Airfix's 1980 Series 2, 54 mm kit of George Washington astride his horse.George Washington was born in Virginia in 1732. His early career was spent as a surveyor. In 1752 he was appointed Adjutant General in the Virginia militia and in 1754 rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
He took part in several actions against the French Canadians and in 1755 was promoted to Colonel and made Commander of all the Virginian forces.
In 1758 he was made a Brigadier General and elected to the Virginia Provincial Legislature. In 1759 he married a wealthy widow, Martha Custis and retired from the military to become a planter.
Initially he grew tobacco which was exported back to Great Britain but later diversified into other crops such as wheat which could be sold locally in America.
Up until 1767 Washington concentrated on his business activities rather than politics. Several new taxes and Acts of parliament had been imposed on the Americans by the British which were widely unpopular and lead to growing resistance and unrest.
In May 1769, Washington introduced a proposal which called for a Virginian boycott of British goods until these Acts were repealed. Parliament did repealed the Townshend Acts in 1770 and the crisis abated for a while.
In 1774 the British passed further new Acts of parliament which Washington regarded as "an invasion of our rights and privileges". In July 1774, he chaired the meeting at which the "Fairfax Resolves" were adopted, which called for, the convening of a Continental Congress.
In August 1774, Washington attended the First Virginia Convention and was selected as a delegate to the First Continental Congress.
In April 1775, fighting commenced between the Americans and the British.
With his long military experience, charisma and leadership skills Washington was the natural choice to become Commander in Chief of the newly formed Continental Army.
He assumed command at Cambridge, Massachusetts in July 1775. The Continental Army was short of supplies including powder for their guns. The Americans had an ally in France, long at war with Britain.
The war ebbed and flowed over the next few years with the Americans winning some battles and the British others.
In 1777 France entered the war on the side of the Americans after years of tacit support. The tide turned in favour of the Americans and in 1781, a French naval victory enabled the British Army to be trapped in Virginia. The British surrendered at Yorktown on 17th October 1781 and this marked the end of major hostilities.
In September 1783 Great Britain finally recognised the independence of the United States and the Continental Army was disbanded. On 23rd December 1783, Washington resigned his commission as Commander in Chief.
Despite his apparent lack of interest in politics, Washington attended the Constitutional Convention in the Summer of 1787, and was unanimously elected president of the Convention.
In 1789 Washington was elected first President of the United State of America. He was re-elected in 1792 once more with one hundred per cent of the electoral votes.
Washington retired from the presidency in March 1797, having declined to run for a third term, and returned to his farm in Virginia.
On 4th July 1798, Washington was commissioned by the new President John Adams as Commander in Chief of any armies to be raised for a prospective war against their former ally France.
Since the end of the war with the British, the French had been trying increasingly to interfere in domestic American politics. The Americans had already made peace with the British and were trading openly and very successfully with them once again.
Washington died from pneumonia on the evening of December 14, 1799, at his home in Mount Vernon, Virginia aged 67.
He was interred in a tomb on his estate on 18th December 1799.
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