By George, You Are the Father of Our Country

By Bob Cox

Thankfully, we don’t need to have George Washington, our nation’s first president appear on the Jerry Springer Show with a paternity test to verify that he is the father of our country. If we did, wouldn’t that make us a despicable bunch of desperados in search of an even more bizarre form of entertainment? Sure, but you have to admit that this would be quite a show title: The Father of Daytime Trash Talk vs. The Father of America!

Whenever George Washington is mentioned, perhaps the most common images I get include his role as a founding father, a brilliant and courageous general and America’s first president. What’s truly inspired me most recently is learning about the amazing perseverance he displayed and the limitations he had to overcome throughout his lifetime, which began during his early childhood days.

Washington’s American family tree took root when his great-grandfather, John Washington immigrated from England to Virginia in 1656 and began accumulating land and slaves, as did his son Lawrence and his grandson, George's father, Augustine who was a tobacco planter that also tried his hand in iron-mining ventures. The first child of Augustine Washington and his second wife, Mary Ball Washington was George Washington, who was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia on February 22, 1732.

Life in the colonies nearly three centuries ago when Washington was growing up on Ferry Farm near Fredericksburg was a daily struggle for survival for the average family. The mortality rate was significantly higher than it is today, so the idea of tracking life expectancy did not even exist and only a small percentage of people reached their golden years. Formal statistical tracking of life expectancy began around 1900, when the average American lived to the age of just 47 compared to nearly 79 years today. One can only wonder what the average life expectancy was back in the 1700’s.

Washington’s family was no stranger to the grim reaper as three of George’s nine siblings died before adulthood: his sister Mildred died when she was one, his half-brother Butler died in infancy and his half-sister Jane died at age twelve, when George was two. Nine years later, Washington’s father died of a sudden illness in 1743. Fortunately for the Washington family, George’s half-brother Lawrence stepped forward to become a surrogate father while his father-in-law and prominent land-owner William Fairfax also became an important role model.

In addition to the emotional grief over the loss of his father, Washington’s formal education was cut short because of his death. While his formal education was limited to elementary school, George would earn “an advanced degree from the overcrowded school of hard knocks”. After Washington turned 15, he attempted to join the Royal Navy but was turned away when his widowed mother objected. The following year, he was invited to join a survey party organized by his neighbor and friend George Fairfax and he gained valuable experience from this opportunity. At the age of 17, Washington began his career as a well paid professional surveyor and would go on to receive a commission and surveyor's license from the College of William and Mary.

Two years later, Washington took time off work to accompany his brother Lawrence to Barbados. Lawrence suffered from tuberculosis and they both hoped the weather would improve his condition. Unfortunately, Lawrence's health failed to improve and he died in the summer of 1752.

Washington began his military service in the French and Indian War (1754-1762) as a major in the militia of the British Province of Virginia. George served as an ambassador of the British Crown and was sent to speak to the French and Indians. In 1753 the French had military control into the Ohio Country, a territory that had been claimed by the British.

Two years later, Washington would be tested in combat. In the Battle of the Monongahela the French and their Indian allies ambushed the British forces. After devastating losses, the British panicked and made a chaotic retreat. Washington took notice and rode back and forth across the battlefield, rallying the remnants of the British and Virginian forces into an organized retreat. Despite a lingering illness that included severe fever and headaches, he showed tremendous courage under fire and his coat was actually pierced by four bullets.

Later that same year, Lt. Governor Robert Dinwiddie rewarded Washington with a commission as Colonel of the Virginia Regiment and the task of defending Virginia's frontier. Although Washington never received commission in the British army, he gained tremendous leadership skills. He carefully examined British military tactics and gained a keen insight into their strengths and weaknesses, observations that served him during the Revolutionary War. It was during this period where Washington was recognized for his courage in combat as his soldiers followed his lead without question.

During this respite between the wars, Washington married a wealthy 28 year old widow named Martha Dandridge Custis in 1759. Washington's marriage to Martha greatly increased his property holdings and social standing. Overnight, he became one of Virginia's wealthiest men. Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie promised land bounties to the soldiers that served during the French and Indian War and Washington received another 23,200 acres. By 1775, Washington had doubled the size of Mount Vernon to 6,500 acres. As a respected military hero and large landowner, he held local office and was elected to the Virginia provincial legislature, representing Frederick County in the House of Burgesses from 1758-1765.

Washington enjoyed the fruits of an expanding empire as he diversified his tobacco crops to include wheat, flour milling, fishing, horse breeding, spinning and weaving. Growing tensions between the colonies and their British rulers; however, dissolved the peace and revealed an ominous future.

Washington’s involvement in the politics of the day began when he took a stand in 1767 against the various acts of the British Parliament. He opposed the 1765 Stamp Act, the first direct tax on the colonies imposed by the British Parliament, with no representatives from the colonies.

He also opposed the Townshend Acts (1767) and the Intolerable Acts in 1774, stating that they were "An invasion of our rights and privileges". In July 1774 he chaired the meeting at which the "Fairfax Resolves" were adopted, which called for the convening of a Continental Congress. In August, Washington attended the First Virginia Convention and was selected as a delegate to the First Continental Congress.

The final vestiges of peace evaporated in a hail of exploding muskets in April 1775 when the Battles of Lexington and Concord erupted near Boston. Washington came to the Second Continental Congress dressed in a military uniform and was ready for battle. He had the experience, charisma and leadership qualities that commanded attention. Congress created the Continental Army on June 14, 1775 and Washington was appointed as a full General and Commander-in-chief. Two months later, on August 23, 1775 Britain issued a Royal proclamation labeling American rebels as traitors who faced the confiscation of their property while their leaders were subject to execution.

Over the next eight years, Washington lost many of his battles, but his army never surrendered. He served three important roles during the war. First, he plotted the overall strategy of the war in cooperation with Congress. Second, he organized and trained the army. And third, he was the face of armed resistance to the Crown, a living representative of the American Revolution with the strategy of maintaining an army in the field at all times.

Washington's defining moment of the war showcased his remarkable character, strength and leadership during the frigid winter months at Valley Forge in 1777 and 1778. An army of 11,000 marched into winter quarters in December 1777 and over the next six months, the deaths in camp numbered in the thousands, mostly from disease, lack of food, inadequate clothing, poor shelter and extreme cold. During that dreadful winter, British troops were comfortably quartered in Philadelphia. As conditions worsened, Washington faced the unrelenting task of maintaining moral while repeatedly asking the Continental Congress for badly needed provisions, with no success. As in battle, Washington refused to surrender and Congress soon gave full support to funding the supply lines of the army. By late February, there were adequate supplies flowing throughout camp.

After the war was won, the Treaty of Paris was signed in September 1783 and Great Britain finally recognized the independence of the United States. Washington resigned his commission, disbanded his army and on November 2, gave a stirring farewell address to his soldiers. The following month, he resigned his commission as commander-in-chief, saying "I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my official life, by commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them, to his holy keeping." King George III called Washington "the greatest character of the age" because of this noble action.

Washington's retirement into civilian life at Mount Vernon didn’t last long. He once again answered the call of his country by attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787. He was elected unanimously as president of the Convention. He criticized the Articles of Confederation of the thirteen colonies for the weak central government it established. Washington argued for the need of a strong federal government, specifically to provide for the needs of the military, which was clearly lacking for him during the winter at Valley Forge.

Interestingly enough, the majority at the convention did not share Washington's vision of a strong federal government to bind the states together. They compared that model of government to the British Parliament that previously ruled and taxed the colonies so unfairly.

The Electoral College unanimously elected Washington as the first president in 1789 and then unanimously again 1792. He remains the only president to receive the totality of electoral votes. Congress voted to pay Washington a salary of $25,000 a year (about $340,000 today). Despite facing financial troubles, Washington initially declined the salary to maintain the role of a selfless public servant.

Washington displayed a high level of tolerance for opposing opinions and was an outstanding judge of character. He was also known to be systematic and orderly while listening to the opinion of others. At the same time, he was bold, decisive and eager to take action. After reluctantly serving a second term, Washington refused to run for a third, establishing the tradition of a maximum of two terms for a president.

Two years after leaving office in1797, Washington passed away at his home in Mt. Vernon at the age of 67. People around the world mourned his death. In the United States, memorial processions were held in several major cities and while in France, Napoleon Bonaparte ordered ten days of mourning throughout the country.

As we are about to celebrate our great nation’s 240^th birthday this 4^th of July, we have so much to be grateful for and yet so much unfinished business ahead to truly apply the ideals of our nation’s architects who, as Abraham Lincoln stated so eloquently during the Gettysburg Address, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”.

While Washington possessed a long list of admirable character traits and amazing accomplishments, like bravery, perseverance and wisdom during times of war and peace, he was far from perfect. The single greatest flaw during his lifetime was Washington’s decision to keep the chains of slavery shackled tightly around the necks of our African American brothers and sisters.

So, since Washington was a slave owner, should we wipe the slate clean of all the positive things that he achieved at such an enormous personal cost during the birth of America? If your answer was yes, that would be understandable as the enslavement of innocent people is an abomination of justice. While Washington’s actions in this matter were morally indefensible, the record also shows that he was the only prominent Founding Father to arrange for the release of all his slaves following his death, as he privately became opposed to slavery later in life. He also believed the divisiveness of his countrymen's feelings about slavery as a potential threat to the unity of the nation, a foreboding prophecy that would nearly divide this nation in half by pitting brother against brother upon the crimson soaked battlefields across America less than a century later.

Wherever there is injustice, like in the massacre of 49 innocent people in a nightclub in Orlando or when a pastor from a local church praises the deeds of the deranged murderer, like Roger Jimenez did at Verity Baptist Church did the day after this crime against humanity occurred, the voices of reason, compassion and justice must be heard. Every injustice that’s ever occurred throughout human history has begun with sowing seeds of hatred and intolerance towards our fellow man. The only way to extinguish this infectious virus is to find a healthy way to help that individual replace those poisonous seeds of hate with seeds of kindness, compassion and love. Forcing our intolerant views upon an intolerant individual would be akin to putting out a raging fire of madness with sticks of dynamite. On the other hand, we need to practice wisdom be being vigilant when it comes to potentially dangerous individuals like Roger Jimenez. People with that much hatred in their hearts do have the potential to cross the bloody line that separates murderous ideas from action, as deranged people like Omar Mateen have once again tragically proven.