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.
 
1 Continental Congress (1774)
st

• 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.
2 Continental Congress (1775)
nd

• 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)
Defeats
• Battle of Long Island (1776)
– defeated
• Battle of Philadelphia
(1777) – defeated

• *Yorktown (1781) – British

surrender
 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
French navy engages with the British at supplies & reinforcements
the Battle of the Chesapeake reaching America.
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 • Set a precedent for two
Vernon in 1797. terms for US Presidents

• He died in 1799

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