George Washington for Kids

in this video we are going to learn about an important man in american history

george

washington

george

washington

was a military general and led the american colonists to victory in the american revolution he was a founding father of the united states which means he was a of the people who started the united states of america and served as the first president of the united states the first president of the united states let's take a look at his life to see how george washington helped start the united states of america beginning in 1732. wow that was a long time ago george washington was born in the colony of virginia in 1732 now when george washington was born the colony of virginia was part of great britain in fact all the american colonies were part of great britain this is what the british flag looked like how during george washington's lifetime it looked quite similar to what it looks like today the colony of virginia the place where he grew up george washington belonged to a great br It is true that many people have wondered what George Washington was like when he was a child, but George Washington did not share many details about his childhood.

There is a popular legend about George Washington when he was six years old. It is interesting, says the legend. that george washington received an ax for his birthday and used it on one of his father's cherry trees oh that's a strange present for his sixth birthday when his father found out his cherry tree was damaged by young george george was brave and told him to her dad the truth telling i cant tell a lie this legend is one of the most famous legends in american history the legend was written by this guy a man named parson weems thats an interesting name he was the first person to write a biography about george washington after he died most historians believe this story was made up by parson weems even though it was made up it is a legend many people think of when they think of george washington one thing we know for sure abo but george's childhood is his father died when george was only 11 years old after his father died george spent some time living with his half brother named lawrence in a place called mount vernon the plantation owned by lawrence living with his half brother lawrence george was able to learn how to measure land to measure land is to calculate the distance between different parts of a piece of land usually to calculate how big a piece of land is someone who measures land is called a surveyor to be a land surveyor you have to know a lot of math george washington had to use his math skills to survey land as he got older people paid him to survey their land and he had to use math skills every time he did this this is so cool here is a picture of a survey done by george washington himself oh my gosh he had fancy handwriting this is so sad he might have kept working as a surveyor if not for another tragedy in his life nine years after their father died half george's brother lawrence got sick and died too hen george was 20 when lawrence died two years later when george was just 22 he became full owner of mount vernon now we didn't mention this before but lawrence had been a military general for the british in the virginia militia remember the colony from virginia like the other american colonies belonged to great britain george decided to follow in his footsteps and became a major in the virginia militia this was a big problem especially for someone as young as george and he didn't george washington it won't take long to be put to the test the governor of virginia sent george washington on a special mission to tell the french to leave an area called the ohio valley that they did not like and they made it clear that they would not leave the ohio valley and a year later george washington led hundreds of soldiers in an event that would start the french and indian war the french and indian war made george washington famous esc he received his experiences and became known not only in the colonies but also across the atlantic ocean in great britain the french and indian war not only made george washington famous but also gave him the military experience he would later need during the war american revolution post war george was not offered a commission in the regular british army which must have been very frustrating after all he did and went back to his plantation remember his name was mount vernon he married a lady named Martha and raised a family in Mount Vernon so he settled down and that might have been the end of his story but he also got involved in politics that would put him in the right place at the right time after years of being a politician in virginia in 1774 george washington was chosen to be a delegate from virginia to the first continental congress a delegate is someone who is sent to represent other virginia people he trusted george washington to represent his interests that was great george was hington he was frustrated with the way britain was treating the colonies, like many other colonists, many of his rights were taken away by laws called intolerable acts, the colonists they called them intolerable acts because they couldn't stand it, they were intolerable well in 1775 the american revolutionary war started in the second continental congress they decided to set up their own army called the continental army they selected george washington as commander of the continental army it made sense that he not only had a lot of experience as a general in the french and indian war but also wanted the american colonies to be independent and free from great britain george washington accepted the position but refused to be paid to serve as a major in the continental army so he wanted to volunteer and serve without any cost to the colony s americans what a nice guy so he went to work george washington training and preparing the continental army for battle. nted to make sure they were ready and help them become a better and stronger army and this was his job please george washington helped draw up battle plans led the continental army in many battles and helped the continental army function as a well organized unit and he was a great commander part of what made him a great commander was that he was not afraid to take risks for example in one of the most famous moments of the revolutionary war george washington led troops across the delaware river to make a surprise attack in december 25th 1776 was christmas night oh my god even though the water was freezing cold and dangerous george washington knew it would be a big surprise attack.

They were all like George. the continental army george washington eventually led the continental army to victory with the help of the french the americans defeated the british after winning the revolutionary war the american colonies began to establish their new government and really, to no one's surprise, george washington he was chosen to lead the constitutional convention that established order in the new government and, of course, because he was presiding over everything, George Washington signed the constitution and then when it came time to choose. Officials The American people decided that there was no better man to serve as the first President of the United States than George Washington himself.

He was elected President in the first national election in 1789 after taking the oath of office as President of the United States. philadelphia philadelphia was the temporary capital of the united states this is a picture of the house he lived in while he was president now of course this was before the white house was built this is the house in philadelphia that george lived in washington before us keep talking about george washington as president, we have a random george washington fun fact for you, did you know? that george washington didn't wear a wig that's right, it was always his own hair, he grew it out and just threw it back, the reason his hair always looked white was because he powdered his hair, he must have thought that he looked amazing so if anyone ever asks you for a random interesting fact let them know george washington didn't wear a wig yeah he didn't need one it's shocking isn't it mr wish it's crazy didn't wear a wig that they didn't wear? nice wig back to george washington as president as we mentioned earlier he lived in philadelphia which was the temporary capital of the united states which is interesting and as you can imagine as clean as it sounds to be the first president it was really difficult and challenging there were a lot of problems that needed to be fixed you know being a new nation and everyone except george washington worked hard to get the united states off to a good start in the second national election george washington was elected president for the second time h I declined to run for the third time and began the tradition of most presidents serving no more than two terms.

Can you see President George Washington in this photo? Yeah, he's right there, right there. Yes, George Washington didn't just help the American colonies win their independence. and become a new nation but george washington also served as the first president of the united states that is why george washington is often called the father of his country sadly george washington did not get to see much of what that america would be converted, sickened and died in 1799 at mount vernon george washington had a major impact and is celebrated and honored all around us the capital of the united states washington dc is named after george washington the washington monument in washington dc was built to honor the memory of george washington the father of america we see george washington honored in our money like the dollar bill dollar bills are cool and george washington is on all of them he is in the neighborhood too george washington it's on the front of every neighborhood even state quarters of course george washington it's on mount rushmore it's the amazing sculpture that it was carved out of the granite of a mountain in south dakota wow he appears in many other sculptures but this is the biggest and most famous what life did george washington live here just a couple of his achievements he was a general in the french and indian war he was the commander of the continental army and was the first president of the United States