George Washington

The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars. Delve into what it was like to live during the eighteenth century by reading the first-hand accounts of everyday people, including city dwellers and farmers, businessmen and bankers, artisans and merchants, artists and their patrons, politicians and their constituents. Original texts make the American, French, and Industrial revolutions vividly contemporary.++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++Library of CongressW007431Dated on p. 1], second count: Newburgh, June 14, 1783. Annapolis: Printed by F. Green, 1783]. 4],27, 1]p.; 8

The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars. Delve into what it was like to live during the eighteenth century by reading the first-hand accounts of everyday people, including city dwellers and farmers, businessmen and bankers, artisans and merchants, artists and their patrons, politicians and their constituents. Original texts make the American, French, and Industrial revolutions vividly contemporary.++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++Huntington LibraryN024712Bristol: printed and published by R. Edwards; and sold by B. Crosby, London; and the booksellers in Bristol and Bath, 1796. 16p.; 8

The publication of this volume has been supported by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Volume 19 of the ""Revolutionary War Series"" documents Washington's activities during the winter and early spring of 1779, when the bulk of his army was encamped at Middlebrook, New Jersey, strategically situated where the Watchung Mountains rise from the coastal plain in the middle of the state. Washington took advantage of the relative quiet of this period to consult with a congressional committee of conference in Philadelphia. He returned to Middlebrook in early February and devoted himself yet again to reorganizing and reinvigorating the Continental Army. Recruitment problems, disputes among officers over rank, and compensation woes had grown old, but Washington corresponded at length with state officials and Congress in order to keep an effective fighting force in the field. Winter camp also allowed Washington to consider future military operations. Emphasis fell on planning a punitive expedition against Indians of the Six Nations and Loyalists whose raids had terrorized settlers along the Pennsylvania - New York frontier. Washington's most immediate challenge was simply understanding the geography of this largely unknown region, and he sought information from anybody who had direct experience with the terrain and the Indian inhabitants, a group that included army officers, prisoners, land surveyors, interpreters, traders, and missionaries. Washington carefully sifted through these reports, observations, and opinions. To aid analysis, he consolidated the most pertinent materials, in his own handwriting, into a comparative table, and appended significant related items. His final plan called for the main force to cross the Susquehanna River at or near Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and strike into the heart of the border region while a supporting column advanced from near Albany, New York. After Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates declined Washington's offer to command this expedition, citing health reasons, it was accepted by Maj. Gen. John Sullivan, who left his post at Providence, Rhode Island, to begin preparations at Middlebrook. In a late-February reply to Mount Vernon manager Lund Washington's question about selling slaves, the general expressed his confidence in the eventual success of the American struggle for independence as well as his personal resolve, saying, 'if we should ultimately prove unsuccessful (of which I am under no apprehension unless it falls on us as a punishment for our want of public, & indeed private virtue) it would be a matter of very little consequence to me, whether my property is in Negroes, or loan office Certificates, as I shall neither ask for, nor expect any favor from his most gracious Majesty, nor any person acting under his authority'. By every measure, Washington remained indispensable to the Revolutionary cause.

Though legend might paint a young George Washington as a bit of a wild child for chopping down that cherry tree, this book captures his more refined nature. At fourteen years old, Washington copied 110 rules of civility out of a sixteenth-century Jesuit book. As he grew into manhood it became clear how seriously he took these rules of manners and customs to heart. They became not only the foundation of this work but furthermore explicate the character of our nation’s first president. Also included are accounts of his trip to the Ohio River, along with his key speeches to the Continental Congress and the Congress of the United States.

Volume 15 documents the period from 1 January through 30 April 1794, a time when Washington continued to focus his efforts as president on preventing the United States from becoming entangled in the continuing war between France and Great Britain. Of particular concern was French and British interference with American shipping, despite claims of neutral rights by the United States. Congress reacted to this problem in late March by declaring a thirty-day embargo on all ships and vessels in American ports, and the Washington administration enforced this resolution, as well as a series of earlier Cabinet decisions regarding the presence of foreign privateers and their prizes in American ports. The threat of U. S. involvement in the war led Congress to pass legislation designed to increase the military strength of the United States. As a result, Washington and Secretary of War Henry Knox directed the construction of coastal fortifications, the establishment of federal armories, and the creation of an American navy. The European war also produced an exodus of refugees to the United States from the French colony of Saint Domingue and a subsequent federal program of monetary relief, which the administration oversaw. The question of neutral rights, the threat of an Indian war in the Northwest Territory, British retention of military posts in American territory, and a desire for a favorable trade agreement prompted Washington to appoint John Jay as envoy extraordinary to Great Britain in order to resolve these issues. At the same time, other U. S. diplomats continued their efforts to reach an understanding with Spain over the right of free navigation of the Mississippi River by Americans, Indian unrest in the Southwest Territory, and the boundary between Georgia and Florida, as well as to obtain a commercial treaty between the two nations. In an effort to manage his Mount Vernon farms while residing in Philadelphia, Washington regularly sent detailed instructions to William Pearce, his newly hired estate manager. Of particular concern were the implementation of a five-year plan of crop rotation designed by Washington in 1793 and the acquisition of a sufficient supply of buckwheat and other seed for spring planting. Washington continued to be a benevolent benefactor for his extended family, particularly his sister, Betty Washington Lewis, and his orphaned niece, Harriot Washington. He also directed the refurbishment of his house in Alexandria, Va., for Frances Bassett Washington, the widow of his nephew George Augustine Washington, and he made arrangements to purchase lots in the new Federal City.