Celebrity Profile
George Washington (1732-1799), the founding president of the United States. In his early years, he worked as a land surveyor. During the American Revolutionary War, he served as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and made great contributions to American independence. Elected president in 1789 and re-elected in 1793. Because of his contribution to the fight for American independence, the development of the American economy, the construction of democracy and the legal system, and the consolidation of the federal foundation, he is honored as the "Father of the Founding" by Americans. After serving two terms in 1797, Washington refused to run again and retired to his hometown. This move set an example in American history of abandoning the lifelong presidential system and peacefully transferring power.
Classic Quotes
Our most reliable guarantor is our own wisdom.
Explanation of famous quotes
Steady: stable and reliable. Wisdom is the crystallization of past experience and is everyone's own unique wealth. It teaches us to do and speak, and it teaches us to win our own life and freedom. The wisdom of others cannot help us become wise. Therefore, your own wisdom is the most reliable.
George Washington was born in 1732 in Wakefield Manor, Virginia, USA. The son of a wealthy planter, he inherited a considerable fortune at the age of twenty. From 1753 to 1758, Washington served in the army and actively participated in the war between the French and the Indians, thus gaining military experience and prestige. In 1758, he was disarmed and returned to Virginia. Soon he met a man with four The child's wealthy widow, Martha Dandelij Custis, was married (he had no biological children).
Washington showed extraordinary talent in managing his own property in the next fifteen years. In 1774, when he was selected as a representative of Virginia to attend the First Continental Congress, he had already become One of the richest men in the American colonies. Washington was not a pioneer for independence, but the Second Continental Congress in June 1775 (of which he was a delegate) unanimously elected him to command the Continental troops. He was rich in military experience, rich in wealth, and well-known; he was handsome in appearance, strong in body (height was 6 feet 2 hours), and had excellent commanding skills. In particular, his perseverance made him the natural choice for commander-in-chief. Throughout the war, he served loyally, never took a penny, and was an example of integrity and devotion to duty.
Washington began to command the Continental Army in June 1775. By the expiration of his second presidential term in March 1797, his most significant contributions were made during this period. He died at home in Wynne Mountain, Virginia, in December 1799.
First of all, he was a successful military leader in the American War of Independence. But in fact he was by no means a military genius, and certainly not comparable to generals like Alexander and Caesar. At least half of his success was due to the unexpected incompetence of the British generals who faced him, and the other half was due to his own talents. But it should be remembered that several other American generals suffered heavy defeats, while Washington ultimately won the war despite suffering a few minor defeats.
Secondly, Washington was the president of the Constitutional Convention. Although his ideas did not play an important role in the formation of the United States Constitution, his supporters and his reputation played a significant role in the ratification of the Constitution by the states. At that time, there was a powerful force opposing the new constitution. If it were not for Washington's influence, it would be difficult to say that this constitution could be implemented.
Secondly, Washington was the first president of the United States. The United States was lucky to have a man of Washington's ability and political integrity as its first president. Looking at the history of South American and African countries, we can see that even a new country that started with a democratic constitution can easily degenerate into a military dictatorship. Washington was a staunch leader who maintained the unity of the country, but he had no ambition to hold power forever. He neither wanted to be a king nor a dictator. He set a precedent for voluntarily giving up power—a precedent that the United States still follows today.
With other American leaders at the time such as Thomas Jefferson (Thomas Jefferson, April 13, 1743 - July 4, 1826), James Madison (March 16, 1751) -June 28, 1836), Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1757 - July 12, 1804), etc., George Washington lacked innovative spirit and profound thinking. But he was far more important than all these heroic figures, playing a vital role in administrative leadership, both in war and in peace, without whom no political movement could achieve its purpose. Madison's contribution to the formation of the United States was significant, and Washington's contribution was almost indispensable.
George Washington's place in this volume depends largely on how people recognize the historical significance he brought to the United States. It is naturally difficult to ask a contemporary American to make an impartial evaluation of that historical significance.
Although the United States had greater military power and political influence in the mid-20th century than even the Roman Empire at its peak, its regime may not last as long as the Roman Empire. On the other hand, it seems obvious that several of the technological achievements made by the United States will be regarded as of great significance by other peoples in the future. The invention of the airplane and the landing of man on the moon, for example, represent achievements that were only dreamed of by past generations; it is difficult to imagine that the invention of nuclear weapons will be regarded as an insignificant achievement in the future.
Since George Washington is generally comparable to the Roman Augustus Caesar, it seems reasonable to place him close to Augustus in this volume. If Washington is ranked slightly lower, it is mainly because he led for a much shorter period than Augustus, and many others such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison also played a role in the formation of the United States. played an important role. But Washington ranks higher than figures like Alexander the Great and Napoleon because his contributions are more indelible than theirs. The founder of the United States of America - Washington
Everyone knows that the capital of the United States is Washington, which is located on the Potomac River on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, there was no such city in the United States before 1800. It was specially built by the American people to commemorate the founding father of the United States, George Washington. This shows how lofty he is in the hearts of the American people.
On February 22, 1732, George Washington was born into a plantation family in Virginia. He lost his father when he was young and inherited only a small amount of land and 10 black slaves. When he was 16 years old, he went to the West to work as a land surveyor, and later did land sales in the Ohio River Basin. With his own hard work, Washington became a famous local plantation owner.
At that time, Britain and France were engaged in a protracted war for the North American colonies. In order to defeat France, Britain tried its best to win the support of large North American planters. In 1754, the Governor of Virginia promised to give 200,000 acres of land to participate in the war. A rich man in the anti-French war, Washington actively participated in the British war against France, commanded the Virginia local armed forces to fight bravely, made repeated military exploits, and assisted the British army in driving the French army out of North America. But after the war, Britain immediately turned its back and declared the western land to be the private property of the royal family, and no cultivation was allowed. This ban caused Washington to lose more than 30,000 acres of land at once. From then on, he became a staunch opponent of British colonial policy.
On April 19, 1775, the people of Boston fired the first shot in resistance to British colonial rule in Lexington. People from all states in North America responded one after another, and the vigorous American War of Independence broke out.
In June 1775, the 13 British colonies in North America held the "Continental Congress" in Philadelphia (Philidelphia), and Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. At this time, the Boston rebels were fighting fiercely with the British troops there. Washington immediately set off on horseback and arrived in Boston on July 3. He went to the front line to command the battle and dealt a serious blow to the British troops.
In the early days of the war, the US military fought very hard. Most of them were farmers recruited temporarily. Their clothes were in tatters, they had no weapons, and they had no formal military training. They did not look like an army at all. On the other hand, the logistics supply of the US military was also extremely difficult. The soldiers often did not have enough to eat or wear warm clothes. Sometimes they could not eat bread for five or six days in a row and had to eat horse feed. In the cold winter, many soldiers had to Marching barefoot.
On the contrary, their opponents, the British army, were well-equipped, well-trained, and had sufficient logistical supplies. Therefore, the U.S. military suffered defeat after defeat, and fortresses such as New York were lost one after another. By September 1777, even the capital Philadelphia was occupied by the British army. Some generals with weak will actually led their troops to surrender to the British army.
Under extremely severe circumstances, Washington has always been loyal to the independence cause of the North American people and has never wavered. With his extraordinary talents, he organized the US military, which was originally free and undisciplined and lacked organizational discipline and unified command. He trained and grew in battle and gradually established a powerful regular army. He encouraged American soldiers and called on them to fight for freedom, pointing out: Americans are free or slaves; our fields should be ours, or should be robbed and destroyed; there are two ways, one is to resist bravely, and the other is to be docile. , placed in front of the soldiers of the Independence Army.
He worked hard to unite and connect the states to fight together. In October 1777, the U.S. Army defeated the British Army at Saratoga, thus reversing the entire Revolutionary War. At the same time, in order to isolate the Great Britain, the United States launched various diplomatic activities to obtain assistance from France and other countries. In June 1778, French warships entered the United States, and the British army was forced to retreat from Philadelphia and turn its main attack direction south. In 1780, the British army moved its main force to the southern port city of Yorktown. The French and American troops advanced in parallel and approached Yorktown. The French army used its navy to blockade the seaport, cut off the British maritime supply line, and cut off the British army's retreat. Washington led his troops to attack from the front.
In September 1781, British commander Cornwallis led more than a thousand troops to surrender to Washington, marking the final victory of the American War of Independence.
After the victory of the Revolutionary War, Washington returned to Virginia and continued to run his own plantation, enjoying a quiet pastoral life under the shade of grape vines and fig trees. In 1787, Washington came out again to preside over the Constitutional Convention and formulated the world's first bourgeois constitution. In April 1789, Washington was elected as the first president of the United States.
When he served as President of the United States for eight years, he vowed not to be re-elected and resolutely returned to Mount Vernon to live a civilian life.
On December 14, 1799, Washington died of illness.