20 Things New to Me about George Washington

By Walter Donway

January 2, 2022

My senior seminar paper addressed “Atlas Shrugged in the American Romantic Tradition.”

I reckon myself a decently educated layman in American history. I loved it in high school and at Brown University my major was “American Civilization.” I was graduated with honors, although my senior seminar paper addressed “Atlas Shrugged in the American Romantic Tradition.” Not a risky choice; the graduate student conducting the seminar, an attractive young woman, listed the topic among possibilities for papers. My effort was well-received, so I graduated not only with honors, but with “distinction.”

I knew little about American history. It was the writings of Ayn Rand that kept me reading history. And the rising wave after the sixties of books on “the real America,” “a history about real Americans,” and an endless stream—today a river—of revisionist books on Columbus, the American Indian, slavery, American “imperialism,” and so much more.

We reply to ideological—frequently anti-American—revisionism by retelling history for new generations.

We reply to ideological—frequently anti-American—revisionism by retelling history for new generations, history informed and illuminated by constant new research. Often that research itself is motivated by distortions of the revisionists. We never finish writing history because of that new research, but, also, because what happens today changes our perspective on what historical events and trends meant. When you view partisan politics, today, carrying the banner of public interest but the intent to loot the Treasury, you rewrite, in effect, the history of Washington’s Farewell Address, which urged—pleaded with—Americans above all to bar factional interests from government.

Paul Johnson is the supreme historian of “revisionism” with the goal of bringing new research to the factual, logical reinforcement of what decades and honest observation has told us—for example, that creation of the U.S. Constitution literally made America “the last best hope of mankind.”

So I have kept reading. My favorite author by far is that dean of British historians, Paul Johnson. Read Modern Times about the world from the twenties through (in the updated version) the nineties. My favorite history book, period. And Johnson’s History of the American People, my runaway favorite American history.

I recently finished Johnson’s A Brief History of the Renaissance, and, without pause, thanks to Amazon, went on to his biography of George Washington. It is fair to say that I knew nothing about Washington. Yes, great leader in the American war for independence from Britain. Yes, first President of the United States, very dignified, important farewell address. Virginia planter, lots of slaves. Strong hands—could hold a potato in his fist and crush it to mush.

Here are 20 things new to me about Washington:

He was a Virginian of impeccable English stock and viewed himself as independent gentry, and bound to behave as a gentleman, because he owned land. He was a farmer from start to finish. It is what he did and what he loved. He accumulated acreage, including by a deliberate and unromantic marriage to Martha, who had vast lands and capital. (The marriage was a livelong blessing and love affair—but produced no children.) By the time he died, accumulation of land starting when he was 18, and drastic scientific improvements in crops, animals, farming methods, and ancillary endeavors (a modern mill, distillery, pig and lamb breeding, and mule breeding) had made him among the largest landowners and richest men in America.
Washington’s passion was American expansion to the Pacific. His father sent George’s two older brothers to the finest private school in England (his own alma mater) but could not afford to send George. George’s education was solid, but “practical” (e.g., accounting). Loving land, he took a surveying course, excelled, and began surveying for Lord Fairfax, the largest landowner in Virgina (100 square miles, the size of Belgium). The work took George, aged 16, out of the tidewater (coastal region) into the piedmont. And thence into the Ohio territory. Washington became determined to acquire some of that huge acreage; it shaped his whole life. The French, via Canada, had fortified the Ohio Valley. Washington came to know the territory as a surveyor and showed his passion for it. As a result, he was commissioned in the Virginia militia and sent on expeditions, starting in his late teens, against the French and their Indian allies. His successes in battle and negotiation kept multiplying. At 22, he became lieutenant colonel in command of a force of Virginia volunteers and Indians. At age 23, he was full colonel and commander-in-chief of all Virginia troops. As a consequence, when the American war for independence began, he ranked among the highest-ranking military officers in the colonies. For him, it still was about land. By implication, in colonial times, Virginia extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific. That dream defined Washington’s vision of the future. He could have been among the first to conceive of “Manifest Destiny.”
Unlike many, Washington never viewed the American Indian in a negative light. He viewed the Indian as a fact of life. He called them “savages” and treated them with respect. But never for a moment did he entertain the idea that Indian hunting grounds ought to be treated as either property or a “nation.” Either Indians could accept citizenship (many did) or move aside.
The ethical concept that dominated Washington’s youth was “interest.” Initially, this meant relationships with individuals who would take an interest in a young man and promote him. For example, Washington seriously considered seeking a commission in the British army. His mother—a wealthy and well-connected Virginia lady who was his true mentor—checked this with a British connection. The answer was: forget it! In the army, George always would be subject to impressment into the Royal Navy. And there, promotion was not by merit, but “interest” (pull) and George had none. Self-interest shaped George’s decisions (except public service, which he viewed as the highest duty). He pursued his self-interest without guilt or apology all his life.
When King George and his advisors began to whip the American colonies into line to pay their share of taxes for the Seven Years War with France, Washington became involved in Virginia’s protest politics. He had less problem with taxation (a nation’s military forces must be supported and how difficult that had been for him) than with King George’s decree that Americans must not push beyond the Appalachian mountains and on no account violate Indian hunting grounds. If they did, the Indians would again side with the French and Canada as during the recent war. This went squarely against the “interest” of Washington in the Ohio Valley, where Virginia had set aside lands to reward Washington’s troops who fought to drive out the French. It was this direct slap at his interests, his hope for huge acreage in Ohio, that changed Washington’s view (as late as 1774) that no thinking Americans could wish to separate from England.
Washington, now a member of the 150-year-old Virginia House of Burgesses, was among those who called for the First Continental Congress and was a delegate to it. He arrived in his military uniform, standing 6’3″ tall, towering over all others. (Washington never shook hands; he always bowed.)
Later, he was elected unanimously to lead the Continental Army against the British invasion. He told Congress that they must remember his statement, that day, that “I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with.” At 43, he was deemed the most qualified man in the 13 colonies to lead the defense against the forces of King George III.
Historians agree that Washington was not a battlefield tactician. He did not have the experience. What he brought to the fledging American cause was an uncanny strategic genius. England was entering an industrial and manufacturing revolution. Everywhere, money was to be made. Fortunes. There never had been opportunities like this. And, as a result, the English public had no interest in a war. Washington had traded with England as a tobacco grower and ordered English manufactured goods. His mother had lectured him on the danger of indebtedness to British merchants. With some remarkable parallels to recent U.S. enemies in wars abroad, Washington’s strategy was to play for time. To inflict casualties on the British, drain their treasury, and let time do its work. He never risked open battle except when his advantage was overwhelming. And so, he “lost” encounter after encounter, retreating, to keep his army in the field and together. He spent most of his time wheedling and cajoling the states into providing financial support. The Continental Congress had no direct taxing power, but it could borrow and print money—the Continental. This it did. Printed without restraint, the “Continental” plunged in value. Washington struggled for guns, ammunition, and uniforms. It took him more than a year to get a blanket for every solider. The desertion rate was high. In the end, it was Washington’s stature, loyalty to him personally, his participation in every battle, the recognition that all he did was for his men, that kept the army together.
His opportunity came when France declared for the colonies and sent the French fleet to American shores. Till then, the British Royal Navy had dominated the sea. When the French fleet, briefly, drove the British from Chesapeake Bay in the Battle of Chesapeake Capes. Yorktown under siege by Washington’s troops, who had had little chance with the British Royal Navy batteries offshore. Now, Washington rushed American (9,000) and French (7,000) troops with cannon and plenty of ammunition to reinforce the siege. Yorktown fell in two days. Washington took more than 7,200 prisoners. The war was not over. But in London, even Lord North said: “This is the end.” It was. The Peace of Paris was concluded on September 3, 1783.
Every year, as winter came, the British and Americans settled into winter quarters. And every year, from 1975, Martha Washington and other women (“the girls”) spent two-thirds of the year in or near Washington’s camp. Paul Johnson judges that given Washington’s pressures, frustrations, long months of heavy cares, he would not have prevailed without those months when Martha and the women cooked, cared for the sick, partied and danced, and raised spirits. Martha, at 4’11”, and Geoge’s 6’3″, were matched in determination, stamina, and unquenchable spirits.
After years away from Mount Vernon, Washington rode home and immediately engaged in making his thousands of acres as productive as the now famous agricultural revolution had made England. Mount Vernon became known as one of the most beautiful homes and farms in America, with a matchless view over the Potomac. Inventions and renovations came from Washington’s brain. He did not wish to leave home ever again. He both foresaw and dreaded that his countrymen again would draft him—this time for the Presidency of the new United States.
Before that, though, it was Washington who urged a resolution calling for representatives of all the states to meet in Philadelphia on May 14, 1787, to draft a constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation, a near disaster during the war and now encouraging rebellions in the states. Daniel Shays’ rebellion (he had been an officer in Washington’s army) in Massachusetts had shaken the new nation and forced Massachusetts to agree to drop direct taxation in response to threat of armed force.) Washington traveled to Philadelphia to be elected unanimously to chair the Constitutional Convention. He said little, took care not to make his views known. He presided without participating. And yet, his weight with delegates prevailed at crucial points. The draft of the constitution dealt with slavery in a way that Washington knew would win support of the South for ratification. Without that, no new constitution was possible. Washington’s goal above all else was to create a new “general” (the term was military) government with powers to support a viable army (as the Continental Congress had not), create a transportation system to make the great distances of American viable (he had been involved in Virginia in planning canals), and to defend the right of Americans to settle the Ohio Valley and beyond.
Washington attained his overriding goal; the new constitution was ratified rapidly.
Washington attained his overriding goal; the new constitution was ratified rapidly.

Back at Mount Vernon, he followed its progress, subscribing to 10 of America’s new newspapers. Mount Vernon was becoming, not a comfortable planation, but a paradise. Washington loved children and the house. Mount Vernon, by then, had at least 20 adults, children, and grandchildren, including children of slaves. Typically, Washington fashioned for himself private and inviolate space for his study.
Washington declined the first presidency of the United States. Sincerely? All evidence suggests so. But, equally, Washington held no higher ideal than public service. He was elected overwhelmingly to the presidency. (John Adams, getting next highest vote, became vice president). First in New York City, then Philadelphia, then the new capital—10 miles along the Potomac chosen by Washington, the old surveyor—George Washington served. Notably, he supported an immigrant lawyer from the West Indies, Alexander Hamilton, in carrying out Washington’s assignment to put the new nation, “whatever the cost,” on a sound financial footing. That is what Hamilton brilliantly did. Other initiatives such as support for “manufactures,” a transportation system of canals, and a national bank, may be questioned. But Hamilton put the new nation on a hard currency (for which the British were famous), stifled inflation, restored credit, and treated debtors fairly. The new nation’s debt plunged. By the time of the Louisiana Purchase (1803), the credit of the United States made it easy to borrow $11.25 million at low rates for history’s greatest real-estate bargain.
Washington appeared to dread a second term (even, concludes Johnson, taking account of his habitual “humility” about his worthiness for public office). His sense of strategy still keen, he suspected he would be focused on international affairs—and he was. Britain and France (after the French Revolution) went to war. Washington insisted on neutrality as against Jefferson’s ardent desire to side with France (thereafter, Jefferson spread the rumor that “the old man” was “senile”). Instead, Washington sought and obtained favorable treaties with Britain and Spain, once and for all opening the West to expansion. Long before his term ended, he said he bitterly regretted accepting a second term and longed to return to Mount Vernon. He began to draft his resignation and farewell address, asking Hamilton, no longer in office, to polish it. His term done, he made one final trip, to attend the inauguration of John Adams—a superior, snide intellectual who endlessly sniped at Washington, as did Jefferson. Washington had only three years to live. The record shows he cherished them with his routine at Mount Vernon: rise at 5:00 a.m., ride most of the day to deal with some 12,000 acres that he managed personally, dine with guests most evenings, retreat into his strictly private library to read until 9:00. And then to bed.
Washington disliked slavery but like every Virginia planter, kept slaves.
Washington disliked slavery but like every Virginia planter, kept slaves.

He never broke up families and never sold slaves “south.” He wanted above all to arrange gradual emancipation in the new constitution, but without support of the South, it would not have been ratified. He could not free slaves in Virginia, where they could not work. At one point, he had 322 slaves, but only one-third worked; the rest were too old, too young, or ill. He swore never to buy anymore. (A personal revulsion stemmed from his realization that sexual intimacy was unavoidable when slaves lived in the household with their masters. He discovered slaves in his household who were illegitimate offspring of prominent local families. And a serving girl who cared for his two stepchildren, was in fact their aunt.) When he went to Philadelphia, he took some slaves with him and left them there, free. In his will, he stipulated that after his death and Martha’s, all slaves be freed and wrote with vehemence that there could not be excuses and no exceptions. Unlike Thomas Jefferson, whose slaves were sold “south” after his death to pay his horrendous debts, Washington left great wealth.
Washington, from age 20, was a Freemason. In everything he dedicated, including the corner stones of the Whitehouse, he evoked a Masonic ritual. He was sworn into the presidency on a Masonic Bible. And, Johnson writes, Freemasonry was one of the “intellectual building blocks of the Revolution.” In private letters, he joked about how chipperly he appeared to attend church services. Yet, in 20 volumes of correspondence, he never once mentions Christ. Washington did believe that Christianity was the firmest—in fact, the only conceivable—foundation of America civilization.
In Johnson’s opinion, Washington’s one great failure related to slavery. At the time of drafting the Constitution, and in Washington’s first term, it still would have been possible to arrange gradual emancipation of slaves, perhaps with compensation. After invention of the cotton gin (1793), which enabled the South to go “big cotton,” earning immense wealth, emancipation came only with a war to the death.
Paul Johnson summarizes: “As a central actor in the American Revolution, George Washington was one of the most important figures in world history. As American commander-in-chief throughout the eight-year struggle against Britain, he effectively liberated the thirteen colonies from imperial rule. He then presided over the process whereby the new nation drafted, ratified, and enacted its federal constitution. Finally, for eight years he directed the administration that put the Constitution to work with such success that, suitably updated and amended, it has lasted for nearly a quarter of a millennium.

“The Revolution he thus led to success was the first of a series that created the modern world in which we live.”

Washington put everything on paper. His diaries, beginning at 16, recording his daily life and his papers from throughout his life, including from the White House, have been mounted, one document per page, and bound in leather. In the Library of Congress, the volumes occupy 163 linear feet of shelving.

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Note: The feature image is of George Washington’s statue in Boston, where the American Revolution began, and from which Paul Revere rode to warn Concord and Lexington that British troops were marching. George Washington’s equestrian statue, in the Public Garden, still rides against the sky. As farmer, Virginia militia leader, and commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, Washington’s was a life on horseback.

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About the Author: Walter Donway

Walter Donway contributes to Savvy Street on political economy, science, and trends in fiction, film, and culture. Walter Donway’s most recent book is Donald Trump and His Enemies: How the Media Put Trump in Office (Romantic Revolution Books: New York, September 2017). His Amazon profile can be found here

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