George Washington

As a young Virginia planter, Washington accepted slavery without apparent concern. But after the Revolutionary War, he began to feel burdened by his personal entanglement with slavery and uneasy about slavery’s effect on the nation.

George Washington's forays into the Ohio country shaped his career and sparked a global war. Learn more about Washington and the French & Indian War

Martha Washington was the first first lady of the United States and spent about half of the Revolutionary War at the front with General Washington. She helped manage and run her husbands' estates and raised her children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

Learn more about how General George Washington led the American army to victory in the Revolutionary War.

Unanimously elected twice, President Washington established many crucial precedents and confronted many domestic and foreign policy challenges.

On the evening of December 14, 1799 at Mount Vernon, George Washington passed away of a throat infection after riding through a wet and snowy wintry mix several days earlier.

Washington had a complicated relationship with Native Americans. Throughout his life, Washington negotiated with and served alongside native peoples, fought against others, and sought their land for his own prosperity.

Washington studied and implemented improved farming methods throughout his life. In fact, he thought of himself first as a farmer.

Born in the Age of Reason, Washington was a part of a new generation of readers who had access to more information. He built a library that would ultimately consist of more than 1,200 titles. 

The first time George Washington ran for public office, he lost. Washington is often remembered as an established statesman, leading a new nation. However, his political career began decades early in the Virginia House of Burgesses.

Freemasonry played a role throughout George Washington's life, joining the Lodge in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1752, through his death, where brothers of Alexandria Lodge performed Masonic rites at his funeral.

Throughout his life, Washington was concerned he would die young like his father. To prevent this, he tried to live a healthy life but still encountered many illnesses.