Who was George Washington?
George Washington was the United States of Americas first president.Washingtons passion for a free country led him to fully support theAmerican Revolutionary War and secured him the title of "father of the nation."
George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia on 22February 1732 to a family of planters, a profession he embraced himselfearly on. After graduating from university, Washington worked as a landsurveyor until the French and Indian War started and he decided to jointhe war. His leadership during the war later won him an appointment asthe American Armys commander in chief, which he held until the end ofwar in 1783.George Washingtons intentions were to go back to his early work as aplanter, but his love for the emerging nation kept bringing him back tothe center of political upheavals. He was one of the driving forcesbehind the drafting of the Constitution, and the key creator of a newtax system and the first national bank.As the first US president, Washington was responsible forestablishing an executive department and avoiding future conflicts withBritain, which he did by signing the Jay Treaty, which guaranteed theUnited States fair trade with other nations without the need for Britishapproval. He also spoke openly about the importance of freedom ofreligion.
George Washington married a widow and had no children ofhis own, but he helped raise two stepchildren and, later on, two of hisgrandchildren. Washington owned 317 slaves at his plantation in MountVernon, but since he refused to break families, he never sold any ofthem, even when they were not longer productive at the farm. Washingtondid, however, leave a statement declaring his slaves free after thedeath of his wife.George Washington died on his bed on 14 December 1799 of an acutecase of pneumonia. The illness developed overnight and it was possiblyworsened by the fact that his doctor used bleeding techniques in histreatment. The first U.S. president is buried in Mount Vernon.
