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George Washington

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George Washington PowerPoint: George Washington

 The “American Cincinnatus”

Born: 1732

Youth: Washington never attended school, but instead was educated by his father and brother. He contracted smallpox in Barbados in 1751. Tried to join the British Navy at 14, but his mother refused to give him permission.
He trained as and became a surveyor.

Military background: Commander of Virginia Military – 1755-1758

Tensions between Britain & American Colonies

  • Stamp Act (1765) – British tax on official documents
  • Townshend Act (1767) – British tax on tea and glass
  • Boston Massacre (1770)
  • 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):

1774 - 1st Continental Congress

1774 – 1st Continental Congress

 

  • Delegate for Virginia to Continental Congress
  • 12 colonies attend

 

 

 

 

2nd Continental Congress (1775):

1775 - 2nd Continental Congress

1775 – 2nd Continental Congress

  • Delegate for Virginia to Continental Congress
  • Appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Forces by the 2nd Continental Congress

 

 

 

 

 

Declaration of Independence: 1776declaration

 

 

 

 

 

 

Key Battles: (Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Forces 1775-1783)

  • Lexington & Concord
  • Siege of Boston (1775) – victorious
  • Battle of Long Island (1776) – defeated
  • Battle of Trenton – (1776) – victorious
  • Crossing the Delaware (1776)
  • Battle of Philadelphia (1777) – defeated
  • Battle of Saratoga (1777) – British Army defeated
*France enter the war on Americans side in 1777*
  • Winter at Valley Forge (1777 – 1778) – General von Steuben trains the Continental Army in discipline & tactics.
  • Yorktown (1781) – British surrender
  • Washington lost more battles than he won!

 

President of the Constitutional Convention (1787)

1787 – American Constitutional Convention

1787 – American Constitutional Convention

Washington as President (1789 – 1797):
  • Washington became President at 57 years of age.
  • He was elected twice, unopposed.
  • He did not live in the White House.
  • John Adams was his Vice-President in both terms.
  • He turned down a third term, creating the precedent of two-term limit on US Presidents to this day.
Retirement:
  • Retired to Mount Vernon in 1797.
Death: 1799

Legacy:

  • He granted freedom to his slaves in his Last Will & Testament.
  • Proclamation of Neutrality in 1793. This proclamation set the precedent for US non-involvement in foreign wars.
  • Set a precedent for two terms for US Presidents

 

Download a Word doc. of George Washington here:

G. WASHINGTON.bullet points

 

 

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