Next Several Years Washington example essay topic

George Washington was born on February 22, 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was the eldest of six children by Augustine Washington and his second wife Mary Ball. The majority of Washington's education came from his father and after his death when George was 11 years of age in 1743, his elder half-brother Lawrence. Young George quickly learned the trade of surveying and at the age of 16 in 1748 he joined a surveying party sent out to the Shenandoah Valley by Lord Fairfax, a land baron. For the next several years Washington would continue surveying in Virginia and West Virginia where he acquired a life-long interest in the west. In 1753 he began his career in the military when the royal governor appointed him to an adjutant ship in the militia, as a major.

The next year he became lieutenant colonel and then colonel in the militia. He also resigned that same year agitated by the dilution of his rank due to the pending arrival of British regulars. He would reenter the military in 1755 with the courtesy title of colonel. After bravely escaping death in the Battle of Monongahela he was awarded command of the Virginia military forces and charged with defending the colony's frontier.

Due to a shortage in equipment and soldiers this was quite an arduous task. Angered by governmental neglect of the militia and aggravated by not rising in rank he again resigned in late 1758 or early 1759. Washington then married Martha Dandridge Custis a wealthy widow and mother of two children. Although he never had any children of his own he loved Martha's two from her previous marriage as if they were. From 1759 to 1774 he ran his plantations and sat on the Virginia House of Burgesses. In the 1770's Washington would represent Virginia in the First and Second Continental Congresses and in 1775 Congress appointed him commander in chief of the Continental Army.

Despite many limiting factors, especially with supplies, he eventually produced a highly skilled and disciplined fighting force. He again retired after the Treaty of Paris in 1783 but his retirement would be brief. Unsatisfied with the nation's progress under the Articles of Confederation, Washington began advocating a stronger central government. He then hosted the Mount Vernon Conference in 1785 at his estate. Then in 1787 he would be encouraged by many of his friends to attend the Constitutional Convention. He was the president of the convention and presided over it the entire time.

Although he provided little to the actual debate and kept his political opinion to himself, because he felt the need for his impartiality as he would most likely be the nation's first President, off the floor he carried a deep concern for the nations future that he expressed to everyone. The Constitutional Convention's immeasurable success was a direct result of Washington's presence and dignity. After the Constitution was ratified in 1788, the Electoral College unanimously elected him as the first President of The United States of America. He would serve two productive terms as President, where he set the standards and became the model for Presidents thereafter. He nurtured the young emerging nation into a strengthened and unified world power. He appeased many of the competing factions within the government and materialized the newborn Constitution.

During his Presidency he firmly believed in neutrality until the country gained more power, did not hesitate to exercise his presidential power, and devoted much of his time to furthering the unification of his country. He was strongly encouraged by many people to return for a third term, but had grown tired of politics and chose not to. He gave his "Farewell Address" in 1796, in which he urged the nation to abandon party spirit and sectional differences and to avoid involvement in wars and domestic policies of other nations. Although he would only enjoy a few more years of retirement he continued to show his willingness to make sacrifices for his country.

When in 1798 he agreed to command the army because the nation was on the verge of war with France, though in the end his services were not needed. He would die the next year in 1799 at the age of 67 years.