Augustine Washington Sr. was an American planter and merchant. Born in Westmoreland, Virginia, he was the father of ten children, among them the first president of the United States, George Washington, soldier and politician Lawrence Washington, and politician Charles Washington. Born into the planter class of the British colony of Virginia, Washington owned several slave plantations, from which he derived the primary source of his wealth. He also speculated in land development and owned an iron mine. Although Washington never sat in the House of Burgesses, as did his own father and son, he served in various government positions in the counties where he owned land.

George Washington was an American Founding Father, military officer, and politician who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Second Continental Congress as commander of the Continental Army in 1775, Washington led Patriot forces to victory in the American Revolutionary War and then served as president of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which drafted and ratified the Constitution of the United States and established the U.S. federal government. Washington has thus become commonly known as the "Father of his Country".