1.
George Washington
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George Washington was an American politician and soldier who served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797 and was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and he is popularly considered the driving force behind the nations establishment and came to be known as the father of the country, both during his lifetime and to this day. Washington was widely admired for his leadership qualities and was unanimously elected president by the Electoral College in the first two national elections. Washingtons incumbency established many precedents still in use today, such as the system, the inaugural address. His retirement from office two terms established a tradition that lasted until 1940 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term. The 22nd Amendment now limits the president to two elected terms and he was born into the provincial gentry of Colonial Virginia to a family of wealthy planters who owned tobacco plantations and slaves, which he inherited. In his youth, he became an officer in the colonial militia during the first stages of the French. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress commissioned him as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, in that command, Washington forced the British out of Boston in 1776 but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the Delaware River in the middle of winter, he defeated the British in two battles, retook New Jersey, and restored momentum to the Patriot cause and his strategy enabled Continental forces to capture two major British armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781. In battle, however, Washington was repeatedly outmaneuvered by British generals with larger armies, after victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned as commander-in-chief rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to American republicanism. Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which devised a new form of government for the United States. Following his election as president in 1789, he worked to unify rival factions in the fledgling nation and he supported Alexander Hamiltons programs to satisfy all debts, federal and state, established a permanent seat of government, implemented an effective tax system, and created a national bank. In avoiding war with Great Britain, he guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795 and he remained non-partisan, never joining the Federalist Party, although he largely supported its policies. Washingtons Farewell Address was a primer on civic virtue, warning against partisanship, sectionalism. He retired from the presidency in 1797, returning to his home, upon his death, Washington was eulogized as first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen by Representative Henry Lee III of Virginia. He was revered in life and in death, scholarly and public polling consistently ranks him among the top three presidents in American history and he has been depicted and remembered in monuments, public works, currency, and other dedications to the present day. He was born on February 11,1731, according to the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar was adopted within the British Empire in 1752, and it renders a birth date of February 22,1732. Washington was of primarily English gentry descent, especially from Sulgrave and his great-grandfather John Washington emigrated to Virginia in 1656 and began accumulating land and slaves, as did his son Lawrence and his grandson, Georges father Augustine
2.
Ancestry of George Washington
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This table sets out the ancestry of President George Washington for five generations, numbered according to the Ahnentafel genealogical numbering system. Bibliography of George Washington Ancestry of Thomas Jefferson
3.
Military career of George Washington
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The military career of George Washington spanned over forty years of service. Washingtons service can be broken into three periods with service in three different armed forces, Virginias Royal Governor, Robert Dinwiddie, appointed Washington a major in the provincial militia in February 1753. In that year the French began expanding their control into the Ohio Country. These competing claims led to a world war 1756–63 and Washington was at the center of its beginning, the Ohio Company was one vehicle through which British investors planned to expand into the territory, opening new settlements and building trading posts for the Indian trade. Washington delivered the letter to the local French commander, who refused to leave. Governor Dinwiddie sent Washington back to the Ohio Country to protect an Ohio Company group building a fort at present-day Pittsburgh, before he reached the area, a French force drove out the companys crew and began construction of Fort Duquesne. The French responded by attacking and capturing Washington at Fort Necessity in July 1754 and he was allowed to return with his troops to Virginia. The experience demonstrated Washingtons bravery, initiative, inexperience and impetuosity and these events had international consequences, the French accused Washington of assassinating Jumonville, who they claimed was on a diplomatic mission similar to Washingtons 1753 mission. Both France and Britain responded by sending troops to North America in 1755, in 1755, Washington was the senior Colonial aide to British General Edward Braddock on the ill-fated Braddock Expedition. This was at the time the largest ever British military expedition ventured into the colonies, the French and their Indian allies were able to ambush the expedition, mowing down over 900 casualties including the mortally-wounded Braddock. The Virginia Regiment was the first full-time American military unit in the colonies, Washington was ordered to act defensively or offensively as he thought best. In command of a soldiers, Washington was a disciplinarian who emphasized training. He led his men in brutal campaigns against the Indians in the west, in 10 months units of his regiment fought 20 battles, and lost a third of its men. Washingtons strenuous efforts meant that Virginias frontier population suffered less than that of other colonies, in 1758, Washington participated in the Forbes Expedition to capture Fort Duquesne. He was embarrassed by a fire episode in which his unit and another British unit thought the other was the French enemy and opened fire. In the end there was no fighting for the French abandoned the fort. Upon his return to Virginia, Washington resigned his commission in December 1758 and he closely observed British military tactics, gaining a keen insight into their strengths and weaknesses that proved invaluable during the Revolution. He demonstrated his toughness and courage in the most difficult situations, including disasters and he developed a command presence—given his size, strength, stamina, and bravery in battle, he appeared to soldiers to be a natural leader and they followed him without question
4.
George Washington in the American Revolution
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George Washington commanded the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War, and was the first President of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. Because of his role in the founding of the United States. His devotion to republicanism and civic virtue made him a figure among early American politicians. Washington played a military and political role in the American Revolution. His involvement began as early as 1767, when he first took political stands against the acts of the British Parliament, after the war broke out with the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, his role became military with his appointment as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. He appeared before the Second Continental Congress in military uniform, signaling that he was prepared for war, Congress created the Continental Army on June 14, the next day it selected Washington as commander-in-chief. At the end of the year in both 1775 and 1776, he had to deal with expiring enlistments, since the Congress had only authorized the existence for single years. In 1777 Washington was again defeated in the defense of Philadelphia, Washingtons activities from late 1778 to 1780 were more diplomatic and organizational, as his army remained outside New York, watching Sir Henry Clintons army that occupied the city. His attention was drawn to the frontier war, which prompted the 1779 Continental Army expedition of John Sullivan into upstate New York. When General Clinton sent the turncoat General Benedict Arnold to raid in Virginia, the arrival of Lord Cornwallis in Virginia after campaigning in the south presented Washington with an opportunity to strike a decisive blow. The army was disbanded after peace in 1783, and Washington resigned his commission as commander-in-chief on December 23,1783. Born into a well-to-do Virginia family near Fredericksburg in 1732, Washington was schooled locally until the age of 15, the early death of his father when he was 11 eliminated the possibility of schooling in England, and his mother rejected attempts to place him in the Royal Navy. Thanks to the connection by marriage of his half-brother Lawrence to the wealthy Fairfax family, Washington was appointed surveyor of Culpeper County in 1749 and its investors also included Virginias Royal Governor, Robert Dinwiddie, who appointed Washington a major in the provincial militia in February 1753. Washington played a key role in the outbreak of the French and Indian War and he closely observed British military tactics, gaining a keen insight into their strengths and weaknesses that proved invaluable during the Revolution. He demonstrated his toughness and courage in the most difficult situations, including disasters and he developed a command presence—given his size, strength, stamina, and bravery in battle, he appeared to soldiers to be a natural leader and they followed him without question. Washington learned to organize, train, and drill, and discipline his companies, from his observations, readings and conversations with professional officers, he learned the basics of battlefield tactics, as well as a good understanding of problems of organization and logistics. He gained an understanding of strategy, especially in locating strategic geographical points. He developed a negative idea of the value of militia, who seemed too unreliable, too undisciplined
5.
Valley Forge
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Valley Forge was the military camp 18 miles northwest of Philadelphia where the American Continental Army spent the winter of 1777–78 during the American Revolutionary War. Starvation, disease, malnutrition, and exposure killed more than 2,500 American soldiers by the end of February 1778, General George Washington sought quarters for his men with winter almost setting in, and with greatly diminishing prospects for campaigning. Washington and his troops had fought in early December what was the last major engagement of 1777 at the Battle of White Marsh and he devised to pull his troops from their present encampment in the White Marsh area and move to a more secure location for the coming winter. Several locations were considered for the winter quarters, but Washington selected Valley Forge. Valley Forge was named for a forge on Valley Creek in Whitemarsh. It was not the best place to set up camp for the Continental Army. This location also left the vulnerable under-supplied army in striking distance of the British, the area was close enough to the British to keep their raiding and foraging parties out of the interior of Pennsylvania, yet far enough away to halt the threat of British surprise attacks. The densely forested plateau of Mount Joy and the adjoining two-mile-long plateau of Mount Misery made the area easily defensible and it also provided abundant forests of timber that were used to construct thousands of log huts. Seventy-eight of the huts in the camp housed the soldiers, on December 19,1777, Washingtons poorly fed, ill-equipped army staggered into Valley Forge, weary from long marches. Winds blew as the 12,000 Continentals prepared for winters fury, only about one in four of them had shoes, and many of their feet had left bloody footprints from the marching. Grounds were selected for brigade encampments, and defense lines were planned, the first properly constructed hut appeared in three days. One hut required 80 logs, and timber had to be collected from miles away and it went up in one week with the use of only one axe. These huts provided sufficient protection from the cold and wet conditions of a typical Pennsylvania winter. By the beginning of February, construction was completed on 2,000 huts and they provided shelter, but did little to offset the critical shortages that continually plagued the army. Washington ordered that two windows should be cut into each hut during the springtime, as the climate grew considerably warmer, mud was also chipped between the logs to improve ventilation. The soldiers received inadequate supplies of meat and bread, some getting their only nourishment from firecake, occasionally, there would be pepper pot soup, a black pepper-flavored tripe broth. So severe were conditions at times that Washington despaired that unless some great, starve, dissolve, or disperse, in order to obtain subsistence in the best manner they can. Snow was limited and small in amounts, the layer of snow was often too thin to be collected and melted into drinking water
6.
Battle of Trenton
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The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal battle during the American Revolutionary War which took place on the morning of December 26,1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. After a brief battle, nearly the entire Hessian force was captured, the battle significantly boosted the Continental Armys flagging morale, and inspired re-enlistments. The Continental Army had previously suffered several defeats in New York and had forced to retreat through New Jersey to Pennsylvania. Because the river was icy and the severe, the crossing proved dangerous. Two detachments were unable to cross the river, leaving Washington with only 2,400 men under his command in the assault, the army marched 9 miles south to Trenton. The Hessians had lowered their guard, thinking they were safe from the American army, Washingtons forces caught them off guard and, after a short but fierce resistance, most of the Hessians surrendered. Almost two thirds of the 1, 500-man garrison was captured, and only a few troops escaped across Assunpink Creek, despite the battles small numbers, the American victory inspired rebels in the colonies. With the success of the revolution in doubt a week earlier, the dramatic victory inspired soldiers to serve longer and attracted new recruits to the ranks. In early December 1776, American morale was very low, the Americans had been ousted from New York by the British and their Hessian auxiliaries, and the Continental Army was forced to retreat across New Jersey. Ninety percent of the Continental Army soldiers who had served at Long Island were gone, men had deserted, feeling that the cause for independence was lost. Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, expressed doubts, writing to his cousin in Virginia. At the time a town in New Jersey, Trenton was occupied by three regiments of Hessian soldiers commanded by Colonel Johann Rall. Washingtons force comprised 2,400 men, with divisions commanded by Major Generals Nathanael Greene and John Sullivan. Washington had stationed a spy named John Honeyman, posing as a Tory, Honeyman had served with Major General James Wolfe in Quebec at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham on September 13,1759, and had no trouble establishing his credentials as a Tory. Honeyman was a butcher and weaver, who traded with the British and this enabled him to gather intelligence, and also to convince the Hessians that the Continental Army was in such a low state of morale that they would not attack Trenton. Shortly before Christmas, he arranged to be captured by the Continental Army, after being questioned by Washington, he was imprisoned in a small hut, to be tried as a Tory in the morning, but a small fire broke out nearby, enabling him to escape. The American plan relied on launching coordinated attacks from three directions, General John Cadwalader would launch a diversionary attack against the British garrison at Bordentown, New Jersey, to block off reinforcements from the south. General James Ewing would take 700 militia across the river at Trenton Ferry, seize the bridge over the Assunpink Creek and prevent enemy troops from escaping
7.
Mount Vernon Conference
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The Mount Vernon Conference was a meeting of delegates from Virginia and Maryland held March 21–28,1785, to discuss navigational rights in the states common waterways. On March 28,1785, the group drew up a thirteen-point proposal to govern the two rights on the Potomac River, Pocomoke River, and Chesapeake Bay. Ratified by the legislature of both states, the compact helped set a precedent for later meetings between states for discussions into areas of mutual concern. The conference, initially scheduled to begin March 21,1785 in Alexandria, Virginia, was a meeting of delegates from Maryland, Samuel Chase, none of Virginias delegates were present when Marylands arrived for the meeting. The conference reconvened at Mount Vernon on March 21,1785 with Washington presiding, Marylands representatives were empowered to discuss with Virginia shared concerns involving the Potomac and Pocomoke Rivers, and the Chesapeake Bay. To the contrary, the Virginia legislatures instructions to its appointees focused solely on the Potomac, nonetheless, common ground was found and on March 28,1785, a final report was prepared for the two state legislatures. The report contained 13 clauses and was ratified by both Maryland and Virginia and it declared the Potomac, which was under Marylands sole jurisdiction, to be a common waterway for use by Virginia as well. It also provided for reciprocal fishing rights, dividing the costs of constructing navigation aids, cooperation on defense and it also called for commissioners to deal with any future problems that might arise. Political leaders in Pennsylvania and Delaware were invited to join the agreement as well, the circumstances that led to the conference began as the country emerged victorious from the Revolutionary War. Lacking an effective central government under the Articles of Confederation, the states quarreled among themselves and some even established proprietary regulations, tariffs, and currency. This awareness led to the chartering of the Potomac Company to make improvements to the Potomac River, the companys goal was the linking of the East Coast with the trans-Appalachian northwest. The Mount Vernon Conference became a model of interstate cooperation outside the framework of the Articles of Confederation and its success encouraged James Madison to advocate for further discussions on constitutional issues facing the states. He had little to show for efforts to get Virginias delegates in the Continental Congress to seek expanded powers to deal with trade issues, instead, he introduced a proposal in the Virginia General Assembly to act on the suggestion of the Compact commissioners for further debate of interstate issues. With Marylands agreement, on January 21,1786, Virginia invited all the states to attend another meeting on commercial issues, delegates from five states gathered to discuss ways to facilitate commerce between the states and establish standard rules and regulations. As a result of the gathering, commissioners called for there to be another constitutional convention at which possible improvements to the Articles could be discussed, the desired convention took place in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787. There, Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania made oblique reference to the success of the Mount Vernon Conference, in 1908, a government commission would associate these related events more closely
8.
Constitutional Convention (United States)
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The Constitutional Convention took place from May 25 to September 17,1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The delegates elected George Washington to preside over the Convention, the result of the Convention was the creation of the United States Constitution, placing the Convention among the most significant events in the history of the United States. Most of the time during the Convention was spent on deciding these issues, while the powers of legislature, executive, once the Convention began, the delegates first agreed on the principles of the Convention, then they agreed on Madisons Virginia Plan and began to modify it. A Committee of Detail assembled during the July 4 recess eventually produced a draft of the constitution. Most of the draft remained in place, and can be found in the final version of the constitution. After the final issues were resolved, the Committee on Style produced the final version, before the Constitution was drafted, the nearly 4 million inhabitants of the 13 newly independent states were governed under the Articles of Confederation, created by the Second Continental Congress. It soon became evident to all that the chronically underfunded Confederation government. As the Articles of Confederation could only be amended by unanimous vote of the states, in addition, the Articles gave the weak federal government no taxing power, it was wholly dependent on the states for its money, and had no power to force delinquent states to pay. Once the immediate task of winning the American Revolutionary War had passed, the states began to look to their own interests, another impetus for the convention was Shays Rebellion. A political conflict between Boston merchants and rural farmers over issues such as property seizures for tax debts had broken out into an open rebellion. This rebellion was led by a former Revolutionary War captain, Daniel Shays, himself a farmer with tax debts. The rebellion took months for Massachusetts to put down completely, in September 1786, at the Annapolis Convention, delegates from five states called for a Constitutional Convention in order to discuss possible improvements to the Articles of Confederation. The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia on May 14,1787, Rhode Island, fearing that the Convention would work to its disadvantage, boycotted the Convention and, when the Constitution was put to the states, initially refused to ratify it. James Madison arrived first, and soon most of the Virginia delegation arrived, while waiting for the other delegates, the Virginia delegation produced the Virginia Plan, which was designed and written by James Madison. On May 25, the delegations convened in the Pennsylvania State House, George Washington was unanimously elected president of the Convention, and it was agreed that the discussions and votes would be kept secret until the conclusion of the meeting. Although William Jackson was elected as secretary, his records were brief, Madisons Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787, supplemented by the notes of Robert Yates, remain the most complete record of the Convention. Throughout the debate, delegates constantly referred to precedents from history in support of their position, most commonly, they referred to the history of England, in particular the Glorious Revolution, classical history, and recent precedents from Holland and Germany. Outside the Convention in Philadelphia, there was a convening of the Society of the Cincinnati
9.
Presidency of George Washington
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The presidency of George Washington, began on April 30,1789, when he was inaugurated as the 1st President of the United States, and ended on March 4,1797. Washington took office after the 1788–89 presidential election, the nations first quadrennial presidential election, as specified by the newly ratified Constitution, the President was chosen by the Electoral College. In this election, the method for selecting electors was decided by each state legislature–by public vote in some states, each elector was given two votes to cast for President. Washington received the support of one of the electors, each of whom cast one of the two ballots for him. John Adams, who received 34 votes, was the runner-up and was named vice president. President Washington was re-elected as President, again unanimously, in 1792, in 1796, he refused to run for a third term, establishing the customary policy of a maximum of two terms for a president, which later became law by the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. Washington reluctantly accepted the presidency, and he never enjoyed being President, nonetheless, he proved an able administrator. An excellent delegator and judge of talent and character, he held cabinet meetings to debate issues before making a final decision. In handling routine tasks, he was systematic, orderly, energetic, solicitous of the opinion of others but decisive, intent upon general goals and his leadership guaranteed the survival of the United States as a powerful and independent nation, and set the standard for future presidents. Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States on April 30,1789, near New York Citys Wall Street and he was sworn in by Robert Livingston who administered the presidential oath of office. Borrowing a British robe in which the British monarch would address Parliament annually and he insisted on having Barbados Rum served after the swearing in ceremony. Washingtons second inauguration occurred in the Senate Chamber of Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 4,1793 and he was sworn in by Associate Justice William Cushing, who also administered the oath of office. Washingtons inaugural address was incredibly brief at just 135 words, the 1st United States Congress voted to pay Washington a salary of $25,000 a year—a large sum in 1789, valued at about $340,000 in 2015 dollars. Washington faced financial troubles then, yet he initially declined the salary, upon taking office, Washington initially focused on the establishment of the federal judiciary and executive departments. When Washington assumed office, the government of the United States had not yet been developed, aside from the constitutionally established offices, no other agencies existed and no courts had yet been established. Instead of focusing on the branch, Washingtons first acts were to establish the judiciary. Through the Judiciary Act of 1789, Washington established a six-member Supreme Court, the court was composed of one Chief Justice and five Associate Justices. Under the Supreme Court, the Judiciary Act created 13 judicial districts within the 11 states that had ratified the Constitution
10.
First inauguration of George Washington
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The first inauguration of George Washington as the first President of the United States was held on April 30,1789 on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City, New York. The inauguration marked the commencement of the first four-year term of George Washington as President, chancellor of New York Robert Livingston administered the presidential oath of office. With his inauguration, the branch of the United States government officially began operations under the new frame of government established by the 1787 Constitution. The first term of John Adams as Vice President commenced on April 21,1789, when he took the vice presidential oath of office. The first presidential term started on March 4,1789, the set by the Congress of the Confederation for the beginning of operations of the federal government under the new U. S. Constitution. However, due to delays, that did not happen. On that date, the House of Representatives and the Senate convened, as a result, the Presidential Electoral Votes could not be counted or certified. On April 1, the House convened with a present for the first time. The Senate first achieved a quorum on April 6 and that same day, the House and Senate met in joint session and the electoral votes were counted. Washington and Adams were certified as having been elected president and vice president respectively. It was 5 p. m. at Mount Vernon on April 14,1789, the letter had been sent by Senator John Langdon of New Hampshire, the first president pro tempore of the United States Senate, who had presided over the counting of the electoral votes. He left early the morning for another welcome awaiting him in Trenton. On April 23 he took a barge with 13 pilots through the Kill Van Kull tidal strait into the Upper New York Bay. Thousands had gathered on the waterfront to see him arrive, Washington landed at Murrays Wharf, where he was greeted by New York Governor George Clinton as well as other congressmen and citizens. A plaque now marks the landing site and they proceeded through the streets to what would be Washingtons new official residence,3 Cherry Street. Washington dressed in an American-made dark brown suit with silk stockings and silver shoe buckles, he also wore a steel-hilted sword. Washington moved to the second-floor balcony, chancellor of New York Robert Livingston administered the presidential oath of office in view of throngs of people gathered on the streets. The Bible used in the ceremony was from St. Johns Lodge No,1, A. Y. M. and due to haste, it was opened at random to Genesis 49,13
11.
Judiciary Act of 1789
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The Judiciary Act of 1789 was a United States federal statute adopted on September 24,1789, in the first session of the First United States Congress. It established the judiciary of the United States. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution prescribed that the power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court. It made no provision for the composition or procedures of any of the courts, the existence of a separate federal judiciary had been controversial during the debates over the ratification of the Constitution. Anti-Federalists had denounced the judicial power as an instrument of national tyranny. Indeed, of the ten amendments that eventually became the Bill of Rights, even after ratification, some opponents of a strong judiciary urged that the federal court system be limited to a Supreme Court and perhaps local admiralty judges. The Congress, however, decided to establish a system of trial courts with broader jurisdiction. The Senate Journal records that Richard Henry Lee reported the bill out of committee on June 12,1789. The bill passed the Senate 14–6 on July 17,1789, the House passed an amended bill 37–16 on September 17,1789. The Senate struck four of the House amendments and approved the remaining provisions on September 19,1789, the House passed the Senates final version of the bill on September 21,1789. President George Washington signed the Judiciary Act of 1789 into law on September 24,1789, among the nominees were John Jay for Chief Justice of the United States, John Rutledge, William Cushing, Robert H. Harrison, James Wilson, and John Blair Jr. The Act set the number of Supreme Court justices at six, one Chief Justice, the Act also created 13 judicial districts within the 11 states that had then ratified the Constitution. Each state comprised one district, except for Virginia and Massachusetts, Massachusetts was divided into the District of Maine and the District of Massachusetts. Virginia was divided into the District of Kentucky and the District of Virginia and this Act established a circuit court and district court in each judicial district. The circuit courts also had jurisdiction over the district courts. The single-judge district courts had jurisdiction primarily over admiralty cases, petty crimes, notably, the federal trial courts had not yet received original federal question jurisdiction. Congress authorized all people to represent themselves or to be represented by another person. The Act did not prohibit paying a representative to appear in court, Congress authorized persons who were sued by citizens of another state, in the courts of the plaintiffs home state, to remove the lawsuit to the federal circuit court
12.
Whiskey Rebellion
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The Whiskey Rebellion was a tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called whiskey tax was the first tax imposed on a product by the newly formed federal government. It became law in 1791, and was intended to generate revenue for the war debt incurred during the Revolutionary War. The tax applied to all distilled spirits, but American whiskey was by far the countrys most popular distilled beverage in the 18th century, farmers of the western frontier were accustomed to distilling their surplus rye, barley, wheat, corn, or fermented grain mixtures into whiskey. In these regions, whiskey often served as a medium of exchange, throughout Western Pennsylvania counties, protesters used violence and intimidation to prevent federal officials from collecting the tax. Resistance came to a climax in July 1794, when a U. S. marshal arrived in western Pennsylvania to serve writs to distillers who had not paid the excise. The alarm was raised, and more than 500 armed men attacked the home of tax inspector General John Neville. Washington responded by sending peace commissioners to western Pennsylvania to negotiate with the rebels, Washington himself rode at the head of an army to suppress the insurgency, with 13,000 militiamen provided by the governors of Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The rebels all went home before the arrival of the army, about 20 men were arrested, but all were later acquitted or pardoned. Most distillers in nearby Kentucky were found to be all but impossible to tax—in the next six years, numerous examples of resistance are recorded in court documents and newspaper accounts. The Whiskey Rebellion demonstrated that the new government had the will and ability to suppress violent resistance to its laws. The events contributed to the formation of parties in the United States. The whiskey tax was repealed in the early 1800s during the Jefferson administration, a new U. S. federal government began operating in 1789, following the ratification of the United States Constitution. The previous central government under the Articles of Confederation had been unable to levy taxes, it had borrowed money to meet expenses and fund the Revolution, the state governments had amassed an additional $25 million in debt. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton sought to use this debt to create a system that would promote American prosperity. In his Report on Public Credit, he urged Congress to consolidate the state, Congress approved these measures in June and July 1790. A source of government revenue was needed to pay the amount due to the previous bondholders to whom the debt was owed. By December 1790, Hamilton believed that import duties, which were the primary source of revenue, had been raised as high as feasible
13.
Residence Act
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The federal government was located in New York City at the time the bill was passed and had previously been located in Philadelphia, Annapolis, and several other locations. Congress passed the Residence Act as part of a compromise brokered between James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton, Madison and Jefferson favored a southerly site for the capital on the Potomac River, but they lacked a majority to pass the measure through Congress. Meanwhile, Hamilton was pushing for Congress to pass the Assumption Bill, with the compromise, Hamilton was able to muster support from the New York State delegates for the Potomac site, while four delegates switched from opposition to support for the Assumption Bill. The Residence Act gave authority to President George Washington to select a site for the capital, along the Potomac. In the meantime, Philadelphia was chosen as a temporary capital, Washington had authority to appoint three commissioners and oversee the construction of Federal buildings in the District, something to which he gave much personal attention. Thomas Jefferson was a key adviser to Washington, and helped organize a competition to solicit designs for the United States Capitol, during the American Revolutionary War, the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania State House. On account of British military actions, the Continental Congress was forced to relocate to Baltimore, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Congress requested that John Dickinson, the governor of Pennsylvania, call up the militia to defend Congress from attacks by the protesters. In what became known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, Dickinson sympathized with the protesters, as a result, Congress was forced to flee to Princeton, New Jersey on June 21,1783, and met in Annapolis and Trenton, before ending up in New York City. The United States Congress was established upon ratification of the United States Constitution in 1789, the question of where to establish the capital was raised in 1783. The Southern states refused to accept a capital in the North, another suggestion was for there to be two capitals, one in the North and one in the South. Congress approved a plan in 1783 for a capital on the Potomac, near Georgetown, in Maryland, and another capital on the Delaware River, this plan was rescinded the following year. Establishing the capital was put on hold for years, until the Constitutional Convention was held in 1787. The Constitution said nothing about where the district would be. The debate heated up in 1789 when Congress convened for the first time under the Constitution, two sites were favored by members of Congress, one site on the Potomac River near Georgetown, and another site on the Susquehanna River near Wrights Ferry. The Susquehanna River site was approved by the House in September 1789, while the Senate bill specified a site on the Delaware River near Germantown, Congress did not reach an agreement at the time. The selection of a location for the capital resurfaced in the summer of 1790, at the same time, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton was pushing for Congress to pass a financial plan. A key provision of Hamiltons plan involved the Federal government assuming states debts incurred during the American Revolutionary War, northern states had accumulated a huge amount of debt during the war, amounting to 21.5 million dollars, and wanted the federal government to assume their burden. The Southern states, whose citizens would effectively be forced to pay a portion of debt if the Federal Government assumed it
14.
Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
15.
United States presidential election, 1792
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The United States presidential election of 1792 was the second quadrennial presidential election. It was held from Friday, November 2 to Wednesday, December 5,1792, incumbent President George Washington was elected to a second term by a unanimous vote in the electoral college. As in the first presidential election, Washington is considered to have run unopposed, Electoral rules of the time, however, required each presidential elector to cast two votes without distinguishing which was for president and which for vice president. The recipient of the most votes would become president. Incumbent Vice President John Adams received 77 votes and was also re-elected and this election was the first in which each of the original 13 states appointed electors. It was also the presidential election that was not held exactly four years after the previous election. The second inauguration was on March 4,1793 at the Senate Chamber of Congress Hall in Philadelphia, in 1792, presidential elections were still conducted according to the original method established under the U. S. Constitution. Under this system, each elector cast two votes, the candidate who received the greatest number of votes became president, while the runner-up became vice president. The Twelfth Amendment would eventually replace this system, requiring electors to cast one vote for president and one vote for vice president, because of this, it is difficult to use modern-day terminology to describe the relationship between the candidates in this election. Washington is generally held by historians to have run unopposed, indeed, the incumbent president enjoyed bipartisan support and received one vote from every elector. The choice for president was more divisive. They had no chance of unseating Washington, but hoped to win the presidency by defeating the incumbent. The Republicans would have preferred to nominate Thomas Jefferson, their ideological leader, however, this would have cost them the state of Virginia, as electors were not permitted to vote for two candidates from their home state and Washington was also a Virginian. Instead, they settled on Governor George Clinton, though Jefferson would receive the votes of four Kentucky electors, madison was at first a Federalist until he opposed the establishment of Hamiltons First Bank of the United States in 1791. He formed the Democratic-Republican Party along with Anti-Federalist Thomas Jefferson in 1792, the elections of 1792 were the first ones in the United States to be contested on anything resembling a partisan basis. In New York, the race for governor was fought along these lines, the candidates were Chief Justice John Jay, a Hamiltonian, and incumbent George Clinton, who was allied with Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans. Although Washington had been considering retiring, both encouraged him to remain in office to bridge factional differences. Washington was supported by all sides throughout his presidency and gained more popularity with the passage of the Bill of Rights
16.
Second inauguration of George Washington
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The second inauguration of George Washington as President of the United States was held in the Senate Chamber of Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 4,1793. The inauguration marked the commencement of the second term of George Washington as President. The presidential oath of office was administered to George Washington by Associate Justice William Cushing and this was the first inauguration to take place in Philadelphia, and took place exactly four years after the new federal government began operations under the U. S. Constitution. George Washingtons second inaugural address remains the shortest ever delivered, at just 135 words, fellow Citizens, I am again called upon by the voice of my country to execute the functions of its Chief Magistrate. Previous to the execution of any act of the President the Constitution requires an oath of office. Presidency of George Washington First inauguration of George Washington United States presidential election,1792 More documents from the Library of Congress
17.
Jay Treaty
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The terms of the treaty were designed primarily by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton and strongly supported by chief negotiator John Jay and also by President George Washington. The treaty gained many of the primary American goals, the Americans were granted limited rights to trade with British colonies in the Caribbean in exchange for some limits on the American export of cotton. The treaty was hotly contested by the Jeffersonians in each state and they feared that closer economic ties with Great Britain would strengthen Hamiltons Federalist Party, promote aristocracy, and undercut republicanism. Washingtons announced support proved decisive, and the treaty was ratified by a majority of the U. S. Senate in November 1794 without a single vote to spare. The treaty became an issue of contention, leading to the formation of the First Party System, with the Federalists favoring the British. The treaty was for ten years duration, efforts failed to agree on a replacement treaty in 1806 when Jefferson rejected the Monroe–Pinkney Treaty, as tensions escalated toward the War of 1812. The outbreak of war between France and Great Britain in 1793 ended the peace that had enabled the new nation to flourish in terms of trade. The United States now emerged as an important neutral country with a large shipping trade, from the British perspective, improving relations with the United States was a high priority lest it move into the French orbit. British negotiators ignored elements that wanted harsher terms in order to get a suitable treaty, the British government used the Royal Navy to capture nearly 250 neutral American merchant ships carrying goods from French colonies in the West Indies. Americans were outraged and Republicans in Jeffersons coalition demanded a declaration of war, British officials told Indian tribes near the Canada-U. S. border that the border no longer existed and sold weapons to them. Congress voted for an embargo against Britain in March 1794. Hamilton devised a framework for negotiations, and President George Washington sent Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Jay to London to negotiate a comprehensive treaty, Britain said it was in response to American refusals to pay debts that had been agreed upon. The British were continuing to impress American sailors into the Royal Navy to fight against France, American merchants wanted compensation for 250 merchant ships which the British had confiscated in 1793 and 1794. Southern interests wanted monetary compensation for slaves owned by Loyalists who were away to the West Indies along with their masters in 1781-83. American merchants wanted the British West Indies to be reopened to American trade, the boundary with Canada was vague in many places, and needed to be more sharply delineated. The British were providing munitions for Indian attacks on settlers in the Northwest, several issues were sent to arbitration, which were resolved amicably mostly in favor of the U. S. Britain paid $11,650,000 for damages to American shipping, while international arbitration was not entirely unknown, the Jay Treaty gave it a strong impetus and is generally taken as the start of modern International arbitration. The British agreed to vacate the western forts by June 1796, the treaty was surprisingly generous and allowing Americans to trade with the British Isles on a most-favored-nation basis
18.
George Washington's Farewell Address
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George Washingtons Farewell Address is a letter written by first President of the United States George Washington to The People of the United States of America. Washington wrote the letter near the end of his term as President. It was originally published in David C, the work was later named a Farewell Address, as it was Washingtons valedictory after 20 years of service to the new nation. It is a statement of republicanism, warning Americans of the political dangers which they must avoid if they are to remain true to their values. The first draft was prepared in 1792 with the assistance of James Madison. The letter was published almost two months before the Electoral College cast their votes in the 1796 presidential election, the thought of the United States without George Washington as its president caused concern among many Americans. The two men feared that the nation would be torn apart without his leadership, if he accomplished anything during his presidency, he said, it was as a result of their support and efforts to help the country survive and prosper. Washington begins his warnings to the American people by stressing that their independence, peace at home and abroad, safety, prosperity, and liberty are all dependent upon unity among the states. As a result, he warns them that the union of states created by the Constitution will come under the most frequent and focused attacks by foreign and domestic enemies of the country. Washington goes on to state his support for the new constitutional government and he reminds the people that it is the right of the people to alter the government to meet their needs, but it should only be done through constitutional amendments. Such factions may claim to be trying to answer popular demands or solve pressing problems, Washington continues to advance his idea of the dangers of sectionalism and expands his warning to include the dangers of political parties to the country as a whole. These warnings are given in the context of the recent rise of two opposing parties within the government—the Democratic-Republican Party led by Jefferson, and Hamiltons Federalist Party and he feels that disagreements between political parties weakened the government. But this leads at length to a formal and permanent despotism. From Washingtons perspective and judgment, political parties eventually and gradually incline the minds of men to seek security, in the absolute power of an individual, leading to despotism. He argues that religious principles promote the protection of property, reputation and he writes, Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, the mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity, and let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Washington refers to religious principle as the foundation of public morality, Washington provides strong support for a balanced federal budget, arguing that the nations credit is an important source of strength and security
19.
Legacy of George Washington
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George Washington commanded Americas war for independence, and was the first President of the United States, from 1789 to 1797. In terms of personality, a leading biographer Douglas Southall Freeman concluded, by character, says David Hackett Fischer Freeman meant integrity, self-discipline, courage, absolute honesty, resolve, and decision, but also forbearance, decency, and respect for others. Because of his role in the founding of the United States. His devotion to republicanism and civic virtue made him a figure among early American politicians. His image has become an icon and is commonplace in American culture, pious, just, humane, temperate, and sincere, uniform, dignified, and commanding, his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting. Correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence and virtue always felt his fostering hand, the purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public virtues. Such was the man for whom our nation mourns, lees words set the standard by which Washingtons overwhelming reputation was impressed upon the American memory. Washington set many precedents for the government and the presidency in particular. In 1951 the unwritten two-term limit set by Washington would become the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution and he also set constitutional precedent by being the first president to use the Presidential Veto. As early as 1778 he was lauded as the Father of His Country and is considered to be the most important of Founding Fathers of the United States. He has gained fame around the world as a example of a benevolent national founder. As Gordon Wood concludes, the greatest act in his life was his resignation as commander of the act that stunned aristocratic Europe. According to painter Benjamin West, West told me that. The King began to talk abt and he asked West what would Washington do were America to be declared independent. West said He believed He would retire to a private situation, -- The King said if He did He would be the greatest man in the world. Washington was long considered not just a military and revolutionary hero, in 1790, Washingtons close friend Benjamin Franklin died. In Franklins will, he bequeathed Washington his walking cane, which Franklin received while serving as ambassador to France during the 1780s, if it were a Sceptre, he has merited it, and would become it. Washington was always the exemplar of republican virtue in America and he is seen more as a character model than war hero or founding father. One of Washingtons greatest achievements, in terms of values, was refraining from taking more power than was due
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Cultural depictions of George Washington
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George Washington has inspired artistic and cultural works for more than two hundred years. The following lists cover various media to include items of historic interest, enduring works of high art, the entries represent portrayals that a reader has a reasonable chance of encountering rather than a complete catalog. Lesser known works are not included, for purposes of classification, popular culture music is a separate section from operas and oratorios. Television covers live action series, TV movies, miniseries, and North American animation but not Japanese anime, George Washington George Washington on U. S
21.
George Washington and slavery
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George Washington, the first President of the United States, held people in slavery for virtually all of his life. His will provided for freeing the people he held upon the death of his widow Martha Washington. In January 1801 Martha freed her husbands slaves, just over a year after his death. However, while she lived, Martha did not emancipate any of the people she held, for his wife Marthas use during her lifetime and controlled by Washington, they were legally part of the property of her late first husbands estate. As on other plantations during that era, Washingtons slaves worked from dawn until dusk unless injured or ill and they were fed, clothed, and housed as inexpensively as possible, in conditions that were probably meager. Before the American Revolution, Washington expressed no moral reservations about slavery, the historian Henry Wiencek speculates that Washingtons slave buying, particularly his participation in a raffle of 55 slaves in 1769, may have initiated a gradual reassessment of slavery. In 1782 the Virginia legislature made manumissions easier, while requiring documentation, slaveholders were allowed to free any adult slave under the age of forty-five, either by executing a deed or adding provisions to a will. By the 1820s, it required approval for each act of manumission. After the war, Washington often privately expressed a dislike of the institution of slavery, in 1786, he wrote to a friend that I never mean. To possess another slave by purchase, it being among my first wishes to see some plan adopted, by which slavery in this Country may be abolished by slow, sure and imperceptible degrees. To another friend he wrote there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see some plan adopted for the abolition of slavery. He expressed moral support for plans by his friend the Marquis de Lafayette to emancipate slaves and resettle them elsewhere and he held more slaves than he needed at Mount Vernon, making the operation unprofitable. The changes from tobacco to mixed-crop production lowered the labor needs, Washington wrote, It is demonstratively clear that on this Estate I have more working Negroes by a full than can be employed to any advantage in the farming system. Washington could have sold his surplus slaves and immediately have realized a substantial revenue, in 1790, Washington signed the Naturalization Act, providing a means for foreigners to become citizens. This act limited U. S. citizenship to free white persons, at the time, these were Europeans. In 1793, President Washington signed the Fugitive Slave Act and this act, which implemented the Fugitive Slave Clause in the United States Constitution, gave slaveholders the right to capture fugitive slaves in any U. S. state. This act was done to allow the recapture of slaves who escaped into any safe harbors or slave sanctuaries. In 1794, Washington signed into law the first Slave Trade Act, the monetary relief and weapons counted as a repayment for loans granted by France to the Americans during the Revolutionary War
22.
The Washington Papers
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The Washington Papers aims to place Washington in a larger context and to bring individuals, such as Martha Washington and Washington family members, into sharper focus. The project is headed by editor-in-chief and director Edward G. Lengel and is the largest collection of its type. The project had its start in 1966 when the state archivist of Virginia proposed that the university launch a documentary editing project for the Washington papers, two years later the Washington Papers was launched with the help of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. Its first editor-in-chief, Donald Jackson, was appointed and the sought to be the most comprehensive compilation yet and include not just letters Washington wrote. To this end the project out and procured copies of 140,000 documents. Starting in 1976 the Washington Papers project began releasing sets of its collection via the University Press of Virginia, sets are separated into different collections depending on the type of material and the time period. In 2004 the project digitized the collection with the help of the Ladies Association, the digitized collection was called the Papers of George Washington Digital Edition and is regularly updated. The following year the project presented the White House with a set of the Papers of George Washington. Since its inception the project has expanded to several projects that are intended to help increase the availability. Some of the expansions have been done as part of projects with other organizations such as NARA. In October 2010 NARA and the University of Virginia Press announced their intention to create Founders Online, work on the project began in October 2011 and went online in October 2013, and includes content from the Washington Paperss print volumes. Prior to this the Papers of George Washington were originally available online through the Papers of George Washington Digital Edition. The Financial Papers Project was officially launched in 2011 with grant funding from NARA, once completed, the project will provide users with access to material that will describe the context and meaning of each text that significantly portrays George Washington. The Washington Papers intend to publish her correspondence online and in a print edition. Work on the Barbados Diary project began in the summer of 2015, the project will transcribe George Washington’s ship log and diary from his journey to Barbados with his brother Lawrence in 1751. The Washington Papers has released several volumes of work relating to and reprinting the Washingtons papers, to date 63 volumes have been published. The Diaries of George Washington is a six volume set released between 1976 and 1979 that was edited by Dorothy Twohig, the third editor-in-chief of the Washington Papers project, the diaries cover most of Washingtons adult life starting in 1748 and concluding in 1799, shortly before his death. There are some gaps in the due to some of Washingtons diaries having never been found
23.
Continental Army
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The Continental Army was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Congress on June 14,1775, the Continental Army was supplemented by local militias and troops that remained under control of the individual states or were otherwise independent. General George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the army throughout the war, most of the Continental Army was disbanded in 1783 after the Treaty of Paris ended the war. The 1st and 2nd Regiments went on to form the nucleus of the Legion of the United States in 1792 under General Anthony Wayne and this became the foundation of the United States Army in 1796. The Continental Army consisted of soldiers from all 13 colonies, and after 1776, when the American Revolutionary War began at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19,1775, the colonial revolutionaries did not have an army. As tensions with Great Britain increased in the leading to the war. Training of militiamen increased after the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774, colonists such as Richard Henry Lee proposed forming a national militia force, but the First Continental Congress rejected the idea. On April 23,1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress authorized the raising of an army consisting of 26 company regiments. New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut soon raised similar, on July 18,1775, the Congress requested all colonies form militia companies from all able bodied effective men, between sixteen and fifty years of age. It was not uncommon for men younger than sixteen to enlist as most colonies had no requirement of consent for those under twenty-one. Four major-generals and eight brigadier-generals were appointed by the Second Continental Congress in the course of a few days, after Pomeroy did not accept, John Thomas was appointed in his place. As the Continental Congress increasingly adopted the responsibilities and posture of a legislature for a sovereign state, as a result, the army went through several distinct phases, characterized by official dissolution and reorganization of units. Soldiers in the Continental Army were citizens who had volunteered to serve in the army, early in the war the enlistment periods were short, as the Continental Congress feared the possibility of the Continental Army evolving into a permanent army. The army never numbered more than 17,000 men, turnover proved a constant problem, particularly in the winter of 1776–77, and longer enlistments were approved. Major General Philip Schuylers ten regiments in New York were sent to invade Canada, the Continental Army of 1776, reorganized after the initial enlistment period of the soldiers in the 1775 army had expired. Despite attempts to broaden the recruiting base beyond New England, the 1776 army remained skewed toward the Northeast both in terms of its composition and of its geographical focus. This army consisted of 36 regiments, most standardized to a battalion of 768 men strong and formed into eight companies. Enlistment terms extended to three years or to the length of the war to avoid the crises that depleted forces
24.
American Revolutionary War
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From about 1765 the American Revolution had led to increasing philosophical and political differences between Great Britain and its American colonies. The war represented a culmination of these differences in armed conflict between Patriots and the authority which they increasingly resisted. This resistance became particularly widespread in the New England Colonies, especially in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. On December 16,1773, Massachusetts members of the Patriot group Sons of Liberty destroyed a shipment of tea in Boston Harbor in an event that became known as the Boston Tea Party. Named the Coercive Acts by Parliament, these became known as the Intolerable Acts in America. The Massachusetts colonists responded with the Suffolk Resolves, establishing a government that removed control of the province from the Crown outside of Boston. Twelve colonies formed a Continental Congress to coordinate their resistance, and established committees, British attempts to seize the munitions of Massachusetts colonists in April 1775 led to the first open combat between Crown forces and Massachusetts militia, the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Militia forces proceeded to besiege the British forces in Boston, forcing them to evacuate the city in March 1776, the Continental Congress appointed George Washington to take command of the militia. Concurrent to the Boston campaign, an American attempt to invade Quebec, on July 2,1776, the Continental Congress formally voted for independence, issuing its Declaration on July 4. Sir William Howe began a British counterattack, focussing on recapturing New York City, Howe outmaneuvered and defeated Washington, leaving American confidence at a low ebb. Washington captured a Hessian force at Trenton and drove the British out of New Jersey, in 1777 the British sent a new army under John Burgoyne to move south from Canada and to isolate the New England colonies. However, instead of assisting Burgoyne, Howe took his army on a campaign against the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia. Burgoyne outran his supplies, was surrounded and surrendered at Saratoga in October 1777, the British defeat in the Saratoga Campaign had drastic consequences. Giving up on the North, the British decided to salvage their former colonies in the South, British forces under Lieutenant-General Charles Cornwallis seized Georgia and South Carolina, capturing an American army at Charleston, South Carolina. British strategy depended upon an uprising of large numbers of armed Loyalists, in 1779 Spain joined the war as an ally of France under the Pacte de Famille, intending to capture Gibraltar and British colonies in the Caribbean. Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic in December 1780, in 1781, after the British and their allies had suffered two decisive defeats at Kings Mountain and Cowpens, Cornwallis retreated to Virginia, intending on evacuation. A decisive French naval victory in September deprived the British of an escape route, a joint Franco-American army led by Count Rochambeau and Washington, laid siege to the British forces at Yorktown. With no sign of relief and the situation untenable, Cornwallis surrendered in October 1781, Whigs in Britain had long opposed the pro-war Tory majority in Parliament, but the defeat at Yorktown gave the Whigs the upper hand
25.
Founding Fathers of the United States
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Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin were members of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence. Hamilton, Madison, and Jay were authors of the The Federalist Papers, Jay, Adams and Franklin negotiated the Treaty of Paris that would end the American Revolutionary War. Washington was Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army and was President of the Constitutional Convention, according to the CIA, Washington, Jay and Franklin helped define the powers of the Executive Branch All held additional important roles in the early government of the United States. The term Founding Fathers is sometimes used to refer to the Signers of the version of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Of the 55 Framers, only 39 were signers of the Constitution, a further subset of Founding Founders includes those who signed the Continental Association or the Articles of Confederation. The phrase Founding Fathers is a twentieth century appellation and was first coined by Warren G. Harding in 1916, the First Continental Congress met briefly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1774 and consisted of fifty-six delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies that became the United States of America. On the list of attendees was George Washington, who would soon be out of military retirement to command the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Also in attendance was Patrick Henry, and John Adams, who were elected by their respective colonial assemblies, other notable delegates included Samuel Adams from Massachusetts, John Dickinson from Pennsylvania and New Yorks John Jay. This congress in addition to formulating appeals to the British crown, when the Second Continental Congress came together on May 10,1775, it was, in effect, a reconvening of the First Congress. Many of the same 56 delegates who attended the first meeting participated in the second, notable new arrivals included Benjamin Franklin and Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, John Hancock of Massachusetts, and John Witherspoon of New Jersey. Hancock was elected Congress President two weeks into the session when Peyton Randolph was summoned back to Virginia to preside over the House of Burgesses, Thomas Jefferson replaced Randolph in the Virginia congressional delegation. The second Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, Witherspoon was the only active clergyman to sign the Declaration. He also signed the Articles of Confederation and attended the New Jersey convention that ratified the Federal Constitution, the newly founded country of the United States had to create a new government to replace the British Parliament. The Americans adopted the Articles of Confederation, a declaration that established a government which was made up of a one-house legislature. Its ratification by all thirteen colonies gave the second Congress a new name, the Congress of the Confederation, later, the Constitutional Convention took place during the summer of 1787, in Philadelphia. The delegates elected George Washington to preside over the Convention, the result of the Convention was the United States Constitution. The Founding Fathers represented a cross-section of 18th-century American leadership, almost all of them were well-educated men of means who were leaders in their communities. Many were also prominent in national affairs, virtually every one had taken part in the American Revolution, at least 29 had served in the Continental Army, most of them in positions of command
26.
Mason Locke Weems
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Mason Locke Weems, usually referred to as Parson Weems, was an American book agent and author who wrote the first biography of George Washington immediately after his death. He was the source of some of the stories about Washington. Mason Weems was born on October 11,1759, in Anne Arundel County and he studied theology in London and was ordained in the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1784. He worked as a minister in Maryland in various capacities from 1784 to 1792, financial hardship forced Weems to seek additional employment, and he began working as a traveling book agent. Weems married Frances Ewell in 1795 and established a household in Dumfries and he had a small bookstore in Dumfries that now houses the Weems–Botts Museum, but he continued to travel extensively, selling books and preaching. Dumfries is not far from Pohick Church, part of Truro Parish, in Lorton, Virginia, Weems would later inflate this Washington connection and promote himself as the former rector of Mount-Vernon parish. Other notable works by Weems include Life of General Francis Marion, Life of Benjamin Franklin, with Essays, and Life of William Penn. After the death of his father-in-law, Colonel Jessie Ewell, Weems assumed the Ewell family estate, Bel Air, located in Prince William County, Virginia, in 1808, Weems and his family moved into Bel Air, where he lived until his death. While on travel in Beaufort, South Carolina, Weems died on May 23,1825 of unspecified causes, the cherry-tree anecdote illustrates this point. Another dubious anecdote found in the Weems biography is that of Washingtons prayer during the winter at Valley Forge, the acme of this esteem can be seen on the ceiling of the United States Capitol Building in the form of Brumidis fresco The Apotheosis of Washington. Weems A History of the Life and Death, Virtues and Exploits of General George Washington, was a written in this spirit, amplified by the florid. According to this account, his subject was, Washington, the hero, and the Demigod. and at a level above that. What he really was, the Jupiter Conservator, the friend, with this hyperbole, Weems elevated Washington to the Augustan level of the god Jupiter Conservator. Among the exaggerated or invented anecdotes is that of the cherry tree, an aged lady, who was a distant relative, and, when a girl, spent much of her time in the family. Who referred to young George as cousin, in spite of the speculation offered by some historians the story remains plausible and has not been proven or disproven. Wroth published Parson Weems, A Biographical and Critical Study, in this he confronts the fact that Weems is best known for the story of the cherry tree and examines the evidence for its likelihood. Grant Wood painted the scene under the title Parson Weems Fable in 1939 and it is among his gently ironic depictions of Americana and shows the parson pulling back a curtain rimmed with cherries to show the story. A History of the Life and Death, Virtues and Exploits of General George Washington by Mason Locke Weems Where the Cherry Tree Grew, Parson Weems, a biographical and critical study
27.
Jared Sparks
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Jared Sparks was an American historian, educator, and Unitarian minister. He served as President of Harvard College from 1849 to 1853, born in Willington, Connecticut, Sparks studied in the common schools, worked for a time at the carpenters trade, and then became a schoolteacher. In 1809–1811, he attended the Phillips Exeter Academy where he met John G. Palfrey and he graduated from Harvard College, with a. While an undergraduate, he was a member of the Hasty Pudding, in fact, he granted the Hasty Pudding their first club rooms at Harvard in Stoughton Hall 29 and 31. In 1812, he served as a tutor to the children of a family in Havre de Grace, a few years later he taught in a private school at Lancaster, Massachusetts during 1815–1817. Sparks also studied theology and was tutor in mathematics and natural philosophy at Harvard College in 1817–1819. In 1817–1818 he was acting editor of the North American Review and he was the first pastor of the newly organized, First Independent Church of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland, from 1819 to 1823, Dr. During this period, Sparks founded the Unitarian Miscellany and Christian Monitor, a monthly, in 1823, his health failed and he withdrew from the ministry. Removing to Boston, he bought and edited in 1824–1830 the North American Review and he founded and edited in 1830, the American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge, which was continued by others and long remained a popular annual. In 1825 Sparks was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and he later served as the societys secretary for foreign correspondence from 1846 to 1866. After extensive researches at home and in London and Paris, he published The Writings of George Washington, his most important work, and in 1839 he published separately the Life of George Washington. The work was for the most part favorably received, but Sparks was severely criticized by Lord Mahon, Sparks defended his methods in A Reply to the Strictures of Lord Mahon and Others. In 1842 Sparks delivered 12 lectures on American history before the Lowell Institute in Boston, in 1838–1849 he was the first McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History at Harvard, endowed by the will of wealthy merchant John McLean. His appointment to this position, says his biographer, was the first academic encouragement of American history, in 1849 he followed famed orator Edward Everett as president of Harvard College, and moved into a home on campus now called Treadwell-Sparks House. In 1853 he retired on account of failing health, and devoted the rest of his life to his private studies, for several years he was a member of the Massachusetts Commonwealth Board of Education. Jared Sparks died on March 14,1866, in Cambridge and his valuable collection of manuscripts and papers went to Harvard University, and his private library and his maps were bought by Cornell University. He was a pioneer in collecting, on a scale, documentary material on American history. Other works by Sparks include, A sermon delivered at the ordination of the Rev. Jared Sparks, in addition, he aided Henry D
28.
Bushrod Washington
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Bushrod Washington was an attorney and politician, appointed as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, where he served for more than 30 years. He was among the founders of the American Colonization Society in 1816, intended to promote emigration of freed slaves and free blacks to a colony in Africa, and served as its president. Bushrod Washington was born on June 5,1762, at Bushfield Manor and he was a son of John Augustine Washington, the brother of George Washington, and Johns wife, Hannah Bushrod. Washington graduated from the College of William & Mary in 1778, after beginning with John Marshall the study of law under George Wythe in 1780, he joined the Continental Army during 1781 and served as a private in the army until 1782. After Bushrod left the army, his father and his uncle, George Washington, after concluding his studies with Wilson in April 1784, the young Washington returned to Westmoreland County, married Julia Anne Blackburn, and opened a law office. He was in the practice of law from 1784 to 1798. He was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1787, in 1788, he served in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, where he voted for ratification of the US Constitution. Formally nominated on December 18,1798, Washington was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 20,1798, Washington became an associate justice on February 4,1799, at the age of 36. After Marshall became Chief Justice two years later, Washington voted with Marshall on all but three occasions, Washington served on the Supreme Court until his death in 1829. While serving on the Marshall Court, Washington authored the opinion of Corfield v. Coryell,6 Fed,546, while riding circuit as an Associate Justice. In Corfield, Washington listed several rights that he deemed were fundamental privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States, around 1795, Washington purchased Belvidere, the former Richmond estate of William Byrd III. He relinquished Belvidere upon his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1798, by George Washingtons will, Georges slaves were to be freed after his wife Martha died, as she had the use of them during her lifetime. However, Martha freed the slaves before her death in an 1800 deed of manumission, when Bushrod Washington and his wife moved to Mount Vernon immediately after Marthas death, he brought his own slaves there. The estate had not included much cash, and Washington found that he was unable to support the upkeep of the mansion on the proceeds from the property. As a result, the mansion deteriorated while he lived there, as his farms were not profitable, he sold many of his slaves to gain working capital to support the main house and property. Washington was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1813, in 1816, Washington was among the founders of the American Colonization Society, which promoted repatriation to Africa of free blacks and slaves who were freed in preparation for transport there. Washington became the Societys first president and held position for the remainder of his life. They believed that Bushrod Washington should have sent his slaves to Liberia
29.
John Marshall
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John Marshall was the fourth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Previously, Marshall had been a leader of the Federalist Party in Virginia and he was Secretary of State under President John Adams from 1800 to 1801. Most notably, he reinforced the principle that courts are obligated to exercise judicial review. Thus, Marshall cemented the position of the American judiciary as an independent, in particular, he repeatedly confirmed the supremacy of federal law over state law, and supported an expansive reading of the enumerated powers. Some of his decisions were unpopular, nevertheless, Marshall built up the third branch of the federal government, and augmented federal power in the name of the Constitution, and the rule of law. John Marshall was of almost entirely English ancestry, though his mother also had some distant Scottish ancestry as well, the oldest of fifteen, John had eight sisters and six brothers. Also, several cousins were raised with the family, from a young age, he was noted for his good humor and black eyes, which were strong and penetrating, beaming with intelligence and good nature. Marshall loved his home, built in 1790, in Richmond, Virginia, for approximately three months each year, Marshall lived in Washington during the Courts annual term, boarding with Justice Story during his final years at the Ringgold-Carroll House. Marshall also left Richmond for several weeks each year to serve on the court in Raleigh. He also maintained the D. S. Tavern property in Albemarle County, Marshall himself was not religious, and although his grandfather was a priest, never formally joined a church. He did not believe Jesus was a divine being, and in some of his opinions referred to a deist Creator of all things. He was an active Freemason and served as Grand Master of Masons in Virginia in 1794–1795 of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free, while in Richmond, Marshall attended St. The Marshall family occupied Monumental Churchs pew No.23 and entertained the Marquis de Lafayette there during his visit to Richmond in 1824, Thomas Marshall was employed in Fauquier County as a surveyor and land agent by Lord Fairfax, which provided Marshall with a substantial income. In the early 1760s, the Marshall family left Germantown and moved about 30 miles miles to Leeds Manor on the slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains. On the banks of Goose Creek, Thomas Marshall built a frame house. Thomas Marshall was not yet established, so he leased it from Colonel Richard Henry Lee. The Marshalls called their new home the Hollow, and the ten years they resided there were John Marshalls formative years, in 1773, the Marshall family moved once again. Thomas Marshall, by then a man of means, purchased an estate adjacent to North Cobbler Mountain in Delaplane
30.
Federalist Party
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The Federalist Party was the first American political party. It existed from the early 1790s to 1816, its remnants lasted into the 1820s, the Federalists called for a strong national government that promoted economic growth and fostered friendly relationships with Great Britain, as well as opposition to revolutionary France. The party controlled the government until 1801, when it was overwhelmed by the Democratic-Republican opposition led by Thomas Jefferson. The Federalist Party came into being between 1792 and 1794 as a coalition of bankers and businessmen in support of Alexander Hamiltons fiscal policies. These supporters developed into the organized Federalist Party, which was committed to a fiscally sound, the only Federalist president was John Adams, although George Washington was broadly sympathetic to the Federalist program, he remained officially non-partisan during his entire presidency. Federalist policies called for a bank, tariffs, and good relations with Great Britain as expressed in the Jay Treaty negotiated in 1794. Hamilton developed the concept of implied powers and successfully argued the adoption of that interpretation of the United States Constitution, the Jay Treaty passed, and the Federalists won most of the major legislative battles in the 1790s. They held a strong base in the cities and in New England. After the Democratic-Republicans, whose base was in the rural South, won the election of 1800. They recovered some strength by their opposition to the War of 1812. On taking office in 1789, President Washington nominated New York lawyer Alexander Hamilton to the office of Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton wanted a strong national government with financial credibility. James Madison was Hamiltons ally in the fight to ratify the new Constitution, Political parties had not been anticipated when the Constitution was drafted in 1787 and ratified in 1788, even though both Hamilton and Madison played major roles. Parties were considered to be divisive and harmful to republicanism, No similar parties existed anywhere in the world. By 1790 Hamilton started building a nationwide coalition and his attempts to manage politics in the national capital to get his plans through Congress, then, brought strong responses across the country. In the process, what began as a capital faction soon assumed status as a faction and then, finally. The Federalist Party supported Hamiltons vision of a centralized government. In foreign affairs, they supported neutrality in the war between France and Great Britain, the majority of the Founding Fathers were originally Federalists. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and many others can all be considered Federalists and these Federalists felt that the Articles of Confederation had been too weak to sustain a working government and had decided that a new form of government was needed
31.
Douglas Southall Freeman
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Douglas Southall Freeman was an American historian, biographer, newspaper editor, and author. He is best known for his biographies of Robert E. Lee and George Washington. From childhood, Freeman exhibited an interest in Southern history, in Lynchburg, his family lived at 416 Main Street, near the home of Confederate general Jubal Early. The family moved to the former Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia in 1892 at the height of the monument commemoration movement that memorialized Virginias Robert E. Lee, J. E. B. In 1904, Freeman was awarded an AB degree from Richmond College, in 1908, at the age of 22, he earned a PhD in history at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. In 1911, Freeman came into possession of a cache of long-lost wartime communications between Robert E. Lee and Confederate president Jefferson Davis, Freeman spent four years working on the documents, and in 1915, he published Lees Dispatches. The book was received enthusiastically by Civil War historians, and it became an important primary source for Civil War scholars, in his Introduction, Freeman summarized seven major revelations contained in the letters. Following the immediate success of Lees Dispatches, Freeman was approached by New York publisher Charles Scribners Sons. Freeman accepted but chose to retain his position at The Richmond News Leader, freemans research of Lee was exhaustive. He evaluated and cataloged every item about Lee, and he reviewed records at West Point and the War Department and material in private collections. In narrating the generals Civil War years, he used came to be known as the fog of war technique. That helped convey the confusion of war that Lee experienced as well as the processes by which Lee grappled with problems, R. E. Lee, A Biography was published in four volumes in 1934 and 1935. In its book review, The New York Times declared it Lee complete for all time, historian Dumas Malone wrote, Great as my personal expectations were, the realization far surpassed them. In 1935, Freeman was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his four-volume biography and it presents a unique combination of military strategy, biography, and Civil War history, and it shows how armies actually work. Published during World War II, it had a influence on American military leaders. A few months after the conclusion of the war, Freeman was asked to join a tour of American forces in Europe. After completing his studies of Lee, his generals. Applying the same approach of research and writing narrative based on objective fact
32.
Pulitzer Prize
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The Pulitzer Prize /ˈpʊlᵻtsər/ is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of American Joseph Pulitzer who had made his fortune as a newspaper publisher, Prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories. In twenty of the categories, each receives a certificate. The winner in the service category of the journalism competition is awarded a gold medal. The Pulitzer Prize does not automatically consider all applicable works in the media, entries must fit in at least one of the specific prize categories, and cannot simply gain entrance for being literary or musical. Works can also only be entered in a maximum of two categories, regardless of their properties, each year,102 jurors are selected by the Pulitzer Prize Board to serve on 20 separate juries for the 21 award categories, one jury makes recommendations for both photography awards. For each award category, a jury makes three nominations, the board selects the winner by majority vote from the nominations or bypasses the nominations and selects a different entry following a 75% majority vote. The board can also vote to issue no award, the board and journalism jurors are not paid for their work, however, the jurors in letters, music, and drama receive a $2,000 honorarium for the year, and each chair receives $2,500. Anyone whose work has been submitted is called an entrant, the jury selects a group of nominated finalists and announces them, together with the winner for each category. However, some journalists who were submitted, but not nominated as finalists. For example, Bill Dedman of msnbc, Dedman wrote, To call that submission a Pulitzer nomination is like saying that Adam Sandler is an Oscar nominee if Columbia Pictures enters Thats My Boy in the Academy Awards. Many readers realize that the Oscars dont work that way—the studios dont pick the nominees and its just a way of slipping Academy Awards into a bio. The Pulitzers also dont work that way, but fewer people know that, newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer gave money in his will to Columbia University to launch a journalism school and establish the Prize. It allocated $250,000 to the prize and scholarships and he specified four awards in journalism, four in letters and drama, one in education, and four traveling scholarships. After his death, the first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded June 4,1917, many people have won more than one Pulitzer Prize. Nelson Harding is the person to have won a Prize in two consecutive years, the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1927 and 1928. Four prizes Robert Frost, Poetry Eugene ONeill, Drama Robert E, in rare instances, contributors to the entry are singled out in the citation in a manner analogous to individual winners. Journalism awards may be awarded to individuals or newspapers or newspaper staffs, infrequently, Awards are made in categories relating to journalism, arts, letters and fiction
33.
James Thomas Flexner
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His one-volume abridgment, Washington, the Indispensable Man was the basis of two television miniseries broadcast in the mid-1980s starring Barry Bostwick as Washington. James Thomas Flexner was born January 13,1908 in Manhattan and his mother was Helen Thomas, a professor of English at Bryn Mawr whose sister was president of the college. In 1929, Flexner graduated cum laude from Harvard University, in 1931, he took a position at the New York City Department of Health as an executive secretary. The following year, he left his job to devote his energies to writing. Although untrained in art history, he gravitated to art subjects as part of his interest in writing about American history, Flexner is known best for George Washington, a four-volume biography published by Little, Brown from 1965 to 1972. He won a special Pulitzer Prize for the work in 1973 and he wrote other historical biographies, including The Young Hamilton, Mohawk Baronet, and The Traitor and the Spy, Benedict Arnold and John Andre. He wrote many books on the history of American art, including a highly regarded life of the American painter John Singleton Copley and he and his father, Simon Flexner, M. D. co-wrote William Henry Welch and the Heroic Age of American Medicine. James Thomas Flexner died February 13,2003 at his apartment in New York City at the age of 95, a Short History of American Painting. Americas Old Masters, First Artists of the New World, New York, The Viking Press,1939. An American Saga, The Story of Helen Thomas and Simon Flexner, boston, Little, Brown and Company,1984. Durand, An Engravers and a Farmers Art, yonkers, The Hudson River Museum,1983. Doctors on Horseback, Pioneers of American Medicine, George Washington, the Forge of Experience, 1732–1775. Boston, Little, Brown and Company,1965, George Washington in the American Revolution, 1775–1783. Boston, Little, Brown and Company,1968, George Washington and the New Nation, 1783–1793. Boston, Little, Brown and Company,1970, George Washington, Anguish and Farewell, 1793–1799. Boston, Little, Brown and Company,1972, gilbert Stuart, a Great Life in Brief New York, Knopf,1955. History of American Painting Volume 1, First Flowers of Our Wilderness, History of American Painting Volume 2, The Light of Distant Skies, 1760–1835. New York, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,1954, History of American Painting Volume 3, That Wilder Image, the Painting of Americas Native School
34.
Public domain
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The term public domain has two senses of meaning. Anything published is out in the domain in the sense that it is available to the public. Once published, news and information in books is in the public domain, in the sense of intellectual property, works in the public domain are those whose exclusive intellectual property rights have expired, have been forfeited, or are inapplicable. Examples for works not covered by copyright which are therefore in the domain, are the formulae of Newtonian physics, cooking recipes. Examples for works actively dedicated into public domain by their authors are reference implementations of algorithms, NIHs ImageJ. The term is not normally applied to situations where the creator of a work retains residual rights, as rights are country-based and vary, a work may be subject to rights in one country and be in the public domain in another. Some rights depend on registrations on a basis, and the absence of registration in a particular country, if required. Although the term public domain did not come into use until the mid-18th century, the Romans had a large proprietary rights system where they defined many things that cannot be privately owned as res nullius, res communes, res publicae and res universitatis. The term res nullius was defined as not yet appropriated. The term res communes was defined as things that could be enjoyed by mankind, such as air, sunlight. The term res publicae referred to things that were shared by all citizens, when the first early copyright law was first established in Britain with the Statute of Anne in 1710, public domain did not appear. However, similar concepts were developed by British and French jurists in the eighteenth century, instead of public domain they used terms such as publici juris or propriété publique to describe works that were not covered by copyright law. The phrase fall in the domain can be traced to mid-nineteenth century France to describe the end of copyright term. In this historical context Paul Torremans describes copyright as a coral reef of private right jutting up from the ocean of the public domain. Because copyright law is different from country to country, Pamela Samuelson has described the public domain as being different sizes at different times in different countries. According to James Boyle this definition underlines common usage of the public domain and equates the public domain to public property. However, the usage of the public domain can be more granular. Such a definition regards work in copyright as private property subject to fair use rights, the materials that compose our cultural heritage must be free for all living to use no less than matter necessary for biological survival
35.
Library of Congress
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The Library of Congress is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the de facto national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States, the Library is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D. C. it also maintains the Packard Campus in Culpeper, Virginia, which houses the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. The Library of Congress claims to be the largest library in the world and its collections are universal, not limited by subject, format, or national boundary, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 450 languages. Two-thirds of the books it acquires each year are in other than English. The Library of Congress moved to Washington in 1800, after sitting for years in the temporary national capitals of New York. John J. Beckley, who became the first Librarian of Congress, was two dollars per day and was required to also serve as the Clerk of the House of Representatives. The small Congressional Library was housed in the United States Capitol for most of the 19th century until the early 1890s, most of the original collection had been destroyed by the British in 1814, during the War of 1812. To restore its collection in 1815, the bought from former president Thomas Jefferson his entire personal collection of 6,487 books. After a period of growth, another fire struck the Library in its Capitol chambers in 1851, again destroying a large amount of the collection. The Library received the right of transference of all copyrighted works to have two copies deposited of books, maps, illustrations and diagrams printed in the United States. It also began to build its collections of British and other European works and it included several stories built underground of steel and cast iron stacks. Although the Library is open to the public, only high-ranking government officials may check out books, the Library promotes literacy and American literature through projects such as the American Folklife Center, American Memory, Center for the Book, and Poet Laureate. James Madison is credited with the idea for creating a congressional library, part of the legislation appropriated $5,000 for the purchase of such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress. And for fitting up an apartment for containing them. Books were ordered from London and the collection, consisting of 740 books and 3 maps, was housed in the new Capitol, as president, Thomas Jefferson played an important role in establishing the structure of the Library of Congress. The new law also extended to the president and vice president the ability to borrow books and these volumes had been left in the Senate wing of the Capitol. One of the only congressional volumes to have survived was a government account book of receipts and it was taken as a souvenir by a British Commander whose family later returned it to the United States government in 1940. Within a month, former president Jefferson offered to sell his library as a replacement
36.
Jacob Abbott
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Jacob Abbott was an American writer of childrens books. Abbott was born at Hallowell, Maine to Jacob and Betsey Abbott and he was a prolific author, writing juvenile fiction, brief histories, biographies, religious books for the general reader, and a few works in popular science. He wrote 180 books and was a coauthor or editor of 31 more and he died in Farmington, Maine, where he had spent part of his time after 1839, and where his brother, Samuel Phillips Abbott, founded the Abbott School. His Rollo Books, such as Rollo at Work, Rollo at Play, Rollo in Europe, etc. are the best known of his writings, having as their characters a representative boy. To follow up his Rollo books, he wrote of Uncle George, using him to teach the readers about ethics, geography, history. He also wrote 22 volumes of biographical histories and a 10 volume set titled the Franconia Stories and his brothers, John Stevens Cabot Abbott and Gorham Dummer Abbott, were also authors. His sons, Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, Austin Abbott, both eminent lawyers, Lyman Abbott, and Edward Abbott, a clergyman, were also well-known authors. See his Young Christian, Memorial Edition, with a Sketch of the Author by Edward Abbott with a bibliography of his works, other works of note, Lucy Books, Jonas Books, Harpers Story Books, Marco Paul, Gay Family, and Juno Books. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Abbott. Appletons Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James Grant Wilson, John Fiske and Stanley L. Klos
37.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
