Introduction into a new world

7/28/2019 Introduction into a new world

1/18U N I T I N T R O D U C T I O N 1

U I

George Washingtons Biography:Lessons in Leadership

Overview:The purpose of this unit introduction is to provide students with an overview of George

Washingtons leadership qualities. By examining these leadership qualities, students will

begin to understand the events and issues in Washingtons life that influenced his character.

Using Washingtons example, students will explore and discuss the importance of such

qualities as honesty, perseverance, responsibility, innovation, and bravery.

George Washington: Lessons in Leadership is designed to align with the 4th or 5th grade

social studies curricula and also applies to language arts, technology, and math curricula

at the upper-elementary levels. Together the lesson activities will increase your students

knowledge of Washingtons character and accomplishments. This unit introduction presents

an overview of Washingtons life experiences and how those experiences contributed to his

leadership roles in the development of a new nation.

Unit Objectives:

1. Students will gain a greater understanding of how George Washingtons character and

determination contributed to his success as the first president of the United States.

2. Students will be able to answer the question, Was Washington a leader? and find

evidence to support their answers.

3. Students will be able to explain how Washingtons life experiences as a youth

contributed to his leadership abilities and character.4. Students will explore Washingtons experiences and journeys during the

Revolutionary War.

5. Students will discover ideas and methods that made Washington an innovative farmer.

6. Students will investigate how the labor of enslaved African Americans was critical to

the success of Washingtons Mount Vernon plantation.

7. Students will be able to explain how Washington contributed to the history of early

America and to the founding of the United States of America.

I hope I shall possess

rmness and virtue

enough to maintain

what I consider the

most enviable of all

titles, the character of

an honest man.

~ George Washington


2/18G E O R G E W A S H I N G T O N : L E S S O N S I N L E A D E R S H I P2

Preparing to Teach this Unit:

1. Prior to teaching this unit, read the George Washington Biography for Teachers, which

provides background information on Washingtons life and the founding era.

2. Read through each lesson plan prior to teaching the lesson.

a. Most lessons require the preparation of materials before the lesson is taught.

3. Create a word wall using the vocabulary terms found throughout the unit. (Note: Each word

is followed by the lesson number in the unit plan.) Vocabulary words include:

civility (2a) Gunters chain(2b) compass rose (2b) surveyor (2b)

tract of land (2b) scale (2b) perseverance (3) allied (3)

business

venture (3)cold war (3) descend (3)

diplomatic

mission (3)

envoy (3) interpreter (3) pursue (3) treaty (3)

strategic (3) forks (3) official (3) headwaters (3)

inexpressible (4) endeavor (4) capacity (4) reap(ing) (4)

unalterable (4) felicity (4) f lai ling (5a) nutrients (5a)

treading (5a) hexadecagon (5a) innovation (5a) chaff (5a)

threshing (5a) barrel seeder (5a) compost (5a) cash crop (5a)

plantat ion (5b)indentured

servants (5b)

economic

system (5b)abolition (5b)

dower slaves (5b) heirs (5b) brick mason (5b) spinner (5b)

hoeing (5b) rations (5b) inherit (5b) enslaved worker (5b)

traditions (5b) enslavement (5b) blacksmith (5b) enlist (6)

forge(s) (6) stronghold (6) retreat (6) pursuit (6)

soldiers (6)Hessian (6)

soldiersmorale (6) mutiny (6)

surrender (6)negotiate/

negotiations (6)sacrifice (6) culprit (7)

Virginia

legislative body (7)

House of

Burgesses (7)integrity (7) vestryman (7)

campaign (7) veneration (7) precedent (7)inaugural

address (7)



4. Administer the scratch and learn card pre-test to determine what students already

know about George Washington.

Standards Alignment:

The lesson plans have been aligned to national standards in social studies and technology,

as well as to Common Core Standards in English, language arts, and mathematics. The

following standards were used for social studies and technology: the National Council for

the Social Studies (NCSS) and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

Materials:

1. Companion website: The companion website for the George Washington: Lessons

in Leadership units is found at: www.gwleadershiplessons.org. Here you can find

electronic versions of all lesson plans, additional student readers, images, primary

sources, and worksheets. Feel free to change the worksheets to meet the needs of

your students.

2. George Washington Leads the Way: This comic book is a great way to introduce

George Washington to reluctant readers and reinforce the themes of the biography

unit lesson plans. As the ocial graphic biography created by experts at MountVernon, it corrects popular myths about Washington. It also serves as a template for a

student assessment in that students can make a one-page addition to the narrative or

make their own biography of another American figure.

a. There are specific graphic novel extensions in Lessons 3, 4, 6, and 7. These

lesson panels are tied to the story told in the graphic novel. Students can write

and draw on the pages as part of a creative writing or literacy exercise or they

can conduct research and then finish the pages with nonfictional information.

Students can demonstrate what theyve learned about Washington by weaving

the information into visual storytelling.

3. Incorporate the use of the scratch and learn cards as a fun and interactive way for

students to discover what they already know (or dont know) about George Washington.

Lesson Plans:

Elements of each lesson plan:

Lesson objectives

Alignment to national standards

Primary sources

Handouts/worksheets that can be adapted to fit the

needs of your students

See the companion website at www.gwleadershiplessons.org for electronic files ofhandouts and worksheets as well as supplemental PowerPoint presentations

Formative assessments

Extension activities

Resources:At the end of this curriculum guide is an extensive list of reliable online resources focusing on

the life and accomplishments of George Washington. The list includes resources to enhance

the content knowledge of teachers, links to primary sources on George Washington, and

resources for students.



Extension Activities:

1. Graphic novel panels: Lessons 3, 4, 6, and 7

a. Use these pages to emphasize literacy work. Give students free rein to use their

imaginations to write and draw a story that spins into fiction. (The British attack

New York City and . . . King Kong comes to the patriots rescue!!)

b. Graphic novel panels can also incorporate additional student research as

students write nonfictional extensions. For example, when using the panel in

Lesson 6, students will need to research facts about the Battle of Long Island and

the New York City campaign.

c. The panels can also be used as lesson assessments. Instead of having

students fill out worksheets, they can demonstrate what theyve learned about

Washington by weaving their information into visual storytelling.

2. The Treasures of Mount Vernon a primary source history mystery (See Lesson

4 for details on teaching a history mystery.) All of the images below may be found

on the Mount Vernon website, please reference www.gwleadershiplessons.organd

locate the Unit Introduction section to find the correct link.a. The following images are of important of Mount Vernon objects:

Houdon Bust

Presidential Chair

Argand Lamps

Fan Chair

Letter Press

Icehouse/Ice Cream Maker

3. Students can spend time learning more about George Washingtons world through

this engaging, interactive website: www.washingtonsworld.org

4. Students can visit an interactive timeline of Washingtons life at:

www.discovergeorgewashington.org

a. Through this website, students can become myth busters to learn the truth

behind Washington chopping down a cherry tree and Washingtons wooden

teeth. (His dentures were not made of wood!)

b. The timeline also includes an interactive battle map of the Revolutionary War and

a behind-the-scenes look at how experts used historical evidence to reconstruct

George Washington at age nineteen.



GEORGE WASHINGTON - ABIOGRAPHY FOR TEACHERS

Childhood 1732-1746George Washington was born at his fathers plantation

on Popes Creek in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on

February 22, 1732. His father, Augustine Washington, was a

leading planter in the area and also served as a justice of the

county court. His first wife, Jane Butler, who died in 1729,

left Augustine with two sons, Lawrence and Augustine Jr.,

and a daughter, Jane. Augustine then married Georges

mother, Mary Ball, in 1731. George was the eldest of their

six children.

In 1735 Augustine moved the family up the Potomac River to

another Washington home, Little Hunting Creek Plantation

(later renamed Mount Vernon). In 1738 they moved again

to Ferry Farm, a plantation on the Rappahannock River

near Fredericksburg, Virginia, where George spent muchof his youth. Little is known of Washingtons childhood,

and it remains the most poorly understood part of his life.

Popular fables illustrating his youthful honesty, piety, and

physical strength have long taken the place of documented

fact. Some of these fables are more plausible than others.

The story that Washington threw a silver dollar across the

Potomac River an impossible feat had its origins in the

recollections of a cousin that George could throw a stone

across the much narrower Rappahannock River. But others,

including the familiar story of Washington and the cherry

tree, seem to have been invented by one of Washingtons

first biographers, Mason Locke Weems.

When George was eleven years old, Augustine died, leaving

most of his property to Georges older half brothers. The

income from what remained was just sucient to maintain

Mary Washington and her children. As the oldest child,

George undoubtedly helped his mother manage the

Rappahannock River plantation where they lived. There

he learned the importance of hard work and eciency

practical lessons he carried with him through life.

Little is known about Georges formal education.

Commonly, the children of Virginia gentry were taught athome by private tutors or in local private schools. Boys

generally began their formal education around the age of

seven with lessons focusing on reading, writing, and basic

arithmetic. Later they were taught Latin and Greek, as

well as practical subjects such as geometry, bookkeeping,

and surveying. Wealthy planters often sent their sons to

England to finish their schooling, as was done with Georges

two elder brothers, Lawrence and Augustine. The death of

their father, however, made that an impossibility for George

Washington. He may have attended a school near his home

for the first few years. Later he went to another school,

either in Fredericksburg, Staord County, or Westmoreland

County. He excelled in mathematics and learned the

rudiments of surveying. But he was not taught Latin or

Greek, like many gentlemens sons, and he never learned

a foreign language. Nor did he attend college. His formal

education ended around the age of fifteen.

Among the gentry class, strong social skills were also

considered an essential part of a young man or womans

education. After the death of their father, George began

to spend a great deal of time with his older half brother

Lawrence, at his home, Mount Vernon. Lawrence became

a mentor to his younger brother, tutoring him in his studies,

teaching him social graces, and helping to introduce him

into society.

Throughout his life, Washington regarded his education as

defective. He consciously made up for some of what he

did not learn in school through reading and studying on his

own. Over the years, he amassed a large and diverse library,

and in his later years he subscribed to several newspapers.

He became a skilled and prolific writer. Perhaps partly as

a result of his own lack of formal education, he strongly

advocated for education as essential to Americas future

success and left money in his will for the establishment

of a school in Alexandria, Virginia, as well as money for a

national university.

Young Man Washington 1746-1759

In 1746 his brother Lawrence proposed that George jointhe British navy. Although George was excited at the idea

of a military career, Mary Washington refused her consent,

and George was spared the harsh discipline of a life at

sea. Despite missing the opportunity to travel the world,

Washingtons young adulthood became one of the great

adventure stories of American history.

Young Washington applied himself to surveying, a valuable

skill in a colony where land was being settled constantly. In

1748 he joined a surveying expedition to western Virginia at

the invitation of Lawrences neighbors, the powerful Fairfax

family. The next year the Fairfaxes helped secure him an

appointment as a county surveyor. By the age of seventeen

he was well on his way to a successful and profitable

career. In an eort to establish himself as a landowner and

a member of the gentry class, he worked hard, saved his

money, and bought unclaimed land.

In 1751 he accompanied Lawrence, who was suering

with tuberculosis, on a voyage to the British island colony

of Barbados. Lawrence hoped the tropical air would ease

his suering. While in Barbados Washington saw some

of the most extensive fortifications in British America and



socialized with military men - experiences that probably

stimulated his interest in military service. He also contracted

smallpox. Though he recovered quickly, the illness may have

rendered him unable to have children.

Lawrence died in 1752, and shortly thereafter George

inherited Mount Vernon. He also obtained Lawrences placein the Virginia militia and received a majors commission -

the first step in his military career.

In 1753 the governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie, learned

that French troops had moved south from Canada and were

constructing forts in the region south of Lake Erie, an area

claimed by Virginia (now in western Pennsylvania). Both

France and England recognized the commercial potential of

the region. French trappers had been working in the area for

some time, and Dinwiddie was concerned that the French

troops would also fortify the forks of the Ohio - the strategic

point where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers join to

form the Ohio River. This point (now Pittsburgh) was the

eastern gateway to the Ohio Valley.

In the fall of 1753 Dinwiddie sent twentyoneyear-old Major

Washington to deliver a message to the French, demanding

that they leave the area. With the help of a frontier guide

and local Indians, Washington reached French-held Fort

Le Boeuf with Dinwiddies message. The return trip tested

Washingtons endurance. He hiked for days through snowy

woods, fell o a raft into the ice-choked Allegheny River,

nearly drowned, and was forced to spend a freezing night

on an island without shelter. His guide, an experienced

backwoodsman, suered frostbite, while Washington

suered no ill eects. His account of the arduous 900-mile

journey was published in both Williamsburg and London,

establishing an international reputation for Washington by

the time he was twenty-two.

A few months later Dinwiddie dispatched Washington, now

a lieutenant colonel, and some 150 men to assert Virginias

claims. As they advanced, Washingtons men skirmished

with French soldiers, killing ten men, including the French

commander. Washington then retreated to an ill-placed

and poorly constructed makeshift palisade he called Fort

Necessity, but was forced to surrender when the French

surrounded the fort. The campaign ended in humiliation for

Washington and ignited the French and Indian War.

Washington resigned his commission after the surrender

but returned to the frontier in 1755 as a volunteer aide to

General Edward Braddock, the British general sent to lead

an expedition to drive the French from the Ohio Country.

Braddocks army was routed near the Monongahela

River and fled in confusion to Virginia. During the battle,

Washington had two horses shot from under him and four

bullet holes shot through his coat while attempting to rally

the British soldiers. Although he behaved with conspicuous

bravery, Washington could do little except lead the broken

survivors to safety.

In recognition of his conduct, Washington was given

command of Virginias entire military force. With a fewhundred men he was ordered to protect a frontier some 350

miles long. It was a frustrating assignment, but provided

him with experience in commanding troops through an

arduous campaign. In 1758 the British finally took the forks

of the Ohio. Peace returned to Virginia, and Washington

resigned his commission to return to Mount Vernon, his

duty faithfully performed.

Although barely twenty-seven years old, he was the most

experienced native military ocer in Virginia. In 1759 he

married Martha Dandridge Custis, the young widow of

one of the wealthiest men in the colony. He retired to his

plantation with many of his early ambitions satisfied.

Gentleman Farmer 1759-1799Washington spent the years between 1759 and 1775 as a

gentleman farmer at Mount Vernon. He worked constantly

to improve and expand his mansion and the plantation that

surrounded it. He established himself as an innovative farmer

who switched from tobacco to wheat as his main cash crop in

the 1760s. Over the years, he experimented with new crops,

fertilizers, crop rotation, tools, and the breeding of livestock

in an eort to improve his farming operation. In an eort to

make Mount Vernon more profitable, he also expanded thework of the plantation to include flour milling and commercial

fishing. By the time of his death in 1799, he had expanded the

plantation from 2,000 to 8,000 acres comprising five farms,

with more than 3,000 acres under cultivation.

Shortly after his marriage, Washington wrote to his brother:

I am now, I believe, fixed at this Seat with an agreeable Consort

for Life and hope to find more happiness in retirement than I

ever experienced amidst a wide and bustling World. (George

Washington to Richard Washington, September 20, 1759)

At this point in his life, Washington did not realize that he

would someday re-enter public life and have a profound

impact on establishing a new nation. Rather, his attention

focused on farming and on sound land management.

He became a methodical and farsighted businessman,

who expanded and diversified his operations to create

a profitable business venture. He established a fishery at

Mount Vernon where, in one year alone, more than 1.5

million fish were harvested from the Potomac. The fish were

salted and sold locally and in the Caribbean. Later he built a

gristmill to process wheat and corn grown at his farms. The



processed flour and corn meal were sold in Europe and the

West Indies as well as locally. Later in life, in the mid-1790s,

he began another profitable business venture - a distillery at

his mill complex that transformed grain into whiskey. In just

one year, he earned a net profit of more than $11,000 from

the sale of whiskey alone.

When home at Mount Vernon, Washington rode daily to

oversee the work taking place on his farms. Constantly

experimenting, he improved the quality of his soil through a

crop rotation system, fertilizers, and other land conservation

techniques. Unlike many farmers of the 18th century, he did

not focus on just one crop, but instead diversified production

to include wheat, corn, potatoes, buckwheat, oats, and rye.

He also planted grasses to help keep his soil fertile.

Washington also took tremendous interest in the latest

innovations in farm implements. When a tool did not suit

his needs, he either sought tools to improve it or created an

entirely new tool for the desired purpose, such as a barrel

seeder he designed in 1761. His most dramatic invention

was a sixteen-sided treading barn that he designed for

processing wheat and other grains. It seems Washingtons

success as a farmer lay in his realization of the integral

connection between every agricultural element - from

laying out fields, to selecting viable crops, to enhancing the

soil through careful crop rotation and fertilizers, to eective

methods of cultivating the soil, to harvesting and processing

crops. Over the course of his lifetime, he established

creatively a system of sustainable agriculture that vastly

improved the productivity of his 8,000-acre plantation.

Early Political Career 1754 - 1774Although most of this time was dedicated to his private

aairs and family life with his wife, Martha, and her two

children, Washington also participated in public life. He was

elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1758 (after

being defeated twice) and served several terms. As both a

businessman and a public servant, he viewed accelerating

disputes between Britain and the American colonies with

deep concern. He was not a political firebrand, stirring

orator, or cloakroom deal-maker, but he impressed his peers

as a modest, dependable man of strength and good sense.

In the fall of 1774, Washington was chosen as one of seven

Virginia representatives to the second Continental Congress,

which was held in Philadelphia. Upon his arrival, other

delegates immediately recognized him as a man of patriotic

views and sound judgment. At six-foot-three, he towered over

the other delegates with an athletic grace and commanding

presence that impressed everyone he met. Although

Washington spoke very little in Congress, many of the

delegates noticed what one called his easy, soldier-like air.

Commander in Chief 1775-1783In June 1775 the Congress commissioned Washington

to take command of the Continental Army besieging the

British in Boston. As he was leaving Philadelphia, he wrote

home to Martha that he expected to return safe to you in

the fall. However, in the end, the command would keep him

away from Mount Vernon for more than eight years.

It was a command for which his military background,

though greater than any of the other available candidates,

had hardly prepared him. As a result of his French and

Indian War experience, his knowledge lay in frontier

warfare involving relatively small numbers of soldiers. He

had no practical experience maneuvering large formations,

handling cavalry or artillery, or maintaining supply lines

adequate to support thousands of men in the field. He

learned on the job; although his army reeled from one

misfortune to another, he had the courage, determination,

and mental agility to keep the American cause one stepahead of complete disintegration until he ultimately figured

out how to win the unprecedented revolutionary struggle

he was leading.

His task was not overwhelming at first. The British position

in Boston was untenable, and in March 1776 they withdrew

from the city. But it was only a temporary respite. In June a

new British army, under the command of Sir William Howe,

arrived in the colonies with orders to take New York City.

Howe commanded the largest expeditionary force Britain

had ever sent overseas.

Defending New York was almost impossible. An island city,

New York is surrounded by a maze of waterways that gave a

substantial advantage to an attacker with naval superiority.

Howes army was ten times larger, better equipped, and

far better trained than Washingtons. The British defeated

Washingtons army at Long Island in August and routed the

Americans a few weeks later at Kips Bay, resulting in the

loss of the city. Compelled to retreat northward, Washington

was defeated again at White Plains. The American defense

of New York City came to a humiliating conclusion on

November 16, 1776, with the surrender of Fort Washington

and loss of some 2,800 men. Washington ordered what wasleft of his army to retreat across New Jersey. His remaining

forces, mud-soaked and exhausted, crossed the Delaware

River into Pennsylvania on December 7, 1776.

The British had good reason to believe that the American

rebellion would be over in a few months and that Congress,

which had fled to Baltimore, would seek peace rather than

face the colonies complete subjugation. The enlistments of

most of Washingtons men were due to expire at the end of

December. But instead of delivering a final crushing blow,



Howe went into winter quarters, with advanced garrisons at

Trenton and Princeton, leaving Washington open to execute

one of the most daring military operations in American

history. On Christmas night he crossed the Delaware and

attacked the unsuspecting garrison at Trenton, forcing it to

surrender. A few days later he again crossed the Delaware,

outmaneuvered the force sent to crush him, and fell on the

enemy at Princeton, inflicting a humiliating loss on surprised

British regulars.

Though these victories were not militarily decisive, they

proved to be a turning point of the war. Washington had

inflicted little damage on the British army; Howe still enjoyed

a numerical superiority, and there was nothing about these

modest victories to suggest that the Americans were capable

of defeating the British army in a pitched battle. Trenton

and Princeton instead marked a watershed in the way

Washington conceptualized the war. He began to see it as a

political problem as much as a military one. The enthusiasticpublic response to the victories at Trenton and Princeton

taught him the importance of public opinion to sustaining

a popular war of resistance. With little conventional

military education to discard in an unconventional conflict,

Washington learned from experiences that perplexed and

frustrated his opponents.

The truth of the situation - that the American rebellion

would not end unless Washingtons army was totally

destroyed - ran against the established conventions of

European warfare. Howe never seems to have abandoned

the belief that once the Americans were deprived of theirmajor cities, the rebellion would wither. In the summer

of 1777, he mounted an oensive against Philadelphia.

Washington moved to defend the city and was defeated at

the Battle of Brandywine. Philadelphia fell two weeks later.

An American counterattack on the main British camp at

Germantown, just outside the city, was repulsed, but not

without demonstrating that Washington and his army,

even if outmaneuvered and outfought, still possessed

considerable fighting spirit.

Gradually it occurred to the British high command

that capturing the Continental capital of Philadelphiareally meant very little. The supplies that had flowed to

Washingtons men through the city simply flowed to them

through other channels because Congress could pack up

and move the government headquarters to another town.

Philadelphia was no more essential to the American cause

than New York City. Howe was relieved of command early in

1778, and his replacement, Sir Henry Clinton, was ordered

to evacuate Philadelphia.

Clinton decided to return to New York by land in a rapid

retreat from Philadelphia through the unsparing heat of the

Middle Atlantic summer. Washington planned a quick blow

at Clintons flank, and attacked the British near Monmouth

Court House, New Jersey. The Battle of Monmouth,

although a tactical stando, proved that the Continental

Army could stand up to British regulars in the open field

without its customary element of surprise. The battle

also confirmed Washingtons position as the pre-eminent

American military leader and energized the patriot cause.

For much of the remainder of the war, Washingtons most

important strategic task was to keep the British bottled up

in New York. He never gave up hope of retaking the city,

but he was not willing to risk his army in doing so without

a fair prospect of success. An alliance with France and the

arrival of a French army under the Comte de Rochambeau

in July 1780 renewed Washingtons hopes for a successful

operation to recapture New York, but because Washington

and Rochambeau together commanded about 5,000 fewer

men than Clinton, they ultimately concluded that an attackon New York could not succeed.

They decided instead to strike at an encampment of the British

army under General Lord Cornwallis, which was stationed at

Yorktown, Virginia, and Washington marched south to lay

siege on Cornwallis. The allied troops prevailed; on October

19, 1781, Washington accepted the surrender of Cornwalliss

army. Although two more years would pass before a treaty

of peace was completed, the victory at Yorktown eectively

brought the Revolutionary War to an end.

To the amazement of the world and with considerable

help from the French, Washington had prevailed over the

more numerous, better-supplied and fully trained British

army because he was more flexible than his opponents.

He learned that it was more important to keep his army

intact and win an occasional victory to rally public opinion

than it was to hold American cities or defeat the British

army in the open field. Revolutionary leaders in every part

of the world have successfully employed this insight over

the last two hundred years, but never with a result as

startling as Washingtons final victory over the British in the

Revolutionary War.

American Cincinnatus 1783-1789Having secured victory in the field, Washington presented

himself before Congress in Annapolis, Maryland, on

December 23, 1783, and resigned his commission, like

Cincinnatus, the hero of classical antiquity whose conduct

he most admired. Washington left Annapolis and returned

home to Mount Vernon, with the fixed intention of never

serving in public life again. This one act of giving up power

when he could easily have seized it was without precedent

in modern history and made him an international hero.



Washington devoted most of his time in the years after the

Revolutionary War to rebuilding Mount Vernon, which he

had neglected during the war, and promoting the role of

agriculture in securing the success of the new nation. He

not only experimented with new crops and fertilizers but

also in breeding mules, which were stronger and easier to

keep than horses.

He also served as president of the Potomac Company,

which worked to improve the navigation of the Potomac

River in order to make it easier for upstream farmers to get

their produce to market. Although Washington longed for

a peaceful life at Mount Vernon, the aairs of the nation

continued to command his attention. He watched with

mounting dismay as the weak union created by the Articles

of Confederation gradually disintegrated, unable to collect

revenue or pay its debts. He was appalled by the excesses

of the state legislatures and frustrated by the diplomatic,

financial, and military impotence of the ConfederationCongress. By 1786 Washington had concluded that reform

was essential. What was needed, he wrote to James

Madison, was an energetic Constitution.

Washington ended his self-imposed retirement in 1787

and traveled to Philadelphia to attend the Constitutional

Convention, where representatives from twelve of the

thirteen states convened to recommend changes to the

Articles of Confederation. Washington was unanimously

chosen to preside over the convention, whose deliberations

took four months. Although he spoke very little in the

convention, few delegates were more determined to devisea government endowed with real energy and authority.

My wish, he wrote, is that the convention may adopt

no temporizing expedients, but probe the defects of the

Constitution to the bottom, and provide a radical cure.

After the convention adjourned, Washingtons reputation

and support were essential to overcome opposition to

the ratification of the proposed Constitution. He worked

for months to rally support for the new instrument of

government. It was a dicult struggle. Even in Washingtons

native Virginia, the Constitution was ratified by a majority of

only one vote.

Once the Constitution was approved, Washington hoped

to retire again to private life. But when the first presidential

election was held, he received a vote from every presidential

elector. He remains the only president in American history

to be elected by the unanimous voice of the people.

President Washington 1789-1797Washington served two terms as president. His first term

(1789-1793) was occupied primarily with organizing the

executive branch of the new government and establishing

administrative procedures that would make it possible for

the government to operate with the energy and eciency

he believed were essential to the future of the republic. An

astute judge of talent, he surrounded himself with the most

able men he could find. He appointed his former aide-de-

camp, Alexander Hamilton, as secretary of the treasury.

He appointed Thomas Jeerson as secretary of state, and

his former artillery chief, Henry Knox as secretary of war.

Although not an ocial member of his cabinet, James

Madison served as one of Washingtons principle advisors.

In his First Inaugural Address, Washington confessed that

he was unpracticed in the duties of civil administration.

Nonetheless he proved to be one of the most able

administrators ever to serve as an American president. He

administered the government with fairness and integrity,

assuring Americans that the president could exercise

extensive executive authority without corruption, and he

executed the laws with restraint, establishing precedents

for broad-ranging presidential authority. His integritywas most pure, Thomas Jeerson wrote, his justice the

most inflexible I have ever known, no motive of interest

or consanguinity, friendship or hatred, being able to bias

his decision. Washington set a standard for presidential

integrity rarely met by his successors, although he

established an ideal by which they all are judged.

During Washingtons first term, the federal government

adopted a series of measures proposed by Alexander

Hamilton to resolve the escalating debt crisis and establish

the nations finances on a sound basis. His administration

also established peace treaties with the southeasternIndian tribes and designated a site on the Potomac River

for the permanent capital of the United States. But as

Washingtons first term ended, a bloody Indian war

continued on the Northwestern F\rontier. The warring

tribes were encouraged by the British, who retained military

posts in the Northwest in defiance of the treaty ending

the Revolutionary War. In addition, the Spanish denied

Americans use of the Mississippi River. These problems

limited the westward expansion to which Washington was

committed.

Growing partisanship within the government alsoconcerned Washington. Many men in the new government

- including Thomas Jeerson, James Madison, and other

leaders of the emerging Republican party - were opposed

to Hamiltons financial program. Washington despised

political partisanship, but he could do little to slow the

development of political parties.

During his first term Washington toured the northern and

southern states, and found that the new government enjoyed

the general support of the American people. Convinced that

the government could get along without him, he planned to



step down at the end of his first term. But the members of

his cabinet convinced him that he alone could command the

respect of members of both burgeoning political parties.

Thomas Jeerson visited Washington at Mount Vernon to

urge him to accept a second term. Although longing to return

home to Mount Vernon, Washington reluctantly agreed.

Washingtons second term (1793-1797) was dominated

by foreign aairs and marred by a deepening partisanship

in his own administration. Washington assumed the

presidency on the eve of the French Revolution, a time of

great international crisis. The outbreak of a European war

in 1793 forced the crisis to the center of American politics.

Washington believed the national interests of the United

States dictated neutrality. War would be disastrous for

commerce and shatter the nations finances. The future of the

country depended on an increase in wealth and opportunity

that would come with commerce and westward expansion.

One of Washingtons most important accomplishmentswas keeping the United States out of the war, giving the new

nation an opportunity to grow in strength while establishing

the principle of neutrality that would shape American

foreign policy for more than a century.

Although Washingtons department heads agreed that the

United States should remain neutral, disagreements over

foreign policy aggravated partisan tensions among them. The

disagreements were part of the deepening division between

the Federalists and the Republicans. Opposition to federal

policies developed into resistance to the law in 1794, as

distillers in Western Pennsylvania rioted and refused to paytaxes. Washington directed the army to restore order - a step

applauded by Federalists and condemned by Republicans.

Partisan tensions reached a new height during the last

years of Washingtons presidency. To secure peace with

Britain, Washington sent Chief Justice John Jay to London

to negotiate a treaty. The treaty was extremely unpopular

with Republicans, who charged that Washington himself

had become a tool of Britain. Few things ever troubled

Washington more deeply than these attacks on his character.

Despite Washingtons disappointment with the rise of

partisanship, the last years of his presidency were marked

by important achievements. The long Indian war on the

Northwest Frontier was won, Britain surrendered its forts

in the Northwest, and Spain opened the Mississippi to

American commerce. These accomplishments in turn

opened the West to American settlement.

Washington in Retirement 1797-1799By 1796 Washington was ready for retirement, and no one

could persuade him to accept a third term. With the help of

Alexander Hamilton, he composed his Farewell Address

to the American people, which urged his fellow citizens to

cherish the Union and avoid partisanship and permanent

foreign alliances. In March 1797, he turned the government

over to John Adams and returned to Mount Vernon,

determined to live his last years as a simple gentleman

farmer. In 1798, events conspired to draw him again into the

public arena. President John Adams named Washington

commanding general of a provisional army to be raised to

defend the republic against a perceived French invasion. For

several months Washington devoted himself to organizing

the ocer corps, but he refused to assume another public

role and rejected a suggestion that he stand for president

again in 1800.

On December 12, 1799, he was caught in sleet and snowwhile riding over his farms. The resulting illness progressed

rapidly and he suered from a throat inflammation that

made breathing extremely painful. Doctors arrived early

on the morning of December 14, but there was little they

could do to ease Washingtons pain. He faced death with

characteristic courage, saying, I die hard, but I am not

afraid to go. With his wife at his side, George Washington

died at around 10:00 p.m. on December 14, 1799. Four days

later a funeral was held at Mount Vernon.

As news of his death spread, the nation plunged into

mourning. Mock funerals were held in major cities and smalltowns. Hundreds of eulogies and orations lamenting the

loss of the great and good Washington were hurried into

print. Many feared his loss, but Washington believed that

the new nation had developed the character and strength to

survive without him.

George Washington has been acclaimed for two hundred

years as the indispensable man of the American founding.

But he secured immortality by insisting that he was

dispensable. He asserted that the cause of liberty was

larger than any individual.

It should be the highest ambition of every American,

Washington wrote, to extend his views beyond himself,

and to bear in mind that his conduct will not only aect

himself, his country, and his immediate posterity; but that

its influence may be co-extensive with the world, and stamp

political happiness or misery on ages yet unborn. This call

to his fellow citizens was meant for each one of us as well.

Jack D. Warren, Jr.


11/18



UNITTITLE:GEORGEWASHINGTON

LESSONSINLEADERSHIP

Lesson

#

Lengthof

Lesson

LessonTitle&Content

LessonObjectives

MaterialsNeeded

Assessment

3

Two

45-minute

lessons

UpstartColonialOcer

Thepurposeofthislessonisto

introducestudentstotheroleth

at

GeorgeWashingtonplayedinthe

FrenchandIndianWarandhow

hisexperiencesintheOhioValley

demonstratedperseveranceashe

facedoverwhelmingchallenges.

1.Studentswillbeabletoexplainthe

purposeofGeorgeWashing

tons

missiontotheOhioValley.

2.Studentswillbeabletodesc

ribethe

eventsthatoccurredatFt.LeBoeuf.

3.Studentswillbeabletoexplainthe

outcome(s)ofthatmission.

4.Studentswillbeabletodiscuss

WashingtonsexperiencesintheOhio

Valley.

1.MapofOhioValley

2.Reading-1753:Georg

e

WashingtonsMission

totheOhio

Valley

3.Worksheet:MapAna

lysis

4.Readingcomprehensionquestions

5.Readingcomprehensionanswer

key

6.Asetofindexcards.Onecardper

vocabularywordand

onecardper

definition.

7.GraphicNovelpages

5-7

Studentsactas

reportersandwrite

anewsreportusing

the5Ws&H,

explainingGeorge

Washingtonsrole

inhisMissionto

theOhioValleyand

howhisexperience

demonstrated

perseverance.

4

Approx

75minutes

GeorgeWashington

FatheroftheYear?

Thepurposeofthislessonistoshow

GeorgeWashingtonsdeepsen

se

ofresponsibilitytowardshisfam

ily.

Throughahistorymysterystudents

willgatherinformationonGeorge

Washingtonandhisfamily.They

will

thenusethisinformationtowrit

ea

lettertotheeditornominatingGeorge

WashingtonasFatheroftheYear.

1.Studentswillbeabletoidentify

membersofWashingtonsfa

mily.

2.Studentswillbeabletointerpret

primarysources.

3.Studentswillexamineprimarysource

documentstofindinformatio

n

regardingGeorgeWashingto

nsfamilial

relationships.

1.Manilaenvelopes(1e

nvelope

foreachgroupof34

students)

withConfidentialmarkedonthe

outsideoftheenvelop

es.

2.Laminatedprimaryso

urces

(Listedinthelessonp

lan)

3.Worksheet:HistoryM

ystery

4.Worksheet:LettertotheEditor

5.Newspapers

6.GraphicNovelpages8-9

Students

writealetter

totheeditor

nominating

Washington

asFatherof

theYear.


13/18



UNITTITLE:G

EORGEWASHINGTON

LESSONSINLEADE

RSHIP

Lesson

#

Length

of

Lesson

LessonTitle&Content

LessonObjectives

MaterialsNeeded

Assessment

6

Two60

-

minute

lesson

s

GeorgeWashingtonForges

Ahead


showstudentswaysthatGeorge

Washingtondemonstrated

braveryduringtheAmerican

Revolution.Studentswillalso

exploreWashingtonsleadership

throughstudyingkeybattlesofth

e

AmericanRevolution.

1.Studentswillbeableto

identifykeylocationsvisited

byGeneralWashington

andhistroopsduringthe

RevolutionaryWar.


describetheoutcomesof

battlesinwhichWashington

andhistroopsfought.

3.Studentswillsummarize

Washingtonsexperiences

duringtheRevolutionary

War.


explainhowWashingtons

conductduringthewar

demonstratedbravery.

1.UsingGoogleEarthinstructions

2.Sentencestripsmadeforeachvocabularyword

usingthesentencesfromtheGen

eralGeorge

WashingtonsRevolutionaryJourneyKMZfile.

3.PowerPoint:DontBelieveEverythingYouSee

4.ComputerlaborSMARTBoardw

ith

GoogleEarthinstalled.

5.GeorgeWashingtonsRevolutionaryJourneyKMZfile

6.Worksheet:GeorgeWashingtonForgesAhead

7.GeorgeWashingtonForgesAheadanswerkey

8.GraphicNovelpage15-29

9.ReadingComprehensionQuestions

10.ReadingComprehensionQuestionsanswerkey

1.Studentsnew

vocabulary

sentences

2.Worksheet:

George

Washington

ForgesAhead

7

Two60

-

minute

lesson

s

BecomingPresidential

TheRoadtothePresidency


introducestudentstoGeorge

Washingtonspoliticallifeandthe

qualitiesthatmadehimagreat

leader.


explainhowWashingtons

lifeexperiencesplayedan

essentialroleinpreparing

himthepresidency.


identifythecharacteristics

GeorgeWashington

possessedthatmadehima

goodcandidateforpresident.

1.SetsofWashingtonsquote(s)aboutbeing

appointedtothepresidency.

2.CopiesofGeorgeWashingtonsresume.

Studentsdesign

andcreatea

campaignposter

andslogan

forGeorge.

Washingtons

campaignin

therunforthe

presidency.


15/18L E S S O N 1 : G O T G R E A T N E S S ? 15

L : T Q G L

Lesson Title:

Got Greatness?

Lesson Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to thequalities of a great leader and to provide the groundwork for their understanding of

George Washingtons leadership qualities.

Lesson Objectives:

Students will be able to identify the characteristics of a leader.

Students will be able to apply the characteristics of a leader to a variety of prominent

individuals in history.

Students will be able to explain what qualities they themselves possess that could

make them leaders.

Students will be able to predict George Washingtons leadership qualities.

Curriculum Standards:

1. Common Core English Language Arts: Grade 5 - Production and Distribution of Writing

a. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization

are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

2. NCSS Standards: 4 - Individual Development and Identity

b. Personal identity is shaped by family, peers, culture, and institutional influences.

In order to understand individual development and identity, learners should study

the influence of various times, cultures, groups, and institutions.

Time Frame for Completing Lesson: 45 minutes

Materials:

1. Post-it Notes (Various colors so that groups can be color-coded)

2. Images (Laminated for posting on a wall or whiteboard)

Here is a sample list of leaders who might be used for this lesson:

WOMEN MEN

Eleanor Roosevelt Martin Luther King

Harriet Tubman Benjamin Franklin

Rosa Parks George Washington

Susan B. Anthony Abraham Lincoln

Hillary Clinton John F. Kennedy

Betsy Ross Frederick Douglass

Pocahontas Neil Armstrong

Amelia Earhart Albert Einstein

Christa McAulie Gandhi


16/18


17/18L E S S O N 2 A : D O Y O U F O L L O W R U L E S ? 17

L : H

Lesson Title:Do You Follow the Rules?

Lesson Purpose: The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to GeorgeWashington. Students will learn how Washingtons early experiences influenced his later

life and helped to foster his development as a leader.

Lesson Objectives:

1. Students will be able to explain how Rules of Civilityinfluenced a young George

Washington.

2. Students will be able to interpret a selection of Rules of Civility.

3. Students will be able to relate the relevance of Rules of Civilityto their own lives.

Curriculum Standards:

1. NCSS Standard 2: Time, Continuity, and Change

a. Through the study of the past and its legacy, learners examine the institutions,

values, and beliefs of people in the past; acquire skills in historical inquiry and

interpretation; and gain an understanding of how important historical events and

developments have shaped the modern world.

2. NCSS Standard 4: Individual Development and Identity

a. Personal identity is shaped by family, peers, culture, and institutional influences.

In order to understand individual development and identity, learners should study

the influence of various times, cultures, groups, and institutions.

Time Frame for Completing Lesson: 75 minutes

Materials:

1. Copy Rules of Civility(primary source) found in Lesson 2a of the following website:

www.gwleadershiplessons.org

2. Text version of Rules of Civility: (Note: Prior to this lesson, review the rules and identify

those that are most applicable for use with your students. Be prepared to provide an

excerpt of the rules to students).

3. Display Rule No. 1: Every Action done in Company, ought to be with Some Sign of

Respect, to those that are Present on display paper, a SMART Board, or overhead.

4. Worksheets:

a. Primary Source Analysis

b. What do These Rules Mean Anyway?

c. A Rule for Me

5. Magnifying glasses

As a boy, GW studied

reading, arithmetic,

geography, astronomy

and surveying. Spelling

and hand writing were

practiced by writing in a

copybook.

From Mount Vernon

Booklet


18/18

Vocabulary:

1. Civility: the formal politeness that results from

observing social conventions; a polite act

Background Information:George Washington wrote his Rules of Civility & Decent

Behaviour in Company and Conversation as a school exercise

sometime before he reached the age of sixteen. His

handwriting on the manuscript is boyish and his grammar

and spelling inferior, but what is of far greater importance is

that this was the code of conduct that molded his character

and helped him assume the leadership of his country. The

importance of this document cannot be denied; it influenced

our first president and therefore an entire nation.

The origin of Washingtons rules is said to have been a

17th-century book of etiquette called Youths Behaviour, or

Decency in Conversation Amongst Men, by Francis Hawkins.

The young Hawkins had, at the age of eight, translated intoEnglish a 16th-century set of behavior rules compiled by

French Jesuits. The code of conduct in Hawkins book was

simplified and arranged for the schoolboy, Washington, by

an unknown instructor, and the future president carefully

copied the rules into his exercise book, now preserved at

the Library of Congress.

To read more about Rules of Civilityvisit Lesson 2a located at:


Procedures:

Discussion of Manners

1. Brainstorm the following question with students and

record their answers on the board:

Where do you learn table manners, how to greet

people, and other social skills?

2. Explain to students that George Washington learned

many of his social skills from his parents, his half

brother Lawrence, and his neighbors. Sometime

between the ages of twelve and sixteen, he was

inspired to copy Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour in

Company and Conversation. This book provided him

with 110 rules that helped to guide his behavior for therest of his life.

3. Read out loud Rule No. 1: Every Action done in

Company, ought to be with Some Sign of Respect, to

those that are Present, which you have displayed in

the classroom.

4. In small groups, have students brainstorm the

meaning of this quote. Ask the students to share their

ideas with the class as a whole.

Document Analysis

1. Distribute the image of Rules of Civilityand a copy of

the Primary Source Analysis worksheet to each student

to complete.

2. Ask the students to share their responses within their

group.

3. Next, provide students with an excerpt of the text

version of Rules of Civilityby visiting Lesson 2a at:


4. Ask each student to read the assigned excerpt and

to complete the What Do These Rules Mean Anyway?

worksheet.

5. As a class, discuss the importance of the rules and

whether they have meaning today.

Assessment:

1. A Rule for Me worksheet. Students will select one

rule from Rules of Civilityand describe how that rule

will guide their behavior as it guided Washingtons

behavior.

Suggested Extension Activities:

1. Have students create their own Rules of Civilityposter for

placing around the classroom.

2. Have students read the graphic novel pgs 3, 8, 9, 13, and

14 regarding the influence of Rules of Civilityon George

Washingtons life.

Introduction into a new world

Documents

Transcript of Introduction into a new world