Why Is George Washington Famous?

Washington, D.C. is named after him and his face is on the $1 bill. Practically the entire world knows the name George Washington.

George Washington is famous for being one of the founding fathers and the very first President of the United States of America. After fighting for the British Empire in the Seven Years War, Washington became critical of Britain’s taxation of the American colonists. This led him to join the Patriots in the Revolutionary War.

Scroll down to read more about George Washington’s military career, his efforts to separate from the British Empire, and how he became the first President.

George Washington’s Early Life

George Washington was born to wealthy plantation owners Augustine and Mary Ball Washington in Popes Creek, Virginia. He was raised along with his nine other brothers and sisters but was closest to his eldest half-brother Lawrence. 

Lawrence became the head of the family after their father’s death in 1743. While George had inherited a small farm from his father, Lawrence had inherited the large property of Little Hunting Creek that he renamed Mount Vernon. 

George Washington went to live with his older brother in Mount Vernon and was heavily influenced by Lawrence’s father-in-law, William Fairfax. Fairfax helped Washington to become a land surveyor in the Shenandoah Valley. 

However, Washington retired from surveying in 1950 to help take care of Lawrence who had contracted Tuberculosis. The two traveled to Barbados together in 1951.

While there George contracted smallpox but fought off the virus. However, Lawrence succumbed to his Tuberculosis when they returned to the American Colonies in 1752.

It was after Lawrence’s death that George Washington was inspired to join the military. This was because Lawrence had been an adjunct general of the Virginia Militia. 

George Washington was commissioned into the Colonial Militia as a commander and fought in the French and Indian War, which was an extension of the Seven Year War between Britain and France. 

Washington served in the Colonial Militia from 1752 to 1758 where he was eventually raised to Colonel. In 1758, he terminated his military commission and opted for civilian life.

You can learn more about George Washington’s early life and his rise to fame in America in the below video.

Washington and the Separatist Movement

After retiring from the military, life was looking good for George Washington. He had returned to Mount Vernon where he married the widow of another wealthy plantation owner, Martha Dandridge Custis. 

The two never had any children together possibly due to sterility caused in Washington by smallpox or Martha’s labor with her last child, Patsy. Either way, they raised three children from Martha’s previous marriage, Patsy passed away from an epileptic episode when she was seventeen.

In 1758, Washington was elected into the House of Burgesses in Virginia to represent Frederick County. Although he began his political career as fairly quiet, he soon became a voice against new British taxes on the American Colonies.

He was very vocal about his opposition to the Stamp Act which prevented Americans from purchasing any paper products not made from British paper. He also opposed other British acts like the Townshend Acts and the Coercive Acts, which were retaliation from the British over the Boston Tea Party. 

In 1775, when the American Revolutionary War broke out, George Washington headed to Philadelphia to join the Patriots. In Philadelphia, George Washinton was voted by Congress to become the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, which he accepted. 

Over the next eight years, Washington helped to lead the Patriots to victory and was key in the creation of the United States of America.

George Washington Becomes the First President

At the end of the Revolutionary War, Washington headed home to Mount Vernon and remained there for the next four years working on projects started before the war. Then in 1783, he was approached and asked to attend the Constitutional Convention. 

He declined. However, his close confidantes urged him to attend and he was persuaded. 

George Washington headed to Philadelphia again and was elected by the other Founding Fathers to preside over the convention as the President General. The new Constitution was created and Washington was one of many to sign it. 

His leadership throughout the war and the founding of this new country made Washington one of the best candidates for Presidency. On April 5, 1789, George Washington was notified that he was to be the first President of the United States. 

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