George Washington :: essays research papers

George Washington was commander in chief of the Continental army during the American Revolution and first president of the United States (1789-97). Early Life and Career. born(p) in Westmoreland County, Va., on Feb. 22, 1732, George Washington was the eldest son of Augustine Washington and his morsel wife, Mary Ball Washington, who were prosperous Virginia gentry of English descent. George spent his wee geezerhood on the family estate on Popes Creek along the Potomac River. His primaeval education included the study of such subjects as mathematics, go overing, the classics, and "rules of civility." His father died in 1743, and soon thereafter George went to live with his half brother Lawrence at get into Vernon, Lawrences plantation on the Potomac. Lawrence, who became something of a substitute father for his brother, had married into the Fairfax family, large(p) and influential Virginians who helped launch Georges career. An early ambition to go to sea had been in ef fect discouraged by Georges mother instead, he turned to surveying, securing (1748) an appointment to survey Lord Fairfaxs lands in the Shenandoah Valley. He helped lay out the Virginia town of Bel thrustn (now Alexandria) in 1749 and was appointed surveyor for Culpeper County. George accompanied his brother to Barbados in an effort to cure Lawrence of tuberculosis, simply Lawrence died in 1752, soon after the brothers returned. George ultimately inherited the Mount Vernon estate. By 1753 the growing rivalry between the British and French over visit of the Ohio Valley, soon to erupt into the French and Indian War (1754-63), created new opportunities for the wishful young Washington. He first gained public notice when, as adjutant of one of Virginias four military districts, he was dispatched (October 1753) by Gov. Robert Dinwiddie on a fruitless mission to warn the French commander at fort Le Boeuf against further encroachment on territory claimed by Britain. Washingtons diary ac count of the dangers and difficulties of his journey, published at Williamsburg on his return, may have helped win him his ensuing promotion to lieutenant colonel. Although only 22 years of age and lacking experience, he learned quickly, meeting the problems of recruitment, supply, and desertions with a faction of brashness and native ability that earned him the respect of his superiors. French and Indian War.In April 1754, on his way to establish a post at the Forks of the Ohio (the current site of Pittsburgh), Washington learned that the French had already erected a fort there.