Category Archives: George Washington

Congress Under the Constitution

Posted on by January 5, 2016

constitutionHere we are thinking about how we will elect our next President and members of Congress of the United States of America. But imagine that first Constitutional Convention where the original Constitution was still being debated and the method of electing the both houses of Congress was under consideration and debate.

There was very heated debate about this process. A constitution of this nature had never been debated, much less created. The members of the Convention did not agree on the method to ascertain who would be the new leaders of the new nation. read more

George Washington and the New Year—or Century

Posted on by December 31, 2015

Landsdowne paintingAfter George had finally left public life and retired to his beloved Mount Vernon, he had a few years of private life. Yes, he was still visited by friends and neighbors on a regular basis, but no more public obligations.

One evening he went out to mark some trees to be cut down. It was during a slight snow-storm. When he came back he was horse and told Martha he was feeling “unwell.” Martha offered to make his some remedy to ease his pain.

He told her: “No. Let it go as it came. You know I never take anything for a cold.” read more

Washington, Peanuts, and Camping

Posted on by December 28, 2015

Valley_Forge_National_Historical_Park_VAFO4627George Washington was familiar with camping. He did it during the French and Indian War, the Battle of Boston, of New York, of Trenton and Princeton, and his favorite, at Yorktown. With many adventures in between. He was a good camper, and a great tactician. Although he did get a little bit better accommodations at camping than most of his soldiers.

I still suspect he sometimes felt a little bit like Lucy in a Peanuts comic strip. The comic strip goes like this:

Lucy is at her desk with the sign above, which declares: “Psychiatric Help 5 cents.” Well it was really a cent sign, which my keyboard doesn’t have. read more

George Visits the Carribean

Posted on by December 27, 2015

GeorgeWashingtonGeorge Washington’s mother taught him that it was not enough to have big dreams, but you had to do something about them. Accomplish things. Early in his life young George wanted to become a sailor, like his brother Lawrence before him. His mother, though, discouraged him.

But George did join his brother on what became George’s only trip outside of the American Continent. Lawrence had contracted tuberculosis. His doctor suggested that Lawrence should go to the West Indies and rest in that humid and warm client. George went with him. read more

George Washington, a Success Story

Posted on by December 23, 2015

GeorgeWashingtonThis quote by Booker T. Washington, seems especially to apply to our own First President, George Washington:

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles he has overcome.”

Although George’s success could by measured by the positions that he reached, during which he had to overcome many obstacles.

He was a hero in the French and Indian War, a member of Virginia’s House of Burgesses, a very successful plantation owner and businessman, the First Commander in Chief of the new United Colonial Army. He also was a hero, a tactician, a chief of a spy ring, and a celebrated and distinguished General in the Revolutionary War—which he eventually won against the World’s largest military and navy. read more

The Lion, The Witch, and The Government

Posted on by December 16, 2015

445192825_011af775a5_mYes, back to that author of the famous books, including “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.” I’ve said some things about his book “Mere Christianity” before. I hope you found that interesting.

In his book titled “Mere Christianity” he said some profound messages. One that caught my eye was about government. Sort of.

“What is the good of telling ships how to steer so as to avoid collision if, in fact, they are such crazy old subs that they cannot be steered at all? What is the good of drawing up, on paper, rules for social behavior, if we know that, in fact, our greed, cowardice, ill temper, and self-conceit are going to prevent us from keeping them? I do not mean for a moment that we ought not to think, and think hard, about improvements in our social and economic system. What I do mean is that all thinking will be mere moonshine [not the drinking kind] unless we realize that nothing but the courage and unselfishness of individuals is ever going to make any system work properly. . . . You cannot make men good by law: and without good men you cannot have good society. That is why we must go on to think of the second thing: of morality inside the individual.” (“Mere Christianity”, C. S. Lewis, page 73). read more

Martha Washington at Valley Forge

Posted on by December 15, 2015

Dolley_MadisonMost people know that George Washington spent the winter of 1777-8, with his troops at Valley Forge. But did you know that Martha Washington joined him there for a time?

She was driven in a carriage by one of her aides and saw miles of the filth, the dead horses, open latrines, and the appalling condition of the soldiers and their camps.

She was escorted through to the hospital which was not much more than a barn which had been made into a system of cots and straw to hold the injured soldiers. She was able to help some of the soldiers who were in dire straits. read more

Character and George Washington

Posted on by December 14, 2015

Landsdowne painting“Character is like the foundation of a house—it is below the surface.” –Anonymous

But isn’t that so true. The real and true character is below the surface, it is unseen except in the mannerisms, attitude, and language of the beholder. It cannot be faked or put aside, but is constant. It becomes a part of a person’s being.

The dictionary describes Character as: “the aggregate of features and traits that form the apparent individual nature of some person or thing.” (Websters Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary, page 247). read more

The Daughters of the American Revolution

Posted on by December 11, 2015

constitutionToday I was honored as the special guest speaker at the monthly meeting of The Daughters of the American Revolution. It was real privilege to present to them a little about our Founding Father Benjamin Franklin.

The ladies were invited to bring their husbands, and so we were happy so have some gentlemen there as well. I found the group to be well educated about our country’s revolution, and to be a most attentive and riveted audience.

In the discussion there seemed to be some confusion about the difference between the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention. It was soon cleared up. read more

Washington Kept His Promise

Posted on by December 8, 2015

GW Rules“Undertake not what you cannot Perform but be Careful to keep your Promise.”

I’m sure that George Washington must have thought often of this Rule he learned in his youth, when he struggled with his soldiers in the nearly 7 years of the Revolutionary War.

When he was first elected by Congress as the Commander in Chief of the newly united American armies, I don’t think he could have fully understood the troubles and distresses they would have to endure for the next several years.

The victory at Dorchester Heights, was a great beginning. But the battles of New York nearly destroyed the whole army, and except for miraculous happenings even George Washington would have been killed. read more