality into our fading government.  He was unanimously elected chairman of the Constitutional Convention.  His prestige, leadership, honor, and discipline made him the perfect choice.  Working under his leadership from May to September, the delegates forged the most perfect constitution devised by the mind of man:  the one we are privileged to live under today.  After a hard struggle the constitution was finally ratified.

There could be but one man elected president.  Washington humbly accepted.  He wrote:  "My feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution;  so unwilling am I in the evening of a life nearly consumed in public cares, to quit a peaceful abode for an ocean of difficulties, without that competency of political skill, abilities, and inclination which is necessary to manage the Helm".  Seldom has one man held so much esteem, popularity, and power.  Rarer still was his attribute to consider that this power was held in trust for the good of the people, never to be used for selfish gain. This was the supreme test of character.

After the first four years as President, Washington desperately wished to return home.  He had two serious illnesses: a malignant growth on his thigh in 1789, and a severe bout with pneumonia in 1790.  His memory was weakening and he well knew he was aging.  Mt. Vernon looked very dear, but once more, he responded to the call of his fellow man.  The US Constitution would be upheld at the expense of his own constitution.  Again, the road led away from Mt. Vernon.

Four difficult years faced him.  Foreign policy was the problem.  The French Revolution, following the pattern of our revolution, had set up its first French Republic.  They needed and pleaded for American aid. With Yorktown still fresh in American memories, could we be deaf to these pleas?  Americans were remembering that there were more French soldiers than Americans involved in the surrender of Cornwallis.  The choice for Washington was made more difficult because his most trusted friend and greatest admirer, Lafayette, was connected with the Republic.  Lafayette had even named his son, George Washington.  Washington chose not to endanger our national survival and we remained out of this foreign entanglement. A few critics bitterly denounced Washington for this stand.  One Philadelphia journalist called Washington, "A man in his political dotage... a supercilious tyrant. . . if ever a nation was debauched by a man, the American nation has been debauched by Washington".

None doubted, however, that Washington could be elected to a third term.  But, this would not be in keeping with the principles of a Republic.  So, almost seventeen years of devoted service and sacrifice to his country came to an end.  Service for which he refused to be compensated.  Today, the presidency is viewed as a path to a financial fortune.  The chamber of the House of Representatives was packed as Washington turned over the office of the presidency to John Adams.  Every eye, save Washington's filled with tears of emotion and gratitude;  for here was truly the father of our new nation.
 
How disciplined and selfless the man was is seen in the notation he made in his diary that day. Closing the day in his home that evening, he wrote: "much such a day as yesterday in all respects, Mercury at fortyone".  A nation had just poured out it's love, affection, and appreciation;  the applause and adulation had barely died and he writes:  "Much such a day as yesterday. . . ".

His return to Mt. Vernon found fields and buildings in disrepair.  Within days the place hummed with activity as carpenters, painters, and masons were set to work.  In vain, however, Washington looked for a cook and housekeeper.  He advertised in a local newspaper, offering a salary of one hundred and fifty dollars annually.  In a letter to his nephew, George Lewis, he wrote, "I had resolved never to become the master of another slave by purchase, but the resolution I fear, I (now) must break".  Relative to slavery he had previously written, "I wish from my soul that the Legislature of the State could see the policy of a gradual abolition of slavery;  it would prevent much future mischief".  How true!  But Washington was not yet to be allowed his wellearned rest.  In 1798, a war with France seemed imminent.  Adams was forced to call on Washington, to again raise an army and assume command.  So at sixtysix, white and weary, Washington answered his country's call to duty.  Fortunately, war did not develop and Washington's life settled to a less hectic tempo.  But not for long.

There was a slight frost on December 13 , Washington was out riding, still doing his daily circuit of farm work. This day, he headed into snow and freezing rain.  He got wet and cold.  Chills set in and a sore throat developed.  Dr. Craik administered a mixture of molasses, vinegar, and butter.  This brought on convulsions and a fit of coughing.  In consultation, it was decided to bleed him.  He was bled again and again;  four times between early morning and 4:30 in the afternoon.  Atten he was dead.

He left no death bed message; his life was that message.  He who had no children, devoted his life to the newborn nation.  This nation became his monument.  We can best honor him by living as he lived, with courage, discipline, honesty, pride, and devotion to the cause of justice for all men.
 
 

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