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A depiction of George Washington during a harvest.(George Washington and slavery - Wikipedia)When he was just 11 years old, George Washington inherited 10 slaves from his father’s estate.[1] He would acquire many more in the years to come, whether through the death of other family members or by purchasing them from slave markets and neighboring plantations. When he married the wealthy widow Martha Dandridge Custis in 1759, she brought more than 80 enslaved workers along with her,[2] bringing the total number of enslaved men, women and children at Mount Vernon to more than 150 before the start of the Revolutionary War.[3]Despite having been an active slave holder for 56 years, George Washington struggled with the institution of slavery and spoke frequently of his desire to end the practice. At the end of his life, Washington made the decision to free all his slaves in his 1799 will - the only slave-holding Founding Father to do so. Yet, despite his best intentions, the fate of his slaves was determined by an incident that happened decades earlier.The story of Oney Judge — Working Out LoudOna Judge was born around 1773. Her mother, Betty, was a mulatto, the enslaved daughter of an enslaved African American, who was a “dower slave,” part of the estate of Martha’s first husband.[4] Her father, Andrew Judge, was a white indentured servant who had recently arrived in America from Leeds, England.[5] After fulfilling his four-year work contract at Mount Vernon during which he reportedly was responsible for Washington's military uniform, Andrew Judge moved off the plantation to start his own farm.[6] As children born to enslaved women were considered property of the slaveholder, according to Virginia law, his daughter remained in bondage.At the age of 9, Oney, moved into the mansion house, likely as a "playmate" for Martha Washington's (family of George Washington) granddaughter Nelly Custis.[7] . Like her mother, she became a talented and highly valued seamstress, and was later promoted to become Martha Washington’s personal maid. When Washington headed to New York City in 1789 for his inauguration as president, Oney was one of only a handful of enslaved people the couple took with them.[8] Late the following year, when the federal capital moved to Philadelphia, the presidential household followed shortly.[9]George Washington's Mount VernonWith an active and growing free black community of some 6,000 people, Philadelphia had become the nation’s leading hotbed of abolitionism. Oney was in the minority as a enslaved woman in Philadelphia; fewer than 100 slaves lived within city limits in 1796[10] In 1780, Pennsylvania passed the Gradual Abolition Act, a law that freed people after they turned 28 and that automatically freed any slave who moved to the state and lived there for more than six months.[11] To evade the law, the Washingtons made sure to transport their enslaved workers in and out of the state every six months to avoid them establishing legal residency.[12]As the first lady’s bodyservant, Oney helped dress her mistress for special events, traveled with her on social calls and ran errands for her. For over five years in Philadelphia, Oney encountered and became acquainted with members of the city’s free black community and former enslaved workers who had gained their freedom under the gradual abolition law.[13] Such interactions undoubtedly fueled her thinking about slavery, the changing laws regarding the institution and the possibilities of freedom.Martha WashingtonIn the spring of 1796, when she was 22 years old, Judge learned that Martha Washington planned to give her away as a wedding gift to her famously temperamental granddaughter, Elizabeth Parke Custis.[14] Martha Washington’s decision to turn Judge over to Eliza was a reminder to Judge and everyone enslaved at the Executive Mansion that they had absolutely no control over their lives, no matter how loyally they served.In an 1845 interview published in the abolitionist newspaper The Granite Freeman (May 22, 1845), Judge sais:"Whilst they were packing up to go to Virginia, I was packing to go, I didn't know where; for I knew that if I went back to Virginia, I should never get my liberty. I had friends among the colored people of Philadelphia, had my things carried there beforehand, and left Washington's house while they were eating dinner."[15]So, as the household prepared for the Washingtons’ return to Mount Vernon for the summer, Judge made plans for her escape. On May 21, 1796, she slipped out of the mansion while the president and first lady were eating their supper. Members of the free black community helped her get aboard a ship commanded by Captain John Bowles, who sailed frequently between Philadelphia, New York and Portsmouth, New Hampshire.[16] After a five-day journey, Judge disembarked in that coastal city, where she would begin her new life.When Martha learned of Ona’s self-emancipation, she felt betrayed and claimed that Ona must have been abducted and seduced by a Frenchman.[17] She wrote that Ona had always been well-treated, and even had a room of her own. The First Lady urged the President to advertise a reward for Ona’s recapture. Notices offering a $10 reward for her return appeared on May 24 in the Philadelphia Gazette and Universal Daily Advertiser and, a day later, in Claypoole’s American Daily Advertiser.[18]Advertisement for the return of Ona Judge, Pennsylvania Gazette, May 24, 1796 (DAMS 9594), Historical Society of Pennsylvania. (Resistance and Punishment)In the advertisement, Ona was described as:“a light [mixed-race] girl, much freckled, with very black eyes and bushy black hair, she is of middle stature, slender, and delicately formed.” The ad also noted that Ona has “many changes of good clothes, of all sorts.”[19]The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 passed overwhelmingly by Congress and was signed into law by Washington — established the legal mechanism by which a slaveholder could recover his property.[20] The Act made it a federal crime to assist an escaped slave or to interfere with his capture, and allowed slave-catchers into every U.S. state and territory. Washington would resort to the legislation that he himself signed several times in his attempts to recapture his lost slaves.With a free black population of some 360 citizens and virtually no enslaved workers, Portsmouth was different from any place Judge had ever known. She found lodging within the free black community, which was accustomed to aiding fugitive slaves, and supported herself doing domestic work, one of the few opportunities available for women of color.[21]During the summer after she escaped, Judge was walking in Portsmouth when she saw Elizabeth Langdon, the daughter of New Hampshire Senator John Langdon. Betsy Langdon recognized Oney, having encountered her before when calling on Martha Washington, a family friend, or her granddaughter Nelly Custis.[22] After Judge passed by without acknowledging her, Betsy likely told her father of the sighting, and her father felt obligated to notify Washington of his fugitive slave’s whereabouts.George Washington to Joseph Whipple, 28 November 1796Philadelphia 28th Novr 1796.SirUpon my return to this City the latter end of October, after an absence of some weeks at Mount Vernon, Mr Wolcott presented me with your letter of the 4th of that month.I regret that the attempt you made to restore the girl (Oney Judge as she called herself while with us, and who, without the least provocation absconded from her Mistress) should have been attended with so little success. To enter into such a compromise, as she has suggested to you, is totally inadmissible, for reasons that must strike at first view: for however well disposed I might be to a gradual abolition, or even to an entire emancipation of that description of People (if the latter was in itself practicable at this Moment) it would neither be politic or just, to reward unfaithfulness with a premature preference; and thereby discontent, beforehand, the minds of all her fellow Servants; who by their steady adherence, are far more deserving than herself, of favor.I was apprehensive (and so informed Mr Wolcott) that if she had any previous notice, more than could be avoided, of the intention to send her back, that she would contrive to elude it; for whatever she may have asserted to the contrary, there is no doubt in this family, of her having been seduced and enticed off by a Frenchman, who was either really, or pretendedly deranged; and under that guize, used frequently to introduce himself into the family; & has never been seen here, since the girl decamped. We have indeed lately been informed, through other channels, that she did go to Portsmouth with a Frenchman, who getting tired of her, as is presumed left her, and that she had betaken herself to the Needle—the use of which she well understood—for a livelihood.About the epoch I am speaking, she herself was desirous of returning to Virginia; for when Captn Prescot was on the point of Sailing from Portsmouth for the Federal City with his family, she offered herself to his Lady as a waiter—told her she had lived with Mrs Washington (without entering into particulars)—and that she was desirous of getting back to her native place & friends. Mrs Prescot either from having no occasion for her services, or presuming that she might have been discarded for improper conduct (unluckily for Mrs Washington) declined taking her.If she will return to her former Service, without obliging me to resort to compulsory means to effect it, her late conduct will be forgiven by her Mistress; and she will meet with the same treatment from me, that all the rest of her family (which is a very numerous one) shall receive. If she will not, you would oblige me, by pursuing such measures as are proper, to put her on board a Vessel bound either to Alexandria or the Federal City; Directed in either case, to my Manager at Mount Vernon, by the door of which the Vessel must pass; or to the care of Mr Lear at the last mentioned place, if it should not stop before it arrives at that Port.I do not mean however, by this request, that such violent measures should be used as would excite a mob or riot, which might be the case if she has adherents, or even uneasy sensations in the minds of well disposed Citizens. rather than either of these shd happen, I would forego her services altogether; and the example also, which is of infinite more importance. The less is said before hand, and the more celerity is used in the act of Shipping her, when an opportunity presents, the better chance Mrs Washington (who is desirous of receiving her again) will have to be gratified.We had vastly rather she should be sent to Virginia than brought to this place; as our stay here will be but short; and as it is not unlikely that she may, from the circumstance I have mentioned, be in a state of pregnancy. I should be glad to hear from you on this subject, and am Sir Your Obedt Hble ServtGo: Washington[23].Trying to act discreetly, Washington got in contact with Joseph Whipple, the collector of customs in Portsmouth and the brother of famed Revolutionary General William Whipple.[24] When Whipple tracked Judge down (by falsely advertising that he was seeking a female domestic for his home), he asked her about her reasons for fleeing bondage, and offered to negotiate on her behalf. He subsequently wrote to Washington that she had agreed to return, on the condition that she be freed when Martha Washington died.Though he might be in favor of gradual abolition of slavery, the president continued, he didn’t want to reward Judge’s “unfaithfulness” and inspire other enslaved people to try and escape. Oney never intended to honor this agreement. She told Whipple what he wanted to hear, agreed to return to her owners, and left his presence with no intention of ever keeping her word.[25]Oney Judge was not the first of Washington's slaves unwilling to wait for their master's death to acquire freedom. Mount Vernon’s enslaved community took opportunities, when possible, to physically escape the bonds of slavery. For example, in April of 1781 during the American Revolution, seventeen members of the Mount Vernon enslaved population—fourteen men and three women—fled to the British warship. HMS Savage anchored in the Potomac off the shore of the plantation.[26]The painting “A Cook for George Washington” might be of Hercules, but he is not named. (Gilbert Stuart Hercules Posey - Wikipedia)In other instances, members of the enslaved community who were directly connected to the Washingtons either attempted to or were successful in their escape plans. These individuals included Washington’s personal assistant. Christopher Sheels (a dower slave as well), whose plan to escape with his fiancée was thwarted[27] and the family cook Hercules Posey.[28]By the 1780s, Washington’s feelings about slavery had changed, and he expressed his uneasiness with the institution to close friends, including his Revolutionary War comrade the Marquis de Lafayette.[29] But as his reaction to Judge’s escape made clear, Washington was not ready to give up on the bound labor on which his Virginia plantation and his life was built. Far from a passive bystander in the perpetuation of slavery, Washington at this point was actively engaged in returning Judge to his Martha's possession.[30] This was a financial issue, not a moral one.With antislavery sentiment growing in New Hampshire, and Washington’s influence waning as his term ended, Whipple did little more to pursue Judge on his behalf. Safe for the time being, she started building a life in Portsmouth, and married Jack Staines, a free black sailor, in early 1797.[31]In a scathing letter to Whipple in late 1796, Washington wrote:“I regret that the attempt you made to restore the Girl…should have been attended with so little Success. o enter into such a compromise with her, as she suggested to you, is totally inadmissible, for reasons that must strike at first view: for however well disposed I might be to a gradual abolition, it would neither be politic or just to reward unfaithfulness with a premature preference [of freedom]; and thereby discontent before hand the minds of all her fellow-servants who by their steady attachments are far more deserving than herself of favor.”[32]Though marriage gave her some additional legal protection, Ona remained vigilant and with good reason. In August 1799, Washington asked his nephew, Burwell Bassett Jr., to try and seize Judge and any children she may have had on his upcoming business trip to New Hampshire.[33] Bassett revealed his intentions during a dinner hosted by Senator Langdon, who quickly warned Oney through one of his servants.[34] Jack Staines was at sea at the time, but Ona managed to escape to the neighboring town of Greenland, where she and her infant daughter hid with a free black family, the Jacks, until Bassett left Portsmouth, empty-handed.“Negros are growing more & more insolent & difficult to govern…”--GEORGE WASHINGTON, 1798[35]Four months later, George Washington died, freeing all of his enslaved workers according to his will. Though the gesture was far from meaningless, it didn’t go far enough. Martha Washington, who lived until 1802, couldn’t even legally have emancipated her enslaved workers upon her death (including, technically, Oney Judge Staines and her children), as they were part of her inheritance from her first husband and by law went to her surviving grandchildren.[36] In the end, Washington and his fellow founders would push the hard decisions about slavery off onto future generations of Americans–with explosive consequences.London newspaper Bell’s Weekly Messenger praised the first U.S. president’s decision to free his slaves in his will:“He emancipates his slaves after his wife’s death,” Improving upon this direction of her husband, Mrs. Washington, to whom we know not that we can pay a more acceptable tribute than to say, that she was worthy of such a man, has, it is said, already emancipated them.”[37]Journal entry listing the slaves owned by Washington at the time of his death (Why Did Martha Washington Free Her Husband’s Slaves Early?)Of the 317 enslaved people living at Mount Vernon in 1799, a little less than half (123 individuals) were owned by George Washington himself.[38] Martha instead signed a deed of manumission in December 1800, and the slaves were free on January 1, 1801.[39]Another 153 slaves at Mount Vernon in 1799 were dower slaves from the Custis estate. When Martha Washington's first husband, Daniel Parke Custis, died without a will in 1757, she received a life interest in one-third of his estate, including the slaves.[40] Neither George nor Martha Washington could free these slaves by law and upon Martha’s death these individuals reverted to the Custis estate and were divided among her grandchildren. Upon the death of George and Martha Washington, ownership of Oney along with that of her children, transferred to the Custis estate forcing Judge to live the rest of her life as a fugitive slave.[41]Ona Judge Staines lived with her husband and their three children until Jack’s death in 1803.[42] After briefly holding a live-in position with the Bartlett family in Portsmouth, Ona left and moved with her children into the home of the Jacks family, where they remained. Work was scarce, and Ona’s son, William, is believed to have left home in the 1820s to become a sailor, like his father.[43] Her two daughters, Eliza and Nancy, were sadly forced into indentured servitude; dying before their mother.[44] After she became too old for physical labor, Ona herself lived in poverty, relying on donations from the community.Despite all the hardships, Ona enjoyed the benefits of a life of freedom: She taught herself to read and write, embraced Christianity and worshiped regularly at a church of her choice.[45] Several years before her death in 1848, she granted two interviews to abolitionist newspapers recounting her journey from bondage, alleging that the Washingtons administered brutal punishments to rebellious bondpeople, and tried to circumvent Pennsylvania’s 1780 gradual abolition law by moving bondpeople to and from the state every six months.[46]When a reporter from the Granite Freeman asked her if she regretted leaving the relative luxury of the Washingtons’ household, as she had worked so much harder after her escape, Ona Judge Staines memorably replied:“No, I am free, and have, I trust been made a child of God by the means.”[47]Footnotes[1] George Washington[2] List of Martha Dandridge Custis's Dower Slaves, 1760[3] Slavery[4] http://The February 18, 1786 Mount Vernon slave census lists "Oney" as Betty's child and "12 yrs. old". Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig, eds., The Diaries of George Washington, vol. 4, (Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia), p. 278.[5] ONEY Judge....father ANDREW Ju[6] Austin[7] The President's House Revisited[8] Ona Judge, President Washington’s fugitive slave[9] The Nine Capitals of the United States[10] Never Caught[11] An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, 1780[12] https://www.google.com/amp/s/constitutioncenter.org/amp/blog/on-the-road-to-freedom-one-gradual-step-at-a-time[13] Meet the slave who escaped from George Washington's Philly mansion and was never caught[14] Martha Washington[15] Ona Judge Escapes to Freedom (U.S. National Park Service)[16] Ona Judge – George Washington’s Runaway Slave[17] Ona Judge: The First Lady’s personal maid who freed herself from bondage and was ‘Never Caught’[18] Resistance and Punishment[19] Ona Judge: The First Lady’s personal maid who freed herself from bondage and was ‘Never Caught’[20] Congress enacts first fugitive slave law, Feb. 12, 1793[21] https://blackheritagetrailnh.org/nh-history/[22] Buried Lives[23] Founders Online: From George Washington to Joseph Whipple, 28 November 1796[24] Founders Online: From George Washington to Joseph Whipple, 28 November 1796[25] Ona Judge's Fight for Freedom[26] H.M.S. Savage[27] Christopher Sheels[28] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/the-man-who-fed-the-first-president-and-hungered-for-freedom/2017/02/24/7897d572-f475-11e6-b9c9-e83fce42fb61_story.html%3foutputType=amp[29] Lafayette and Slavery - Lafayette Society[30] Fugitive Slaves and American Courts[31] Runaway Slave Ona Judge Staines[32] George Washington, a Letter, and a Runaway Slave[33] Founders Online: From George Washington to Burwell Bassett, Jr., 11 August 1799[34] Ona Judge Escapes to Freedom (U.S. National Park Service)[35] Resistance and Punishment[36] Why Did Martha Washington Free Her Husband’s Slaves Early?[37] The Atlantic Slave Trade in World History[38] The President's House: Slavery[39] George Washington Pamphlets[40] Why Did Martha Washington Free Her Husband’s Slaves Early?[41] Ona “Oney” Judge (1773-1848)[42] Judge, Oney (ca. 1773-1848)[43] Ona “Oney” Judge (1773-1848)[44] Runaway Slave Ona Judge Staines[45] Escaping George Washington: Oney Judge's 'amazing story' of courage[46] Ona Judge: The First Lady’s personal maid who freed herself from bondage and was ‘Never Caught’[47] Global African History Newspapers, Magazines, and Journals

January 6, 1911To my dear children—I have watched over you from your birth with a father’s loving care, and ever sought after your good. But the drums of war are beating now, as they once did when I was but a callow youth, and the terrible sound of trumpets calls to you as it once did to me. While I still serve my dear home city of Columbus, Mississippi as constable, my vigor fades. Man that is born of woman liveth but a little while, and all flesh is as grass; I do not know how much time I still have on this Earth. I write this account while my eyes are as yet not too dim to read, nor my hands too quivering to write it. I pray that you will take counsel from it, as in your younger days you took counsel from me not to steal apples from the tree in Mr. Cornell Franklin’s yard. (I trust I shall not have to use a peach switch to apply this counsel now.)Well do I recall the heady days of the spring of 1861, when news of secession set the state ablaze. So many of us young men—ah, so young we were! such dreams we had!—so many of us young men were all afire to enlist. It seemed that every stripling in Noxubee County flocked to the banner of the 19th Mississippi Infantry, and soon we had to turn recruits away. As if it were yesterday, I call to mind Colonel Mott’s voice barking present arms! order arms! ground arms! raise arms! fix bayonets! I grew heartily tired of forming line of battle, then right wheel or left wheel, into columns. Yet we grew into soldiers, and the day came for us to march forward to take the field. We did not march, at first; we traveled by rail to Richmond before we had to march. But we arrived too late for the Battle of Manassas, when our Southern brethren sent the Yankees running for home with their tails between their legs. We were rather put out at having missed the circus, and hoped awfully that we would ‘see the elephant’ soon, as the saying was in those days. Yet like good soldiers, we encamped and awaited the day of our baptism of fire.And then—such news! A lone assassin sympathetic to our cause had struck down both Lincoln and Hamlin at a ball! With one stroke the hated Yankees were decapitated; like a snake, they still writhed, but the mind that directed the slithering, and the fangs that dripped with venom—those were gone! Rumors flew through the camp—we would march on Washington—the Yankees were begging Jeff Davis for mercy—the old Union would be restored on our terms—the Yankees were at each other’s throats deciding who would be President—for the Constitution made no provision for what to do in the event that both the President and Vice-President were to die at once. Our mortal foes were crushed with scarcely a shot fired! Victory was ours!—and yet disappointment as well, for we’d had no chance to unsheath our own steel. All that we could do was await orders.As we later found out, the President pro tempore of the United States Senate, Solomon Ford, with the blessing of the Supreme Court, summoned the Electoral College back into session and bade them choose a new President. President Stephen A. Douglas was duly sworn in, and perhaps he would have carried on the fight, but our armies by this time were surrounding Washington, and the enemy generals were bitterly divided over the legitimacy of the new President, their Commander in Chief. Given the precarious nature of his position, Douglas could do little else: he agreed to an armistice, with peace talks to follow. The Treaty of Hagerstown was signed in the spring of 1862, and we young soldiers marched away to the rail depots for the long journey home to Mississippi. We were mustered out of service exactly one year after entering it.In August of 1862, we were abruptly called into service again. The Treaty had fixed the boundaries of the Confederacy along the northern borders of Arkansas and Tennessee. The USA had claimed Kentucky, Missouri, and Kansas as their soil, and the hated Republican Party had lost no time abolishing slavery there. The rich bottomlands of the Mississippi River were aflame, as men protecting their property clashed with bands of ruffians, while ‘Bleeding Kansas’ continued to bleed. Furthermore, while the Treaty had mandated that slaves captured on Union soil were to be returned to Confederate hands, in many areas this provision was not being enforced by corrupt Union sheriffs and local magistrates. Indeed, there were several parts of our own territory where the populace lacked enthusiasm for enforcing the laws concerning runaway slaves. The mountainous parts of our country—the Ozarks of Arkansas, the Piedmont of north Alabama and Tennessee, and the Appalachian Mountains from the Carolinas to western Virginia and onward into Union territory—were rife with persons who felt no pressing desire to support our peculiar institution, and the mountain valleys formed a conduit for slaves escaping to the North—in many cases onward to Canada. While we were a part of the Union, at least we could demand support for our property rights in Congress; once separated, we found no recourse.Our regiment was ordered to march to Arkansas and aid the State Guard there in capturing runaway slaves, as well as ensuring that the war in Missouri did not spill over into Arkansas. I believe there was hope that we might add Missouri to our dear Confederacy, for the flame of secession still burned in southern Missouri, and there were many that would have welcomed our fraternal aid. But Union troops savagely put down any hope of rebellion at the Battle of Rolla and the Battle of New Madrid. The parallel of thirty-six degrees, thirty minutes—that was to be our ne plus ultra. There is not much to tell of our service. We marched long and weary paths through the Ozark Mountains and bivouacked at the town of Calico Rock; we patrolled searching for Unionist sympathizers and runaway slaves, but found few enough of either one, as most people simply wished, as one old farmer I recall informed us, “t’be let ‘lone t’starve t’death in peace an’ quiet.” After six months, our terms were ended, and we were mustered out yet again. I returned to my beloved Noxubee County and soon married my beloved wife, your loving mother. Upon my father’s death, my elder brother inherited our land, and I moved my family to the city of Columbus, where I joined the constabulary.All seemed at peace for a while. Yankee farmers grumbled about the tolls we charged them on our rivers, but there was little they could do. The scuffles along the border slowly subsided, albeit not without bloodshed. Our proud new nation settled itself, and accepted the diplomatic recognition of the European powers, who remained eager to make acquaintance with our mighty ‘King Cotton.’Yet there was an unseen canker at our heart. Cotton requires fertile soil—and where cotton is grown continuously, the soil loses its fertility, little by little. We knew this, and we knew the remedies for it—of leaving fields fallow, or planting them periodically with clover or alfalfa, which wonderfully restore the soil and prepare it for the coming of ‘King Cotton’ again. We knew the need to dung and marl our fields, and to make a compost for our gardens. Yet many of our planters, though they knew of these remedies, were unable to enact them; they needed money, and growing cotton was the way to get it. Much of Virginia and the Carolinas were no longer suited for cultivating cotton or tobacco, or much of anything else. The planters of Virginia realized that their greatest profit lay in cultivating slaves, and selling them to those who were seeking fertile lands elsewhere. But by 1870, the Confederacy was beginning to run out of fertile lands.The proffered solution was to ‘Go west, young man!’, and indeed many hopeful planters set out to homestead lands in the Confederate West, in western Texas and the Territory of New Mexico. Unfortunately, the dryness of the climate proved poor for cotton cultivation. Yet the climate was not the worst of their problems. The Comanche nation ruled the western plains with fire and blood. Even before the formation of the Confederacy, they had driven settlement from western Texas. The state of Texas had complained that the United States was not sending enough assistance; well, now the United States was not disposed to send any assistance at all. Indeed, it was darkly whispered that the Yankees were arming the Comanche. Certainly the savages seemed to become increasingly proficient in the use of Springfield rifles over bows and arrows.At first, the Comanche would torture, kill, or enslave all persons on a farm or plantation that they raided—but they soon found out that any slaves that they captured were quite willing to show them where the farm’s foodstuffs and hidden valuables were kept, and willing to guide their bands of braves to nearby farms where the ‘pickings’ were rich. The Comanche soon grew willing to ally with the Negroes, and I was told that Negroes of uncommon strength and wits became accepted as warriors and chieftains within the tribe, learning their language and ways. With their strength swelling daily, and with looted money serving to purchase weapons through secret intermediaries, the Comanchería grew increasingly bold. Equally fierce tribes, notably the Apache and the Cheyenne, were impressed by the Comanche’s successes and formed alliances with them, perhaps sensing that here was the chance to end the white man’s threat to their lands. In June of 1874, a mixed band of Comanche, Cheyenne, and escaped Negroes smashed our fortifications in western Texas, wiping out the detachment at Adobe Walls with a savagery unprecedented in our history, frightening many Texans into fleeing eastward. This victory also allowed the Comanche communication with the Indians living in Oklahoma. The more civilized tribes had been allied with our nation since 1861—but even amongst them, large factions felt no particular love for the Confederacy and were willing to win a homeland by bloodshed and fire. Amongst the Cherokee and Choctaw there was wild talk of reclaiming their ancestral lands, or at least avenging their loss, as some of their elders still remembered with great bitterness. In May of 1875, allied Indian and Negro forces destroyed our line of fortifications from Fort Sill to Fort Stockton in coordinated attacks. With captured cannons, and—as we suspect—instruction in their use from the hated Yankees, or from Mexicans eager to humble the power that had seized their northern lands in 1847, the Indians swept eastward. The siege and the massacre of San Antonio de Bexar will long live in infamy. All those who heard the gore-drenched tale of what was done to the inhabitants could not bear the thought that they might suffer the same fate, and departed for the east as fast as they could. Raiding parties were seen doing deeds of blood as far east as Shreveport. The Texas militia fought bravely, but too often found themselves outnumbered and outgunned by foes who knew the land intimately, and who never engaged in a pitched battle unless victory was sure; they always seemed to strike exactly where our brave Texans were not.You may well be wondering why all our confederated states did not rise up as one, as we had done before, and sally forth to the aid of our Texas comrades. But recall how, even in the heady days of 1861 when all our zeal was for secession, the governor of Georgia refused at first to send his state’s militia outside of his own boundaries. Indeed, he denounced conscription as tyranny, subversive of the very rights of the states that the Confederacy had sworn to defend. His ideas had found favor in other state houses. Several governors pleaded that they could not send their ablest men to Texas without leaving the Negroes free of supervision and ripe for revolt or escape; others refused to contribute men without favorable concessions in other areas. Arkansas refused to send its men because of fear that the unrest in Oklahoma would spill across its own borders; Virginia feared that moving troops west would invite a Yankee thrust, especially in the western part of the state, which required a sizable military presence to stay pacified. In the end, a few states sent small forces. The brave defense of Seguin by the Louisiana Greys under the able command of elderly but undaunted Col. Kirby Smith will not soon be forgotten. Yet all was too little, too late. By 1877 the Confederacy was forced to negotiate with the surging Indian Confederation, and found to its surprise that the military might of the ‘savages’ was matched by the wisdom and skill of its negotiators; the administrative skills of the Civilized Tribes had merged with the ferocity of the Comanchería. The Confederacy was forced to recognize an independent state extending from the distant Colorado River all the way to the Brazos River, led by President William P. Ross, ably assisted by Generals Goyathlay, Henry Flipper, and Tuhuya Quahipu. The Indian Confederation has proved fractious, and the skills of several able governors and chiefs have not always kept the nation at peace with itself, but as yet it has managed to hold firm. It is believed that the Negroes and various Indian tribes are growing conscious of a new national unity. Treaties signed with the United States have generally kept their northern flank peaceful; the Confederation has relinquished its claim to Kansas in exchange for trade and, as we think, military support.So there we have the situation, and the Confederacy must seem in a right fix indeed. Westward expansion is blocked by the Comanche; thrusts northward are blocked by a strong Union military presence; slaves are escaping despite increased patrols to hunt them down; and the soil is growing increasingly impoverished, as bale after bale of our precious fertility is shipped to the mills of Manchester and Liverpool. Still, we continued on, and perhaps we might have continued on for some time—but we were brought low—though not by the savagery of the Comanches nor the oppression of Union arms. No, what brought us down—and this makes my blood boil to think of it—was a g—d— bug. They say it crossed the Rio Grande around 1892. It is, of course, the boll weevil, or as scientific men call it, Anthonomus grandis. The names that planters call it I must forbear to set down in writing. By 1902 it was ravaging the fields of Alabama and Mississippi. The one lifeline that had been holding up our entire Confederacy was fraying beyond its endurance. ‘King Cotton’ was revealed to be wearing nothing at all, though he marched as proudly as ever. We hoped for aid from Britain, but now that we had no cotton to sell, they proved uninterested in our plight; by this time they had developed enough cotton production in India that they really had no further need of us—a fact that they conveyed, with impeccable politeness as always, to our diplomatic envoys. Revenues plummeted; our richest planters defaulted on their loans and were forced to surrender their estates to the banks, who soon found out that the land was worthless thanks to years of unceasing cultivation. You remember the unrest that convulsed our land; the hunger that stalked Virginia; the riots in Charleston and Norfolk; the burning of Tupelo and Murfreesboro. Someone has said that men are always only three meals away from barbarism, and after playing my part in efforts to defend my beloved Columbus from mobs, I must agree. I finally received my ‘baptism of fire’—I finally ‘saw the elephant’—and found that I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would in the heady days of 1861. In fact, it left me feeling utterly wretched. It is a fearful thing to shoot at one’s fellow men.Only one power was willing to extend aid. The United States government sent secret envoys to speak with our President about reunification. The Confederacy was to be ruled directly from Washington, until such time as new state governments could be formed; we would become a sort of colony. We were to formally abandon slavery and provide our slaves with the full rights of citizenship and grants of land to farm. This rather stuck in our craw, but—with so many of our slaves chancing it in the Indian Confederation or in the Union, and with our agricultural output so low, we had little choice. In exchange, we would receive food aid, as well as construction of new railways and factories. A Negro from Missouri who has somehow managed to receive an education in the sciences will be leading the effort to instruct his brethren in methods of farming that will replenish the exhausted soil. I never thought I would see the day that a Negro would have anything to teach our race, but having inspected my brother’s plantation, and seen the deeply eroded gullies cutting into the barren red clay dirt where once the fields were green and verdant, I must admit that if anyone can restore that land to producing anything of value, I would welcome his knowledge, be his skin never so dusky.I had often wondered why the United States had made no move to invade us. For fifty years they had guarded their border with us, constructing forts from Pennsylvania to Colorado—yet they had never attempted to invade. Now I suspect that they knew our fall was inevitable. The boll weevil only expedited what I fear was our unavoidable demise. Two weeks ago, President George Mason Lee concluded the Treaty of Union, by which the Confederacy shall dissolve. The cause that thrilled us so in 1861 has died from the world, and my heart is heavy for it. Yet I trust—as I must—that despite our sundering fifty years ago, we may once again remember our brotherhood and find a way to live together. I cannot see that we have any other choice.Yet even now, men who were babes in arms in 1861 are rallying the young to their cause. They mean to ride forth and repel the invaders, maintain their ancient liberties with the same might that they showed the entire world in 1861, glittering sabers unsheathed and bugles singing true. Indeed, men shouting the battle cry of “Avaunt Southrons!” and giving the old rebel yell have been conversing long with my son Charles (as I know from speaking with his dear wife May, who I believe has always had rather more sense than he has) and with his brethren. There is talk of raising the 19th Mississippi Infantry again and marching away beneath its old banner; talk of once again taking the fight to the Yankees and sending them running with their tails between their legs.My sons, you are the most precious things in my life, and if I had to lose all my worldly goods to ensure your safety and happiness, I would count it scarcely a loss at all. Do not listen to the d—d fools who speak of past glories that they themselves have never tasted. There are none so blind as those who will not see, and if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Indeed, we are all of us already in the ditch. Listen not to those who believe that we can get ourselves out of it with more digging. The path ahead may require humility on our part; yet that is a Christian virtue, and though my heart is weighted down with grief, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. And I humbly pray His blessing upon us as we struggle to earn again the place that we were so quick to abandon in our pride and vainglory, half a century ago. Pray God that pride does not overtake us this time.May the Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon you, and give you peace, is ever my prayer for you.Your dear father,George Nathaniel SmithI wrote this in a sort of wave of inspiration over three hours, without going back and revising. I’m sure that the historians among us will find things to quibble with, and that’s fine; I had fun and thought the scenario wasn’t utterly impossible, but those more learned than I are free to suggest revisions. I hope someone likes this. We shall see.In the real world, George Nathaniel Smith was my great-great-grandfather, he did serve in the 19th Mississippi (and he fought in the eastern campaign, which he never got to do in the story), and he really did return home and serve as a policeman for his town of Columbus, Mississippi. His son Charles would have had a daughter about one and a half years old in early 1911; that was my grandmother.

Q. Where is the documentation that George Washington turned down the kingship?A. None existsDid George Washington Turn Down An Offer To Be A King?The Man Who Would Not Be KingWas George Washington Really Offered a Chance to be King of the U.S.?George Washington: The Reluctant President10 Facts about Washington's ElectionGeorge Washington: Life Before the Presidency | Miller CenterAn Engraving of George Washington and His FamilyDid George Washington Turn Down An Offer To Be A King?The answer is: No. There is no evidence that this ever happened. But the story, in various forms, has been around for a long time.The Story Behind the MythGrover FurrMontclair State UniversityMarch 2007What is the origin of this story?The best account of the origins and development of this myth is by Robert F. Haggard, "The Nicola Affair: Lewis Nicola, George Washington, and American Military Discontent during the Revolutionary War," Proceedings of The American Philosophical Society Vol. 146, No. 2, June 2002, pp. 139-169, on line at the APS site here:http://www.aps-pub.com/proceedings/1462/201.pdfHaggard first summarizes how the myth grew by reviewing accounts of it in historical works. The earliest of them, published in 1823, states ""a letter was handed to Washington containing the demand of some for a monarchy, and himself the king." From there the story grew. As recently as 1984 a prominent American historian wrote that "Washington’s refusal to countenance Nicola’s scheme ‘signifies the death of the monarchical idea in the United States and the total triumph of representative government.’" (Haggard p. 142).Haggard’s essay is the fullest answer to the question posed in my title. This short essay simply attempts to amplify and clarify it, and to present the relevant evidentiary documents in an authoritative and accessible format.Haggard writes:…[H]istorians have not always been wary enough of stories that appear tailor-made for their subjects, particularly when the source of that story is another secondary account. The thought of George Washington selflessly refusing the offer of a "crown" at the close of the Revolutionary War is so appealing, both to readers and writers of history, that its exclusion from the record would seem almost criminal. Third, biographers have not always treated fairly figures of secondary importance to the life of their primary subject.…That historians have not done so is attributable to one simple fact: they have not read the letters that Nicola wrote to Washington on 22, 23, 24, and 28 May 1782. If they had, they would have known that Nicola was only speaking for himself; that he was not advocating the overthrow of the government of the United States, but the establishment of a new state on its western border; and that he did not offer Washington a crown directly. (pp. 168-9)This is not quite right. Nicola did not "offer" Washington a "crown" at all, for Nicola had no crown to give.At most, Nicola was floating an idea of his own, but one he was utterly incapable of bringing into being, and gently suggesting that Washington might consider the desirability of establishing a new state, headed by a king. It’s inaccurate, therefore, to say that Washington turned down a chance to be king.Here is my transcription from the handwritten original of the whole text of Nicola’s letter. I believe this is the first time a completely transcript has been published. Links to the images of the original, at the Library of Congress website, are included.Washington Crosses the Delaware - Painting and StoryCol Nicola’s letter to Washington of May 22, 1782The "Edsitement" page on the end of the Revolutionary War contains this statement:The first test of Washington's resolve came in a letter (and a series of observations appended to the letter) from one of his officers, Lewis Nicola, dated May 22, 1782. (NOTE: The letter is available in the George Washington Papers collection on the EDSITEment-reviewed website American Memory, but unfortunately has not been transcribed. Interested students might want to try to do some transcribing, but this would be an extension, not part of this lesson.I have transcribed the entire letter from the American Memory site here, and have also included links to the scanned pages of the original letter at the Library of Congress’ American Memory site.http://chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/gbi/docs/nicolatowashington.htmlThe "Newburgh Addresses" of March 1782Sometimes Col. Nicola’s letter is confused with the "Newburgh Addresses" of two months earlier. Or it is said that the "Newburgh Addresses" contain an offer to make Washington king.But this is not true either, as a study of these documents shows.The two anonymous "Newburgh Addresses" are on-line in the Journals of the Continental Congress, volume 24, whose Home Page ishttp://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwjc.htmlThey are identified by Kohn, notes 65 and 73. for the Kohn article, see p. 165, note 102 of the Haggard article I cited.Neither of the "Newburgh Addresses" mentions anything remotely resembling an offer, suggestion, etc. about calling for Washington to be king.I've downloaded the pages as TIF files and converted the TIFs to PDFs. You can read them here:1. Washington's letter of introduction to the two "Newburgh Addresses" –http://chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/gbi/docs/newburghaddintro.pdf2. The First "Newburgh Address" –http://chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/gbi/docs/newburghadd1.pdfThe same text is posted at another site:http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/newburgh/text.html3. The Second "Newburgh Address" –http://chss.montclair.edu/english/furr/gbi/docs/newburghadd2.pdf25 Things You Probably Didn't Know About George WashingtonThe Man Who Would Not Be KingGeorge Washington is one of the most recognized figures in U.S. history. But familiarity breeds contempt. More often than not, Washington is an old painting on the wall - solemn, impersonal and distant - or the subject of childhood stories and nursery rhymes. We all know that he chopped down a cherry tree and had wooden teeth.The actual Washington is much more compelling. We can all see the brilliant flourishes of Jefferson's pen, Madison's constitutional handiwork or the success of Hamilton's economic policies, and that can cause us to overlook or underestimate the magnitude of Washington's achievement. Yet he really was, as Washington's greatest biographer, James Flexner, put it, the "indispensable man" of the American founding.Remember that we look at history with the luxury of knowing what happened. What might seem inevitable or obvious in hindsight was more often than not a bold course, the outcome of which was uncertain at best. We must recapture this sense of contingency and daring if we are to understand Washington.A soldier by profession and a surveyor by trade, Washington was first and foremost a man of action. He was at every important intersection of the American founding; his decisions and practical wisdom were crucial to the success of the effort at every stage. And at every moment - from the time he became commander in chief to his death - his project was to found a self-governing nation, a constitutional republic. It is here that we see the brilliance of Washington's statesmanship, his hand on the political pulse of the nation, all the while urging, counseling, warning, bolstering and leading his fellow patriots in their common efforts.From 1775 onward, when the Continental Congress appointed him military commander of continental forces, Washington personified the American Revolution and was the de-facto leader of the colonial struggle. For eight years, Gen. Washington led his small army through the rigors of war, from the defeats in New York and the risky crossing of the Delaware River to the hardships of Valley Forge and the ultimate triumph at Yorktown.Through force of character and great leadership, Washington transformed an underfunded militia into a capable force that, although never able to take the British army head-on, outwitted and defeated the mightiest military power in the world. Washington lost many more battles than he won, but his defensive strategy achieved his political objective: an independent and unified nation.After the war, Washington was the central hub of correspondence among the most thoughtful men of the day, leading the effort in nation-building. He was instrumental in bringing about the Constitutional Convention, and his widely publicized participation gave the resulting document a credibility and legitimacy it would otherwise have lacked. Having been immediately and unanimously elected president of the convention, he worked actively throughout the proceedings to create the new Constitution. "Be assured," James Monroe once reminded Thomas Jefferson, "his influence carried this government."Washington Corwallis - George Washington Pictures - HISTORY.comAs our first president, he set the precedents that define what it means to be a constitutional executive: strong and energetic, aware of the limits of authority but guarding the prerogatives of office. The vast powers of the presidency, as one Convention delegate wrote, would not have been made as great "had not many of the members cast their eyes towards General Washington as president; and shaped their ideas of the powers to be given to a president by their opinions of his virtue."And the key ingredient in all of these things was moral character, something that Washington took very seriously and which gave to his decision-making a deeply prudential quality and to his authority an unmatched magnanimity. "His integrity was pure, his justice the most inflexible I have ever known, no motives of interest or consanguinity, of friendship or hatred, being able to bias his decision," Jefferson later observed. "He was, indeed, in every sense of the words, a wise, a good, and a great man."It is no coincidence, then, that Washington's most important legacy comes during moments of temptation, when the lure of power was before him. Twice during the Revolution, in 1776 and again in 1777 when Congress was forced to abandon Philadelphia in the face of advancing British troops, Gen. Washington was granted virtually unlimited powers to maintain the war effort and preserve civil society, powers not unlike those assumed in an earlier era by Roman dictators. He shouldered the responsibility but gave the authority back as soon as possible.After the war, there were calls for Washington to claim formal political power. Indeed, seven months after the victory at Yorktown, one of his officers suggested what many thought only reasonable in the context of the 18th century: that America should establish a monarchy and that Washington should become king. A shocked Washington immediately rejected the offer out of hand as both inappropriate and dishonorable, and demanded the topic never be raised again.More subtle and problematic was a move by a group of officers in 1783 to use the military, with or without Washington's participation, to threaten the Continental Congress in order to ensure their payment of the army. The Newburgh Conspiracy placed Washington in a critical and delicate position. Had he either ignored the discontent or tacitly approved it, the political outcome would have been different and the possibility of a peaceful resolution of constitutional questions less likely.On top of that, several political leaders welcomed the army's pressure, and wanted to use the threat as a way of strengthening their call for a stronger national government. Congressman Alexander Hamilton recommended that Washington "take the direction of them" and lead the effort.But Washington would have none of it. "The Army," he rebuked young Hamilton, "is a dangerous instrument to play with." Instead, he responded to the unsigned papers calling for the army to stand up against the political leadership, by holding a meeting of his officers for March 15 - the Ides of March - 1783. There, Washington denounced the move as destructive of the very ground of republican government, and expressed his "utmost horror and detestation" of those who would "open the flood Gates of Civil discord, and deluge our rising Empire in Blood."After the speech, Washington drew a letter from his pocket expressing Congress' intention to redress the army. He hesitated, pulled out a pair of glasses and remarked, "Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray, but almost blind, in the service of my country." Many of the officers were in tears. If the speech had not already destroyed the movement, this remark assured its demise."On other occasions he had been supported by the exertions of the army and the countenance of his friends," wrote Capt. Samuel Shaw of the episode, "but in this he stood single and alone."By year's end, Washington, victorious in war, proceeded voluntarily to resign his military commission. When he stepped down again, after his second term as president, a dumbfounded King George III proclaimed him "the greatest character of the age." His peaceful transfer of the presidency to John Adams in 1797 inaugurated one of America's greatest democratic traditions.Without Washington, America would never have won its war of independence; he was the catalyst of the American founding. Even more significant, he proved that republican government was not only possible but indeed noble. Defeated and exiled, Napoleon lamented the significance of it all: "They wanted me to be another Washington."No one did more to put the United States on the path to success than Washington. No one did more to assure a government with sufficient power to function but sufficient limits to allow freedom to flourish. No one walked away from power with more dignity or did more to assure the prosperous society we enjoy today. This is why Washington and Washington alone - not Jefferson, not Madison, not Hamilton - is the father of this country.Celebrated as early as 1778, Washington's Birthday was by the early 18th century second only to the Fourth of July as a patriotic holiday. It was officially recognized by Congress as a national holiday in 1870. The Monday Holiday Law in 1968 moved it from Feb. 22 to the third Monday in February. Contrary to popular opinion, though, no act of Congress or order by any president has changed Washington's Birthday to "Presidents Day."If Americans wish to honor George Washington, they should recall his deeds, recollect his advice, and once again call the holiday celebrating him what it is, in fact: Washington's Birthday.Matthew Spalding, Ph.D., is Director of the B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies.The Plot to Steal Washington’s HeadWas George Washington Really Offered a Chance to be King of the U.S.?BY DAVE ROOS JUL 31, 2018General George Washington resigns his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Army to the Congress, on Dec. 23, 1783. This action was of great significance in establishing of civilian rather than military rule, leading to democracy rather than a dictatorship or monarchy. This painting hangs in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. JOYE~(CC BY 2.0)There's a popular yarn among American history buffs that George Washington, in the waning months of the Revolutionary War, was "offered the crown" of the fledgling nation by a group of American military officers fed up with an ineffective Congress. Historians even have Washington's strongly worded rejection letter to prove it.But a closer reading of original historical documents tells a different story. In this version, the widespread frustration of army officers gets mixed up with the pro-monarchy daydreams of one foolhardy colonel. Washington still comes out a hero, but he was never really close to being a king.To set the scene, the British suffered a decisive defeat at Yorktown to American and French forces in 1781, resulting in the capture of 7,000 British troops and their leader, General Charles Cornwallis. The end of the war was finally near, but the beleaguered American Army, under the command of Washington, was still considered "on duty" until the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783.Back in those pre-Constitution days, the Articles of Confederation handed most power to the states, not the federal government. Congress had no power to tax, for example, which was a problem when it came to paying and equipping the army. Congress had to constantly request military funding from the states, which were often slow to pay up, if at all.With peace nearly won, the army feared that Congress was going to stiff them on back pay. The officer corps were especially worried about their pensions, which they were promised would secure them financially for the rest of their lives. Could they trust Congress to keep its word and exact payment from the states?Among the army officers sweating over his pension in 1782 was Colonel Lewis Nicola, a 65-year-old, Irish-born military veteran who lent significant expertise to Washington's forces during the war. Nicola and Washington corresponded frequently, usually about Nicola's duties as commander of the Invalid Corps, a garrison of injured soldiers who were still fit enough to serve.But Nicola's letter to Washington on May 22, 1872 was something completely different. In this now infamous missive, Nicola opened with a reminder of what's at stake if the military wasn't properly compensated. Namely, the threat of open mutiny."God forbid we should ever think of involving that country we have, under your conduct & auspices, rescued from oppression, into a new scene of blood & confusion; but it cannot be expected we should forego claims on which our future subsistence & that of our families depend," wrote Nicola.Then Nicola moved on to what he called his "scheme." He admitted to Washington that he wasn't a "violent admirer of a republican form of government," preferring instead a mixed form of government with elected representatives ruled by a benevolent monarch. And who better for such a leading role than Washington himself?"... the same abilities which have lead us, through difficulties apparently insurmountable by human power, to victory & glory, those qualities that have merited & obtained the universal esteem & veneration of an army, would be most likely to conduct & direct us in the smoother paths of peace," wrote Nicola."Some people have so connected the ideas of tyranny & monarchy as to find it very difficult to separate them, it may therefore be requisite to give the head of such a constitution as I propose, some title apparently more moderate, but if all other things were once adjusted I believe strong arguments might be produced for admitting the title of king, which I conceive would be attended with some material advantages."Washington's response, dated the very same day, was withering."Be assured Sir, no occurrence in the course of the War, has given me more painful sensations than your information of there being such ideas existing in the Army as you have expressed, and I must view with abhorrence, and reprehend with severity," wrote Washington."I am much at a loss to conceive what part of my conduct could have given encouragement to an address which to me seems big with the greatest mischiefs that can befall my Country. If I am not deceived in the knowledge of myself, you could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable."Washington's rejection of an American monarchy was absolute, but was a single letter from a presumptuous colonel the equivalent of being "offered the crown," as many believe?Denver Brunsman, a history professor at George Washington University and scholar of the Revolutionary War and Washington, says that it would be an "exaggeration" to say that Washington was ever seriously offered the title of king."Nicola was not someone who was in the position to do that and I don't think he was part of any real, large movement," says Brunsman. "That doesn't mean there weren't people who had those sentiments and I think Nicola was representative of that. There were other individuals in the officer corps who were extremely frustrated with Congress and any hope for a possible solution.""What's most important is Washington's reaction to even the notion [of being king]. He shuts down any possibility. I think that's impressive and shows why Washington was able to garner the trust of the American people."Nicola's letter is an interesting blip in American history, but a far more serious threat to the young republic was the Newburgh Conspiracy of 1783, as close as the American army came to a coup. Again, Washington quashed the mutiny by reminding his officers what they had fought for. In a stirring address, "Washington basically gave them a civics lesson," says Brunsman. "There's an appropriate way to do this in a republic, and this isn't it."How George Washington Swindled His Way To The TopGeorge Washington: The Reluctant PresidentEditor’s note: Even as the Constitution was being ratified, Americans looked toward a figure of singular probity to fill the new office of the presidency. On February 4, 1789, the 69 members of the Electoral College made George Washington the only chief executive to be unanimously elected. Congress was supposed to make the choice official that March but could not muster a quorum until April. The reason—bad roads—suggests the condition of the country Washington would lead. In a new biography, Washington: A Life, Ron Chernow has created a portrait of the man as his contemporaries saw him. The excerpt below sheds light on the president’s state of mind as the first Inauguration Day approached.The Congressional delay in certifying George Washington’s election as president only allowed more time for doubts to fester as he considered the herculean task ahead. He savored his wait as a welcome “reprieve,” he told his former comrade in arms and future Secretary of War Henry Knox, adding that his “movements to the chair of government will be accompanied with feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution.” His “peaceful abode” at Mount Vernon, his fears that he lacked the requisite skills for the presidency, the “ocean of difficulties” facing the country—all gave him pause on the eve of his momentous trip to New York. In a letter to his friend Edward Rutledge, he made it seem as if the presidency was little short of a death sentence and that, in accepting it, he had given up “all expectations of private happiness in this world.”The day after Congress counted the electoral votes, declaring Washington the first president, it dispatched Charles Thomson, the secretary of Congress, to bear the official announcement to Mount Vernon. The legislators had chosen a fine emissary. A well-rounded man, known for his work in astronomy and mathematics, the Irish-born Thomson was a tall, austere figure with a narrow face and keenly penetrating eyes. He couldn’t have relished the trying journey to Virginia, which was “much impeded by tempestuous weather, bad roads, and the many large rivers I had to cross.” Yet he rejoiced that the new president would be Washington, whom he venerated as someone singled out by Providence to be “the savior and father” of the country. Having known Thomson since the Continental Congress, Washington esteemed him as a faithful public servant and exemplary patriot.Around noon on April 14, 1789, Washington flung open the door at Mount Vernon and greeted his visitor with a cordial embrace. Once in the privacy of the mansion, he and Thomson conducted a stiff verbal minuet, each man reading from a prepared statement. Thomson began by declaring, “I am honored with the commands of the Senate to wait upon your Excellency with the information of your being elected to the office of President of the United States of America” by a unanimous vote. He read aloud a letter from Senator John Langdon of New Hampshire, the president pro tempore. “Suffer me, sir, to indulge the hope that so auspicious a mark of public confidence will meet your approbation and be considered as a sure pledge of the affection and support you are to expect from a free and enlightened people.” There was something deferential, even slightly servile, in Langdon’s tone, as if he feared that Washington might renege on his promise and refuse to take the job. Thus was greatness once again thrust upon George Washington.Any student of Washington’s life might have predicted that he would acknowledge his election in a short, self-effacing speech full of disclaimers. “While I realize the arduous nature of the task which is conferred on me and feel my inability to perform it,” he replied to Thomson, “I wish there may not be reason for regretting the choice. All I can promise is only that which can be accomplished by an honest zeal.” This sentiment of modesty jibed so perfectly with Washington’s private letters that it could not have been feigned: he wondered whether he was fit for the post, so unlike anything he had ever done. The hopes for republican government, he knew, rested in his hands. As commander in chief, he had been able to wrap himself in a self-protective silence, but the presidency would leave him with no place to hide and expose him to public censure as nothing before.Because the vote counting had been long delayed, Washington, 57, felt the crush of upcoming public business and decided to set out promptly for New York on April 16, accompanied in his elegant carriage by Thomson and aide David Humphreys. His diary entry conveys a sense of foreboding: “About ten o’clock, I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity and, with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensations than I have words to express, set out for New York...with the best dispositions to render service to my country in obedience to its call, but with less hope of answering its expectations.” Waving goodbye was Martha Washington, who wouldn’t join him until mid-May. She watched her husband of 30 years depart with a mixture of bittersweet sensations, wondering “when or whether he will ever come home again.” She had long doubted the wisdom of this final act in his public life. “I think it was much too late for him to go into public life again,” she told her nephew, “but it was not to be avoided. Our family will be deranged as I must soon follow him.”Determined to travel rapidly, Washington and his entourage set out each day at sunrise and put in a full day on the road. Along the way he hoped to keep ceremonial distractions to a minimum, but he was soon disabused: eight exhausting days of festivities lay ahead. He had only traveled ten miles north to Alexandria when the townspeople waylaid him with a dinner, lengthened by the mandatory 13 toasts. Adept at farewells, Washington was succinctly eloquent in response. “Unutterable sensations must then be left to more expressive silence, while, from an aching heart, I bid you all, my affectionate friends and kind neighbors, farewell.”Before long, it was apparent that Washington’s journey would form the republican equivalent of the procession to a royal coronation. As if already a seasoned politician, he left a trail of political promises in his wake. While in Wilmington, he addressed the Delaware Society for Promoting Domestic Manufacturers and imparted a hopeful message. “The promotion of domestic manufactures will, in my conception, be among the first consequences which may naturally be expected to flow from an energetic government.” Arriving in Philadelphia, he was met by local dignitaries and asked to mount a white horse for his entry into town. When he crossed a bridge over the Schuylkill, it was wreathed with laurels and evergreens, and a cherubic boy, aided by a mechanical device, lowered a laurel crown over his head. Recurrent cries of “Long Live George Washington” confirmed what his former aide James McHenry had already told him before he left Mount Vernon: “You are now a king under a different name.”As Washington entered Philadelphia, he found himself, willy-nilly, at the head of a full-scale parade, with 20,000 people lining the streets, their eyes fixed on him in wonder. “His Excellency rode in front of the procession, on horseback, politely bowing to the spectators who filled the doors and windows by which he passed,” reported the Federal Gazette, noting that church bells rang as Washington proceeded to his old haunt, the City Tavern. After the bare-knuckled fight over the Constitution, the newspaper editorialized, Washington had united the country. “What a pleasing reflection to every patriotic mind, thus to see our citizens again united in their reliance on this great man who is, a second time, called upon to be the savior of his country!” By the next morning, Washington had grown tired of the jubilation. When the light horse cavalry showed up to accompany him to Trenton, they discovered he had left the city an hour earlier “to avoid even the appearance of pomp or vain parade,” reported one newspaper.As Washington approached the bridge over Assunpink Creek in Trenton, the spot where he had stood off the British and Hessians, he saw that the townsfolk had erected a magnificent floral arch in his honor and emblazoned it with the words “December 26, 1776” and the proclamation “The Defender of the Mothers will also Defend the Daughters.” As he rode closer, 13 young girls, robed in spotless white, walked forward with flower-filled baskets, scattering petals at his feet. Astride his horse, tears standing in his eyes, he returned a deep bow as he noted the “astonishing contrast between his former and actual situation at the same spot.” With that, three rows of women—young girls, unmarried ladies and married ones—burst into a fervent ode on how he had saved fair virgins and matrons alike. The adulation only quickened Washington’s self-doubt. “I greatly apprehend that my countrymen will expect too much from me,” he wrote to Rutledge. “I fear, if the issue of public measures should not correspond with their sanguine expectations, they will turn the extravagant...praises which they are heaping upon me at this moment into equally extravagant...censures.” There was no way, it seemed, that he could dim expectations or escape public reverence.By now sated with adulation, Washington preserved a faint hope that he would be allowed to make an inconspicuous entry into New York. He had pleaded with Gov. George Clinton to spare him further hoopla: “I can assure you, with the utmost sincerity, that no reception can be so congenial to my feelings as a quiet entry devoid of ceremony.” But he was fooling himself if he imagined he might slip unobtrusively into the temporary capital. Never reconciled to the demands of his celebrity, Washington still fantasized that he could shuck that inescapable burden. When he arrived at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, on April 23, he beheld an impressive phalanx of three senators, five congressmen and three state officials awaiting him. He must have intuited, with a sinking sensation, that this welcome would eclipse even the frenzied receptions in Philadelphia and Trenton. Moored to the wharf was a special barge, glistening with fresh paint, constructed in his honor and equipped with an awning of red curtains in the rear to shelter him from the elements. To nobody’s surprise, the craft was steered by 13 oarsmen in spanking white uniforms.As the barge drifted into the Hudson River, Washington made out a Manhattan shoreline already “crowded with a vast concourse of citizens, waiting with exulting anxiety his arrival,” a local newspaper said. Many ships anchored in the harbor were garlanded with flags and banners for the occasion. If Washington gazed back at the receding Jersey shore, he would have seen that his craft led a huge flotilla of boats, including one bearing the portly figure of Gen. Henry Knox. Some boats carried musicians and female vocalists on deck, who serenaded Washington across the waters. “The voices of the ladies were...superior to the flutes that played with the stroke of the oars in Cleopatra’s silken-corded barge,” was the imaginative verdict of the New York Packet. These wafted melodies, united with repeated cannon roar and thunderous acclaim from crowds onshore, again oppressed Washington with their implicit message of high expectations. As he confided to his diary, the intermingled sounds “filled my mind with sensations as painful (considering the reverse of this scene, which may be the case after all my labors to do good) as they are pleasing.” So as to guard himself against later disappointment, he didn’t seem to allow himself the smallest iota of pleasure.When the presidential barge landed at the foot of Wall Street, Governor Clinton, Mayor James Duane, James Madison and other luminaries welcomed him to the city. The officer of a special military escort stepped forward briskly and told Washington that he awaited his orders. Washington again labored to cool the celebratory mood, which burst forth at every turn. “As to the present arrangement,” he replied, “I shall proceed as is directed. But after this is over, I hope you will give yourself no further trouble, as the affection of my fellow-citizens is all the guard I want.” Nobody seemed to take the hint seriously.The streets were solidly thronged with well-wishers and it took Washington a half-hour to arrive at his new residence at 3 Cherry Street, tucked away in the northeast corner of the city, a block from the East River, near the present-day Brooklyn Bridge. One week earlier, the building’s owner, Samuel Osgood, had agreed to allow Washington to use it as the temporary presidential residence. From the descriptions of Washington’s demeanor en route to the house, he finally surrendered to the general mood of high spirits, especially when he viewed the legions of adoring women. As New Jersey Representative Elias Boudinot told his wife, Washington “frequently bowed to the multitude and took off his hat to the ladies at the windows, who waved their handkerchiefs and threw flowers before him and shed tears of joy and congratulation. The whole city was one scene of triumphal rejoicing.”Though the Constitution said nothing about an inaugural address, Washington, in an innovative spirit, contemplated such a speech as early as January 1789 and asked a “gentleman under his roof”—David Humphreys—to draft one. Washington had always been economical with words, but the collaboration with Humphreys produced a wordy document, 73 pages long, which survives only in tantalizing snippets. In this curious speech, Washington spent a ridiculous amount of time defending his decision to become president, as if he stood accused of some heinous crime. He denied that he had accepted the presidency to enrich himself, even though nobody had accused him of greed. “In the first place, if I have formerly served the community without a wish for pecuniary compensation, it can hardly be suspected that I am at present influenced by avaricious schemes.” Addressing a topical concern, he disavowed any desire to found a dynasty, citing his childless state. Closer in tone to future inaugural speeches was Washington’s ringing faith in the American people. He devised a perfect formulation of popular sovereignty, writing that the Constitution had brought forth “a government of the people: that is to say, a government in which all power is derived from, and at stated periods reverts to, them—and that, in its operation...is purely a government of laws made and executed by the fair substitutes of the people alone.”This ponderous speech never saw the light of day. Washington sent a copy to James Madison, who wisely vetoed it on two counts: that it was much too long and that its lengthy legislative proposals would be interpreted as executive meddling with the legislature. Instead, Madison helped Washington draft a far more compact speech that avoided the tortured introspection of its predecessor. A whirlwind of energy, Madison would seem omnipresent in the early days of Washington’s administration. Not only did he help draft the inaugural address, he also wrote the official response by Congress and then Washington’s response to Congress, completing the circle. This established Madison, despite his role in the House, as a pre-eminent adviser and confidant to the new president. Oddly enough, he wasn’t troubled that his advisory relationship to Washington might be construed as violating the separation of powers.Washington knew that everything he did at the swearing-in would establish a tone for the future. “As the first of everything in our situation will serve to establish a precedent,” he reminded Madison, “it is devoutly wished on my part that these precedents may be fixed on true principles.” He would shape indelibly the institution of the presidency. Although he had earned his reputation in battle, he made a critical decision not to wear a uniform at the inauguration or beyond, banishing fears of a military coup. Instead, he would stand there aglitter with patriotic symbols. To spur American manufactures, he would wear a double-breasted brown suit, made from broadcloth woven at the Woolen Manufactory of Hartford, Connecticut. The suit had gilt buttons with an eagle insignia on them; to round out his outfit, he would wear white hosiery, silver shoe buckles and yellow gloves. Washington already sensed that Americans would emulate their presidents. “I hope it will not be a great while before it will be unfashionable for a gentleman to appear in any other dress,” he told his friend the Marquis de Lafayette, referring to his American attire. “Indeed, we have already been too long subject to British prejudices.” To burnish his image further on Inauguration Day, Washington would powder his hair and wear a dress sword on his hip, sheathed in a steel scabbard.The inauguration took place at the building at Wall and Nassau streets that had long served as New York’s City Hall. It came richly laden with historical associations, having hosted John Peter Zenger’s trial in 1735, the Stamp Act Congress of 1765 and the Confederation Congress from 1785 to 1788. Starting in September 1788, the French engineer Pierre-Charles L’Enfant had remodeled it into Federal Hall, a suitable home for Congress. L’Enfant introduced a covered arcade at street level and a balcony surmounted by a triangular pediment on the second story. As the people’s chamber, the House of Representatives was accessible to the public, situated in a high-ceilinged octagonal room on the ground floor, while the Senate met in a second-floor room on the Wall Street side, buffering it from popular pressure. From this room Washington would emerge onto the balcony to take the oath of office. In many ways, the first inauguration was a hasty, slapdash affair. As with all theatrical spectacles, rushed preparations and frantic work on the new building continued until a few days before the event. Nervous anticipation spread through the city as to whether the 200 workmen would complete the project on time. Only a few days before the inauguration, an eagle was hoisted onto the pediment, completing the building. The final effect was stately: a white building with a blue and white cupola topped by a weather vane.A little after noon on April 30, 1789, following a morning filled with clanging church bells and prayers, a contingent of troops on horseback, accompanied by carriages loaded with legislators, stopped at Washington’s Cherry Street residence. Escorted by David Humphreys and aide Tobias Lear, the president-elect stepped into his appointed carriage, which was trailed by foreign dignitaries and throngs of joyous citizens. The procession wound slowly through the narrow Manhattan streets, emerging 200 yards from Federal Hall. After alighting from his carriage, Washington strode through a double line of soldiers to the building and mounted to the Senate chamber, where members of Congress awaited him expectantly. As he entered, Washington bowed to both houses of the legislature—his invariable mark of respect—then occupied an imposing chair up front. A profound hush settled on the room. Vice President John Adams rose for an official greeting, then informed Washington that the epochal moment had arrived. “Sir, the Senate and House of Representatives are ready to attend you to take the oath required by the Constitution.” “I am ready to proceed,” Washington replied.As he stepped through the door onto the balcony, a spontaneous roar surged from the multitude tightly squeezed into Wall and Broad streets and covering every roof in sight. This open-air ceremony would confirm the sovereignty of the citizens gathered below. Washington’s demeanor was stately, modest and deeply affecting: he clapped one hand to his heart and bowed several times to the crowd. Surveying the serried ranks of people, one observer said they were jammed so closely together “that it seemed one might literally walk on the heads of the people.” Thanks to his simple dignity, integrity and unrivaled sacrifices for his country, Washington’s conquest of the people was complete. A member of the crowd, the Count de Moustier, the French minister, noted the solemn trust between Washington and the citizens who stood packed below him with uplifted faces. As he reported to his government, never had a “sovereign reigned more completely in the hearts of his subjects than did Washington in those of his fellow citizens...he has the soul, look and figure of a hero united in him.” One young woman in the crowd echoed this when she remarked, “I never saw a human being that looked so great and noble as he does.” Only Congressman Fisher Ames of Massachusetts noted that “time has made havoc” upon Washington’s face, which already looked haggard and careworn.The sole constitutional requirement for the swearing-in was that the president take the oath of office. That morning, a Congressional committee decided to add solemnity by having Washington place his hand on a Bible during the oath, leading to a frantic, last-minute scramble to locate one. A Masonic lodge came to the rescue by providing a thick Bible, bound in deep brown leather and set on a crimson velvet cushion. By the time Washington appeared on the portico, the Bible rested on a table draped in red.The crowd grew silent as New York Chancellor Robert R. Livingston administered the oath to Washington, who was visibly moved. As the president finished the oath, he bent forward, seized the Bible and brought it to his lips. Washington felt this moment from the bottom of his soul: one observer noted the “devout fervency” with which he “repeated the oath and the reverential manner in which he bowed down and kissed” the Bible. Legend has it that he added, “So help me God,” though this line was first reported 65 years later. Whether or not Washington actually said it, very few people would have heard him anyway, since his voice was soft and breathy. For the crowd below, the oath of office was enacted as a kind of dumb show. Livingston had to lift his voice and inform the crowd, “It is done.” He then intoned: “Long live George Washington, president of the United States.” The spectators responded with huzzahs and chants of “God bless our Washington! Long live our beloved president!” They celebrated in the only way they knew, as if greeting a new monarch with the customary cry of “Long live the king!”When the balcony ceremony was concluded, Washington returned to the Senate chamber to deliver his inaugural address. In an important piece of symbolism, Congress rose as he entered, then sat down after Washington bowed in response. In England, the House of Commons stood during the king’s speeches; the seated Congress immediately established a sturdy equality between the legislative and executive branches.As Washington began his speech, he seemed flustered and thrust his left hand in his pocket while turning the pages with a trembling right hand. His weak voice was barely audible in the room. Fisher Ames evoked him thus: “His aspect grave, almost to sadness; his modesty, actually shaking; his voice deep, a little tremulous, and so low as to call for close attention.” Those present attributed Washington’s low voice and fumbling hands to anxiety. “This great man was agitated and embarrassed more than ever he was by the leveled cannon or pointed musket,” said Pennsylvania Senator William Maclay in sniggering tones. “He trembled and several times could scarce make out to read, though it must be supposed he had often read it before.” Washington’s agitation might have arisen from an undiagnosed neurological disorder or might simply have been a bad case of nerves. The new president had long been famous for his physical grace, but the sole gesture he used for emphasis in his speech seemed clumsy—“a flourish with his right hand,” said Maclay, “which left rather an ungainly impression.” For the next few years, Maclay would be a close, unsparing observer of the new president’s nervous quirks and tics.In the first line of his inaugural address, Washington expressed anxiety about his fitness for the presidency, saying that “no event could have filled me with greater anxieties” than the news brought to him by Charles Thomson. He had grown despondent, he said candidly, as he considered his own “inferior endowments from nature” and his lack of practice in civil government. He drew comfort, however, from the fact that the “Almighty Being” had overseen America’s birth. “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States.” Perhaps referring obliquely to the fact that he suddenly seemed older, he called Mount Vernon “a retreat which was rendered every day more necessary, as well as more dear to me, by the addition of habit to inclination and of frequent interruptions in my health to the gradual waste committed on it by time.” In the earlier inaugural address drafted with David Humphreys, Washington had included a disclaimer about his health, telling how he had “prematurely grown old in the service of my country.”Setting the pattern for future inaugural speeches, Washington didn’t delve into policy matters, but trumpeted the big themes that would govern his administration, the foremost being the triumph of national unity over “local prejudices or attachments” that might subvert the country or even tear it apart. National policy needed to be rooted in private morality, which relied on the “eternal rules of order and right” ordained by heaven itself. On the other hand, Washington refrained from endorsing any particular form of religion. Knowing how much was riding on this attempt at republican government, he said that “the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.“After this speech, Washington led a broad procession of delegates up Broadway, along streets lined by armed militia, to an Episcopal prayer service at St. Paul’s Chapel, where he was given his own canopied pew. After these devotions ended, Washington had his first chance to relax until the evening festivities. That night Lower Manhattan was converted into a shimmering fairyland of lights. From the residences of Chancellor Livingston and General Knox, Washington observed the fireworks at Bowling Green, a pyrotechnic display that flashed lights in the sky for two hours. Washington’s image was displayed in transparencies hung in many windows, throwing glowing images into the night. This sort of celebration, ironically, would have been familiar to Washington from the days when new royal governors arrived in Williamsburg and were greeted by bonfires, fireworks and illuminations in every window.Excerpted from Washington: A Life. Copyright © Ron Chernow. With the permission of the publisher, The Penguin Press, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.When it came to the presidency, George Washington harbored both desire and doubt. In this illustartion, Charles Thomson, the secretary of Congress, formally notifies him that he has been elected. (Granger Collection, New York)Read more: George Washington: The Reluctant President10 Facts about Washington's ElectionOn April 30, 1789, George Washington was inaugurated as the first president. The path to the presidency, and the task of leading a new nation, was uncharted territory for which there was no precedent.1. As the first, Washington had to create the American presidency from scratchThe famous Lansdowne portrait of President Washington by Gilbert Stuart (Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association)George Washington, as the first president, was well aware of the great responsibility of defining the American presidency. "I walk on untrodden ground," was a frequent comment he made in the days leading up to his first inauguration.Washington believed that the precedents he set must make the presidency powerful enough to function effectively in the national government, but at the same time these practices could not show any tendency toward monarchy or dictatorship.In addition to defining the actual powers of the office, Washington also needed to show the new nation how the leader of a democracy should behave socially. There was no precedent for this office in a world full of kings, leaving Washington the monumental task of figuring out how to act like a president.5 CHALLENGES AS FIRST PRESIDENT2. Washington's presidential campaign cost zero dollars-- because he did absolutely no public campaigningPresidential candidates of the 21st century spend millions of dollars winning the endorsements of their parties and mounting nationwide campaigns. But Washington himself did absolutely no public campaigning, and even cast doubt on whether he would take the job if elected. The retired general said that he had "no wish which aspires beyond the humble and happy lot of living and dying a private citizen" at his Mount Vernon farm.WASHINGTON'S IMPERFECT ELECTION3. Washington did not really want to be presidentAfter winning the Revolutionary War and helping set up the new government for his country at the Constitutional Convention, George Washington's thoughts turned away from battlefields and assembly halls to a much more modest arena-- his home at his Mount Vernon estate -- and the opportunity of "living and dying a private citizen on my own farm."Yet, his dreams of a tranquil retirement were at odds with his peers and the American people at large. Even before the Constitution was ratified, rumors spread declaring George Washington would likely elected first President of the United States (much to the dismay of Washington himself).GEORGE WASHINGTON'S REASONS FOR WANTING TO DECLINE THE PRESIDENCY1. Old age2. Washington's "encreasing fondness for agricultural amusements"3. "My growing love of retirement"4. Belief that the Anti-Federalists may oppose his selection5. After having already retired in 1783, Washington feared he would be looked upon as inconsistent, rash, and ambitious if he returned to office6. Belief that "some other person...could execute all the duties full as satisfactorily as myself."On the other hand, Washington could not escape his conscience. In a formal letter of acceptance, Washington succinctly assented to what he had agonized over for more than a year:Having concluded to obey the important and flattering call of my Country ....WASHINGTON'S UNRETIREMENTWashington's inaugural suit can be seen on display in the Donald W. Reynolds Museum at Mount Vernon4. Washington is the only president to have been unanimously elected by the Electoral CollegeIn both the election of 1789 and 1792 Washington received all votes from the Electoral College. During the first election, Washington won the electors of all ten eligible states. Three states, however, did not contribute to the vote total. Both North Carolina and Rhode Island were ineligible; neither had ratified the Constitution yet. In addition, New York was unable to participate in the election, as the legislature had not passed a bill in time to appoint its eight electors. In 1792, Washington received all 132 electoral votes, winning each of the fifteen states.5. Washington was the only president inaugurated in two citiesHowever, neither of those cities was Washington, D.C., as the seat of government did not move there until 1800. Washington’s first inauguration occurred in New York City on the portico of Federal Hall in Lower Manhattan on April 30, 1789. The second inauguration was in Philadelphia, held in the Senate Chamber of Congress Hall on March 4, 1793.Washington’s First Inaugural Address | Second Inaugural Address6. First Lady Martha Washington had her own separate inaugural celebration which lasted 11 days (3 more than her husband's)Martha Washington is the first and only woman to grace the primary portrait of U.S. paper currency.One month after President Washington left Mount Vernon, Martha Washington set out on her own triumphant trip to the seat of the new government in New York. On May 16 1789, Mrs. Washington and her grandchildren, Nelly and Washy, embarked on an 11-day journey through Baltimore, Philadelphia, and more.Her entourage attracted considerable attention and was greeted by crowded streets filled with admirers, ringing church bells, fireworks, and gun salutes.7. The streets were so filled with people at Washington's inauguration in New York that the newly elected president had to walk homePresident Washington's inauguration was celebrated with illuminations and fireworks. Citizens of the new nation showed up in droves. One exhilarated eyewitness recalled that " ... my sensibility was wound to such a pitch that I could do no more than wave my hat with the rest, without the power of joining in the requested acclamations which rent the air!" Another described the streets as "so dense that it seemed as if one might literally walk on the heads of people".INAUGURATION IN NEW YORKMiniature portrait of President Washington by John Ramage, c.1789 (MVLA)8. The first artist to do a life portrait of President Washington was a former loyalistAlthough John Ramage (circa 1748-1802) is well-known among art historians and collectors of portrait miniatures, his name is not immediately associated with Washington portraiture. Yet, Ramage painted George Washington from the life and was the first artist to whom he sat as President of the United States.Ramage was in Boston, Massachussetts when the Revolutionary War broke out. There he enlisted in a unit formed by Irish Loyalists to fight the American colonials and General Washington’s Continental Army. After the war, he became firmly established in New York’s small artistic community.Considered the best artist in the city, he was the obvious choice for Washington's first presidential portrait. The sitting took place on October 3, 1789, probably in the president's official residence on Cherry Street in New York.RAMAGE'S MINIATURE PORTRAITS9. The initial draft of the first inaugural address was over seventy pages longJames Madison, who later called the rambling first draft a "strange production", prepared a drastically more concise version. Madison would also go on to serve as the fourth president of the United States.JAMES MADISONAn early draft of over seventy pages had been prepared by Washington's aide David Humphreys and included extensive recommendations to Congress on such topics as internal improvements, military affairs, international treaties, and the expansion of national borders. After a private meeting at Mount Vernon, Madison prepared a drastically more concise address which left more open to Congress's discretion.READ THE FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS10. Washington's Acts of Congress, a rare volume which includes the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and a record of acts passed by the first Congress, returned to the Mount Vernon collection in 2012George Washington's copy of the Acts passed at a Congress of the United States of America (New-York, 1789) contains key founding documents establishing the Union: the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and a record of acts passed by the first Congress.The most significant features of this book are Washington’s personal notes, penciled in the margins. All of his notes in this volume appear alongside the text of the Constitution, where he drew neat brackets to highlight passages of particular interest.Washington's notations highlighting powers of the presidency (Mount Vernon Ladies' Association)Washington brought the book home to Mount Vernon after retiring from the presidency in March 1797. Since leaving the hands of the Washington family in 1876, it has been treasured and preserved by several noted private collectors. The book now resides within The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington.THE ACTS OF CONGRESSGeorge Washington: Life Before the Presidency | Miller CenterTompkins Harrison Matteson George Washington At Valley ForgeJohn Washington, George's great-grandfather, reached the New World in 1657, settling in Virginia. Little definitive information exists on George's ancestors before his father, but what is known is that by the time George was born to Augustine and Mary Washington on February 22, 1732, the family was part of the lower echelon of Virginia's ruling class. He was the eldest child of Augustine's second marriage; there were two sons from the first. Farming and land speculation had brought the family moderate prosperity. However, when George was eleven years old, his family was dealt a terrible setback. Augustine became mortally ill after surveying his lands during a long ride in bad weather—ironically, the same circumstances killed George almost seven decades later.His mother, Mary, a tough and driven woman, fought to hold home and hearth together. She hoped to send George to school in England, but these plans were aborted and the boy never received more than the equivalent of an elementary school education. Although George was shy and not highly literate, he was a large, strong, and handsome child. His half brother Lawrence, fourteen years George's senior, looked out for him. Lawrence counseled the boy about his future and introduced him to Lord Fairfax, head of one of the most powerful families in Virginia.Despite George's meager education, he had three great strengths: his mother's ambitious drive, a shy charm, and a gift for mathematics. Lord Fairfax discerned all three traits and invited the sixteen-year-old to join a team of men surveying Fairfax lands in the Shenandoah Valley region of the Virginia colony. It was the young man's first real trip away from home, and he proved his worth on the wilderness journey, helping the surveyors while learning their trade. Surveying offered George decent wages, travel opportunities, and time away from his strict and demanding mother. By the time he was seventeen, he went into the surveying business on his own.However, the next year, tragedy visited the Washington family once again: George's beloved half brother and mentor, Lawrence, contracted an aggressive strain of tuberculosis. George accompanied Lawrence to the island of Barbados in the West Indies in the desperate hope that the tropical climate would help his brother. Unfortunately, it did not, and George returned to Virginia alone, concluding the one trip of his life outside America.Lawrence had commanded a local militia in the area near the Washington family home. Soon after returning to Virginia, George, barely out of his teens, lobbied the colonial government for the same post and was awarded it. The young man possessed no military training whatsoever, and it soon showed in disastrous fashion.20 Facts About George WashingtonFolly on the OhioEngland and France, vying for control of the American continent north of Mexico, were at odds over the Ohio River Valley. The French were entering the region from Canada and making alliances with Native Americans, and the English-based government in Virginia was determined to stop these incursions. Serving as a British military envoy, Washington led a group of volunteers to the remote area, gathered intelligence on enemy troop strengths, and delivered a message ordering the French to leave the region. They refused, and when Washington returned home, he proposed that a fort be built on the Ohio River in order to stop further French expansion into the area. In the spring of 1754, he put together a poorly trained and equipped force of 150 men and set out to reinforce troops building this stockade, which he called Fort Necessity. On the way, he encountered a small French force and promptly attacked it, killing ten of the French—an unknown young militiaman from Virginia had fired the first shots of the French and Indian War.Because one of the men killed was a French envoy delivering a message to the British, Washington had taken part in the killing of an ambassador, a serious violation of international protocol. Repercussions of this rashness reached all the way to Westminster Palace and Versailles. Native Americans in the region, sensing British-American ineptitude, sided with the French. The joint Native American-French force attacked the small, ill-placed Fort Necessity and overwhelmed Washington and his men. They were forced to leave the area after signing a surrender document. The document was in French, and in it, Washington, who did not read French, supposedly admitted to breaches of military protocol, thus handing the French a great propaganda victory when the text of the document was released in Europe. Not long afterward, Washington was passed over for promotion, and he resigned from the army, bitter that the British had not defended his honor.England decided that the best way to drive the French from the Ohio River Valley was to send in regular troops from the Royal Army. Their commander, General Edward Braddock, needed an aide with experience in the conflict and offered the post to Washington. Eager to regain favor with the English army, Washington accepted. In July of 1755, the British force approached the French stronghold at Fort Duquesne. Washington had warned Braddock that the French and Indian troops fought very differently than the open-field, formalized armies of Europe, but he was ignored. A few days later, the British were attacked by a large Native American force and completely routed. Washington fought bravely despite having two horses shot from under him. Braddock was killed, his terrified British troops fled into the forest, and his young aide barely escaped with his life.Militia Command, Marriage, and Life as a Gentleman FarmerLondon blamed the colonials for the fiasco. The colonials, refusing to be England's scapegoat, reacted by elevating Washington as a hero. To convey their approval of his leadership and abilities, the colonials gave him command of all Virginian forces and charged him mainly with defending the colony's western frontier from Native American attacks. Washington was only twenty-two years old. This sudden turn of events provided him with a superb apprenticeship for the supreme command that would come two decades later: Washington learned how to raise a force, train it, lead it into battle, and keep it from deserting. But the young commander was always short of recruits and money, and appeals to the English military authorities did little good. Washington became increasingly annoyed with their condescension and their rebuffs of his attempts to win a regular army commission. After commanding a regiment that finally captured Fort Duquesne in 1758, he resigned from the military and went home to Mount Vernon, the farm he had inherited from Lawrence. A year later, Washington married a rich young widow named Martha Custis. He won a seat in the lower Virginia legislature and settled into the life of a Virginia planter. His early married years were happy ones. Washington worked hard and learned everything he could about farming, but his new occupation gave him another reason to resent the mother country. He found that he was largely at the mercy of a trade system that heavily favored British merchants buying tobacco, his major crop. Consequently, after a few years, he owed a significant debt. By 1766, he abandoned tobacco farming and diversified Mount Vernon into crops that could be sold more easily in America. He also dabbled in light industry such as weaving and fishing. All of these ventures were aimed at making his plantation more self-sufficient, thus minimizing his business ties to England. Several hundred slaves labored at Mount Vernon. As Washington turned to crops that were less labor intensive than tobacco, he had more help than he needed. However, although he could pursue greater profits by minimizing labor expenses, he almost never sold or moved a slave to another property unless the slave wanted to leave. As he approached middle age, Washington expressed increasing qualms about the practice of slavery.The Seeds of RevolutionBy the mid-1760s, colonial resentment of British rule was widespread. To replenish its coffers that were drained for the war with the French, London imposed taxes on the colonies. Moreover, to force compliance, England established punitive laws against the colonials. Americans, who had no say in British parliamentary decisions, voiced their disdain for these tariffs that had suddenly raised the prices on necessities such as tea. As the controversy grew hotter, more British troops poured into the colonies, which only compounded the problem.Generally, the southern colonies were less openly defiant toward England during the early stages of the independence movement. Like most Virginians, the master of Mount Vernon was slow to warm to revolutionary fervor, hoping that the British would end their oppressive ways. But a series of English provocations—the closure of Boston Harbor, new taxes, the shooting deaths of five colonials in an altercation with Royal troops, the abolition of the Massachusetts state charter—made Washington a firm believer in American independence by the early 1770s. He was one of the first leading citizens in Virginia to openly support resistance to English tyranny. In 1774, the Virginia legislature voted him one of seven delegates to the First Continental Congress, an assembly devoted to resistance to British rule—interestingly, a thirty-one-year-old Virginian named Thomas Jefferson finished out of the running. Washington joined the majority of the assembly in voting for new economic reprisals against England. In April 1775, electrifying news came from the North. Local militias from towns around Boston had engaged British troops at Lexington and Concord. When Washington rode to the Second Continental Congress a month later, there was talk that he might be named commander of all the colonial forces. Washington, his confidence weakened by the misadventures against the French and Native Americans, resisted the appointment. But he was the natural choice for several reasons: he was still considered a hero from the French and Indian War; at forty-three, he was old enough to lead but young enough to withstand the rigors of the battlefield; and northerners hoped a general from Virginia would help draw the reluctant South into the conflict. Above all, the leadership and charisma of the tall, quiet, stately Virginian was unsurpassed. Washington did not attend the congressional session that took the vote for the army's command. He was the last of its members to know that he had been chosen—by a unanimous vote. He refused a salary and told the Congress, "I beg it may be remembered that I, this day, declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with."In accepting command of colonial forces, George Washington had crossed a deadly serious line. In the eyes of the English, he was now leading an armed insurrection against King George III. He was a traitor, and if the rebellion failed, he would soon find a rope around his neck.Command of the Continental ArmyAny military expert would have given the Continentals little chance. After all, King George's army was the best-trained, best-equipped fighting force in the Western world. The matchless Royal Navy could deliver an army to any shore and strangle enemy nations by blockade. England's forces were commanded by career soldiers who were veterans of wars all over the globe. In sharp contrast, the colonial force staring them down was less of an army than a large gang. Its soldiers came and went almost at will. The officers leading them had little command, let alone fighting experience. Furthermore, in the colonies, support for the rebellion was far from firm.Washington's first duty was to turn this unruly crowd into a real army by instituting disciplinary regulations. To facilitate his efforts, he urged the Continental Congress to provide enough money to pay for longer enlistments for his soldiers. But when New Year's Day dawned in 1776, much of his army had gone home because their enlistments had ended. Washington first commanded American forces arrayed around Boston. Using cannon captured by Henry Knox from Fort Ticonderoga and heroically transported miles to Boston, Washington fortified a high point overlooking the city. Unnerved by the colonials' sudden tactical advantage, the British withdrew from Boston by sea. Washington, however, had no illusions that his enemy was finished. The question was where they would strike next.By spring, it was plain that the British plan was to seize New York. It offered several advantages including a large port, the propaganda value of holding one of the rebels' biggest cities, and a route by which troops could be delivered to the American interior via the Hudson River. Washington moved to stop them. In July—a few days after the Declaration of Independence was signed—the British landed a huge force on Staten Island. By August, 30,000 troops marched on Washington's force. On their first engagement late that month, much of the Continental army either surrendered or turned and fled in terror. On September 15, the British landed on Manhattan, and again Washington's troops ran away. Enraged, he shouted at them, "Are these the men with whom I am to defend America?" A day later, his troops were resolute in their defiance and won a small engagement in Harlem Heights. But by November, the British had captured two forts that the Continentals had hoped would secure the Hudson River. Washington was forced to withdraw into New Jersey and then Pennsylvania. The British thought this signaled the end of the conflict and dug in for the winter, not bothering to chase the Americans. Washington now realized that by trying to fight open-field, firing-line battles with the British, he was playing to their strengths. He turned to tactics he had seen Native Americans use to great effect in the French and Indian War. On Christmas Day, he led his army through a ferocious blizzard, crossed the Delaware River into New Jersey, and surprised an enemy force at Trenton. A few days later, he took a British garrison at nearby Princeton. These actions were less large-scale battles than they were guerrilla raids. Nonetheless, these minor victories gave his army confidence, brightened the spirits of the American people, and told the British that they were in for a long and bitter struggle.A Turning of the Tide: 1777The Revolution's third year was its turning point. Another Continental force, commanded by Major General Horatio Gates, won the first significant American victory at Saratoga, New York. This victory convinced the French that the Revolution was winnable for the Americans. They began to consider an alliance with the colonial rebels—partly to get back at an old enemy, England, and partly to share in prizes from raids on British ships. At the same time, the English embarked on an unfortunate military strategy that included an invasion of the southern colonies, which subjected them to guerrilla warfare.For Washington, however, 1777 was a profoundly trying year. He lost two major battles with the British and failed to keep them from taking Philadelphia, home to the new nation's government, which was forced into hiding. In response to such a loss, an attempt was made by some in Congress and the army to oust Washington as commander. The winter of 1777-1778 saw his army camped in freezing, wretched huts at Valley Forge. One of the army's doctors summed up the conditions in his diary: "Poor food—hard lodging—cold weather—fatigue—nasty clothes—nasty cookery—vomit half my time—smoked out of my senses—the devil's in it—I can't endure it."Valley Forge to YorktownBy springtime, things began to improve as the army drilled hard and marched out of Valley Forge a more disciplined fighting force. In May 1778, the French agreed to an alliance with the Americans, sending troops, munitions, and money. By mid-1779, 6,000 French troops were fighting alongside the Americans.George Washington was not a great general but a brilliant revolutionary. Although he lost most of his battles with the British, year after year he held his ragtag, hungry army together. This was his most significant accomplishment as commander of the American forces. One French officer wrote: "I cannot insist too strongly how I was surprised by the American Army. It is truly incredible that troops almost naked, poorly paid, and composed of old men and children and Negroes should behave so well on the march and under fire." Knowing that one great victory by his army would undermine support in England for their endless foreign war, Washington patiently waited year after year for the right circumstances. The British relentlessly dared Continental forces to fight a line-to-line battle in the open. But Washington stayed with his own hit-and-run tactics, forcing the frustrated British to play the game by his rules. He kept their main army bottled up in New York much of the time, wary of fighting him.The British altered their strategy in 1778 and invaded the South. The new plan was to secure the southern colonies and then march a large army northward, forcing the rebellion out of upper America. It was a mistake. While they captured Savannah, Georgia, in 1778 and Charleston, South Carolina, in 1779, the British found themselves fighting a guerrilla war, facing shadowy bands of expert snipers. An American soldier, fighting in and for his homeland, could work on his own while a Redcoat could not. Colonial troops could move twice as fast as their equipment-heavy enemies, and every English soldier killed or captured meant a new one had to be sent from England—a journey of several weeks that weakened British presence elsewhere in their empire. By 1781, the war was deeply unpopular in England.That summer, Washington received the news for which he had been waiting. The British southern force, commanded by Lord Cornwallis, was camped near the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. Washington secretly hurried his army southward from New York. He deceived British spies with counterintelligence ruses that hid from them the mission's true objective. As usual, there was no money, and Washington had to talk many of his men out of quitting. A large French fleet, meanwhile, had left the West Indies, setting sail for the Virginia coast. On the way there, Washington stopped for a day at his Mount Vernon home—for the first time in six years."The World Turned Upside Down"Yorktown was a port city on a peninsula, jutting out into the Chesapeake. On September 1, 1781, the French fleet formed a line off Yorktown, cutting off any chance of British escape by sea. Three days later, the first American and French ground forces were at the base of the peninsula, a perfectly coordinated campaign designed by Washington. On September 5, the French ships thwarted an English fleet attempting to evacuate Cornwallis's troops. The British fate was sealed. American and French troops squeezed the enemy against the sea and tormented them with a constant hail of cannon fire. On October 19, Cornwallis had seen enough. Stunned British troops, many in tears, surrendered as their band played "The World Turned Upside Down." Early the following spring in London, Parliament withdrew its support for the war in America. The British began to leave the colonies—but not without smuggling out a sizable number of American slaves.The Revolutionary WarForging a NationThe thirteen colonies had fought the Revolution as if they were thirteen different nations. After the war, there was much controversy as to whether the colonies would coalesce into one country or several and how all of it would be governed.The war's end saw considerable maneuvering for personal power, and matters came to a head in the spring of 1783. Washington was approached by some senior army officers who proposed to make him king. A great many men—almost any man—would have jumped at the chance for such authority; George Washington, however, was not one of them. He had spent the past decade ridding America of a monarch and was saddened and dismayed at the prospect of saddling the country with a monarchy. The officers set a meeting to advance their ambitions, but Washington preempted them with a meeting of his own.Many people attending Washington's meeting favored the idea of installing some form of military dictatorship. If they had had their way, America might have disintegrated into rule by a pack of feudal warlords, ripe for anarchy or foreign takeover. Washington and his officers traded cold stares. Then the general began to read a letter supporting his viewpoint, but he stopped and put on a pair of spectacles—something few of them had ever seen him wear. Washington quietly said, "Gentlemen, I have grown gray in your service, and now I am going blind." In seconds, almost everyone was wiping away tears. The so-called Newburgh Mutiny had ended even before it began, thanks to Washington's meeting.On April 19, 1783, Washington announced to his army that England had agreed to a cessation of hostilities with the United States. Eight years, to the day, had passed since Massachusetts' militia traded musket fire with Redcoats at Lexington Green. By the end of the year, the last English troops had shipped out of New York, and Washington came home to Mount Vernon on Christmas Eve. As far as he was concerned, his public life was over. Washington spent most of the next three years attempting to restore the fortunes of his property, which had declined in his years fighting the British.During the years immediately following the war, America was governed according to the Articles of Confederation, which resulted in a weak and unstable government. Poor economic conditions led to conflict between indebted farmers and those lending them money, especially in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. In 1786, the government of Massachusetts put down an uprising of angry farmers led by former Revolutionary War officer Daniel Shay. Shays's Rebellion helped to convince the delegates of five states assembled at Annapolis, Maryland, to discuss a means of promoting interstate commerce and to call a national convention to strengthen the American government.A meeting of all the states, known now as the Constitutional Convention, was held in Philadelphia in May 1787. Because the convention proceedings were secret, there was public apprehension about the fate of their fledgling country. It was obvious to the convention delegates that leadership was needed to soothe public doubts and to lend the proceedings credibility. Despite his reluctance, Washington was unanimously chosen to head the assembly that developed the Constitution, the foundation of American government. One of its provisions called for something known as a president, and immediately the delegates began whispering that there was only one man to consider for the position. Washington did not want the office, but he worked for over a year to ensure the Constitution's ratification, which was achieved in June of 1788.