The Father of the Nation
George Washington led the American army during the American Revolution. This resulted in America’s independence from Great Britain. He became the country’s first president. This is why George Washington has become known as the “Father of the Nation”.
As one of the founders of the United States of America, Washington has been carved into rock on Mount Rushmore – the others are Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial, i dagligtale Mount Rushmore, er et nasjonalt minnesmerke som ligger i Keystone, Sør-Dakota, USA.
Childhood
George Washington was born in the state of Virginia in 1732. His family was of English origin and rich. They owned a modest tobacco plantation.
During the harvest, the Washington family used slaves from Africa. George Washington’s carefree childhood in the calm English colony came to a sudden end when he lost his father at the age of 11.
His mother was worried that George didn’t show much interest in school or studies. He was much more focused on the practical side of life and the plantation. He’d much rather spend his time on things that happened around the plantation, such as inspecting the land and soil quality.
These skills and knowledge were something that he was able to put to good use when his brother Lawrence died and George inherited large parts of land. His brother had married into a rich family with a lot of land.
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Tobakkplantasje
War between France and Great Britain
The Europeans that migrated to America in the 17th Century took land from the native population. This land became controlled by colonial law.
📷 Statue of George Washington in Boston, Massachusetts.
In the 1750s, George Washington joined the Virginia Military and fought in the French and Indian War, which broke out in 1756 between France and Great Britain. They fought over control of the North American Colonies. The colonial war against France ended in victory for the British in 1763, who at this point took control of the whole of North America.
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The fatherland, Great Britain
The North American colonists were seen as subjects of the British Crown. They paid taxes to Great Britain, but at the same time, they did not have any representatives in Parliament in London.
From protest to revolution
Unhappiness began to spread amongst the settlers. Lawyers claimed that the colonies were not to be restricted by the laws made by a parliament where they were not represented. Among the hard-core protesters, there was a group who called themselves “The Sons of Liberty”.
In 1775 Congress organised a military opposition, which led to a revolution. George Washington had already at this point been elected a congressman for Virginia and he took command of the colonial army.
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The Declaration of Independence
On the 4th of July 1776 the Congress signed a declaration of independence. At this point, the colonies broke their ties with Great Britain. With the help of the French and strong cooperation between the colonies themselves, Washington finally managed to defeat the British in Yorktown in October 1781.
A new nation is born
A new nation was born, the United States of America. Congress accepted the final constitution in 1789 and elected George Washington the first president of the United States. He was the right man in the right place and did his job with a lot of commitment and responsibility. He managed to calm the tensions within the country.
Papirbakgrunn 8
Final years
Washington was well respected and liked and was elected for not just a second term but also a third term. But he turned down the third term as he believed that it was too dangerous for the same individual to hold power for so long. He retired into a private life where he spent his final years running a whisky distillery. He died in Mount Vernon on 14 December 1799.
After his death, he was greeted as a great leader and the father of the American nation by everyone, including Europeans. George Washington entered history as a legend: “a leader in war, a leader in peace and a leader in the hearts of patriots.”
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A simple landowner or also the owner of slaves?
During his lifetime, Washington owned a lot of land and several properties, which used many slaves of African descent. Even if Washington didn’t agree with slavery in principle and called it morally unacceptable on several occasions, he did nothing to eliminate it when he became president.
Historians believe that Washington didn’t formally challenge slavery so that he would continue to hold the support of the rich landowners. They were an important part of the country’s economy, and Washington couldn’t risk creating any conflict and imbalance in such a young nation. His involvement was limited to signing the Slave Trade Act in 1794, which reduced the country’s participation in slave trade.
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Washington D.C.
The capital city of the United States of America was named after George Washington, who in 1970 nominated this area as the site for the new capital. D.C. is short for District of Columbia. Columbia is a historical name for the United States and has been portrayed as a female figure. The origin of the word Columbia is the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus.
📷 «Be Patriotic»-poster from around 1917-18.
Sources:
- Historiens største ikoner (2020)
Orage Forlag AS
- History.com (15.03.2021): How did Washington, D.C., get its name?
https://www.history.com/news/how-did-washington-d-c-get-its-name
- Thuesen, Nils Petter; Nordlie, Haavard; Skatvik, Frida; Hoprekstad, Odd Egil: Washington D.C. i Store norske leksikon på snl.no.
Hentet 15. mars 2021 fra https://snl.no/Washington_D.C.
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Paul Stahr / Herbert Hoover Library / National Archives and Records Administration
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