test.wikipedia.org

George Washington - Test Wikipedia

  • ️Thu Dec 29 2005
George Washington
File:George-washington-thumbnail.jpg
larger image
Rank:1st (1789-1797)
Succeeded by:John Adams
Date of BirthFebruary 22, 1732
Place of Birth:Westmoreland County, Virginia
Date of Death:December 14, 1799
Place of Death:Mount Vernon, Virginia
First Lady:Martha Dandridge Curtis
Occupation:farmer, soldier
Political Party:no affiliation
Vice President:John Adams

As the first President of the United States of America, George Washington (1789-1797) is recognized by Americans as "The Father of His Country."

Nothing

The earliest known image in which Washington is identified as such is on the cover of the circa 1778 Pennsylvania German almanac, Lancaster: Gedruckt bey Francis Bailey. This identifies Washington as "Landes Vater" (Father of the Land).

Personal information

[edit]

Washington's estate, Mount Vernon, is located in what is now a suburb of Washington, D.C..

Admirers of Washington circulated an apocryphal (and questionable) story about his honesty as a child. In the story, he wanted to try out a new axe and chopped down his father's cherry tree. When questioned by his father, he gave the famous non-quotation "I cannot tell a lie. It was I who chopped down the cherry tree." The story first appeared after Washington's death in a naive "inspirational" children's book by Parson Mason Weems, who has been rector of the Mount Vernon parish.

In 1790 Washington sent a letter to the Jewish community in Rhode Island. He wrote that he envisioned a country "which gives bigotry no sanction ... persecution no assistance". For the first time in history, Jews lived in a country where they enjoyed full and equal human and political rights - as a birthright of citizenship ([1]). On the other hand he is also credited with the statment "The Jews work more effectively against us, than the enemy's armies. They are a hundred times more dangerous to our liberties and the great cause we are engaged in ... It is much to be lamented that each state, long ago, has not hunted them down as pest to society and the greatest enemies we have to the happiness of America."

Legacy in the contemporary U.S.

[edit]

The capital city of the United States, Washington, D.C., is named for him. The District of Columbia was created by an Act of Congress in 1790, and Washington was deeply involved in its creation, including the siting of the White House. At this time, the future site of the capital was a swamp, and Washington remained largely marshland well into the 19th century. The capital was placed in the South, rather than in the major towns of the North, as a compromise during the writing of the United States Constitution in order to get Southern votes for important compromises.

Washington also selected West Point, New York, as the site for the United States Military Academy.

Washington State in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. is also named for him, the only state named for a president.

His image is on the one dollar bill and the quarter-dollar coin.

Places named for George Washington

[edit]