Heilbroner - Meet George Washington

Who can be our general? they asked.

A man named John Adams stood up to talk. I have but one man in mind, said John Adams. And that man is a gentleman from Virginia.

The gentleman from Virginia was George Washington.

Text copyright 1964 by Random House, Inc.
Text copyright renewed 1992 by Joan Heilbroner.
Illustrations copyright 1989 by Stephen Marchesi.

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Childrens Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Originally published in slightly different form by Random House, Inc., in 1964. This revised edition originally published by Random House, Inc., in 1989.

RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

www.randomhouse.com/kids

Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at
www.randomhouse.com/teachers

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Heilbroner, Joan.
Meet George Washington / written by Joan Heilbroner ; illustrated by Stephen Marchesi.
p. cm. (Landmark books)
SUMMARY : Highlights the life of the first president, known as the father of his country.
eISBN: 978-0-307-78695-1
1. Washington, George, 17321799Juvenile literature.
2. PresidentsUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature.
[1. Washington, George, 17321799. 2. Presidents.] I. Marchesi, Stephen, ill.
II. Title. III. Series. E312.66.H4 1989 973.410924dc19 88-19067

v3.1

For Jean, Harriet, and Lorraine Nelson

George Washington was the first president of the United States of America. He was a great American general. Many people think he was the greatest American who ever lived.

But George Washington was not born an American. He was born an Englishman.

George Washington was born in Virginia in the year 1732.

In 1732, Virginia was an English colony. It belonged to England. And it was ruled by the king of England. The people of Virginia felt that they were English.

There were 13 English colonies in America when Washington was a boy. Each colony had its own part of the land. Each had its own churches and its own soldiers. And each had its own kind of farms.

In Virginia the farmers grew tobacco. They had slaves to do the work. And tobacco made many Virginia farmers rich.

George Washingtons father was a rich Virginia farmer. In many ways he lived like an English gentleman. He wore English clothes. He rode English horses. He had fine things from England in his house. He even sent his older sons to school in England. He wanted them to learn the ways of English gentlemen.

Georges father owned about 50 slaves. And he owned three farms on the Potomac River. George Washington lived on all these farms as a little boy. But when George was seven, the Washingtons moved to a new farm on the Rappahannock River. They called it Ferry Farm.

Soon after the Washingtons moved to Ferry Farm, George went to school. His father did not send him to school in England, like his brothers.

George learned reading and arithmetic and handwriting. He worked hard on his writing. He wanted it to look good.

George learned writing by copying from books. He had a book of rules for young gentlemen. He copied all the rules.

Sit not when others stand, wrote George. Sleep not when others speak. And Spit not in the fire.

These were the rules that young gentlemen learned in those days. There were 110 of them!

George learned many things outside of school too. He learned to fish. He learned to swim. And he learned how to use a gun. He liked to hunt for ducks along the river.

George was a tall, strong boy. He became good at all kinds of sports. Before long, he could run faster than any of his friends. And he soon learned to ride a horse better than anyone his age. In a few years he would be called the best rider in Virginia.

When George was ten, his oldest brother, Lawrence, came back to Virginia to live. Lawrence was a soldier. He had gone to fight for the English in a war with Spain.

Lawrence talked about the battles he had fought in. He talked about far-off lands. George liked to hear about these things.

George looked up to his soldier brother. And Lawrence liked his little brother George. They did many things together.

This was a happy year for George Washington. But the next year was a sad one. When George was 11, his father died.

George was only a boy when his father died. But he grew up fast. When he was 14, he was as strong as a man. He wanted to go to sea. But his mother did not want him to go to sea. And George soon found other work to do.

George became a surveyor. A surveyor measures land and makes maps of land.

There was a great need for surveyors in the colonies. Many farmers were buying new land in the west of Virginia. So George made many trips to the West.

Few people lived in the west of Virginia. There were miles of woods between farms. George often had to sleep in the woods. He had to shoot wild ducks for his supper. He cooked them over a fire.

This was not like the easy life at Ferry Farm. But George liked this kind of living. And he soon learned to be a good surveyor.

In these years George went often to see his brother Lawrence. Lawrence had married soon after his father died. He lived on a farm called Mount Vernon.

Life was gay at Mount Vernon. There were many parties and balls. George wore fine new coats and white silk stockings. He danced with the young ladies of Virginia. George Washington loved to dance!

George had many happy times at Mount Vernon. But when George was 20, Lawrence became ill.

George took Lawrence to the island of Barbados. He hoped Lawrence would get well there. But he never got well again. He came home to Mount Vernon to die.

Soon after Lawrence died, George Washington became a soldier in the army of Virginia.

There was trouble at that time between the English and the French.

The French colonists lived up north in Canada and along the Mississippi River.