George Washington 
p>The American Revolution
When the 2d Continental Congress met on May 10, 1775, the fighting near
Boston (Lexington-Concord) had occurred. The British Army was cooped up in
Boston, surrounded by nearly 14,000 New England militiamen. On Feb. 2,
1775, the British House of Commons had declared Massachusetts to be in a
state of rebellion. This imputed to the people of that colony the crime of
treason. Washington, by appearing at the 2d Congress in uniform (the only
member thus attired), expressed his support of Massachusetts and his
readiness to fight against Britain. In June, Congress created the
Continental Army and incorporated into it the armed New Englanders around
Boston, undertaking to supply and pay them and to provide them with
generals. On June 15, Washington was unanimously elected general and
commander in chief.
The tribute of a unanimous election reflected his influence in Congress,
which endured throughout the American Revolution despite disagreements
among the members. In 1775 they divided into three groups. The militants,
led by Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Richard Henry Lee, favored
vigorous military action against Britain. Most of them foresaw the need of
effective aid from France, which the colonies could obtain only by offering
their commerce. Before that could be done they must become independent
states. Another group, the moderates, represented by Benjamin Harrison and
Robert Morris, hoped that a vigorous prosecution of the war would force
Britain to make a pro-American settlement. Only as a last resort would the
moderates turn to independence. The third group, the conciliationists, led
by John Dickinson, favored defensive measures and looked to "friends of
America" in England to work out a peace that would safeguard American
rights of self-taxation, thereby keeping the colonies in the British
Empire. Washington agreed with the militants and the moderates as to the
need for offensive action. The conciliationists and the moderates, as men
of fortune, trusted him not to use the army to effect an internal
revolution that would strip them of their property and political influence.
Early in the war, Washington and the army had to act as if they were agents
of a full-grown nation. Yet Congress, still in an embryonic state, could
not provide suddenly a body of law covering all the issues that figure in a
major war. Many actions had to be left to Washington's discretion. His
commission (June 17, 1775) stated: "You are hereby vested with full power
and authority to act as you shall think for the good and welfare of the
service." There was a danger that a strong general might use the army to
set up a military dictatorship. It was therefore urgent that the army would
be under a civil authority. Washington agreed with the other leaders that
Congress must be the superior power. Yet the army needed a good measure of
freedom of action. A working arrangement gave such freedom, while
preserving the authority of Congress. If there was no need for haste,
Washington advised that certain steps should be taken, and Congress usually
approved. In emergencies, he acted on his own authority and at once
reported what he had done. If Congress disapproved, he was so informed, and
the action was not repeated. If Congress did nothing, its silence signified
assent. So attentive was Washington to Congress, and so careful was he when
acting on his own initiative, that no serious conflict clouded his
relations with the civil authority.
Washington Takes Command
When he took command of the army at Cambridge on July 3, 1775, the majority
of Congress was reluctant to adopt measures that denoted independence,
although favoring an energetic conduct of the war. The government of Lord
North decided to send an overpowering army to America, and to that end
tried to recruit 20,000 mercenaries in Russia. On August 23, George III
issued the Royal Proclamation of Rebellion, which branded Washington as
guilty of treason and threatend him with "condign punishment." Early in
October, Washington concluded that in order to win the war the colonies
must become independent.
In August 1775, Washington insisted to Gen. Thomas Gage, the British
commander at Boston, that American officers captured by the British should
be treated as prisoners of war--not as criminals (that is, rebels). In
this, Washington asserted that the conflict was a war between two separate
powers and that the Union was on a par with Britain. He defended the rank
of American officers as being drawn from "the uncorrupted choice of a brave
and free people, the purest source and original fountain of all power." In
August-September he initiated an expedition for the conquest of Canada and
invited the king's subjects there to join the 13 colonies in an
"indissoluble union." About the same time he created a navy of six vessels,
which he sent out to capture British ships bringing supplies to Boston.
Congress had not favored authorizing a navy, then deemed to be an arm of an
independent state. Early in November, Washington inaugurated a campaign for
arresting, disarming, and detaining the Tories. Because their leaders were
agents of the British crown, his policy struck at the highest symbol of
Britain's authority. He urged the opening of American ports to French ships
and used his prestige and the strength of the army to encourage leaders of
the provincial governments to adopt measures that committed their colonies
to independence. His influence was evident in the campaigns for
independence in Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts,
Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York. He contributed as much to the
decision for independence as any man. The Declaration of Independence was
formally adopted on July 4, 1776.
The Military Campaigns
Washington's military record during the revolution is highly creditable.
His first success came on March 17, 1776, when the British evacuated
Boston. He had kept them surrounded and immobilized during a siege of more
than eight months. He had organized a first American army and had recruited
and trained a second. His little fleet had distressed the British by
intercepting their supplies. Lack of powder and cannon long kept him from
attacking. Once they had been procured, he occupied, on March 4-5, 1776, a
strong position on Dorchester Heights, Mass., where he could threaten to
bombard the British camp. The evacuation made him a hero by proving that
the Americans could overcome the British in a major contest. For five
months thereafter the American cause was brightened by the glow of this
outstanding victory--a perilous time when confidence was needed to sustain
morale.
Washington's next major achievement was made in the second half of 1776,
when he avoided a serious defeat and held the army together in the face of
overwhelming odds. In July and August the British invaded southern New York
with 34,000 well-equipped troops. In April, Washington's force had
consisted of only 7,500 effective men. Early in June, Congress had called
19,800 militia for service in Canada and New York. In a few weeks
Washington had to weld a motley throng into a unified force. Even then his
men were outnumbered three to two by the British. Although he suffered a
series of minor defeats (Brooklyn Heights, August 26-29; Kip's Bay,
September 15; Harlem Heights, September 16; White Plains, October 28; Fort
Washington, November 16), the wonder is that he escaped a catastrophe.
After the setbacks in New York, he retreated through New Jersey, crossing
the Delaware River in December. The American cause now sank to its lowest
ebb. Washington's main army, reduced to 3,000 men, seemed about to
disintegrate. It appeared that the British could march easily to
Philadelphia. Congress moved to Baltimore. In these dire straits Washington
made a dramatic move that ended an agonizing campaign in a blaze of glory.
On the stormy night of December 25-26 he recrossed the Delaware, surprised
Britain's Hessian mercenaries at Trenton, and captured 1,000 prisoners.
This move gave him a striking position in central New Jersey, whereupon the
British ceased offensive operations and pulled back to the vicinity of New
York.
On Oct. 17, 1777, Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga, N. Y., his
army of 5,000 men--all that were left of the 9,500 who had invaded New York
from Canada. To this great victory Washington made two contributions.
First, in September 1775, he sent an expedition to conquer Canada. Although
that aim was not attained, the project put the Americans in control of the
approaches to northern New York, particularly Lake Champlain. Burgoyne
encountered so many obstacles there that his advance was seriously delayed.
That in turn gave time for the militia of New England to turn out in force
and to contribute decisively to his defeat. Second, in 1777, Washington
conducted a campaign near Philadelphia that prevented Gen. William Howe
from using his large army for the relief of Burgoyne. Washington's success
at Trenton had placed him where he could both defend Philadelphia and
strike at British-held New York. Howe had thereupon undertaken a campaign
with the hope of occupying Philadelphia and of crushing Washington's army.
Although Washington suffered minor defeats--at Brandywine Creek on
September 11 and at Germantown on October 4--he again saved his army and,
by engaging Howe in Pennsylvania, made possible the isolation and eventual
defeat of Burgoyne.
Unable to overcome Washington in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the British
shifted their main war effort to the South. In 1781 their invasion of
Virginia enabled Washington to strike a blow that virtually ended the war.
France had joined the United States as a full-fledged ally in February
1778, thereby putting French troops at Washington's disposal and, more
important, giving him the support of a strong navy which he deemed
essential to victory. His plan of 1781 called for an advance from New York
to Virginia of a large American-French army which would act in concert with
the French fleet, to which was assigned the task of controlling Chesapeake
Bay, thereby preventing an escape by sea of the British forces under Lord
Cornwallis. Washington's army trapped Cornwallis at Yorktown, Va., on the
York River, and the French admiral, count de Grasse, gained command of the
bay. Outnumbered, surrounded on land, and cut off by sea, Cornwallis
surrendered his 7,000 troops on October 19. Although Britain still had
large forces in America, the Yorktown blow, along with war weariness
induced by six years of failure, moved the war party in England to resign
in March 1782 in favor of a ministry willing to make peace on the basis of
the independence of the United States.
Political Leadership During the War
Washington's political leadership during the Revolution suggests that of an
active president of later times. He labored constantly to keep people of
all classes at work for the cause. He held a central position between two
extremes. He strove to retain the support of the common people, who made up
the army and--as farmers and workers--produced the supplies. Composing the
left wing, they cherished democratic ideas that they hoped to realize by
popular rule in the state governments. Washington appealed to them by his
faith in popular sovereignty, his sponsorship of a republic and the rights
of man, and his unceasing efforts to assure that his soldiers were well
paid and adequately supplied with food, clothing, arms, medical care, and
shelter. His personal bravery, industry, and attention to duty also
endeared him to the rank and file, as did his sharing of dangers and
hardships, as symbolized by his endurance at Valley Forge during the bleak
winter of 1777-1778. The right wing consisted of conservatives whose
leaders were men of wealth. Washington retained their confidence by
refusing to use the army to their detriment and by insisting on order,
discipline, and respect for leadership. It was his aim that the two wings
should move in harmony. In this he succeeded so fully that the American
Revolution is rare among political upheavals for its absence of purges,
reigns of terror, seizures of power, and liquidation of opponents.
Before 1778, Washington was closely affiliated with the left wing.
Afterward, he depended increasingly on the conservatives. In the winter of
1777-1778 there was some talk of replacing him with Gen. Horatio Gates, the
popular hero of Saratoga. This estranged Washington from some of the
democratic leaders who sponsored Gates. The French alliance, coming after
the American people had made heavy sacrifices, tended to relax their
efforts now that France would carry much of the burden. These developments
lessened the importance of the popular leaders in Washington's counsels and
increased the standing of the conservatives. Washington sought maximum aid
from France, but also strove to keep the American war effort at a high
pitch lest France should become the dominant partner--a result he wished to
avoid. His character and tact won the confidence and respect of the French,
as typified by the friendship of the Marquis de Lafayette.
In 1782 some of the army officers, irked by the failure of Congress to
fulfill a promise concerning their pay, threatened to march to Philadelphia
and to use force to obtain satisfaction. In an address on March 15, 1783,
Washington persuaded the officers to respect Congress and pledged to seek a
peaceful settlement. Congress responded to his appeals by granting the
officers five years' full pay, and the crisis ended. It evoked from
Washington a striking statement condemning government by mere force. "If
men," he wrote, "are to be precluded from offering their sentiments on a
matter which may involve the most serious ... consequences, ... reason is
of no use to us, the freedom of speech may be taken away, and dumb and
silent we may be led, like sheep, to the slaughter."
Throughout the war, Washington retained a commanding position in the army.
Generals Philip Schuyler, Henry Knox, Nathanael Green, and Henry Lee were
especially attached to him. His relations with Horatio Gates became
strained but not ruptured. A rebuke to Charles Lee so angered that
eccentric general as to cause him eventually to retire and to denounce
Washington as a demigod. General Benedict Arnold suffered a somewhat
milder, though merited, rebuke shortly before he agreed to sell information
to Britain about the defenses at West Point.
(In 1976 an act of Congress promoted Washington to six-star General of the
Armies so that he would rank above all other American generals.)
The Confederation Years
After the war, several states were beset with troubles that alarmed
Washington and conservative leaders who were close to him. British
merchants flooded the United States with British goods. Inadequate markets
abroad for American products obliged American merchants to export coin or
to buy imports on credit. Britain excluded American ships from the trade of
the British West Indies, to the distress of New England. A shortage of
money depressed the prices of American products and enhanced the difficulty
of paying debts--not only those owed to British merchants but also those
that had been contracted by Congress or the states to finance the war. As
the debt burdens grew, debtors demanded that the states issue large
quantities of paper money. About half the states did so. Such paper
depreciated, to the loss of creditors. The strife between debtor and
creditor in Massachusetts exploded in an uprising, Shays' Rebellion, that
threatened to overthrow the state government.
Apprehensive men turned to Washington for leadership. It seemed to them,
and to him, that the troubles of the times flowed from the weaknesses of
the central government under the Articles of Confederation. The Union could
not provide a single, stable, adequate currency because the main powers
over money were vested in the states. Because Congress could not tax, it
could not maintain an army and navy. Nor could it pay either the principal
or the interest on the national debt. Washington believed that the central
government should be strengthened so that it could safeguard property,
protect creditors against hostile state laws, afford the Union a uniform,
nondepreciating currency, and collect taxes in order both to pay the
national debt and to obtain revenues sufficient for current needs. He also
thought that Congress should be empowered to foster domestic manufacturing
industries as a means of lessening the importation of foreign goods.
Washington's anxieties over events in the 1780's were deepened by his
memories of bitter experiences during the Revolution, when the weakness of
Congress and the power of the states had handicapped the army in countless
ways.
The Constitutional Convention met at Philadelphia in May 1787. Washington,
a delegate of Virginia, served as its president. His closest associate then
was James MADISON. The Constitution, as adopted, embodied Washington's
essential ideas. It provided for a "mixed" or "balanced" government of
three branches, so devised that all three could not easily fall under the
sway of any faction, thus assuring that every important group would have
some means of exerting influence and of protecting its interests in a
lawful manner. The federal government, as remodeled, was vested with powers
adequate for managing the common affairs of the Union, while leaving to the
states control over state-confined property and business, schools, family
relations, and nonfederal crimes and lesser offenses. Washington helped to
persuade the Virginia legislature to ratify the Constitution, making use of
The Federalist papers written in its defense by James Madison, Alexander
Hamilton, and John Jay.
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