Key Facts about George Washington

Located in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Popes Creek Plantation (also known as Wakefield) was the birthplace of George Washington. Augustine Washington, his father, built the plantation house in the 1720s.

George Washington inherited ten enslaved people from his father's will. He would go on to inherit, purchase, rent, and gain control of at least 577 enslaved people by the end of his life.

Washington first attempted measuring land near Mount Vernon in the 1740s. Then in 1748, when he was 16-years-old, he accompanied George William Fairfax on a surveying expedition through the western frontier of Virginia. The next year, Washington secured an appointment as county surveyor for the newly created frontier county of Culpeper.

In 1751, George Washington accompanied his older half-brother Lawrence Washington to the island of Barbados. This was the only time George Washington ever left the mainland of North America. On November 17, 1751, George Washington contracted smallpox. Fortunately, he recovered and became immune for the rest of his life. This would become crucial in the American Revolution during a smallpox epidemic.

In 1754, Washington led a surprise attack upon a small French force at Jumonville Glen. His subsequent surrender to French forces at the Battle of Fort Necessity helped to spark the French and Indian War, which was part of the imperial conflict between Great Britain and France known as the Seven Years’ War.

The first time George Washington ran for public office, he lost. However, he won his second race and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1758 until 1776. 

Less than a year after the death of her first husband, several men, including a militia officer less than a year younger than herself, began courting Martha Dandridge Custis. George and Martha Washington were married on January 6, 1759. They, her two children, and several enslaved people moved to Washington's home, Mount Vernon, in early April 1759.

While George Washington was fond of children, he and Martha did not have any biological children together. When they married, Martha had two surviving children, John Parke Custis and Martha Parke Custis, from her previous marriage.

George and Martha Washington were devoted members of the Anglican Church. Martha spent time daily in prayer and George served as a vestryman and churchwarden in his local parish.

The original house at the core of the present-day Mansion was built for Washington’s father, Augustine Washington, and likely consisted of four rooms and a central passage on the first floor and a garret. During George Washington's life, he undertook two major expansion projects. Washington was away during most of the construction work so he had friends or family oversee the projects. The majority of the work was actually done by Washington’s enslaved labor force.

Despite having little practical experience in managing large, conventional armies, Washington proved to be a capable and resilient leader of the American military forces during the Revolutionary War. While he lost more battles than he won, Washington employed a winning strategy that included victories at the Battle of Trenton in 1776 and Yorktown in 1781.

By 1787, the union between the states was unraveling. To save the young nation, delegates from 12 states met in Philadelphia first to amend and then to created a new form of government.

George Washington helped shape the office's future role and powers, as well as set both formal and informal precedents for future presidents. Washington believed that it was necessary to strike a delicate balance between making the presidency powerful enough to function effectively in a national government, while also avoiding any image of establishing a monarchy or dictatorship.

Late in the evening on December 14, 1799, at Mount Vernon, George Washington passed away of a throat infection. Tobias Lear recorded Washington's final moments in his journal that night: "I am just going", he said. After uttering some instructions, he whispered finally, "Tis well." Four days later he was buried in the family vault at Mount Vernon.

Washington’s attitude toward slavery gradually changed as he grew older and especially as he fought for liberty in the American Revolution. In his will, he arranged to free the enslaved individuals he directly owned upon his wife’s death. On January 1, 1801, Martha Washington fulfilled this aspect of Washington's will early and 123 people's enslavement ended. She may have feared for her safety in a situation where the freedom of so many depended on her death.