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FREDERICKSBURG, 1758—George Washington, son of Augustine and Mary Ball
Washington, has been elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses while serving
with the British regulars at Fort Cumberland. Although urged by friends to return
to the colony of Virginia and “show his face,”
Washington opted to remain with his men and was successful in winning a seat in
the House from Frederick County.
VALLEY FORGE, 1777–1778—General Washington struggles to keep his
troops alive and well in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, this winter. Inadequate shipments
of food, clothing, and supplies have left the regiments in shambles; poor hygiene
and rampant disease threaten the lives of all the soldiers camped there. General
Washington has made repeated appeals for increased supplies, but the mismanagement
of the supply trade has yet to be resolved. In the meantime,
General Washington struggles alongside his men while political rivals threaten
to remove his power. Military and civilian critics, particularly Thomas Conway
and Dr. Benjamin Rush, feel that there are several men who are better suited to
lead the Continental army.
YORKTOWN, 1781—After losing two children in infancy and her daughter
Patsy to epilepsy, Martha Washington lost her last child to camp fever. John Parke
Custis, known as Jacky to family and friends, passed away on November 5 at Yorktown,
merely seventeen days after the surrender of Britain’s General Cornwallis.
Jacky leaves behind a wife and four children. General and Mrs. Washington will
raise the younger two children, Eleanor “Nelly” Custis and George
Washington Parke Custis, at Mount Vernon, their home in Virginia.
NEW YORK, 1789 (AP)—After many months of debate to establish our new
American government, the first official election was held on February 4, 1789.
George Washington has received all 69 electoral votes! Washington, who will be
inaugurated on April 30 of this year, accepted his new office, despite his overwhelming
desire to return to his estate at Mount Vernon: “I was summoned by my country
. . . from a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilection, and . .
. with an immutable decision, as the asylum of my declining years.” Washington
and his wife Martha will move to the country’s capital, New York City.
PHILADELPHIA, 1793 (AP)—President George Washington has won his second
election to the presidency of the United States! The inauguration will take place
on March 4 in Philadelphia, the new capital of the United States. However, the
prospect of returning to the stress of presidential life has left Washington doubtful.
Washington wrote to his friend Henry Lee, “that it was after a long and
painful conflict in my own breast, that I was withheld from requesting, in time,
that no votes might be thrown away upon me; it being my fixed determination to
return to the walks of private life.” The next four years do in fact promise
to be difficult; factionalism has already begun to sprout in government over constitutional
interpretation. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander
Hamilton, who was the driving force behind the creation of the National Bank and
National Mint, will remain in the service of the President. Edmund Randolph will
replace Thomas Jefferson as secretary of state.
PHILADELPHIA, 1794—Western Pennsylvanians have turned their resentment
over recent taxes on whiskey into a violent opposition. They are launching the
first major civil disturbance of President Washington’s term in office.
Last week, U.S. Marshal David Lenox met with resistance in Westmoreland County
while trying to collect taxes on locally distilled liquor. Military action will
be taken, much to the regret of the President: “I have accordingly determined
to do so, feeling the deepest regret for the occasion, but withal, the most solemn
conviction, that the essential interests of the Union demand it.” The army
is being organized from other northern states, and it will advance into Pennsylvania
shortly.
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