Open 365 Days a Year, Mount Vernon is located just 15 miles south of Washington DC.
From the mansion to lush gardens and grounds, intriguing museum galleries, immersive programs, and the distillery and gristmill. Spend the day with us!
Discover what made Washington "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen".
The Mount Vernon Ladies Association has been maintaining the Mount Vernon Estate since they acquired it from the Washington family in 1858.
Need help with homework? Our Digital Encyclopedia has all of the answers students and teachers need.
The Washington Library is open to all researchers and scholars, though by appointment only.
This DBQ style lesson asks students to use multiple primary and secondary sources from the 18th-21st centuries to evaluate the statement: Americans feel that those in positions of authority tend to be tyrannical and unjust. This lesson was created by 2016-2017 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Michael Ellis.
View Lesson PlanThis lesson was created to be used with Mount Vernon's Be Washington interactive experience. Students will analyze advice given to President George Washington during the Genet Affair crisis in 1794 through the use of primary and secondary sources.
View Lesson PlanThis lesson was created to be used with Mount Vernon's Be Washington interactive experience. Students will analyze advice given to President George Washington during the Whiskey Rebellion crisis in 1794 through the use of primary and secondary sources.
View Lesson PlanThis lesson draws a connection between George Washington’s establishment of the two-term precedent for the presidency and Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s breaking of that precedent nearly 150 years later. In this lesson, students will analyze multiple primary and secondary sources, both collaboratively and independently. Discussion and debate is a large focus of this lesson. Students will make interdisciplinary connections between history and government/civics. This resource was created by 2013-2014 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Hannah Markwardt.
View Lesson PlanIn this lesson, students are asked to use Article 1 and Article 2 of the Constitution and George Washington's notes on his personal copy of the document to create a job description for the President of the United States in 1787.
View Lesson PlanThis lesson outlines a role-playing activity intended to help students better understand the perspectives of individual delegates at the critical point when they were debating representation at the Constitutional Convention.
View Lesson PlanA lesson plan that facilitates discussion amongst students about the challenges George Washington faced as the first President of the United States.
View Lesson PlanA lesson focused on George Washington’s character and civic virtues. Students examine the connection between these virtues and fostering a democratic and free society in the United States.
View Lesson PlanThis classroom resource directly supports the video A More Perfect Union: George Washington and the Making of the Constitution. Use this reference sheet to draw attention to evidence on the state of the government under the Articles of Confederation using George Washington's own words.
View Lesson PlanA lesson that asks students to connect George Washington’s Farewell Address to later presidential foreign policy messages. As a group, the class will discuss the influence Washington’s message had on the nation and posterity. Working in groups, students investigate excerpts from later presidential foreign policy messages and compare and contrast these with Washington’s Farewell Address. A Socratic Seminar analyzing past U.S. foreign policy also asks students to chart a course for future U.S. foreign policy.
View Lesson PlanThis lesson supports the video A More Perfect Union: George Washington and the Making of the Constitution. After viewing the video, students use image-based flashcards to practice and demonstrate their understanding of the key concepts of the Constitution presented in the video. Visual cues provide new routes for student understanding of these complex ideas. Key concepts addressed reflect the importance of compromise, the weakness of the union after the War for Independence, the importance of George Washington as a unifying figure during a fractious time, and the elements of government reflected in the first seven Articles of the Constitution.
View Lesson PlanThis DBQ style lesson asks students to use multiple primary and secondary sources to evaluate the statement: Ideals and moral concerns regarding human equality and the evils of slavery espoused over the course of the Founding Era were impossible to carry out and enforce due to the economic necessity and racial dynamics of slavery. This lesson was created by 2016-2017 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Michael Ellis.
View Lesson PlanThis DBQ style lesson asks students to use multiple primary and secondary sources to evaluate the statement: Non-violent opposition proved to be the most productive method of effecting change during the Revolutionary Era in America. This lesson was created by 2016-2017 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Michael Ellis.
View Lesson PlanA lesson that draws a connection between the realpolitik practiced during the Nixon administration and George Washington’s foreign policy practices. Students explore the application of modern foreign policy styles to 18th-century diplomatic situations and make interdisciplinary connections between history and government/civics. This resource was created by 2013-2014 Life Guard Teacher Fellow Hannah Markwardt.
View Lesson PlanA lesson that uses political cartoons to engage students in a deeper understanding of George Washington's presidency. Students examine political cartoons, created in 2005 by well-known political cartoonists from newspapers across the country for the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center at Mount Vernon, to explore issues related to the president's title, the Jay Treaty, and the debate surrounding a national bank.
View Lesson PlanThis lesson supports the video A More Perfect Union: George Washington and the Making of the Constitution. After viewing the video, students use flashcards, quizzes, interactives, and worksheets to study and demonstrate their understanding of advanced vocabulary.
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