The American Story: Building the Republic

By David Barton and Tim Barton

America's Constitutional Republic is like no other.

Most Americans recognize the names George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, but few can tell you their stories—much less that of James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, or Andrew Jackson. These seven men from the Founding Ear were America's first presidents. They established our republic on the foundation of the Constitution and its liberties.

But who were they? Were they good or bad leaders? How did they become presidents? Did they follow the Constitution or abandon its principles?

Their lives reflect the opportunities America offers. Farmers, attorneys, military veterans, and philosophers, they each rose to the highest ranks of political leadership. From very different backgrounds, all loved their nation. Each had shortcomings (some far more than others) as well as stellar shining moments. Some preserved our strong foundations and some abandoned core constitutional principles.

The stories of each of these presidents are fascinating, instructive, and compelling. And why not? After all, these are the men who built the republic.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 20, 2024
• ISBN: 9781947501317

David Barton

Hi, I'm David Barton PhD. I am a husband and father to three beautiful girls. I live in New Zealand and was born in South Africa. I have studied, Counselling and Psychology and have a PhD in Psychology from the University of Otago, Dunedin. I had a life changing event at the end of 2018 when I got diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer. The cancer was widespread. It also got into my spine and paralyzed me for a time. Recovery was hard, but now I am cancer free and walking, even running again. As a Christian I put me faith and trust in God. My recent books reflect this as I have written extensively about my journey to survive and what God has taught me along the way.

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Title

The American Story: Building the Republic

Copyright © 2024, David Barton & Tim Barton

1st Edition, March 2024

All rights reserved. No part of this eBook may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews with proper attribution.

Additional materials available from:

WallBuilders

P.O. Box 397

Aledo, TX 76008

www.wallbuilders.com

Cataloging-in-Publication data on file with the Library of Congress

Barton, David, and Barton, Tim

The American Story: Building the Republic

Aledo, TX: WallBuilder Press

Book: ISBN 978-1-947501-30-0

eBook: ISBN 978-1-947501-31-7

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

AUTHORS’ NOTES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION: Building the Republic

SECTION ONE: President George Washington

Chapter 1 | A Global Hero

Chapter 2 | Growing Up

Chapter 3 | Early Military Career: Bulletproof

Chapter 4 | George & Martha

Chapter 5 | George’s Thorn in the Flesh

Chapter 6 | Washington & Slavery

Chapter 7 | Life Before the Presidency

Chapter 8 | The Presidency

Chapter 9 | Saying Goodbye: Washington’s Farewell Address

Chapter 10 | His Death

Chapter 11 | The Father of His Country

SECTION TWO: President John Adams

Chapter 1 | Growing Up

Chapter 2 | Early Career

Chapter 3 | John & the Birth of America

Chapter 4 | John & Abigail

Chapter 5 | France: Adams’ Carryover Problem

Chapter 6 | Washington’s Jay Treaty

Chapter 7 | The XYZ Affair

Chapter 8 | Alien & Sedition Acts

Chapter 9 | The Election of 1800

Chapter 10 | A Loathsome Campaign

Chapter 11 | The Voting Starts, & a Career Ends

SECTION THREE: President Thomas Jefferson

Chapter 1 | Growing Up

Chapter 2 | Road to the Presidency

Chapter 3 | President Jefferson

Chapter 4 | Handling the Midnight Appointments

Chapter 5 | Separation of Church & State

Chapter 6 | America’s First War with Islamic Extremists

Chapter 7 | The Louisiana Purchase

Chapter 8 | Alexander Hamilton’s Tragic Death

Chapter 9 | An Infamous Treason Trial

Chapter 10 | Banning the Slave Trade

Chapter 11 | Jefferson & Slavery

Chapter 12 | Jefferson Returns to Private Life

Chapter 13 | Friends Again

SECTION FOUR: President James Madison

Chapter 1 | Early Years

Chapter 2 | Calling for a Constitution

Chapter 3 | Approving the Constitution

Chapter 4 | Adding the Bill of Rights

Chapter 5 | Serving in the Federal Government & Becoming President

Chapter 6 | James & Dolley

Chapter 7 | Going to War

Chapter 8 | An Unprepared American Military

Chapter 9 | Overview of the War of 1812

Chapter 10 | The War Along the Northern Border

Chapter 11 | The Great Lakes Naval Conflicts

Chapter 12 | Expanding the War to the West

Chapter 13 | The War on the Atlantic Coast

Chapter 14 | The Battle of Fort McHenry & the National Anthem

Chapter 15 | The War on the Gulf Coast

Chapter 16 | Ending the War

Chapter 17 | Lasting Effects of the War

Chapter 18 | Madison’s Return to Private Life

SECTION FIVE: President James Monroe

Chapter 1 | The Early Years

Chapter 2 | Providential Interventions

Chapter 3 | The Battle of Trenton

Chapter 4 | Entering Government Service

Chapter 5 | Monroe, the French Revolution, & Thomas Paine

Chapter 6 | Recalled from France

Chapter 7 | The Presidency

Chapter 8 | The Seminole & Creek Wars; Adding Florida

Chapter 9 | Hard Times

Chapter 10 | The Africa Squadron

Chapter 11 | Slavery & the Founding Era

Chapter 12 | Slavery & Technology: A New Direction

Chapter 13 | The Missouri Compromise

Chapter 14 | A Second Term

Chapter 15 | The Monroe Doctrine

Chapter 16 | Life After Retirement

SECTION SIX: President John Quincy Adams

Chapter 1 | Overview

Chapter 2 | The Early Days

Chapter 3 | George Washington’s Presidency

Chapter 4 | John Adams’ Presidency

Chapter 5 | Thomas Jefferson’s Presidency

Chapter 6 | James Madison’s Presidency

Chapter 7 | James Monroe’s Presidency

Chapter 8 | The Presidential Election

Chapter 9 | President John Quincy Adams

Chapter 10 | Headed to Congress

Chapter 11 | The Right of Petition

Chapter 12 | The Gag Rule

Chapter 13 | The Anti-Slavery Leader

Chapter 14 | Speaker of the House

Chapter 15 | Returning to Court: The Amistad

Chapter 16 | Going to Church

Chapter 17 | Final Hours

SECTION SEVEN: President Andrew Jackson

Chapter 1 | Overview

Chapter 2 | Youth & Early Life

Chapter 3 | Andrew & Rachel

Chapter 4 | A Fighting Irishman

Chapter 5 | Off to Federal Congress

Chapter 6 | The War of 1812

Chapter 7 | Prelude to the Presidency

Chapter 8 | The Election of 1828

Chapter 9 | The Presidency

Chapter 10 | The Kitchen Cabinet

Chapter 11 | The Spoils System & the Birth of the Democrat Party

Chapter 12 | Indian Removal Act

Chapter 13 | Indian Removal in Georgia

Chapter 14 | Jackson’s View of Indians

Chapter 15 | Honoring & Breaking Treaties

Chapter 16 | The Black Hawk War

Chapter 17 | Ending the National Bank & Starting the Donkey Party Emblem

Chapter 18 | The Nullification & Secession Crisis

Chapter 19 | The Panic of 1837

Chapter 20 | The Religious Faith of the Jacksons

Chapter 21 | Jackson’s Legacy

CONCLUSION: The Way Forward

ENDNOTES

Authors’ Notes

We include many quotations in this book—words written or spoken at a time when grammatical usage and spelling were quite different from what is practiced today. To improve readability and flow, we have modernized many of the spellings and punctuations in these quotes, leaving the meaning unimpaired.

As an example of the early colonial spelling of words, consider the opening language of the Pilgrims’ Mayflower Compact of 1620—the first governance document written in America (the words misspelled by today’s standards are underlined):

We whose names are underwriten, the loyall subjects of our dread soveraigne Lord King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britaine, Franc, & Ireland king, defender of the faith, &c., haveing undertaken, for the glorie of God, and advancemente of the Christian faith, and honour of our king & countrie, a voyage to plant the first colonie in the Northerne parts of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly & mutualy in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant & combine our selves togeather into a civill body politick…¹

Similarly distracting to today’s readers is the excessive and seemingly random use of capitals and commas (refer to the previous example for the copious use of commas). Consider this excerpt from a 1749 letter written by signer of the Declaration of Independence Robert Treat Paine (underlined words would not be capitalized today):

I Believe the Bible to be the written word of God & to Contain in it the whole Rule of Faith & manners; I consent to the Assemblys Shorter Chatachism as being Agreable to the Reveal’d Will of God & to contain in it the Doctrines that are According to Godliness. I have for some time had a desire to attend upon the Lords Supper and to Come to that divine Institution of a Dying Redeemer, And I trust I’m now convinced that it is my Duty Openly to profess him least he be ashamed to own me An Other day; I humbly therefore desire that you would receive me into your Communion & Fellowship, & I beg your Prayers for me that Grace may be carried on in my soul to Perfection, & that I may live answerable to the Profession I now make which (God Assisting) I purpose to be the main End of all my Actions.²

To improve readability, the modern rules of spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been followed in most quotations throughout this book. None of these changes alter the meaning, and by referring to the sources in the footnotes, the reader will be able to examine the original text.

Finally, we personally choose to capitalize all nouns or pronouns referring to the Bible or Biblical Deity as a sign of our respect (this includes capitalizing Providential); and for exactly the opposite reason, we choose not to capitalize words such as satan, lucifer, or the devil.

Acknowledgments

While our names appear on the cover as co-authors, it would be inaccurate to conclude that this book is solely our creation. It is the result of several years of laborious work, with dozens of different iterations of the manuscript. It is the product of the contribution of numerous individuals—to each of whom our grateful appreciation is extended.

Among those deserving special acknowledgment are our wives, Gabi and Cheryl, who not only graciously gave us up to literally thousands of hours away from them but who also strongly supported and encouraged us throughout this important endeavor.

Sarah Freeman, Melissa Hawley, Danielle Ward, Erik Hanson, and Katie Schonhoff were able to take many of our earlier vague remembrances of research conducted long ago and locate the original documents and early works that authenticated those accounts. They also did deep-digging in ancient sources to thoroughly document the actual story, spending months in source-checking the approximately 1,100 endnotes in this work as well as locating the hundreds of old graphics used throughout.

Kristina Smith spent countless weeks taking the immense content, both text and imagery, and formatting it into sections, chapters, and pages, thus making the information visually pleasing to read. Brett Carlson designed the cover and assisted in laying out portions of the text.

Damaris Barton Schuler undertook the tedious task of editing the text for consistency among its numerous stories, ensuring flow and readability.

To these special individuals, and the many others who contributed to this work in some way, we offer a sincere Thank you! And we especially extend our heartfelt appreciation to our Lord and Creator, in Whom we live, move, and have our being (Acts 17:28), for His kind Providence and Guiding Hand throughout this extensive project.

Tim and David Barton

Introduction

Building the Republic

America is special. Over the past two centuries, she has generated countless blessings for her own citizens. She has also directly assisted hundreds of millions of others around the world in improving their lifestyles through our political, spiritual, economic, and (when necessary) even military influence.

Many Americans have become so used to the benefits we routinely enjoy that we often take them for granted, rarely contrasting our condition with that of billions around the world who would give almost anything to be in our shoes. If the traditional America we have become accustomed to is ever lost, it will be nearly impossible to imagine how forlorn and miserable our lives would become.

In recognizing America’s uniqueness, early American statesman Daniel Webster observed:

Miracles do not cluster. That which has happened but once in 6,000 years cannot be expected to happen often. Such a government, once gone, might leave a void to be filled for ages with revolution and tumult, riot, and despotism.¹

America’s distinctiveness has been recognized globally for two centuries. Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville traversed America for eight months in 1831 and then published his findings in Democracy in America, reporting:

The position of the Americans is therefore quite exceptional, and it may be believed that no democratic people will ever be placed in a similar one.²

What Tocqueville long ago identified became known as American Exceptionalism. He recognized that America is the exception and not the norm when compared to other nations of the world. Statistics in numerous significant categories still confirm this reality today.

Consider, for example, governmental stability.

America has had only one constitution since it went into effect in 1789, but over that same period of time, FRANCE has had 15.³ Such instability (and often violent change) is the normal story for most nations around the world:

·HAITI, 23 constitutions since 1801⁴

·VENEZUELA, 25 since 1811⁵

·BRAZIL, 7 since 1822⁶

·ECUADOR, 20 since 1830⁷

·THE PHILIPPINES, 7 since 1899⁸

·RUSSIA, 4 since 1918⁹

·POLAND, 7 since 1919¹⁰

·NIGERIA, 9 since 1922¹¹

·AFGHANISTAN, 6 since 1923¹²

·IRAQ, 4 since 1925¹³

·SOUTH AFRICA, 5 since 1931¹⁴

·THAILAND, 17 since 1932¹⁵

·SOUTH KOREA, 6 since 1948¹⁶

·CHINA, 4 since 1954¹⁷

·GHANA, 4 since 1957¹⁸

And so forth.

Political instability characterizes nations across Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, and generally everywhere in the world—except America. The stability America has enjoyed is truly uncommon, or exceptional.

Americans also enjoy extraordinary degrees of liberty. Although we have seen many unprecedented attacks on our rights and freedoms in recent decades, Freedom House, which monitors political and civil liberties among the nations of the world, still rates America high for her political rights and civil liberties.¹⁹ Other monitoring groups also place America in the elite status for freedoms enjoyed.²⁰

Additionally, America is unsurpassed in creativity. With only 4% of the world’s population, every year she produces more inventions and patents than the rest of the world.²¹ Additionally, America’s 4% has won more than 50% of the world’s Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences.²² (These numbers certainly reflect America’s creativity but also the rigorous constitutional and legal gridwork that protects the intellectual and private property rights of individuals in this country. America’s unique atmosphere attracts inventors from other nations who come here to develop their ideas and open their businesses.)

Furthermore, America produces almost 25% of the world’s entire gross domestic product (GDP, which is the total global market value of goods produced).²³ This prosperity is not simply because we have more natural resources, for this is often not the case. For example, America does not appear on the list of the world’s top producers of valuable gems and metals (such as diamonds and titanium);²⁴ we also are only 16th in crude oil reserves,²⁵ 10th in iron content,²⁶ 15th in uranium reserves,²⁷ and so forth.²⁸ Yet the resources we do have, when joined to our unique combination of freedom, capitalism (the free market), technology, and hard work, have helped America thrive.

But has America’s national prosperity translated to the individual level?—that is, has our current national wealth improved the lives of average citizens? To answer this, consider the current plight of some of the worst off among us: the poor.

The World Bank establishes the global standard for poverty, currently $785 per year ($2.15 a day), or for the world’s more prosperous developing nations, an annual income of $2,500 ($6.85 a day).²⁹ But America ignores the world’s measure and instead sets its own standard, which is many times higher. In fact, 96% of those classified as American poor say that their children experienced no hunger at any time in the previous year.³⁰ And while common health problems for the poor across the world include malnutrition, thinness, and stuntedness, in America the most common health problem for our poor is obesity.³¹

America is not perfect, but statistics are clear that she is not like other nations; and despite her shortcomings, she remains one of the most stable, prosperous, and freest countries in the world. Americans definitely are blessed, and America truly is exceptional. This exceptionalism encompasses our great diversity of race, ethnicity, and religion and has benefited every American. Yet despite these great blessings, many are currently attempting to fundamentally change America and remake us in the image of the much less successful and less prosperous socialist nations of Europe.

Such attempts are not new. Indeed, even in the Founding Era some advocated for fewer individual freedoms and more government control, such as what was being experienced by our counterparts in other countries across the Atlantic. This caused Thomas Jefferson to warn:

The comparison of our government with those of Europe is like a comparison of heaven and hell.³²

Incidentally, America is even exceptional in the areas of race relations and equality, where today we are so frequently maligned by Marxists, Progressives, and numerous academics. They deliberately rewrite our history and then make false claims, which are echoed by other often well-meaning individuals who simply don’t know our history. Consider a few critically important facts they ignore:

·In the nearly 400 years of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade from 1501 to 1875, of the 12.5 million Africans involuntarily sold into slavery, only 3% disembarked in the American colonies. This was the lowest percentage of any major nation or region at that time. (In comparison, 43% went to Central and South America, 38% to the Caribbean slave markets, and so forth.)³³

·In America, African Americans were elected to office as early as 1641 (Mathias de Sousa in Maryland),³⁴ and more than a thousand had been elected to local, state, and federal positions by the late 1800s.³⁵ In comparison, it was not until 1987 that a black person was elected in Great Britain,³⁶ 2006 in Italy,³⁷ 2010 in Russia,³⁸ and so forth. The racial progress made in America is remarkable—and underreported.

·America’s New England colonies became the first major region in the world to abolish slavery, with all northern states having passed abolition laws by 1804.³⁹ Slavery was put on the path to extinction in those American states long before any other nation in the world and nearly 30 years before the British Empire officially abolished it in 1833.⁴⁰

·America was the first nation in the world to sign a law banning the slave trade (March 2, 1807),⁴¹ and most American states had already individually banned the importation of slaves before that federal law.⁴²

·The United States is the only nation in the world where whites, on behalf of enslaved blacks, went to war against other whites in order to end slavery, resulting in the loss of well over half-a-million white lives.

·Of the 193 nations in the world today, 94 still have not criminalized slavery.⁴³

·It is estimated that nearly 50 million individuals are enslaved today,⁴⁴ which is more than at any point in world history. America is currently ranked by the Global Slavery Index as the fifth-most active/best nation in the world in fighting slavery.⁴⁵

This is not to say that America is not tarnished with the evil of slavery. Rather, it is to add context to the reality that even though America had participated in the same evil as the rest of the world, from the global perspective of abolishing slavery and equalizing race relations, she began first, made the greatest sacrifices, and still does more today to fight slavery than virtually any other nation in the world. So America truly is special, even in the area of race relations.

American Exceptionalism unquestionably exists in numerous identifiable and documentable areas, but what produced it?

Liberal Progressives think they know. According to Harvard professor Stephen Walt, America’s past success is due as much to good luck as to any uniquely American virtues.⁴⁶ National columnist Christopher Hitchens agrees that the United States had some kind of luck.⁴⁷ David Morris of the Public Good Initiative concurs that we were exceptionally lucky.⁴⁸

We were just lucky? Really?

Frankly, luck seems a highly inadequate, if not completely dissatisfying, explanation for America’s success in so many categories. There is definitely much more to American Exceptionalism than just luck. It is primarily the result of a specific governing philosophy, and it might surprise many today to know the primary source of that philosophy was the Bible.⁴⁹ In fact, until recent years, nearly every president has openly affirmed the importance of Christianity and the Bible in shaping America’s unique governing philosophy and institutions. For example:

The teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally—I do not mean figuratively, I mean literally—impossible for us to figure to ourselves what that life would be if these teachings were removed. We would lose almost all the standards by which we now judge both public and private morals—all the standards toward which we, with more or less resolution, strive to raise ourselves. Almost every man who has by his life-work added to the sum of human achievement of which the [human] race is proud—of which our people are proud—almost every such man has based his life-work largely upon the teachings of the Bible.⁵⁰ PRESIDENT TEDDY ROOSEVELT

Of the many influences that have shaped the United States of America into a distinctive Nation and people, none may be said to be more fundamental and enduring than the Bible…. The Bible and its teachings helped form the basis for the Founding Fathers’ abiding belief in the inalienable rights of the individual—rights which they found implicit in the Bible’s teachings of the inherent worth and dignity of each individual.⁵¹ PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN

In the formative days of the Republic, the directing influence the Bible exercised upon the fathers of the Nation is conspicuously evident…. We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a Nation without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic.⁵² PRESIDENT FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT

The fundamental basis of this Nation’s law was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings which we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don’t think we emphasize that enough these days.⁵³ PRESIDENT HARRY TRUMAN

Tocqueville (who very early affirmed America’s exceptionalism) agreed that our uniqueness sprang from our Biblical philosophy:

Upon my arrival in the United States, the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention. And the longer I stayed there, the more did I perceive the great political consequences resulting from this state of things to which I was unaccustomed. In France, I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom pursuing courses diametrically opposed to each other. But in America, I found that they were intimately united—that they reigned in common over the same country.⁵⁴

There is no country in the whole world in which the Christian religion retains a greater influence on the souls of men than in America, and there can be no greater proof of its utility, and of its conformity to human nature, than that its influence is most powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth.⁵⁵

The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other.⁵⁶

Our Founding Fathers indisputably incorporated numerous political and social ideas from the Bible into the American Republic, including into the US Constitution.

The American Story: The Beginnings (the first work in this series) documented the story of America’s foundation—what that foundation was, how it was built, and who some of its key builders were. That foundation was secured by the writing and adoption of the US Constitution.

This volume, The American Story: Building the Republic, looks at what was built on that foundation, highlighting our first seven presidents (and also some of the major events and personalities associated with the time of their presidencies). Each of these first seven lived during the Founding Era, directly participated in the American War for Independence, and interacted with the other early presidents.

But who were these seven? What did they do? Were they good or bad presidents? And how well (and what) did each build upon the foundation of the Constitution? In subsequent chapters, we answer these questions as we tell many intriguing (and today, often unknown) stories surrounding these seven early leaders.

Let’s begin with President George Washington.

SECTION ONE

President George Washington

Chapter 1

A Global Hero

George Washington (1732-1799) is the most recognized and honored American who has ever lived. Even worldwide, he is highly respected and revered, with scores of foreign nations erecting statues and naming structures after him.

Sadly, modern American education has steadily moved away from celebrating Washington. As a result, many today no longer know much about this legendary hero or his intriguing story. To understand his genuine importance, consider how he has been honored both in America and around the world.

Here in the United States:

·Our national capital (Washington DC) is named after him.

·His birthday has been a nationally-celebrated federal holiday since 1879 (although today it is combined with the celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s birth on what is known as Presidents Day).

·Dozens of statues have been erected of him in public locations across the nation, including state capitol buildings and other prominent public sites.

·Massive monuments have been built to honor him (including not only the Washington Monument in Washington DC but similar structures in other cities).

·He is prominently featured on the world’s largest monument of individual faces, Mount Rushmore.

Additionally, also named in his honor are:

·A US state

·Over 30 counties

·More than 200 cities

·15 mountains

·Numerous universities, colleges, academies, and schools

·Multiple forts and military installations

·A national forest

·Manifold lakes and state parks

·Scores of streets and avenues

·Innumerable bridges

·Several highways

·City parks, plazas, and squares

·Entire city neighborhoods

On the international level, it is extraordinary for any country to honor the head of a different country, but many foreign nations across the world commemorated George Washington’s global influence by erecting statues to him or naming streets, parks, or neighborhoods after him. Additionally, heads of state from numerous countries have traveled to Washington’s home and tomb to pay their respects to him and honor his extensive worldwide influence. (See the global map to the left for an indication of some of the nations that have paid homage to him at home or abroad.)

As the great statesman Daniel Webster (called The Defender of the Constitution) affirmed in 1843:

America has furnished to the world the character of Washington!… His reputation abroad reflects the highest honor on his country and its institutions. I would cheerfully put the question today to the intelligence of Europe and the world: What character of the century upon the whole stands out in the relief of history, most pure, most respectable, most sublime? and I doubt not, that by a suffrage [vote] approaching to unanimity, the answer would be Washington!¹

Of the billions who have lived on the planet to date, undoubtedly the most recognized and honored individuals have been the leaders of religious faiths: Jesus Christ,² Moses, and Mohammed. But among those born in more recent centuries, two of the most prominent, internationally-recognized names are those of George Washington and Christopher Columbus (to whom some 600 statues were erected globally³). Thus, Washington, the only American of this elite group, is one of the greatest men in global history.

Because hundreds of biographies have been written about him, there is little new to be discovered—although the specific things known about him from generation to generation certainly differ because of what is emphasized in each era. While nothing historically unknown will be revealed about him here, much will be rediscovered as we introduce some of the forgotten stories of this great American hero.

Chapter 2

Growing Up

George was born in 1732 in Virginia. His father, Augustine, married Jane Butler in 1715, and they had 4 children. Jane died in 1729. Augustine wed again in 1731, marrying Mary Ball. He and Mary had 6 children, of whom George was the first-born. George thus had 9 siblings—brothers and sisters and half-brothers and half-sisters. Mixed family structures such as George experienced were common in that era because of how difficult and dangerous life was.

The average life expectancy of Americans today is 76,⁴ but at that time it was only 33.⁵ Much of this is because of the many lethal childhood diseases then, most of which are not major problems today due to modern medical advances. But because of those sicknesses, 40% of the children in that day did not reach their 20th birthday.⁶

Additionally, having children was often dangerous for multiple reasons, resulting in one in eight women dying in childbirth.⁷ (Poor nutrition, unsound medical practices, and various lethal diseases that had no known cure contributed to the high mortality rate.)

And because grown-ups were subject to the same diseases that destroyed children, only 2% of the population lived to be 65 years old. The median age in America at that time was only 16.⁸

All these factors were why, at that time in a child’s life, there were often not just mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters, but stepfathers and stepmothers and half-brothers and half-sisters. (Divorce was almost unknown in American history then, but today it has created a similar situation with stepparents and stepsiblings now being very common.)

Even though George was the oldest of the six children by his mother, Mary, he outlived them all, commenting late in life. I was the first, and am now the last, of my father’s children by the second marriage.⁹

Growing up, George was close to his two older half-brothers (Lawrence was 14 when George was born, and Augustine Jr. was 12). Both had a substantial influence on him. In fact, in 1743, when George was 11 and his father died, he was raised largely by Lawrence, who lived at an estate named Mount Vernon. (Lawrence fought in the British navy under Admiral Edward Vernon and admired him so much he named his estate after him.)

George did not obtain the formal education his older brothers had but did receive an adequate foundation. He attended a church school (which most schools were at that time) where he learned reading, writing, and math. He was also homeschooled by his brother and mother.

As George grew up at Mount Vernon, one of his neighbors was Lord Fairfax, an influential leader in Virginia, whose nearby home and estate was called Belvoir. The Fairfaxes were affluent British citizens and George spent much time with them, learning the manners and behavior of cultured English society.

When Lord Fairfax dispatched a surveyor to establish the boundaries of some nearby remote lands, 16-year-old George accompanied him. That first surveying trip, conducted in rugged and dangerous areas, lasted a month. He thus learned the surveying profession.

George continued in his new occupation, and at the age of 17, received a surveyor’s license from the College of William and Mary. He was then appointed an official county surveyor and mapped wilderness areas across the state for the next three years, becoming a talented mapmaker.¹⁰ Surveying later opened many military and political opportunities to him.

A few years later, Lawrence grew sick with tuberculosis and George accompanied him to Barbados (a British island colony in the Caribbean), attempting to find a climate that would improve his health. While there, George contracted a severe case of smallpox. He survived, which provided him a natural immunity from the smallpox epidemic that later ravaged America during the War for Independence, killing thousands of his soldiers.¹¹

After four months, George returned to Mount Vernon. Lawrence followed, but eventually died from his sickness in 1752. He left the estate to his wife, Anne, and when she died in 1761, she left Mount Vernon to 29-year-old George.

Chapter 3

Early Military Career: Bulletproof

In 1752, shortly after Washington returned from Barbados, Virginia’s British governor Robert Dinwiddie appointed him commander over the militia for the southern part of the state. At that time, it appeared that the seemingly perpetual war between Great Britain and France would spill over into North America, for both wanted to control those vast lands.

The English colonies in North America developed originally along the Atlantic seacoast, but many colonists began to push westward, opening new settlements in the interior. England (based on the early voyages of John and Sebastian Cabot in the late 1490s) claimed all of America for herself, from the Atlantic seacoast all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

But the French (also early explorers of North America) felt that they, too, had a right to a generous share of the New World and likewise claimed all of North America. They primarily colonized the interior of the continent along the Mississippi River, with settlements such as Montreal and Detroit in the north and St. Louis and New Orleans in the south. These French encampments were more than 500 miles inland from the English settlements along the Atlantic seaboard.

To expand French influence, the French governor of Canada ordered that a chain of forts be built on lands occupied by the English. Soldiers began erecting French strongholds, intending to draw a line from north to south across the American continent and keep English settlements confined east of the Allegheny Mountains.

But the English had already moved west of those mountains. The fur traders of Virginia previously established a chain of English trading posts stretching deep into the Ohio Valley (which included portions of what is now Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Maryland). The English had friendly relations with Indian villages throughout that expansive region, so the French began visiting the same locations to undermine the British relationships with the Natives.

To counter the growing French encroachment, several prominent Virginians—including Robert Dinwiddie (governor of Virginia), Lawrence and Augustine Washington (George’s elder half-brothers), and Thomas Lee (president of the Virginia Council)—established the Ohio Company to promote additional English settlements in the Ohio Valley section of the Virginia Colony.

But before the Ohio Company could dispatch more English settlers to the region, the governor of Canada sent 300 Frenchmen to claim the area. They began building forts, even within the English colony of Pennsylvania. They also began attacking English trading posts, taking English traders as prisoners.

Tensions increased and it seemed an all-out war was looming on the horizon. Governor Dinwiddie decided to attempt one more diplomatic solution: he would send a final official remonstrance to General St. Pierre, the commander of French forces in northwestern Pennsylvania. Dinwiddie selected Washington to carry his message. On October 31, 1753, as winter was settling into the mountains, the 21-year-old set out on his perilous trek.

Washington was accompanied by Christopher Gist, the surveyor, explorer, and Indian agent for the Ohio Company. The two plunged into the recesses of the wild, leaving behind every vestige of civilization. They endured snow and storms, crossed rugged mountains, and traversed through dense forests and into flooded valleys where they were forced to navigate swollen, raging rivers on rapidly-made but frail and dangerous rafts. On December 12, after six weeks of treacherous winter travel, they reached French General St. Pierre.

The General refused to accept the official papers from Washington. Instead, the Frenchman informed Washington that his orders were to eject every Englishman from the Ohio Valley and that he meant to carry out those orders. He directed Washington to remain while he prepared a reply to Dinwiddie.

While George was waiting, he took careful note of the French preparations occurring around him. He saw a fleet of 50 birch-bark canoes, 170 pine boats, and a large body of French soldiers preparing to move into Pennsylvania and build a fortress.

When St. Pierre finished his message to Dinwiddie, Washington and Gist received it and set out for Virginia. The return trip, in the dead of winter, was brutal.

On the way back, they were ambushed by a party of Indians. After escaping the attack, they traveled throughout the night and the next day without stopping, in hopes of leaving their foes far behind.

Upon reaching a large river, they were dismayed to discover that it had not yet completely frozen over, thus preventing them from walking across. Ice floes drifted in some parts of the river, while in other places there was a thin layer of ice. They were forced to build a raft on which to cross—a project that consumed an entire day.

Shortly after sunset, they launched out into the swiftly moving frigid waters, but the raft quickly smashed into an ice jam, threatening to sink the small craft. Attempting to stabilize it, Washington thrust his push pole into the river, but the raging water seized the pole, knocked him off balance, and pulled him overboard into the icy current.

Gist was able to save Washington, pulling him back onto the raft. But despite their best efforts, they were unable to navigate toward either shore. They finally managed to guide the raft to a small island in the middle of the river where they endured a cold, wet, miserable night. In fact, Gist’s fingers and toes froze in the extreme weather. By the next morning, the river was iced enough for the two to walk to the other side and continue their journey. Washington arrived back at Dinwiddie’s on January 16, 1754, 11 weeks after his departure.

During that harrowing trek, Washington kept a daily journal. After his return, the Maryland Gazette published it, and it was also printed separately as a small book, The Journal of Major George Washington (1754). It resulted in widespread public praise for the young leader.

Despite Washington’s gallant efforts, official negotiations failed; possession of the disputed territory would now be determined by war. Preparations thus began on the English side. Washington was made Lieutenant Colonel and entrusted with command of Virginia’s forces.

Meanwhile, the French boats and troops that Washington had seen earlier arrived at the location for their new military citadel in the Pennsylvania Colony. They felled trees, built barracks, and erected a fort, naming it Fort Duquesne (pronounced Dew-cain). (This would become the modern city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.)

In May 1754, Dinwiddie dispatched Lt. Colonel Washington and a small body of 150 troops to locate the French in preparation for a later attack against Fort Duquesne to be made by a much larger force, which Dinwiddie promised to send. After three weeks of marching, Washington’s men reached a location in southern Pennsylvania called the Great Meadows, still some 60 miles from the French fort. His Indian scouts informed him that a company of French soldiers was approaching.

Washington promptly erected a small stockade in the open meadow, which he called Fort Necessity. When his scouts reported that the approaching French body was only a scouting party, Washington decided to attack. The Americans overwhelmed them, killing 10 (including their commander) and capturing 21.

Washington returned to Great Meadows and Fort Necessity to await the promised reinforcements. Meanwhile, he began to cut a road across the rough country toward Fort Duquesne to accommodate the forthcoming American army. Over the next month he made 20 miles of progress, but the promised troops still did not arrive.

Washington’s force had now increased to some 300, but they were still greatly outnumbered by the French force. In that day, greater numbers were often the determining factor in a battle, since each soldier had a single-shot musket that could only be fired 2-4 times per minute. The more soldiers there were, the more shots could be fired, and the more potential damage done to the enemy. Numbers were crucial.

Washington’s scouts reported that the main body of French forces now approaching them was comprised of 1,100 troops. The Virginians took refuge in Fort Necessity, but the French stationed themselves in trees and hilltops around the fort, where they could shoot down into it. For nine long hours, a continuous shower of musket balls was poured in upon Washington’s forces huddled there.

Washington—greatly outnumbered, still unreinforced, and without sufficient food and supplies—knew it would be impossible to hold out much longer. The French proposed the Americans surrender and Washington accepted the terms of capitulation offered him.

On July 4, 1754, his little army marched out of the tiny fort and returned to Virginia. This was the only surrender that George Washington ever experienced in his long military career.

Upon his arrival, the Virginia House of Burgesses voted Colonel Washington a public thanks for the gallant stand he and his men had taken in the face of overwhelming odds.

The Ohio Valley was now in possession of the French, who ravaged and plundered English trading posts and settlements along the inner frontiers. Dinwiddie had so badly mismanaged Virginia’s military that Washington resigned in protest.¹²

Both sides prepared for a full-scale war. King Louis XV of France sent 3,000 soldiers to reinforce the French army in Canada. The British responded in kind, ordering veteran British General Edward Braddock and his troops to America to forcibly oust the

Reviews for The American Story

[Sam Crutchfield · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was written with each and every claim backed up with comprehensive bibliographic information. The authors were careful to quote primary sources whenever possible rather than less reliable secondary sources which many times end up being someone's opinion or biased inferences. You will get to know the men who helped to get the nation off the ground after it was first established, the good, bad, and ugly!