JUNE 1775. The second congress of representatives of the English colonies of North America meets in Philadelphia. The situation is serious. The motherland wants to impose laws that are very contrary to the interests of the settlers. Some colonial states rebel and England sends an army to America which has the task of enforcing the dependence of the colonies on the motherland by force. In order not to succumb, many colonies unite to help each other. In fact, the Philadelphia Congress discusses what to do. After much talk, it is decided to resort to arms. Among the delegates to the congress there was one who always wore the uniform of colonel of Virginia, one of the thirteen English colonies. He spoke very rarely; but his uniform was more eloquent than a hundred speeches; it meant only one thing, war. He is entrusted with the grave task of commanding the colonial army. The colonel, hearing the proposal, is troubled, gets up and leaves the courtroom. The next day, in front of the assembly, he accepts the assignment on condition that he does not have any salary, but only the reimbursement of expenses. He declares, and sincerely believes it, that he is inferior to the task entrusted to him. She accepted him because she understood that there was no one available more suitable than him. This man was George Washington, a wealthy Virgina settler, the founder of the United States of America.
LIFE
According to acronymmonster, Giorgio Washington belonged to a rich family of English immigrants who arrived in America in the mid-17th century. His father, Agostino, had been married twice; from the first marriage
Two children were born: Agostino and Lorenzo, Giorgio was born from the second on February 22, 1732 at Bridges Creek in Virginia. At the age of 11 his father died and Giorgio went to live with his half-brother Agostino. In a private school he learned a bit of mathematics, at 14 he began studying to become a surveyor. Two years later, a certain Lord Fairfax, who was related to his half-brother Lorenzo, entrusted him with the task of measuring the boundaries of his lands beyond the mountains of the Blue Ridge. During this period Washington lived in constant contact with nature and humble people of his kind. In this way he was able to know the new character and the new needs of the great nation that was being born.
Meanwhile, some territorial disputes between Virginia and the French colonists resulted in a war, in which George Washington participated first with the rank of major and then colonel. On this occasion his character and his military prowess were already revealed. He demanded of the soldiers an iron discipline and he himself was the first to set his example. In every action he fought ahead of everyone showing a stupendous courage and coolness. During a military mission, Washington met a young widow, beautiful, intelligent and very rich, named Martha Dandridge. In 24 hours he got engaged to her. After the hostilities ceased, he took his leave and the two young people married in January 1759. No children were born of the marriage, but their union was very happy. Washington settled on his largest estate in Mount Vernon which had left him his half-brother Lorenzo, who died before the end of the war.
There he devoted himself with passion to the administration of his lands, directly interested in cultivation, concerned both with the goodness of the products and with the living conditions of his slaves who he wanted to live in healthy, hygienic houses and equipped with the most necessary services.
THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE
The period that Washington was able to spend in its beloved campaigns was not long. Appointed council delegate for Virginia, he attended meetings of colonial delegates and was in command of the colonial army. The war that was to lead to the independence of the colonies and the establishment of the Union was long, difficult, with alternating victories, failures and defeats. They had chosen well in the Philadelphia Congress. Only a man like George Washington could successfully lead such an undertaking. The greatness of him stands out powerfully when you think of the conditions of the army that he had to command and the many gossip, betrayals and misunderstandings to which he was the object. Washington was rich and could live happily on his farm. Yet he continued to serve his homeland because he understood that that was his duty to him. Impassive in the face of the adversities of the war that would have discouraged anyone, disdaining the insinuations of envious men, unable to see things farther than their noses, he resisted and fought more than with speeches and vain chatter, with facts, with example, with the honesty of his actions.
THE FIRST PRESIDENT
On September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia the Constitution was approved by all the delegates of the States; the thirteen colonies thus set out to begin their independent and federative life. The American Constitution was discussed, prepared and defined under the presidency of Washington and we owe it to him if it was short and clear; in his 7 (only seven) articles he specified only what was indispensable. In April 1789 the new congress elected Giorgio Washington as its first president, as was logical.
Another nagging, difficult job had to be undertaken. The new president had the enormous responsibility of tracing in a certain way the line of conduct of the new state, of interpreting with facts what was written in the laws. His every action and his every interpretation of the laws would set an example for future rulers. For two consecutive times he was elected president, in the third elections Washington withdrew saying that he was now convinced that the nation could do without him.
THE LAST YEARS
After 45 years spent in his offices as a soldier, diplomat and head of government, George Washington retired to his large Mount Vernon estate to… work, as he always had. One day, December 12, 1799, during his daily ride, the too cold air caused an inflammation in his throat which almost immediately turned into acute laryngitis. The disease caused him a painful death by suffocation. He gave some instructions for his funeral. He greeted his dear wife and relatives. On the evening of December 14 at 10, he said: I am dying.
He began to count his pulse, and as he counted his face stiffened and his hand fell limp. He was only a few months away from reaching sixty-eight years of age.