How Did George Washington Help America?
George Washington was the first president of the United States of America. He was the leader of the Continental Army that gained independence for America from Great Britain. He also presided over the convention that created the Constitution of the United States of America.
Washington was born in colonial Virginia in 1731. He became a surveyor and soldier and fought in the French and Indian War on behalf of the colonies, quickly rising to become one of the senior officers. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress voted him the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, and he led the new American forces against the British in the War for Independence. Washington commanded the army that drove the British out of Boston. His superior knowledge of military strategy led to the capture of two major divisions of the British Army at Saratoga and Yorktown, hastening the victory for America in the Revolutionary War.
After the war, he oversaw the drafting of the U.S. Constitution and was unanimously elected to be the first president of the United States in 1789. He retired to his home in Mt. Vernon, Virginia, after his second term ended in 1797. His home became one of America’s first national landmarks.
