Fear of failure haunts Americans in a way that people of the Old World can't understand. "An American," writes a modern European historian . . . research tip #1
. . .is the sum of his undertakings. He chooses his values and his appliances, his religion and his make of car, his lifestyle and his burial plot. He makes himself and is responsible for himself. [Unlike Europeans] he can't blame bloodlines or bad breaks. Americans are given enough elbow room to succeed or go bust (Morgan 4).research tip #2England's first settlers did go bust. In 1607, English adventurers settled Jamestown, Virginia, hoping to find gold. They found none, and starved because many thought work was beneath their dignity. After two years of "starving time," they received a new leader, Captain John Smith, who came from England with a new rule: "He that will not work shall not eat." British Historian Alistair Cooke cites that rule as the centerpiece of American character. Each American generation since then has worked to explore, spread out, build, develop, enlarge, or otherwise improve on what previous generations have done. Any American who doesn't work to "make something of oneself," any American who merely lives off of parents' property, is looked upon as a failure. The boy George Washington felt this fear of failure to a painful degree, and devoted all his energy to acquiring property and respect. research tip #3
Young Washington felt trapped by family circumstances. His father was Augustine Washington, the moderately successful grandson of a moderately successful immigrant who had come from England to Virginia in the mid-1600s. At eleven, George lost his father, whom he hardly knew. Augustine Washington's two older sons by a first wife did receive his attention, expensive schooling in England, and his lands: these gifts made them gentlemen. But there was no easy success ahead for Augustine's children by his second wife, Mary. She gave him George in 1732 and then five more children to worry about at a time when Augustine was worried enough, travelling for long periods to shore up failing land and business investments. The father made little impression on his son, who mentions him only three times in a life time of writings (Ketchum 9).
His half-brother Lawrence was the gentleman George wanted to become. research tip #4 Fourteen years older than George, Lawrence was a handsome, English-educated young officer in the Virginia company. He had been one of the English soldiers that fought the Spanish in the Caribbean when George was ten. Around his older brother, George was painfully aware of his own clumsy largeness and ignorance, and he spoke little (Emery 43). The only evidence we have of any education for George is a set of notebooks in which he copied math problems and rules for avoiding social blunders. For instance, he learned not to drum his fingers on a table, and not to stand closer than a pace away from a person of higher rank (Emery 43). research tip #5
Lawrence tried to rescue his little half-brother from the widow Mary when their father died. She seems to have been a penny-pinching and self-centered woman, judged odd even by her relatives (Emery 49). She lived on Ferry Farm, a small piece of land that she kept for thirty years, even after George inherited it, and she complained sourly that he neglected her, even while he was President (Ketchum 13)! Lawrence drew George away from Ferry Farm with invitations to the homes of his high-society friends the Fairfaxes at homes called Mt. Vernon and Belvoir.
If George could get land of his own, he'd be half way to becoming a Virginia gentleman. Land, more durable and more valuable than cash, was what made a gentleman in Virginia. Thanks to Lawrence, the Fairfaxes got to trust George, and they hired him when he applied for the job of surveying some of their large, unmapped territory that stretched our west from present-day Virginia into the Ohio River Valley. The experience was a shock for George. At a small settlement northwest of home, he wrote (with his unlearned spelling):
I striped myself very orderly and went into the Bed as they called it when to my Surprize I found it to be nothing but a Little Straw Matted together without Sheets or any thing else but only one thread Bear blanket with double its Weight of Vermin such as Lice Fleas &c. . . I made a Promise not to Sleep so from that time forward chusing rather to sleep in the open Air before a fire. . . . (Washington v.1, 7)For four years, George took expeditions west, hacked through woods, met Native Americans, camped, and canoed. For his efforts, he was able to buy some of the land that he surveyed, and he acquired experience that would be helpful later.
George Washington was still a bit too rough for the "gentle" English-styled society that he aspired to join. At sixteen, he stood at a height of 6'2" when the average man was closer to 5'5". Several friends noted in their writings about his unusual strength, his outstanding horsemanship, and the largest hands and feet they had ever seen. His older friend William Fairfax describes George with amusement: he "is beginning to feel the sap rising . . . and is getting ready to be the prey of the [female] sex, wherefore may the Lord help him" (Ketchum 27). research tip #6 At the Fairfax home, he practiced dancing, and he was taking care to look good by shaving and maintaining a wardrobe of nine shirts, six linen waistcoats, six collars, seven caps, and more (from a list he kept, in Ketchum 15). He still spoke little. He was also evidently in love with Sally Cary, who teased him with encouragement -- even after she married his friend William.
The death of Lawrence interrupted his progress. Lawrence, married with children, came down with "consumption," a lung disease now called tuberculosis. It weakened him, filling his lungs with blood, causing a hacking cough. The disease could last for years, and the only treatment was a change to warmer, drier climate. George accompanied his brother to such places, including Barbados in the Caribbean, where George himself caught a nearly fatal case of small pox. Lawrence returned to Mt. Vernon to die. In a few years, the deaths of all Lawrence's children left Mt. Vernon free for George to lease, and eventually to buy.
But land was only half of what made a gentleman: George would need an honorable reputation as well. After Lawrence died, George took his place in the state militia, because military service was highly honored, if the soldier could find some way to stand out. His experiences in the wild west of Virginia brought him fame, when Virginia's governor Edward Dinwiddie called on him to take a message into Virginia's western territories. Frenchmen were moving into those lands, and Dinwiddie wanted to send a threat: move out or be forced out. The messenger had to be strong, familiar with the frontier, and well-mannered enough to impress the French. William Fairfax nominated the perfect man. Thus Washington and a translator left in October 1754, cut through woods, canoed (and fell into) the freezing Ohio river, ducked bullets fired at point-blank range by a surprised Native American, and delivered Governor Dinwiddie's threat. Washington made his way back in January with the French answer: non. He also reported on the strength of French troops, weaponry, and positions. Dinwiddie published Washington's journal of the trip as a guide to Virginia's uncharted territory, and London Magazine printed stories of his adventures, bringing the young man honor on two continents. The governor rewarded Washington with the command of troops to guard the border against the French.
It looked like success, but Washington was actually trapped in a no-win situation research tip #7. Governor Dinwiddie gave him command of 300 soldiers, but supplied only 150! Dinwiddie promised horses that did not arrive in time. research tip #8 When Washington's reduced forces hacked their way up the Ohio river to the place where Washington planned to build a fort, 900 French soldiers were there already in a fort of their own. Washington was also hampered by contradictory orders. Dinwiddie ordered Washington to stop the French, but not to fight them. A clash between France and Great Britain in Virginia could mean war wherever French and British troops were stationed, from Canada to Europe to India. (That is why Winston Churchill in his history book joked that this was the "first world war.") Trapped, Washington ordered a fort built on a spot down river. It was vulnerable, but the best he could do under the circumstances, so he named it, as a joke, Fort Necessity.
At Fort Necessity, young Washington single-handedly started the French-and-Indian War. Whether he was a hero, a fool, or a criminal, depended on who told the story. His allies, the Iroquois tribe, spotted a detachment of French soldiers five miles from Fort Necessity. Washington interpreted this as a sign of a surprise attack to come soon. Under orders only to defend himself, he decided that a good offense would make the best defense. After dark, in rain, he led soldiers and Iroquois warriors towards the French camp, and surprised them at breakfast the next morning. His force killed and scalped the French commander and took twenty prisoners. This event would be used as the excuse for two of the world's mightiest nations to go to war.
His reports back to the capitol Williamsburg won approval for his actions on two continents, but also ridicule. He spoke unwisely to a correspondent for London Magazine who quoted him as saying, "I heard the bullets whistle, and believe me, there is something charming in the sound." His inexperience and ambition for glory were showing, and the King of England made the cutting comment, "He would not say so, if he had been used to hear many" (Emery 68).
Meanwhile, Washington was isolated our in the woods, afraid that the French would retaliate, yet no reinforcements and no supplies arrived. Three weeks later, French soldiers surrounded Fort Necessity. Washington held out through a day of gunfire, but he had to accept defeat. He signed a surrender that he or his translator read too hastily. Then the French allowed him to retreat with his men, because the French were secretly low on ammunition. They let him think it was mercy. Ashamed for 160 miles back to Williamsburg, Washington said not a single word (Emery 67). Then Washington learned the worst of it: the surrender that he had signed was also a confession of murder! According to that document that he had read too hastily, his attack on French soldiers the previous month was actually the "assassination" of an innocent "ambassador" who had been only delivering a message.
Washington felt that his reputation was suffering insult upon insult. He needn't have worried so much. The "ambassador" claim was clearly French propaganda, and everyone recognized that he'd had little choice but to sign surrender, no matter what it said about "assassination." But he wrote numerous letters to clear his reputation. Then, a new policy made colonial officers to accept orders from British officers of lower rank. Rather than accept this insult, Washington resigned.
Another chance to be a hero brought Washington back into the war. A star of the British army Major General Edward Braddock came to Virginia to drive the French away from their forts along the Ohio and Monongehela Rivers (near current-day Pittsburgh) and on up to Canada. Washington, eager to be noticed by the great man, wrote Braddock a letter of welcome and dropped hints that he would make him a good guide. It worked. Still angry about the question of his rank, Washington volunteered as Braddock's personal aide, so that British officers would not outrank him.
Braddock reflected England's low opinion of Americans. He cursed the colonial legislatures that refused to spend money to supply his troops in their own defense. Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania tried to organize help by uniting colonies in his "Albany Plan" (modeled on the legendary Iroquois League of Hiawatha), but he managed only to come up with several dozen horse carts. Braddock also cursed the American wilderness. He took Washington's advice to detach 1300 "elite" men (who included Americans Horatio Gates and Daniel Boone) to push through the wilderness towards France's Fort Duquesne; Braddock would follow more slowly behind.
Overconfident, Braddock led Washington straight into a humiliating defeat. As they approached the fort, their large force was totally demolished by a small one, as Washington described in a letter in July 1755:
We were attack'd by a Body of French and Indns. whose number(I am certain) did not exceed 300 men; our's consisted of abt. 1,300 well-arm'd Troops; chiefly of the English soldiers, who were struck with such a panick, that they behav'd with more cowardice than it is possible to conceive; the Officers behaved gallantly in order to encourage their Men, for which they suffer'd greatly; there being near 60 kill'd and wounded. . . The Virginia Troops shew'd a good deal of Bravery, and were near all kill'd . . . . (Washington v.1, 151)In fact, British soldiers shot the Virginians in the back as the Virginians ran for cover, mistaking them for enemy or for deserters. So many officers died because they made obvious targets on horseback trying to rally their troops. Washington was lucky: the enemy shot two of his horses out from under him, and shot through his coat and hat. He organized a retreat, and carried out Braddock's last command, to ride forty miles that night to warn the other troops. Washington did all this, everyone knew, while suffering high fever. Once again, his actions won praise, but all he felt was the pain of the expedition's failure.
He felt humiliated by the French and Indian War, but it made him. Others were more forgiving of his failures than he was, and regarded him as a hero. After the failed expedition with Braddock, Washington served on the Virginian frontier, trying to keep the troops organized for defense. Sick with toothache and dysentary over a period o months, he finally resigned in 1758, despite this petition from his officers:
Our colonel is an example of fortitude in either danger or hardships, and by his easy, polite behavior, has gained not only the regards but affection of both officers and soldiers. (Ketchum 39)The British turned the war around then, and won the war in 1760. He wrote that he would not again go to war. Yet he wore his old red-coated uniform when he posed for his portrait in 1772,research tip #9 so his feelings about his involvement may have grown more favorable with age. And Washington's experience and bravery would be remembered fifteen years later, when the British would return to fight Virginians themselves.
Up to this point, at the age of twenty-seven, Washington was driven by ambition. We've seen him defend himself frantically over the Fort Necessity incident, flatter Braddock, and resign over insults. One biographer notes, "There is something unlikable about the George Washington of this time. [He was too] much on his dignity. . . too ready to complain . . . too nakedly concerned with promotion" (Cunliffe 61). Another biographer notes that he was more afraid of a cross word than a cannon, and she calls it irrational that Washington would serve Braddock as a volunteer for no pay rather than serve as an officer at reduced pay (Emery 73). But now his ambition could relax. He now was what he had always worked to be, an English gentleman. research tip #10
Cunliffe, Marcus.George Washington: Man and Monument. New York: Mentor Books, 1958.
An easy-to-read and lively overview of Washington's life in brief, dividing his career in stages.
Emery, Noemie. Washington. New York: Putnam's Sons, 1976.
An effort to find and emphasize hidden passions in Washington's life.
Ketchum, Richard M. The World of George Washington. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1974.
Large-sized picture book focusing on visual images from Washington's time: portraits, maps, photos of documents, drawings, cartoons.
Washington, George. Writings, 1745-1799. 39 vols. John C. Fitzpatrick, ed. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1932.
Complete writings discovered up to the time of GW's bicentennial. Volumes 38 and 39 are a general index to subject matter.
Tip 2: In-text citation At the end of the block, there's a note to tell you that Smoot took this quote from a source called "Morgan." You'll find Morgan's book listed in the Sources Cited. top
Tip 3: Thesis sentence This whole first paragraph has been leading up to this sentence, making two things happen for you, the smart reader: You now know that all the facts to come somehow tie together with the idea of George's search for success. At the same time, you also know "So what does this have to do with our time?" because George is presented as the same kind of man who has lived in America since 1607, right up to today. top
Tip 4: Topic sentences connect. . . to the thesis sentence, and to each other. If you skip everything else in this essay except the topic sentences of each paragraph, you'll have all the support you need for the thesis sentence, and it'll make pretty good sense, too!
Tip 5: Personal details It's not the big facts like wars and elections that will make George Washington live for the reader. It's little things like his fear of making a fool of himself. And how do we know what he feared on the inside? These notes he wrote to himself show us a clumsy kid who never knew how to behave. The sources for these facts are cited so that the reader knows it's not all made up. top.
Tip 6: Edited quotation I use ellipses (" . . . ") to cut out unnecessary words and brackets ( [ ] ) to change or add words to make the sentence clear out of context.top
Tip 7: Tricks you can do with topic sentences This topic sentence contains two words that you read on the first page -- "failure" and "trapped." This gives these facts a tie-in with earlier ones, even though there's no actual connection between George's dad and the French conflict!
Tip 8: You don't have to cite common facts. Unlike some earlier quotations and odd facts about George's childhood, these facts about how many soldiers he had, etc. are all commonly found in at least three of the sources I used. No need, then, to cite a source.
Tip 9: Pictures are sources Cite a picture as evidence, if you know that it's from the time, not some later creation.
Tip 10: Conclusion This does not "re-state" the first paragraph. It does remind the reader of the themes that have gone through the whole paper, but it also turns us towards what might be ahead in another chapter: this "English gentleman" in his red coat will eventually lead his countrymen to independence from England. So this last line both finishes the essay and makes a little ironic joke about it.