George Washington The “American Cincinnatus”

American Revolutionary Leader

&1st President of USA

(1775 – 1799)

Chronology• Youth & Education • Early Military Career• Causes of the American Revolution• 1st Continental Congress (1774)• 2nd Continental Congress (1775)• Declaration of Independence (1776) • Key Battles of American Revolutionary War • British Surrender at Battle of Yorktown (1781)• Treaty of Paris (1783)• Washington as 1st President of United States of

America (1789 – 1797)• Retirement & Legacy

Youth & Education

• Born in 1732

• Youth: Washington never attended school. Instead, he was educated by his father and brother. He contracted smallpox in Barbados in 1751.

• He trained as and became a surveyor.

Early Military Career

• George wanted to join the British Navy when he was 14 years old, but his mother refused to give him permission.

• Commander of Virginia Military from 1755 to 1758

Causes of the American Revolution

“No Taxation Without Representation”• Stamp Act (1765)  British tax on official

documents

• Townshend Act (1767) 

British tax on tea and glass

• The Boston Massacre (1770) 5 colonists are killed while protesting against increased taxation in clashes with British soldiers in Boston

Causes of the American Revolution

“No Taxation Without Representation”• Boston Tea Party

(1773)  American colonists, dressed as American Native Indians, boarded ships in Boston harbour and threw tea cargo overboard in protest against increased British taxes

• Intolerable Acts (1774) British laws (‘Coercive Acts’) brought in to punish the rebellious American colonists. Further increased tensions.

 

1st Continental Congress (1774)

• Washington served as a delegate for Virginia to the 1st Continental Congress in 1774.

• 12 of the 13 colonies met to discuss the increased taxation and oppression by the British Government. They also discussed what their response to the British should be.

2nd Continental Congress (1775)

• Washington again attended as the delegate for Virginia to the 2nd Continental Congress.

• 13 Colonies met on this occasion.

• Washington was appointed as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Forces by the 2nd Continental Congress.

Declaration of Independence (1776)

• Drafted by Thomas Jefferson • 4th July, 1776

• 13 colonies at war with Britain declared themselves independent

• Listed grievances of the colonies suffered under King George III

• Asserted legal & civil rights, including a right to revolution and to bear arms.

Declaration of Independence

(1776)• “We hold these truths

to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The Continental Army

At the beginning of the war, the American Continental Army was:

•Poorly supplied•Little ammunition•Ill-disciplined (little or no training) •Washington decided to avoid large-scale battles with the British. Instead, he chose to fight skirmishes, slowly wearing the British down over 8 years.

Key Battles of American Revolutionary War

Victories

• Siege of Boston (1775)• Battle of Trenton

(1776)• Battle of Saratoga

(1777)

• *Yorktown (1781) – British surrender

Defeats• Battle of Long Island

(1776) – defeated• Battle of Philadelphia

(1777) – defeated

Winter at Valley Forge: General Von Steuben

(1777-1778)

During the winter of 1777-1778, the American Continental Army was stationed at Valley Forge. A Prussian General, Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, transformed the poorly-trained volunteers into a model army, organising them into effective companies and training the soldiers in the effective use of the bayonet.

France joins the American Revolutionary War

• France & Britain had becime fierce European rivals, particularly over territories in Canada.

• France formally recognized the United States of America on February 6, 1778.

• France gave troops, money and most importantly, a navy that engage with and prevent British supplies & reinforcements reaching America.

French navy engages with the British at the Battle of the

Chesapeake

British Surrender at Battle of Yorktown (1781)

• French & American armies laid siege to the British-controlled New York City

• British fleet defeated by French fleet at Chesapeake Bay in September 1781. The British fleet was sent to New York to support Cornwallis in New York. Cornwallis was now completely surrounded.

• Surrender took place on October 19th, 1781

Treaty of Paris (1783)September 3rd, 1783

• Ended the Revolutionary War between Britain & the American Colonies (USA)

• Britain recognised USA as an independent nation.

• Fixed the borders of the new nation

• Richard Oswarld represented Great Britain

• Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and John Adams represented USA.

President of the Constitutional Convention (1787)

• 25th May – 17th September• Washington was elected

as President of the Constitutional Convention

• This convention reated the new laws & government of the United States of America

• It decided on the powers of Government, the role of the President, his term of office etc.

Washington as 1st President of United States of America

(1789 – 1797)

• Washington became President at 57 years of age.

• He was elected twice, unopposed. John Adams was his Vice-President in both terms.

• He did not live in the White House.

• He turned down a third term, creating the precedent of two-term limit on US Presidents to this day.

Retirement & Legacy

• Retired to Mount Vernon in 1797.

• He died in 1799

• He granted freedom to his slaves in his Last Will & Testament.

• Set a precedent for two terms for US Presidents