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From 1753, when George Washington was a 21-year-old major in the Virginia militia, sent by the British Governor Robert Dinwiddie to tell the French army to withdraw from the Ohio territory to 1797, to the end of his second term as the first President of the new United States, George Washington lived a life of courage, honor and service to others that was based on commitment to principle. He also left a remarkable written record in his journals and letters that illustrate respect and kindness towards others (regardless of their station in life), a lack of haughtiness or pride that public and political figures often display, and a deep, if private, faith in God. In those journals and letters are principles that he upheld himself and which are the foundation principles in our founding documents. Those principles were based on a foundation often dismissed today: religion, morality and respect for others.
His principles were expressed with great courtesy and kindness and were evident very early in his life. They were not limited to those from the same culture, background or station in life. In his journal, George Washington described meetings at Logstown[1] in 1753 with Indian chiefs, deserting French soldiers and later with the commander of the French soldiers who were building forts to claim the Ohio territory. Washington listened respectfully to all, including the Indians, and recorded their comments in his journal. [2] He described his meeting with Indian Chief Tenacharison (called "Half-King" by Europeans) as follows:
"About 3 o'Clock this evening the Half King came to Town; I went up and I invited him and Davisan, privately, to my Tent, and desir'd him to relate some of the Particulars of his Journey to the French Commandant, and Reception there; and to give me an Account of the Ways and Distance. He told me that the nearest and levellest Way was now impassable, by Reason of many large miry Savannas, that we must be obliged to go by Venango, and should not get to the near Fort under 5 or 6 Nights Sleep, good Travelling. When he went to the Fort, he said he was received in a very stern Manner by the late Commander; Who ask'd him very abruptly, what he had come about, and to declare his Business, which he said he did in the following Speech.
"Fathers, I am come to tell you your own Speeches; what your own Mouths have declared. Fathers, You, in former Days, set a Silver Bason before us, wherein there was the Leg of a Beaver, and desir'd of all Nations to come and eat of it; to eat in Peace and Plenty, and not to be churlish to one another; and that if any such Person should be found to be a Disturber, I here lay down by the Edge of the Dish a Rod, which you must scourge them with; and if I your Father, should get foolish, in my old Days, I desire you may use it upon me as well as others.
"Now Fathers, it is you that are the Disturbers in this Land, by coming and building your Towns, and taking it away unknown to us, and by Force.
"Fathers, We kindled a Fire a long Time ago, at a Place called Montreal, where we desired you to stay, and not to come and intrude upon our Land. I now desire you may dispatch to that Place; for be it known to you, Fathers, that this is our Land, and not yours.
"Fathers, I desire you may hear me in Civilness; if not, we must handle that Rod which was laid down for the use of the Obstreperous. If you had come in a peaceable Manner, like our Brothers the English, we should not have been against your trading with us, as they do; but to come, Fathers, and build great Houses upon our Land, and to take it by Force, is what we cannot submit to.
"Fathers, both you and the English are white, we live in a Country between; therefore the Land belongs to neither one nor to other; But the Great Being Above allow'd it to be a Place of Residence for us; so Fathers, I desire you to withdraw, as I have done our Brothers the English; for I will keep you at Arms length. I lay this down as a Trial for both, to see which will have the greatest Regard to it, and that Side we will stand by, and make equal Sharers with us. Our Brothers the English have heard this, and I come now to tell it to you, for I am not afraid to discharge you off this Land."
In spite of Chief Tenacharison's reasonable offer, the French commander responded rudely, treating the diplomatic Chief contemptuously, according to Young Washington's journal:
"Now, my Child, I have heard your Speech, you spoke first, but it is my Time to speak now. Where is my Wampum that you took away, with the Marks of Towns in it? This Wampum I do not know, which you have discharged me off the Land with; but you need not put yourself to the Trouble of Speaking, for I will not hear you; I am not afraid of Flies, or Mosquitos, for Indians are such as those; I tell you, down that River I will go, and will build upon it, according to my Command; if the River was backed up, I have Forces sufficient to burst it open, and tread under my Feet all that stand in Opposition, together with their Alliances; for my Force is as the Sand upon the Sea Shore; Therefore, here is your Wampum, I fling it at you.
"Child, you talk foolish; you say this Land belongs to you, but there is not the Back of my Nail yours; I saw that Land sooner than you did, before the Shannoahs and you were at War; Lead was the Man that went down, and took Possession of that River; It is my Land, and I will have it, let who will stand up for, or say against it. I'll buy and sell with the Englaish (mocking). If People will be ruled by me, they may expect Kindness, but not else. "
In January 1754, Washington rode back to Virginia and reported what had happened to Governor Dinwiddie. Dinwiddie sent Captain William Trent and his men to build a stockade at the forks of the Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela rivers as suggested by George Washington. Trent discovered that the French had already seized the area, which is where Pittsburgh was later built, and had built Fort Duquesne, which had more than 1,000 French soldiers occupying it. Washington meanwhile had returned to the area with 284 militiamen and thought that another 700 militia members under the command of Joshua Fry were close behind him. They weren't. Colonel Fry had been killed falling from his horse.
The opening battle of the French and Indian War that became the Seven Years War involving most of Europe and India took place early in the morning of July 3, 1754 when Washington and his men were attacked by the French soldiers. More than a third of Washington men were killed and Washington surrendered. He was released by the French commander and, in poor health, he and his men, many of them wounded, returned to Virginia. Washington resigned his commission in the Virginia Militia and returned to Mt. Vernon.
In 1755, King George II sent his most experienced military commander, Major General Edward Braddock to America to eject the French from the Ohio Territory. Because of his experience, George Washington was chosen as an Aide to Braddock . When they reached the French fort, Fort Duquesne, Washington suggested that the Virginia Rangers lead the advance, since Braddock was unfamiliar with Indian warfare. Braddock angrily dismissed the notion his "professional" army could be led by "untrained Americans."
A surprise attack from the French and their Indian allies hiding behind and in trees quickly disoriented and terrified the British soldiers. General Braddock was shot from his horse, mortally wounded, but George Washington, who was in every part of the field and a conspicuous target for the enemy, miraculously went unscathed. Out of Braddock's eighty-six officers, sixty-two of them were wounded or killed.
Twenty years later, on July 3, 1775, the Second Continental Congress chose George Washington as commander of the American forces. For the next twenty-two years, he would be the new nation's indispensable military, constitutional convention and national head. His experiences helped shaped the writing of the US Constitution.
Washington in Prayer at Valley Forge - Henry Brueckner
He became not only a military hero, but also civilian and political hero. During eight years of leading the American soldiers in the Revolution to battle George Washington often escaped serious injury or death while leading his troops. In his letters he praised "Providence" for his good fortune under fire or when weather kept British ships and troops from functioning.
His experiences as commander of the army when there was no executive branch of government under the Articles of Confederation enabled him, as President of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 to advise the delegates. Almost every night, he met with and discussed the day's debates with delegates. There is no provision in the US Constitution that allows congressional committees or the congress as a whole to tell the commander in chief, the President, how to fight a war. Congress controls the funds for war, but once Congress declares war or authorizes military action, it cannot interfere with the decisions made by the commander in chief. As president of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Washington helped create a "unified" federal government
In his farewell address[3] after eight years as president, he left a number of suggestions for the future of the country and the "preservation of your government and the permanency of your present happy state." Those thoughts included:
"The unity of government...is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence...of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize." (page 2)
He wrote that "With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits and political principles" that work to guard and preserve the "Union of a whole." (page 3)
He also warned that "overgrown Military establishments are "particularly hostile to Republican Liberty" (page 4)
And warned "in the most solemn manner against the baneful Spirit of Party" calling factions "truly the worst enemy" that leads to "formal and permanent despotism." (pages 5& 6)
"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity," he wrote, "religion and morality are indispensable supports. Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? (page 6)
He strongly warned that those entrusted with governing the nation must "confine themselves within their respective Constitutional Spheres, ( page 6)
He called public credit "a very important source of strength and security" and that it should be used "as sparingly as possible" to avoid "the accumulation of debt" because "no taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant." (page 7)
Urged that "in regard to foreign Nations" that we extend "our commercial relations and to have with them as little political connection as possible." (page 8)
And, finally, he urged the nation to "steer clear of permanent Alliances" and to keep ourselves "on a respectably defensive posture." (page 9)
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Mary Mostert has written articles on political and social issues for more than 60 years, including a weekly newspaper column for Gannett Newspapers. She has written four books, including books on the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution. Her e-mail is mary@bannerofliberty.com and website is http://www.bannerofliberty.com
[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logstown - Logstown (or Logg's Town)
[2]http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/journal/journaltext.html -Geo. Washington's Journal - March 21-28, 1754
[3]http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/farewell/transcript.html - Geo. Washington's Farewell Address
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