Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Washington began to pull himself out of debt

Washington began to pull himself out of debt in the mid-1760s by diversifying his previously tobacco-centric business interests into other ventures[64] and paying more attention to his affairs.In 1766, he started switching Mount Vernon's primary cash crop away from tobacco to wheat, a crop that could be processed and then sold in various forms in the colonies, DELL Precision M4500 Laptop Keyboard and further diversified operations to include flour milling, fishing, horse breeding, spinning, weaving and (in the 1790s) whiskey production.[64] Patsy Custis's death in 1773 from epilepsy enabled Washington to pay off his British creditors, since half of her inheritance passed to him.SAMSUNG Q320 Laptop Keyboard A successful planter, he was a leader in the social elite in Virginia. From 1768 to 1775, he invited some 2000 guests to his Mount Vernon estate, mostly those he considered "people of rank". As for people not of high social status, his advice was to "treat them civilly" but "keep them at a proper distance, for they will grow upon familiarity, in proportion as you sink in authority".HP Mini 110-3004tu Laptop Keyboard In 1769, he became more politically active, presenting the Virginia Assembly with legislation to ban the importation of goods from Great Britain.American Revolution (1775–1783) Main articles: George Washington in the American Revolution and Military career of George Washington SONY 147963021 Laptop Keyboard Washington opposed the 1765 Stamp Act, the first direct tax on the colonies, and began taking a leading role in the growing colonial resistance when protests against the Townshend Acts (enacted in 1767) became widespread. In May 1769, Washington introduced a proposal, drafted by his friend George Mason, TOSHIBA Mini NB 505-SP0160 Laptop Keyboard calling for Virginia to boycott English goods until the Acts were repealed.[69] Parliament repealed the Townshend Acts in 1770. However, Washington regarded the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774 as "an Invasion of our Rights and Privileges".In July 1774, he chaired the meeting at which the "Fairfax Resolves" were adopted, Lenovo 45N2106 Laptop Keyboard which called for the convening of a Continental Congress, among other things. In August, Washington attended the First Virginia Convention, where he was selected as a delegate to the First Continental Congress.After the Battles of Lexington and Concord near Boston in April 1775, the colonies went to war. DELL INSPIRON 1464 Laptop Keyboard Washington appeared at the Second Continental Congress in a military uniform, signaling that he was prepared for war.[72] Washington had the prestige, military experience, charisma and military bearing of a military leader and was known as a strong patriot. Virginia, the largest colony, deserved recognition, and New England—where the fighting began—realized it needed Southern support. HP Mini 110-3118cl Laptop Keyboard Washington did not explicitly seek the office of commander and said that he was not equal to it, but there was no serious competition.[73] Congress created the Continental Army on June 14, 1775. Nominated by John Adams of Massachusetts, Washington was then appointed General and Commander-in-chief.[74] APPLE A1278 Laptop Keyboard Washington had three roles during the war. In 1775–77, and again in 1781 he led his men against the main British forces. Although he lost many of his battles, he never surrendered his army during the war, and he continued to fight the British relentlessly until the war's end. He plotted the overall strategy of the war, in cooperation with Congress.[75] HP G62-b04SL CPU Fan Second, he was charged with organizing and training the army. He recruited regulars and assignedBaron von Steuben, a veteran of the Prussian general staff, to train them. The war effort and getting supplies to the troops were under the purview of Congress,[76] but Washington pressured the Congress to provide the essentials.[77]  Dell Vostro 3500 CPU Fan In June 1776, Congress' first attempt at running the war effort was established with the committee known as "Board of War and Ordnance", succeeded by the Board of War in July 1777, a committee which eventually included members of the military.[76] The command structure of the armed forces was a hodgepodge of Congressional appointees DELL Inspiron N3010 Series CPU Fan (and Congress sometimes made those appointments without Washington's input) with state-appointments filling the lower ranks and of all of the militia-officers. The results of his general staff were mixed, as some of his favorites (like John Sullivan) never mastered the art of command. HP 550 CPU Fan Eventually, he found capable officers, such as General Nathanael Greene, General Daniel Morgan, "the old wagoner", with whom he had served in The French and Indian War, Henry Knox, his chief of artillery, and his chief-of-staff Alexander Hamilton. The American officers never equaled their opponents in tactics and maneuver, and consequently they lost most of the pitched battles. HP 646578-001 CPU Fan The great successes, at Boston (1776), Saratoga (1777) and Yorktown (1781), came from trapping the British far from base with much larger numbers of troops.[75] Daniel Morgan's annihilation of Banastre Tarleton's legion of dragoons at Cowpens in February of 1781, came as a result of Morgan's employment of superior line tactics against his British opponent, DELL Vostro A860 CPU Fan resulting in one of the very few double envelopments in military history, another being Hannibal's defeat of the Romans at Cannae in 216 b.c. The decisive defeat of Col. Patrick Ferguson's Tory Regiment at King's Mountain demonstrated the superiority of the riflery of American "over mountain men" over British-trained troops armed with musket and bayonet. HP Pavilion dv6-3125ej CPU Fan These "over-mountain men" were led by a variety of elected officers, including the 6'6" William Campbell who had become one of Washington's officers by the time of Yorktown. Similarly, Morgan's Virginia riflemen proved themselves superior to the British at Saratoga, a post-revolutionary war development being the creation of trained "rifle battalions" in the European armies. Compaq Presario A916NR CPU Fan Third, and most important, Washington was the embodiment of armed resistance to the Crown—the representative man of the Revolution. His long-term strategy was to maintain an army in the field at all times, and eventually this strategy worked. His enormous personal and political stature and his political skills kept Congress, HP 532614-001 CPU Fan the army, the French, the militias, and the states all pointed toward a common goal. Furthermore, by voluntarily resigning his commission and disbanding his army when the war was won (rather than declaring himself monarch), he permanently established the principle of civilian supremacy in military affairs. HP KSB06105HA CPU Fan Yet his constant reiteration of the point that well-disciplined professional soldiers counted for twice as much as erratic militias (clearly demonstrated in the rout at Camden, where only the Maryland and Delaware Continentals under Baron DeKalb held firm), helped overcome the ideological distrust of a standing army. SONY VAIO PCG-6L2L CPU Fan Washington assumed command of the Continental Army in the field at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in July 1775, during the ongoing siege of Boston. Realizing his army's desperate shortage of gunpowder, Washington asked for new sources. American troops raided British arsenals, including some in the Caribbean, and some manufacturing was attempted.  HP 489126-001 CPU Fan They obtained a barely adequate supply (about 2.5 million pounds) by the end of 1776, mostly from France.Washington reorganized the army during the long standoff, and forced the British to withdraw by putting artillery onDorchester Heights overlooking the city. The British evacuated Boston in March 1776 and Washington moved his army to New York City.[  HP Envy 17-2290nr CPU Fan Although highly disparaging toward most of the Patriots, British newspapers routinely praised Washington's personal character and qualities as a military commander. These articles were bold, as Washington was an enemy general who commanded an army in a cause that many Britons believed would ruin the empire. ASUS BFB0705HA CPU Fan Defeat at New York City and Fabian tactics In August 1776, British General William Howe launched a massive naval and land campaign designed to seize New York. The Continental Army under Washington engaged the enemy for the first time as an army of the newly independent United States at the Battle of Long Island, the largest battle of the entire war. FUJITSU Lifebook T5010 Series CPU Fan The Americans were heavily outnumbered, many men deserted, and Washington was badly beaten. Subsequently, Washington was forced to retreat across the East River at night. He did so without loss of life or materiel.Washington retreated north from the city to avoid encirclement, enabling Howe to take the offensive and capture Fort Washington on November 16 with high Continental casualties. Dell Vostro 3450 CPU Fan Washington then retreated across New Jersey; the future of the Continental Army was in doubt due to expiring enlistments and the string of losses.[83] On the night of December 25, 1776, Washington staged a comeback with a surprise attack on a Hessian outpost in western New Jersey.  Dell Vostro 3500 CPU Fan He led his army across the Delaware River to capture nearly 1,000 Hessians in Trenton, New Jersey. Washington followed up his victory at Trenton with another over British regulars at Princeton in early January. The British retreated back to New York City and its environs, which they held until the peace treaty of 1783. HP Probook 4325s laptop keyboard Washington's victories wrecked the British carrot-and-stick strategy of showing overwhelming force then offering generous terms. The Americans would not negotiate for anything short of independence.  SONY VAIO VGN-C2S Series laptop keyboard These victories alone were not enough to ensure ultimate Patriot victory, however, since many soldiers did not reenlist or deserted during the harsh winter. Washington and Congress reorganized the army with increased rewards for staying and punishment for desertion, which raised troop numbers effectively for subsequent battles. HP Pavilion dv6-3004tu laptop keyboard Historians debate whether or not Washington preferred a Fabian strategy[Note 4] to harass the British with quick, sharp attacks followed by a retreat so the larger British army could not catch him, or whether he preferred to fight major battles.[Note 5] While his southern commander Greene in 1780–81 did use Fabian tactics, Lenovo 3000 Y500 laptop keyboard Washington did so only in fall 1776 to spring 1777, after losing New York City and seeing much of his army melt away. Trenton and Princeton were Fabian examples. By summer 1777, however, Washington had rebuilt his strength and his confidence; he stopped using raids and went for large-scale confrontations, as at Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth and Yorktown. HP Mini 110-3004tu laptop keyboard In the late summer of 1777, the British under John Burgoyne sent a major invasion army south from Quebec, with the intention of splitting off rebellious New England. General Howe in New York took his army south to Philadelphia instead of going up the Hudson River to join with Burgoyne near Albany. TOSHIBA Satellite L40-17U laptop keyboard It was a major strategic mistake for the British, and Washington rushed to Philadelphia to engage Howe, while closely following the action in upstate New York. In pitched battles that were too complex for his relatively inexperienced men, Washington was defeated. At the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, Howe outmaneuvered Washington, SONY VAIO VGN-CR363 laptop keyboard and marched into the American capital at Philadelphia unopposed on September 26. Washington's army unsuccessfully attacked the British garrison at Germantown in early October. Meanwhile, Burgoyne, out of reach from help from Howe, was trapped and forced to surrender his entire army at Saratoga, New York.[  Lenovo 25-011670 laptop keyboard It was a major turning point militarily and diplomatically. France responded to Burgoyne's defeat by entering the war, openly allying with America and turning the Revolutionary War into a major worldwide war. Washington's loss of Philadelphia prompted some members of Congress to discuss removing Washington from command. Compaq Presario CQ71-402SA laptop keyboard This attempt failed after Washington's supporters rallied behind him. In the summer of 1779 at Washington's direction, General John Sullivan carried out ascorched earth campaign that destroyed at least 40 Iroquois villages in central and upstate New York; the Indians were British allies who had been raiding American settlements on the frontierHP Mini 110-3504tu laptop keyboard In July 1780, 5,000 veteran French troops led by the comte de Rochambeau arrived at Newport, Rhode Island to aid in the war effort.[98] The Continental Army having been funded by $20,000 in French gold, Washington delivered the final blow to the British in 1781, after a French naval victory allowed American and French forces to trap a British army in Virginia.  HP COMPAQ NC6120 laptop keyboard The surrender at Yorktown on October 19, 1781, marked the end of major fighting in continental North America.[99] Washington could not know that after Yorktown, the British would not reopen hostilities. They still had 26,000 troops occupying New York City, Charleston and Savannah, together with a powerful fleet. The French army and navy departed, so the Americans were on their own in 1782–83. Lenovo 3000 Y500 laptop keyboard The treasury was empty, and the unpaid soldiers were growing restive, almost to the point of mutiny or possible coup d'état. Washington dispelled unrest among officers by suppressing the Newburgh Conspiracyin March 1783, and Congress came up with the promise of a five-year bonus. GATEWAY MX8741 Laptop Keyboard With the initial peace treaty articles ratified in April, a recently formed Congressional committee under Hamilton, was considering needs and plans for a peacetime army. On May 2, 1783, the Commander in Chief submitted his Sentiments on a Peace Establishment[101] to the Committee, essentially providing an official Continental Army position. HP Pavilion G6-1B59WM Laptop Keyboard The original proposal was defeated in Congress in two votes (May 1783, October 1783) with a truncated version also being rejected in April of 1784.[102] By the Treaty of Paris (signed that September), Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States. HP Mini 210-1109TU Laptop Keyboard Washington disbanded his army and, on November 2, gave an eloquent farewell address to his soldiers.[103] On November 25, the British evacuated New York City, and Washington and the governor took possession.  HP Mini 110-1109TU Laptop Keyboard At Fraunces Tavern on December 4, Washington formally bade his officers farewell and on December 23, 1783, he resigned his commission as commander-in-chief. Historian Gordon Wood concludes that the greatest act in his life was his resignation as commander of the armies—an act that stunned aristocratic Europe.[ HP G71t-300 CTO Laptop Keyboard King George III called Washington "the greatest character of the age" because of this.[105] Historian John Shy says that by 1783 Washington was "a mediocre military strategist but had become a master political tactician with an almost perfect sense of timing and a developed capacity to exploit his charismatic reputation, using people who thought they were using him".[10ASUS F6A Laptop Keyboard Washington's retirement to Mount Vernon was short-lived. He made an exploratory trip to the western frontier in 1784.[74] He was visiting his land holdings in Western Pennsylvania that had been given to him decades earlier by the British in consideration for his service in the French and Indian War.[ Lenovo Thinkpad T520 Laptop Keyboard There, he confronted squatters, including David Reed and the Covenanters, who left the land only after losing a 1786 court case heard in Washington, Pennsylvania.[107] Washington was persuaded to attend the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787, and was unanimously elected president of the Convention.[ HP Pavilion DV6-1040ev Laptop Keyboard He participated little in the debates (though he did vote for or against the various articles), but his high prestige maintained collegiality and kept the delegates at their labors. The delegates designed the presidency with Washington in mind, and allowed him to define the office once elected.[ SONY VGN-FE31M Laptop Keyboard After the Convention, his support convinced many to vote for ratification; the new Constitution was ratified by all thirteen states.The diagnosis of Washington's final illness and the immediate cause of his death have been subjects of debate since the day he died. In the days immediately following his death, Craik and Dick's published account stated that they felt his symptoms had been consistent with what they called "cynanchetrachealis", HP COMPAQ NX6310 Laptop Keyboard a term of that period for describing severe inflammation of the structures of the upper airway.Even at that early date, there were accusations of medical malpractice, with some believing that Washington had been bled to death. Various modern medical authors have speculated that Washington probably died from a severe case of epiglottitis which was complicated by the given treatments ASUS F82Q Laptop Keyboard (all of which were accepted medical practice in Washington's day)—most notably the massive deliberate blood loss, which almost certainly caused hypovolemic shock.[Note 9] Throughout the world, men and women were saddened by Washington's death. In France, First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte ordered ten days of mourning throughout the country; COMPAQ Presario CQ61 Laptop Keyboard in the United States, thousands wore mourning clothes for months.[153] To protect their privacy, Martha Washington burned the correspondence between her husband and her following his death. Only a total of five letters between the couple are known to have survived, two letters from Martha to George and three from him to Martha.[ HP AEUT3U00140 Laptop Keyboard On December 18, 1799, a funeral was held at Mount Vernon, where his body was interred.] Congress passed a joint resolution to construct a marble monument in the planned crypt below the rotunda of the center section of the Capitol (then still under construction) for his body, a plan supported by Martha. HP Envy 15 Laptop Keyboard In December 1800, the House passed an appropriations bill for $200,000 to build the mausoleum, which was to be a pyramid with a 100-foot (30 m) square base. Southern representatives and senators, in later opposition to the plan, defeated the measure because they felt it was best to have Washington's body remain at Mount Vernon.[ SONY VAIO VGN-NW240F Laptop Keyboard In 1831, for the centennial of his birth, a new tomb was constructed to receive his remains. That year, an unsuccessful attempt was made to steal the body of Washington.[158] Despite this, a joint Congressional committee in early 1832, debated the removal of President Washington's body from Mount Vernon to a crypt in the Capitol, ASUS X53S Laptop Keyboard built by architect Charles Bulfinch in the 1820s during the reconstruction of the burned-out structure after the British set it afire in August 1814, during the "Burning of Washington". Southern opposition was intense, antagonized by an ever-growing rift between North and South. Congressman Wiley Thompson of Georgia expressed the fear of Southerners when he said: COMPAQ Presario CQ60-201EP Laptop Keyboard Remove the remains of our venerated Washington from their association with the remains of his consort and his ancestors, from Mount Vernon and from his native State, and deposit them in this capitol, and then let a severance of the Union occur, and behold the remains of Washington on a shore foreign to his native soil.[157] HP G72-b80SB Laptop Keyboard His remains were moved on October 7, 1837 to the new tomb constructed at Mount Vernon, presented by John Struthers of Philadelphia.[159] After the ceremony, the inner vault's door was closed and the key was thrown into the Potomac.[As Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, HP Pavilion dv7-4070us CPUFan hero of the revolution and the first president of the United States, George Washington's legacy remains among the greatest in American history.[Note 10] Congressman Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, a Revolutionary War comrade, famously eulogized Washington: First in war—first in peace—and first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to none in the humble and enduring scenes of private life; HP Pavilion dv6-2170us CPUFan pious, just, humane, temperate, and sincere; uniform, dignified, and commanding, his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting. To his equals he was condescending, to his inferiors kind, and to the dear object of his affections exemplarily tender; ACER Aspire 4820T Series CPUFan correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence, and virtue always felt his fostering hand; the purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public virtues. His last scene comported with the whole tenor of his life—although in extreme pain, not a sigh, not a groan escaped him; and with undisturbed serenity he closed his well-spent life. HP Pavilion dv7-3007tx CPUFan Such was the man America has lost—such was the man for whom our nation mourns. Lee's words set the standard by which Washington's overwhelming reputation was impressed upon the American memory. Washington set many precedents for the national government, and the presidency in particular, and was called the "Father of His Country" as early as 1778Dell Latitude E6510 CPUFan Washington's Birthday (celebrated on Presidents' Day), is a federal holiday in the United States.During the United States Bicentennial year, George Washington was posthumously appointed to the grade of General of the Armies of the United States by the congressional joint resolution Public Law 94-479 passed on January 19, 1976, HP Envy 17 Series CPUFan with an effective appointment date of July 4, 1976.This restored Washington's position as the highest-ranking military officer in U.S. history.See also: Historical rankings of Presidents of the United States and Cultural depictions of George Washington.See also: Parson Weems § The cherry-tree anecdoteToshiba Satellite A135-S4499 CPUFan Perhaps the best known story about Washington's childhood is that he chopped down his father's favorite cherry tree and admitted the deed when questioned: "I can't tell a lie, Pa." The anecdote was first reported by biographer Parson Weems, who after Washington's death interviewed people who knew him as a child over a half-century earlier. HP 441137-001 CPUFan The Weems text was very widely reprinted throughout the 19th century, for example in McGuffey Readers. Adults wanted children to learn moral lessons from history, especially as taught by example from the lives of great national heroes like Washington. After 1890 however, HP Pavilion dv6-2150us CPUFan historians insisted on scientific research methods to validate every statement, and there was no documentation for this anecdote apart from Weems' report that he learned it in an interview with an old person. Joseph Rodman in 1904 noted that Weems plagiarized other Washington tales from published fiction set in England, but no one has found an alternative source for the cherry tree story.[ ACER eMachines G620 Series CPUFan Starting with victory in their Revolution, there were many proposals to build a monument to Washington. After his death, Congress authorized a suitable memorial in the national capital, but the decision was reversed when the Republicans took control of Congress in 1801. The Republicans were dismayed that Washington had become the symbol of the Federalist Party;  TOSHIBA UDQFRZH05C1N CPUFan furthermore, the values of Republicanism seemed hostile to the idea of building monuments to powerful men.Further political squabbling, along with the North-South division on the Civil War, blocked the completion of the Washington Monument until the late 19th century. By that time,  Compaq Presario C714NR CPUFan Washington had the image of a national hero who could be celebrated by both North and South, and memorials to him were no longer controversial. Predating the obelisk on the National Mall by several decades, the first public memorial to Washington was built by the citizens of Boonsboro, Maryland, in 1827.[  DELL DFS531205PC0T(F6K2-CCW) CPUFan Today, Washington's face and image are often used as national symbols of the United States.[169] He appears on contemporary currency, including the one-dollar bill and the quarter coin, and on U.S. postage stamps. Along with appearing on the first postage stamps issued by the U.S. Post Office in 1847,[ HP Pavilion dv6-2170us CPUFan Washington, together with Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, and Lincoln, is depicted in stone at the Mount Rushmore Memorial. The Washington Monument, one of the best known American landmarks, was built in his honor. The George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia, HP G42-221BR CPUFan was constructed between 1922 and 1932 with voluntary contributions from all 52 local governing bodies of the Freemasons in the United States. Many places and entities have been named in honor of Washington. Washington's name became that of the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., one of two national capitals across the globe to be named after an American president (the other is Monrovia, Liberia). HP KSB06105HA CPUFan The state ofWashington is the only state to be named after a United States President.[173] George Washington University and Washington University in St. Louis were named for him, as was Washington and Lee University (once Washington Academy), which was renamed due to Washington's large endowment in 1796. SONY 148781311 laptop keyboard Washington College inChestertown, Maryland (established by Maryland state charter in 1782) was supported by Washington during his lifetime with a 50 guineas pledge,[174] and with service on the college's Board of Visitors and Governors until 1789 (when Washington was elected President).[ TOSHIBA Satellite U305-S5077 laptop keyboard According to the US Census Bureau's 1993 geographic data, Washington is the 17th most common street name in the United States,[176] and the only person's name so honored. There are many "Washington Monuments" in the United States, including two well-known equestrian statues, one in Manhattan and one in Richmond, Virginia. HP Pavilion dv5-1233se laptop keyboard The first statue to show Washington on horseback was dedicated in 1856 and is located in Manhattan's Union Square.The second statue is known as either the Virginia Washington Monument or as the George Washington Equestrian Statue and was unveiled in 1858. It was the second American statue of Washington on horseback but figures prominently in the official seal of the Confederate States of America.  IBM Thinkpad R40 laptop keyboard A marble statue of Washington was made from life by sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon, and now sits in the Rotunda of the State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia. A duplicate, one of 22 bronze exact replicas,[181] was given to the British in 1921 by the Commonwealth of Virginia and now stands in front of the National Galleryat Trafalgar Square.[ SONY VAIO VGN-AR230G laptop keyboard The serious collection and publication of Washington's documentary record began with the pioneer work of Jared Sparks in the 1830s, Life and Writings of George Washington (12 vols., 1834–1837). The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745–1799 (1931–44) is a 37 volume set edited by John C. Fitzpatrick.  ASUS X53S laptop keyboard It contains over 17,000 letters and documents and is available online from the University of Virginia.The definitive letterpress edition of his writings was begun by the University of Virginia in 1968, and today comprises 52 published volumes, with more to come. It contains everything written by Washington, or signed by him, together with most of his incoming letters. DELL Inspiron N4050 laptop keyboard Part of the collection is available online from the University of Virginia.Along with Martha's biological family, George Washington had a close relationship with his nephew and heir, Bushrod Washington, son of George's younger brother, John Augustine Washington. The year before his uncle's death, Bushrod became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. HP 633183-001 laptop keyboard George, however, apparently did not get along well with his mother, Mary Ball Washington (Augustine's second wife), who was a very demanding and difficult person.As a young man, Washington had red hair.A popular myth is that he wore a wig, as was the fashion among some at the time. HP Pavilion dv6-3001so laptop keyboard However, Washington did not wear a wig; instead, he powdered his hair,[188] as is represented in several portraits, including the well-known, unfinished Gilbert Stuart depiction, The Athenaeum portrait. Washington had unusually great physical strength that amazed younger men. Jefferson called Washington "the best horseman of his age",ACER Extensa 5635Z laptop keyboard and both American and European observers praised his riding; the horsemanship benefited his hunting, a favorite hobby. Washington was an excellent dancer and frequently attended the theater, often referencing Shakespeare in letters.[ DELL Inspiron 1564 laptop keyboard He drank in moderation and precisely recorded gambling wins and losses, but Washington disliked the excessive drinking, gambling, smoking, and profanity that was common in colonial Virginia. Although he grew tobacco, he eventually stopped smoking, and considered drunkenness a man's worst vice; SONY 148738411 laptop keyboard Washington was glad that post-Revolutionary Virginia society was less likely to "force [guests] to drink and to make it an honor to send them home drunk." Washington suffered from problems with his teeth throughout his life. He lost his first adult tooth when he was twenty-two and had only one left by the time he became President.[ ACER Aspire 4736Z laptop keyboard John Adams claims he lost them because he used them to crack Brazil nuts but modern historians suggest the mercury oxide, which he was given to treat illnesses such as smallpox and malaria, probably contributed to the loss. He had several sets of false teeth made, four of them by a dentist named John Greenwood. DELL Inspiron 1564 laptop keyboard Contrary to popular belief, none of the sets were made from wood. The set made when he became President was carved from hippopotamus and elephant ivory, held together with gold springs.[193] Prior to these, he had a set made with real human teeth,likely ones he purchased from "several unnamed 'Negroes,' presumably Mount Vernon slaves" in 1784. DELL E141395 laptop keyboard Dental problems left Washington in constant pain, for which he took laudanum.This distress may be apparent in many of the portraits painted while he was still in office,including the one still used on the $1 bill.Washington was the only prominent Founding Father to arrange in his will for the manumission of all his slaves following his death. SONY VAIO VGN-FS315M laptop keyboard He privately opposed slavery as an institution which he viewed as economically unsound and morally indefensible. He also regarded the divisiveness of his countrymen's feelings about slavery as a potentially mortal threat to the unity of the nation. SONY VAIO VGN-CR23G laptop keyboard, HP 633183-001 laptop keyboard

His memorial poem to her

His memorial poem to her, a sonnet called "The Cross of Snow", was not published in his lifetimeLongfellow often used didacticism in his poetry, though he focused on it less in his later years.[96] Much of his poetry imparts cultural and moral values, particularly focused on promoting life as being more than material pursuits.[97HP G71-340US CPU Fan ]Longfellow also often used allegory in his work. In "Nature", for example, death is depicted as bedtime for a cranky child.[98] Many of the metaphors he used in his poetry as well as subject matter came from legends, mythology, and literature.[99] He was inspired, for example, by Norse mythology for "The Skeleton in Armor" and by Finnish legends for The Song of Hiawatha.[ Toshiba Satellite L675D-S7016 CPU Fan In fact, Longfellow rarely wrote on current subjects and seemed detached from contemporary American concerns.[101] Even so, Longfellow, like many during this period, called for the development of high quality American literature. In Kavanagh, a character says: We want a national literature commensurate with our mountains and rivers... HP Pavilion dv5-2135dx CPU Fan We want a national epic that shall correspond to the size of the country... We want a national drama in which scope shall be given to our gigantic ideas and to the unparalleled activity of our people... In a word, we want a national literature altogether shaggy and unshorn, that shall shake the earth, like a herd of buffaloes thundering over the prairies.[102] HP Envy 17-3000er CPU Fan He was also important as a translator; his translation of Dante became a required possession for those who wanted to be a part of high culture.[103] He also encouraged and supported other translators. In 1845, he published The Poets and Poetry of Europe, an 800-page compilation of translations made by other writers, including many by his friend and colleague Cornelius Conway Felton.  HP Envy 17 Series CPU Fan Longfellow intended the anthology "to bring together, into a compact and convenient form, as large an amount as possible of those English translations which are scattered through many volumes, and are not accessible to the general reader".[104] In honor of Longfellow's role with translations, HP 532614-001 CPU Fan Harvard established the Longfellow Institute in 1994, dedicated to literature written in the United States in languages other than English.[105] In 1874, Longfellow oversaw a 31-volume anthology called Poems of Places, which collected poems representing several geographical locations, including European, HP Envy 17-3000er CPU Fan Asian, and Arabian countries.[106] Emerson was disappointed and reportedly told Longfellow: "The world is expecting better things of you than this... You are wasting time that should be bestowed upon original production".[107] In preparing the volume, Longfellow hired Katherine Sherwood Bonner as an amanuensis. HP 532614-001 CPU Fan Longfellow's early collections, Voices of the Night and Ballads and Other Poems, made him instantly popular. The New-Yorkercalled him "one of the very few in our time who has successfully aimed in putting poetry to its best and sweetest uses".[45]The Southern Literary Messenger immediately put Longfellow "among the first of our American poets".[45HP 532614-001 CPU Fan ] Poet John Greenleaf Whittier said that Longfellow's poetry illustrated "the careful moulding by which art attains the graceful ease and chaste simplicity of nature".[109] Longfellow's friend Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. wrote of him as "our chief singer" and one who "wins and warms... kindles, softens, cheers [and] calms the wildest woe and stays the bitterest tears!"[110]  HP KSB06105HA CPU Fan The rapidity with which American readers embraced Longfellow was unparalleled in publishing history in the United States;[111] by 1874, he was earning $3,000 per poem.[112] His popularity spread throughout Europe as well and his poetry was translated during his lifetime into Italian, French, German, and other languages.[113] HP 493001-001 CPU Fan As scholar Bliss Perry later wrote, Longfellow was so highly praised that criticizing him was a criminal act like "carrying a rifle into a national park".[114]In the last two decades of his life, he often received requests for autographs from strangers, which he always sent.[115]John Greenleaf Whittier suggested it was this massive correspondence that led to Longfellow's death, writing: "My friend Longfellow was driven to death by these incessant demands".[116] Toshiba BFB0605HA CPU Fan Contemporary writer Edgar Allan Poe wrote to Longfellow in May 1841 of his "fervent admiration which [your] genius has inspired in me" and later called him "unquestionably the best poet in America".[117] However, after Poe's reputation as a critic increased, he publicly accused Longfellow of plagiarism in what has been since termed by Poe biographers as "The Longfellow War".[118] HP Pavilion dv5-1174ca CPU Fan His assessment was that Longfellow was "a determined imitator and a dextrous adapter of the ideas of other people",[117] specificallyAlfred, Lord Tennyson.[119] His accusations may have been a publicity stunt to boost readership of the Broadway Journal, for which he was the editor at the time.[120] Toshiba Satellite A110-101 CPU Fan Longfellow did not respond publicly, but, after Poe's death, he wrote: "The harshness of his criticisms I have never attributed to anything but the irritation of a sensitive nature chafed by some indefinite sense of wrong".[121] Margaret Fuller judged him "artificial and imitative" and lacking force.[ HP Pavilion dv5-1174ca CPU Fan Poet Walt Whitman also considered Longfellow an imitator of European forms, though he praised his ability to reach a popular audience as "the expressor of common themes – of the little songs of the masses".[123] He added, "Longfellow was no revolutionarie: never traveled new paths: of course never broke new paths."[124] HP 535442-001 CPU Fan Lewis Mumford said that Longfellow could be completely removed from the history of literature without much effect.[101] Towards the end of his life, contemporaries considered him more of a children's poet[125] as many of his readers were children.[126] A contemporary reviewer noted in 1848 that Longfellow was creating a "Goody two-shoes kind of literature.. HP Pavilion dv6-3049tx CPU Fan . slipshod, sentimental stories told in the style of the nursery, beginning in nothing and ending in nothing".[127] A more modern critic said, "Who, except wretched schoolchildren, now reads Longfellow?"[101] A London critic in the London Quarterly Review, however, condemned all American poetry, saying, ACER Aspire 5730Z Series CPU Fan "with two or three exceptions, there is not a poet of mark in the whole union" but singled out Longfellow as one of those exceptions.[128] As an editor of the Boston Evening Transcript wrote in 1846, "Whatever the miserable envy of trashy criticism may write against Longfellow, one thing is most certain, no American poet is more read".[129]  HP KSB06105HA CPU Fan Longfellow was the most popular poet of his day.[130] As a friend once wrote to him, "no other poet was so fully recognized in his lifetime".[131] Many of his works helped shape the American character and its legacy, particularly with the poem "Paul Revere's Ride".He was such an admired figure in the United States during his life that his 70th birthday in 1877 took on the air of a national holiday, with parades, HP Pavilion dv5-2135dx CPU Fan speeches, and the reading of his poetry. Over the years, Longfellow's personality has become part of his reputation. He has been presented as a gentle, placid, poetic soul: an image perpetuated by his brother Samuel Longfellow, who wrote an early biography which specifically emphasized these points.[132] Toshiba Satellite L650-1MT CPU Fan As James Russell Lowell said, Longfellow had an "absolute sweetness, simplicity, and modesty".[121] At Longfellow's funeral, his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson called him "a sweet and beautiful soul".[133] In reality, Longfellow's life was much more difficult than was assumed. He suffered from neuralgia, which caused him constant pain, and he also had poor eyesight. SONY Vaio VGN-NW350F CPU Fan He wrote to friend Charles Sumner: "I do not believe anyone can be perfectly well, who has a brain and a heart".[134] He had difficulty coping with the death of his second wife.[73] Longfellow was very quiet, reserved, and private; in later years, he was known for being unsocial and avoided leaving home.[135] Toshiba Satellite M35X-S329 CPU Fan He had become one of the first American celebrities and was also popular in Europe. It was reported that 10,000 copies of The Courtship of Miles Standish sold in London in a single day.[136] Children adored him and, when the "spreading chestnut-tree" mentioned in the poem "The Village Blacksmith" was cut down, SONY Vaio VGN-TX2XP/B CPU Fan   the children of Cambridge had the tree converted into an armchair which they presented to the poet.[137] In 1884, Longfellow became the first non-British writer for whom a commemorative sculpted bust was placed in Poet's Corner ofWestminster Abbey in London; he remains the only American poet represented with a bust.[ LENOVO IdeaPad S10 20015 Laptop Keyboard In 1909, a seated statue of Longfellow sculpted by William Couperwas unveiled in Washington, D. C. More recently, he was honored in March 2007 when the United States Postal Service issued a stamp commemorating him. ACER TravelMate 6292 Laptop Keyboard A number of schools are named after him in various states as well. Neil Diamond's 1974 hit song, "Longfellow Serenade", is a reference to the poet.He is a protagonist in Matthew Pearl's murder mystery The Dante Club (2003). Longfellow's popularity rapidly declined, beginning shortly after his death and into the twentieth century as academics began to appreciate poets like Walt Whitman, FUJITSU Lifebook S7110 Laptop Keyboard Edwin Arlington Robinson, and Robert Frost.[141] In the twentieth century, literary scholar Kermit Vanderbilt noted, "Increasingly rare is the scholar who braves ridicule to justify the art of Longfellow's popular rhymings."20th-century poet Lewis Putnam Turco concluded "Longfellow was minor and derivative in every way throughout his career... nothing more than a hack imitator of the English Romantics."[  DELL Vostro 3550 Laptop Keyboard George Washington (February 22, 1732 [O.S. February 11, 1731][Note 1][Note 2] – December 14, 1799) was the first President of the United States (1789–1797), the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.[3] TOSHIBA PK130260100 Laptop Keyboard He presided over the convention that drafted the United States Constitution, which replaced the Articles of Confederation and remains the supreme law of the land. Washington was elected president as the unanimous choice of the electors in the elections of both 1788–1789 and1792.[4] Lenovo 45N2205 Laptop Keyboard He oversaw the creation of a strong, well-financed national government that maintained neutrality in the wars raging in Europe, suppressed rebellion, and won acceptance among Americans of all types.[5] His leadership style established many forms and rituals of government that have been used since, HP 636376-001 Laptop Keyboard such as using a cabinet system and delivering an inaugural address.[6][7] Further, his retirement after two terms and the peaceful transition from his presidency to that of John Adams established a tradition that continued up until Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to a third term.[8] Washington was hailed as "father of his country" even during his lifetime.[3][9] HP Pavilion dv6-2112sa Laptop Keyboard Washington was born into the provincial gentry of Colonial Virginia; his wealthy planter family owned tobacco plantations and slaves. After both his father and older brother died when he was young, Washington became personally and professionally attached to the powerful William Fairfax, who promoted his career as a surveyor and soldier. HP 517865-031 Laptop Keyboard Washington quickly became a senior officer in the colonial forces during the first stages of the French and Indian War. Chosen by the Second Continental Congress in 1775 to be commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, Washington managed to force the British out of Boston in 1776, HP Compaq NC8430 Laptop Keyboard but was defeated and almost captured later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the Delaware River in the dead of winter, he defeated the British in two battles, retook New Jersey and restored momentum to the Patriot cause. Because of his strategy, Revolutionary forces captured two major British armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781. SAMSUNG NP-N102-JA01DX Laptop Keyboard Historians laud Washington for his selection and supervision of his generals, encouragement of morale and ability to hold together the army, coordination with the state governors and state militia units, relations with Congress and attention to supplies, logistics, and training. In battle, however, Washington was repeatedly outmaneuvered by British generals with larger armies. DELL V119525BS1 Laptop Keyboard After victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned as Commander-in-chief rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to American republicanism. Dissatisfied with the weaknesses of the Continental Congress, TOSHIBA Satellite P500 Laptop Keyboard in 1787 Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention that devised a new Federal government of the United States. Elected unanimously as the first President of the United States in 1789, he attempted to bring rival factions together to unify the nation. He supported Alexander Hamilton's programs to pay off all state and national debt,  Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 Laptop Keyboard to implement an effective tax system and to create a national bank[11] (despite opposition from Thomas Jefferson). Washington proclaimed the United States neutral in the wars raging in Europe after 1793. He avoided war with Great Britain and guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795, despite intense opposition from the Jeffersonians. TOSHIBA Satellite L300 Laptop Keyboard Although he never officially joined the Federalist Party, he supported its programs.Washington's Farewell Address was an influential primer on republican virtue and a warning against partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars. He retired from the presidency in 1797 and returned to his home, DELL AEFM8U00310 Laptop Keyboard Mount Vernon, and his domestic life where he managed a variety of enterprises. He freed all his slaves by his final will. Washington had a vision of a great and powerful nation that would be built on republican lines using federal power.  DELL 0P445M Laptop Keyboard He sought to use the national government to preserve liberty, improve infrastructure, open the western lands, promote commerce, found a permanent capital, reduce regional tensions and promote a spirit of American nationalism.[12] At his death, Washington was eulogized as "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen" by Henry Lee.[13]  TOSHIBA Mini NB 255-SP1002L Laptop Keyboard The Federalists made him the symbol of their party but for many years, the Jeffersonians continued to distrust his influence and delayed building the Washington Monument. As the leader of the first successful revolution against a colonial empire in world history, Washington became an international icon for liberation and nationalism, especially in France and Latin America.[ SONY Vaio VGN-SZ73B/B CPU Fan He is consistently ranked among the top three presidents of the United States, according to polls of both scholars and the general public. The first child of Augustine Washington (1694–1743) and his second wife, Mary Ball Washington (1708–1789), Dell Latitude E6510 CPU Fan George Washington was born on their Pope's Creek Estatenear present-day Colonial Beach in Westmoreland County, Virginia. According to theJulian calendar and Annunciation Style of enumerating years, then in use in the British Empire, Washington was born on February 11, 1731; SONY UDQFRZH13CF0 CPU Fan when the Gregorian calendar was implemented in the British Empire in 1752, in accordance with the provisions of the Calendar (New Style) Act 1750, his birth date became February 22, 1732.[15][Note 1][Note 2] Washington's ancestors were from Sulgrave, England; his great-grandfather, John Washington, had emigrated to Virginia in 1657.[16] HP Pavilion dv6-3370ca CPU Fan George's father Augustine was a slave-owning tobacco planter who later tried his hand in iron-mining ventures.[17]In George's youth, the Washingtons were moderately prosperous members of the Virginia gentry, of "middling rank" rather than one of the leading planter families.[18] HP G62-341NR CPU Fan At this time, Virginia and other southern colonies had become a slave society, in which slaveholders formed the ruling class and the economy was based on slave labor.[19] Six of George's siblings reached maturity, including two older half-brothers, Lawrence and Augustine, from his father's first marriage to Jane Butler Washington, and four full siblings, Samuel, HP 535438-001 CPU Fan Elizabeth (Betty), John Augustine and Charles. Three siblings died before becoming adults: his full sister Mildred died when she was about one,[20] his half-brother Butler died while an infant,[21] and his half-sister Jane died at the age of 12, when George was about 2.[20]George's father died when George was 11 years old, after which George's half-brother Lawrence became a surrogate father and role model. Dell Vostro 3450 CPU Fan William Fairfax, Lawrence's father-in-law and cousin of Virginia's largest landowner, Thomas, Lord Fairfax, was also a formative influence. Washington spent much of his boyhood at Ferry Farm in Stafford County near Fredericksburg. Lawrence Washington inherited another family property from his father, a plantation on the Potomac River which he named Mount Vernon, DELL XPS M170 CPU Fan in honor of his commanding officer, Admiral Edward Vernon. George inherited Ferry Farm upon his father's death and eventually acquired Mount Vernon after Lawrence's death.[22] The death of his father prevented Washington from crossing the Atlantic to receive the rest of his education at England's Appleby School, as his older brothers had done. SONY Vaio VGN-SZ2XP/C CPU Fan He received the equivalent of an elementary school education from a variety of tutors,[23] and also a school run by an Anglican clergyman in or near Fredericksburg.[24] Talk of securing an appointment in the Royal Navy for him when he was 15 was dropped when his widowed mother objected.[ HP Pavilion dv6z-3100 CTO CPU Fan Thanks to Lawrence's connection to the powerful Fairfax family, at age 17 in 1749, Washington was appointed official surveyor for Culpeper County, a well-paid position which enabled him to purchase land in the Shenandoah Valley, the first of his many land acquisitions in western Virginia. HP KSB06105HA CPU Fan Thanks also to Lawrence's involvement in the Ohio Company, a land investment company funded by Virginia investors, and Lawrence's position as commander of the Virginia militia, Washington came to the notice of the new lieutenant governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie. Washington was hard to miss: At exactly six feet, he towered over most of his contemporariesSONY Vaio VPC-EB2S1E/WI CPU Fan In 1751, Washington travelled to Barbados with Lawrence, who was suffering from tuberculosis, with the hope that the climate would be beneficial to Lawrence's health. Washington contracted smallpox during the trip, which left his face slightly scarred, but immunized him against future exposures to the dreaded disease.[  Dell Vostro 3500 CPU Fan Lawrence's health did not improve; he returned to Mount Vernon, where he died in 1752.[28] Lawrence's position as Adjutant General (militia leader) of Virginia was divided into four offices after his death. Washington was appointed by Governor Dinwiddie as one of the four district adjutants in February 1753, with the rank of major in the Virginia militia.[ ASUS BFB0705HA CPU Fan Washington also joined the Freemasons fraternal association in Fredericksburg at this time.[30] The Ohio Company was an important vehicle through which British investors planned to expand into the Ohio Valley, opening new settlements and trading posts for the Indian trade In 1753, the French themselves began expanding their military control into the Ohio Country, HP Pavilion dv6720er CPU Fan a territory already claimed by the British colonies of Virginia and Pennsylvania. These competing claims led to a war in the colonies called the French and Indian War (1754–62), and contributed to the start of the global Seven Years' War (1756–63). By chance, Washington became involved in its beginning. HP KSB06105HA CPU Fan Robert Dinwiddie, lieutenant governor of colonial Virginia, was ordered by the British government to guard the British territorial claims including the Ohio River basin. In late 1753 Washington was ordered by Dinwiddie to deliver a letter asking the French to vacate the Ohio Valley;[31] DELL Inspiron 1720 laptop keyboard he was eager to prove himself as the new adjutant general of the militia, appointed by the Lieutenant Governor himself only a year before. During his trip Washington met with Tanacharison (also called "Half-King") and other Iroquois chiefs allied with England at Logstown to secure their support in case of a military conflict with the French; TOSHIBA Satellite A300-1BZ laptop keyboard Washington and Tanacharison became friends. Washington delivered the letter to the local French commander Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, who politely refused to leave.[32] Washington kept a diary during his expedition which was printed by William Hunter on Dinwiddie's order and which made Washington's name recognizable in Virginia.HP COMPAQ NC6120 laptop keyboard This increased notoriety helped him to obtain a commission to raise a company of 100 men and start his military career.[34] Dinwiddie sent Washington back to the Ohio Country to protect an Ohio Company's crew constructing a fort at present-dayPittsburgh, Pennsylvania. However, before he reached the area, a French force drove out colonial traders and began construction of Fort Duquesne. FUJITSU Lifebook S7110 laptop keyboard A small detachment of French troops led by Joseph Coulon de Jumonville, was discovered by Tanacharison and a few warriors east of present-day Uniontown, Pennsylvania. On May 28, 1754 Washington and some of his militia unit, aided by their Mingoallies, ambushed the French in what has come to be called the Battle of Jumonville Glen. DELL Inspiron 1564 laptop keyboard Exactly what happened during and after the battle is a matter of some controversy, but a few primary accounts agree that the battle lasted about 15 minutes, that Jumonville was killed, and that most of his party were either killed or taken prisoner. Whether Jumonville died at the hands of Tanacharison in cold blood or was somehow shot by an onlooker with a musket as he sat with Washington or by another means, is not completely clear.  Lenovo 45N2205 laptop keyboard The French responded by attacking and capturing Washington at Fort Necessity in July 1754.[37] However, he was allowed to return with his troops to Virginia. Historian Joseph Ellis concludes that the episode demonstrated Washington's bravery, initiative, inexperience and impetuosity.[38] These events had international consequences; SAMSUNG NP-N102-JA01DX laptop keyboard the French accused Washington of assassinating Jumonville, who they claimed was on a diplomatic mission.[38] Both France and Great Britain were ready to fight for control of the region and both sent troops to North America in 1755; war was formally declared in 1756.[39] Braddock disaster 1755  SONY VAIO VGN-NW50JB laptop keyboard In 1755, Washington was the senior American aide to British General Edward Braddock on the ill-fated Braddock expedition. This was the largest British expedition to the colonies, and was intended to expel the French from the Ohio Country. The French and their Indian allies ambushed Braddock, who was mortally wounded in the Battle of the Monongahela. SONY VAIO VGN-CR36G laptop keyboard After suffering devastating casualties, the British retreated in disarray; however, Washington rode back and forth across the battlefield, rallying the remnants of the British and Virginian forces to an organized retreat. COMPAQ Presario CQ40-133TU laptop keyboard Governor Dinwiddie rewarded Washington in 1755 with a commission as "Colonel of the Virginia Regiment and Commander in Chief of all forces now raised in the defense of His Majesty's Colony" and gave him the task of defending Virginia's frontier. The Virginia Regiment was the first full-time American military unit in the colonies (as opposed to part-time militias and the British regular units).  HP Pavilion DV7-3173nr laptop keyboard Washington was ordered to "act defensively or offensively" as he thought best.[41] In command of a thousand soldiers, Washington was a disciplinarian who emphasized training. He led his men in brutal campaigns against the Indians in the west; in 10 months units of his regiment fought 20 battles, and lost a third of its men. DELL 9Z.N1K82.C01 laptop keyboard Washington's strenuous efforts meant that Virginia's frontier population suffered less than that of other colonies; Ellis concludes "it was his only unqualified success" in the war.[42][43] In 1758, Washington participated in the Forbes Expedition to capture Fort Duquesne. SONY 148084122 laptop keyboard He was embarrassed by a friendly fire episode in which his unit and another British unit thought the other was the French enemy and opened fire, with 14 dead and 26 wounded in the mishap. Washington was not involved in any other major fighting on the expedition, and the British scored a major strategic victory, gaining control of the Ohio Valley, SAMSUNG NP-Q320-FS01UK laptop keyboard when the French abandoned the fort. Following the expedition, he retired from his Virginia Regiment commission in December 1758. Washington did not return to military life until the outbreak of the revolution in 1775.[44] Lessons learned SONY VAIO VGN-N38Z/W laptop keyboard Although Washington never gained the commission in the British army he yearned for, in these years the young man gained valuable military, political, and leadership skills.[45][46] He closely observed British military tactics, gaining a keen insight into their strengths and weaknesses that proved invaluable during the Revolution.  ACER MP-04653U4-698 Laptop Keyboard He demonstrated his toughness and courage in the most difficult situations, including disasters and retreats. He developed a command presence—given his size, strength, stamina, and bravery in battle, he appeared to soldiers to be a natural leader and they followed him without question.[  IBM ThinkPad T42 2375 Laptop Keyboard Washington learned to organize, train, drill, and discipline his companies and regiments. From his observations, readings and conversations with professional officers, he learned the basics of battlefield tactics, as well as a good understanding of problems of organization and logistics.[49] He gained an understanding of overall strategy, especially in locating strategic geographical points.[50] GATEWAY MT6919 Laptop Keyboard Historian Ron Chernow is of the opinion that his frustrations in dealing with government officials during this conflict led him to advocate the advantages of a strong national government and a vigorous executive agency that could get results;[45] other historians tend to ascribe Washington's position on government to his later American Revolutionary War service.[  COMPAQ Presario CQ45-208TU Laptop Keyboard He developed a very negative idea of the value of militia, who seemed too unreliable, too undisciplined, and too short-term compared to regulars.[51] On the other hand, his experience was limited to command of at most 1000 men, and came only in remote frontier conditions that were far removed from the urban situations he faced during the Revolution at Boston, New York, Trenton and Philadelphia.[52] Lenovo 3000 Y500 Laptop Keyboard On January 6, 1759, Washington married the wealthy widow Martha Dandridge Custis, then 28 years old. Surviving letters suggest that he may have been in love at the time with Sally Fairfax, the wife of a friend.[53] Nevertheless, George and Martha made a compatible marriage, because Martha was intelligent, gracious, and experienced in managing a planter's estate.[54]  HP Mini 110-3105tu Laptop Keyboard Together the two raised her two children from her previous marriage, John Parke Custis and Martha Parke Custis; later the Washingtons raised two of Mrs. Washington's grandchildren, Eleanor Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis. George and Martha never had any children together – his earlier bout with smallpox in 1751 may have made him sterile. Lenovo 45N2106 Laptop Keyboard The newlywed couple moved to Mount Vernon, near Alexandria, where he took up the life of a planter and political figure. Washington's marriage to Martha greatly increased his property holdings and social standing, and made him one of Virginia's wealthiest men.  TOSHIBA Mini NB 505-SP0160 Laptop Keyboard He acquired one-third of the 18,000-acre (73 km2) Custis estate upon his marriage, worth approximately $100,000, and managed the remainder on behalf of Martha's children, for whom he sincerely cared.In 1754, Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie had promised land bounties to the soldiers and officers who volunteered to serve during the French and Indian War. HP Pavilion dv4-1030ee Laptop Keyboard Lord Botetourt, the new governor, finally fulfilled Dinwiddie's promise in 1769–1770,[58][59] with Washington subsequently receiving title to 23,200 acres (94 km2) near where the Kanawha River flows into the Ohio River, in what is now western West Virginia.[60] He also frequently bought additional land in his own name. HP COMPAQ NX6310 Laptop Keyboard By 1775, Washington had doubled the size of Mount Vernon to 6,500 acres (26 km2), and had increased its slave population to over 100. As a respected military hero and large landowner, he held local office and was elected to the Virginia provincial legislature, the House of Burgesses, beginning in 1758.[61] HP AELX6U00210 Laptop Keyboard Washington lived an aristocratic lifestyle—fox hunting was a favorite leisure activity.He also enjoyed going to dances and parties, in addition to the theater, races, and cockfights. Washington also was known to play cards, backgammon, andbilliards. Like most Virginia planters, he imported luxuries and other goods from England and paid for them by exporting his tobacco crop. HP Probook 4520S Laptop Keyboard

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. He was also the first American to translate Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy and was one of the five Fireside Poets. SONY VAIO PCG-6Q1L CPU Fan Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, which was then a part of Massachusetts. He studied at Bowdoin College. After spending time in Europe he became a professor at Bowdoin and, later, at Harvard College. His first major poetry collections were Voices of the Night (1839) and Ballads and Other Poems (1841). SONY VAIO VGN-C2S Series Laptop Keyboard Longfellow retired from teaching in 1854 to focus on his writing, living the remainder of his life in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a former headquarters ofGeorge Washington. His first wife Mary Potter died in 1835 after a miscarriage. His second wife Frances Appleton died in 1861 after sustaining burns when her dress caught fire. SAMSUNG N150 Laptop Keyboard After her death, Longfellow had difficulty writing poetry for a time and focused on his translation. He died in 1882. Longfellow wrote predominantly lyric poems, known for their musicality and often presenting stories of mythology and legend. HP Pavilion DV9243EA Laptop Keyboard He became the most popular American poet of his day and also had success overseas. He has been criticized, however, for imitating European styles and writing specifically for the masses. Longfellow was born on February 27, 1807, to Stephen Longfellow and Zilpah (Wadsworth) Longfellow in Portland, Maine,[1]then a district of Massachusetts,[2] and he grew up in what is now known as the Wadsworth-Longfellow House. FUJITSU Lifebook E8110 Laptop Keyboard His father was a lawyer, and his maternal grandfather, Peleg Wadsworth, was a general in the American Revolutionary War and a Member of Congress.[3] He was named after his mother's brother Henry Wadsworth, a Navy lieutenant who had died three years earlier at the Battle of Tripoli.[4] Young Longfellow was the second of eight children;[5] Lenovo 3000 Y500 Laptop Keyboard his siblings were Stephen (1805), Elizabeth (1808), Anne (1810), Alexander (1814), Mary (1816), Ellen (1818), and Samuel (1819). Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was enrolled in a dame school at the age of three and by age six was enrolled at the private Portland Academy. In his years there, he earned a reputation as being very studious and became fluent in Latin.[6] HP Pavilion DV8310CA Laptop Keyboard His mother encouraged his enthusiasm for reading and learning, introducing him to Robinson Crusoe and Don Quixote.[7] He printed his first poem — a patriotic and historical four-stanza poem called "The Battle of Lovell's Pond" — in the Portland Gazette on November 17, 1820.[8] He stayed at the Portland Academy until the age of fourteen.  Lenovo 0A62039 Laptop Keyboard He spent much of his summers as a child at his grandfather Peleg's farm in the western Maine town of Hiram. In the fall of 1822, the 15-year-old Longfellow enrolled at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, alongside his brother Stephen.[6] His grandfather was a founder of the college[9] and his father was a trustee.DELL Vostro 3450 Laptop Keyboard There, Longfellow met Nathaniel Hawthorne, who would later become his lifelong friend.[10] He boarded with a clergyman for a time before rooming on the third floor of what is now Maine Hall in 1823.[11] He joined the Peucinian Society, a group of students withFederalist leanings.[12] In his senior year, Longfellow wrote to his father about his aspirations:  TOSHIBA Mini NB 505-SP0160 Laptop Keyboard I will not disguise it in the least... the fact is, I most eagerly aspire after future eminence in literature, my whole soul burns most ardently after it, and every earthly thought centres in it... I am almost confident in believing, that if I can ever rise in the world it must be by the exercise of my talents in the wide field of literature.[13]  Lenovo 3000 G530 4151 Laptop Keyboard He pursued his literary goals by submitting poetry and prose to various newspapers and magazines, partly due to encouragement from a professor named Thomas CogswellUpham.[14] Between January 1824 and his graduation in 1825, he had published nearly 40 minor poems.[15] About 24 of them appeared in the short-lived Boston periodical The United States Literary Gazette.[12SAMSUNG N150 Laptop Keyboard ] When Longfellow graduated from Bowdoin, he was ranked fourth in the class, and had been elected to Phi Beta Kappa.[16] He gave the student commencement address.[14] After graduating in 1825, he was offered a job as professor of modern languages at his alma mater. The story, possibly apocryphal, is that an influential trustee, HP G61-400SP Laptop Keyboard Benjamin Orr, had been so impressed by Longfellow's translation of Horace that he was hired under the condition that he travel to Europe to study French, Spanish, and Italian.[17] Whatever the motivation, he began his tour of Europe in May 1826 aboard the ship Cadmus.[18] His time abroad would last three years and cost his father $2,604.24.[19] COMPAQ Presario CQ40-133TU Laptop Keyboard He traveled to France, Spain, Italy, Germany, back to France, then England before returning to the United States in mid-August 1829.[20] While overseas, he learned French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German, mostly without formal instruction.[21] In Madrid, he spent time withWashington Irving and was particularly impressed by the author's work ethic.[22] HP 317443-001 Laptop Keyboard Irving encouraged the young Longfellow to pursue writing.[23] While in Spain, Longfellow was saddened to learn that his favorite sister, Elizabeth, had died of tuberculosis at the age of 20 that May while he was abroad. On August 27, 1829, he wrote to the president of Bowdoin that he was turning down the professorship because he considered the $600 salary "disproportionate to the duties required".  HP HDX18-1200 CTO Laptop Keyboard The trustees raised his salary to $800 with an additional $100 to serve as the college's librarian, a post which required one hour of work per day.[25] During his years teaching at the college, he translated textbooks in French, Italian, and Spanish;[26] his first published book was in 1833, a translation of the poetry of medieval Spanish poet Jorge Manrique.[27]  DELL Vostro 1014 Laptop Keyboard He also published a travel book, Outre-Mer: A Pilgrimage Beyond the Sea, first published in serial form before a book edition was released in 1835.[26] Shortly after the book's publication, Longfellow attempted to join the literary circle in New York and asked George Pope Morris for an editorial role at one of Morris's publications. SONY Vaio PCG-K215S Laptop Keyboard Longfellow considered moving to New York after New York Universityconsidered offering him a newly created professorship of modern languages, though there would be no salary. The professorship was not created and Longfellow agreed to continue teaching at Bowdoin.[28] It may have been joyless work. He wrote, "I hate the sight of pen, ink, and paper... TOSHIBA Mini NB 300 Series Laptop Keyboard I do not believe that I was born for such a lot. I have aimed higher than this".[29] On September 14, 1831, Longfellow married Mary Storer Potter, a childhood friend from Portland.[30] The couple settled in Brunswick, though the two were not happy there.[31] Longfellow published several nonfiction and fiction prose pieces inspired by Irving, including "The Indian Summer" and "The Bald Eagle" in 1833.[32TOSHIBA K000098730 Laptop Keyboard In December 1834, Longfellow received a letter from Josiah Quincy III, president of Harvard College, offering him the Smith Professorship of Modern Languages with the stipulation that he spend a year or so abroad.[33] There, he further studied German as well as Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, and Icelandic.[34] GATEWAY NV-54 Laptop Keyboard In October 1835, during the trip, his wife Mary had a miscarriage about six months into her pregnancy.[35] She did not recover and died after several weeks of illness at the age of 22 on November 29, 1835. Longfellow had her body embalmed immediately and placed into a lead coffin inside an oak coffin which was then shipped to Mount Auburn Cemetery near Boston.[36] Lenovo 3000 G530 4151 Laptop Keyboard He was deeply saddened by her death, writing "One thought occupies me night and day... She is dead — She is dead! All day I am weary and sad".[37] Three years later, he was inspired to write the poem "Footsteps of Angels" about her. Several years later, he wrote the poem "Mezzo Cammin" expressed his personal struggles in his middle years.[38] SONY VAIO VGN-SZ750N/C Laptop Keyboard When he returned to the United States in 1836, Longfellow took up the professorship at Harvard. He was required to live in Cambridge to be close to the campus and rented rooms at the Craigie House in the spring of 1837,[39] now preserved as theLongfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site. Lenovo 45N2106 Laptop Keyboard The home, built in 1759, had once been the headquarters of George Washington during the Siege of Boston beginning in July 1775.[40] Previous boarders also included Jared Sparks,Edward Everett, and Joseph Emerson Worcester.[41] Longfellow began publishing his poetry, including the collection Voices of the Night in 1839.[42] SAMSUNG R522 laptop keyboard The bulk of Voices of the Night, Longfellow's debut book of poetry, was translations though he also included nine original poems and seven poems he had written as a teenager.[43] Ballads and Other Poems was published shortly thereafter in 1841[44] and included "The Village Blacksmith" and "The Wreck of the Hesperus", which were instantly popular.[45]  Lenovo 45N2141 laptop keyboard Longfellow also became part of the local social scene, creating a group of friends who called themselves the Five of Clubs. Members included Cornelius Conway Felton, George StillmanHillard, and Charles Sumner, the latter of whom would become Longfellow's closest friend over the next 30 years.[46] HP Pavilion dv6-2133ee laptop keyboard As a professor, Longfellow was well liked, though he disliked being "constantly a playmate for boys" rather than "stretching out and grappling with men's minds."[47] Longfellow met Boston industrialist Nathan Appleton and his family, including his son Thomas Gold Appleton, in the town ofThun, Switzerland. HP COMPAQ NX6320 laptop keyboard There, he began courting Appleton's daughter, Frances "Fanny" Appleton. At first, the independent-minded Appleton was not interested in marriage but Longfellow was determined.[48] In July 1839, he wrote to a friend: "[V]ictory hangs doubtful. The lady says she will not! I say she shall! It is not pride, but the madness of passion".[49] ASUS X85S laptop keyboard His friend George StillmanHillard encouraged Longfellow in the pursuit: "I delight to see you keeping up so stout a heart for the resolve to conquer is half the battle in love as well as war".[50] During the courtship, Longfellow frequently walked from Cambridge to the Appleton home in Beacon Hill in Boston by crossing the Boston Bridge. That bridge was replaced in 1906 by a new bridge which was later renamed the Longfellow Bridge. SONY VAIO VGN-N31Z/W laptop keyboard In late 1839, Longfellow published Hyperion, a book in prose inspired by his trips abroad[49] and his unsuccessful courtship of Fanny Appleton.[51] Amidst this, Longfellow fell into "periods of neurotic depression with moments of panic" and took a six-month leave of absence from Harvard to attend a health spa in the former Marienberg Benedictine Convent at Boppard in Germany.[51] ASUS X85S laptop keyboard After returning, Longfellow published a play in 1842, The Spanish Student, reflecting his memories from his time in Spain in the 1820s.[52] There was some confusion over its original manuscript. After being printed in Graham's Magazine, its editor Rufus Wilmot Griswold saved the manuscript from the trash. Longfellow was surprised to hear that it had been saved,  SONY VAIO VGN-N31Z/W laptop keyboard unusual for a printing office, and asked to borrow it so that he could revise it, forgetting to return it to Griswold. The often vindictive Griswold wrote an angry letter in response.[53] A small collection, Poems on Slavery, was published in 1842 as Longfellow's first public support of abolitionism. However, as Longfellow himself wrote, the poems were "so mild that even a Slaveholder might read them without losing his appetite for breakfast".[5ASUS X53S laptop keyboard 4] A critic for The Dial agreed, calling it "the thinnest of all Mr. Longfellow's thin books; spirited and polished like its forerunners; but the topic would warrant a deeper tone".[55] The New England Anti-Slavery Association, however, was satisfied with the collection enough to reprint it for further distribution.[56]  LENOVO AEQA1STU010 laptop keyboard On May 10, 1843, after seven years, Longfellow received a letter from Fanny Appleton agreeing to marry him and, too restless to take a carriage, walked 90 minutes to meet her at her house.[57] They were soon married. Nathan Appleton bought the Craigie House as a wedding present to the pair. Longfellow lived there for the rest of his life.[58 Lenovo 3000 G530 4151 laptop keyboard ] His love for Fanny is evident in the following lines from Longfellow's only love poem, the sonnet "The Evening Star",[59] which he wrote in October 1845: "O my beloved, my sweetHesperus! My morning and my evening star of love!" He once attended a ball without her and noted, "The lights seemed dimmer, the music sadder, the flowers fewer, and the women less fair."[60] COMPAQ Presario CQ40-133TU laptop keyboard He and Fanny had six children: Charles Appleton (1844–1893), Ernest Wadsworth (1845–1921), Fanny (1847–1848), Alice Mary (1850–1928), Edith (1853–1915), and Anne Allegra (1855–1934). Their second-youngest daughter, Edith, married Richard Henry Dana III, son of the popular writer Richard Henry Dana, Jr., author of Two Years Before the Mast.[61] Lenovo 3000 Y500 laptop keyboard When the younger Fanny was born on April 7, 1847, Dr. Nathan Cooley Keep administered ether as the first obstetric anesthetic in the United States to Fanny Longfellow.[62] A few months later, on November 1, 1847, the poem Evangeline was published for the first time.[62] His literary income was increasing considerably: HP Mini 110-3519la laptop keyboard in 1840, he had made $219 from his work but the year 1850 brought him $1,900.[63] On June 14, 1853, Longfellow held a farewell dinner party at his Cambridge home for his friend Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was preparing to move overseas.[64] In 1854, Longfellow retired from Harvard,[65] devoting himself entirely to writing. He was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws from Harvard in 1859.[66] HP COMPAQ 486654-001 laptop keyboard On July 9, 1861,[67] a hot day, Fanny was putting locks of her children's hair into an envelope and attempting to seal it with hot sealing wax while Longfellow took a nap.[68] Her dress suddenly caught fire, though it is unclear exactly how;[69] it may have been burning wax or a lighted candle that fell on her dress.[70] SONY VAIO VGN-C2S Series laptop keyboard Longfellow, awakened from his nap, rushed to help her and threw a rug over her, though it was too small. He stifled the flames with his body as best he could, but she was already badly burned.[69] Over a half a century later, Longfellow's youngest daughter Annie explained the story differently, SONY VAIO VGN-CS17G/R laptop keyboard claiming that there had been no candle or wax but that the fire had started from a self-lighting match that had fallen on the floor.[61] In both versions of the story, however, Fanny was taken to her room to recover and a doctor was called. She was in and out of consciousness throughout the night and was administered ether. The next morning, July 10, 1861, she died shortly after 10 o'clock after requesting a cup of coffee.[ TOSHIBA Satellite L755-S5357 laptop keyboard 71] Longfellow, in trying to save her, had burned himself badly enough for him to be unable to attend her funeral.[72] His facial injuries led him to stop shaving, thereafter wearing the beard which became his trademark.[71] Devastated by her death, he never fully recovered and occasionally resorted to laudanum and ether to deal with it.[73SONY N860-7676-T101 laptop keyboard ] He worried he would go insane and begged "not to be sent to an asylum" and noted that he was "inwardly bleeding to death".[74] He expressed his grief in the sonnet "The Cross of Snow" (1879), which he wrote eighteen years later to commemorate her death:[38] Longfellow spent several years translating Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. DELL E141395 laptop keyboard To aid him in perfecting the translation and reviewing proofs, he invited friends to weekly meetings every Wednesday starting in 1864.[76] The "Dante Club", as it was called, regularly included William Dean Howells, James Russell Lowell, Charles Eliot Norton and other occasional guests.[77] HP 518965-001 laptop keyboard The full three-volume translation was published in the spring of 1867, though Longfellow would continue to revise it,[78] and went through four printings in its first year.[79] By 1868, Longfellow's annual income was over $48,000.[80] In 1874, Samuel Cutler Ward helped him sell the poem "The Hanging of the Crane" to the New York Ledger for $3,000; it was the highest price ever paid for a poem.Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 laptop keyboard During the 1860s, Longfellow supported abolitionism and especially hoped for reconciliation between the northern and southern states after the American Civil War. He wrote in his journal in 1878: "I have only one desire; and that is for harmony, and a frank and honest understanding between North and South".[82] LENOVO IdeaPad S10 20015 laptop keyboard Longfellow, despite his aversion to public speaking, accepted an offer from Joshua Chamberlain to speak at his fiftieth reunion at Bowdoin College; he read the poem "MorituriSalutamus" so quietly that few could hear him.[83] The next year, 1876, he declined an offer to be nominated for the Board of Overseers at Harvard "for reasons very conclusive to my own mind".[84]  DELL Inspiron N4050 laptop keyboard On August 22, 1879, a female admirer traveled to Longfellow's house in Cambridge and, unaware to whom she was speaking, asked Longfellow: "Is this the house where Longfellow was born?" Longfellow told her it was not. The visitor then asked if he had died here. "Not yet", he replied.[85] In March 1882, Longfellow went to bed with severe stomach pain. HP Mini 1151NR laptop keyboard He endured the pain for several days with the help of opium before he died surrounded by family on Friday, March 24, 1882.[86]He had been suffering from peritonitis.[87] At the time of his death, his estate was worth an estimated $356,320.[80] He is buried with both of his wives atMount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  SONY KFRMBA220A laptop keyboard His last few years were spent translating the poetry of Michelangelo; though Longfellow never considered it complete enough to be published during his lifetime, a posthumous edition was collected in 1883. Scholars generally regard the work as autobiographical, reflecting the translator as an aging artist facing his impending death.[88] HP Pavilion DV7-3078nr laptop keyboard Though much of his work is categorized as lyric poetry, Longfellow experimented with many forms, including hexameter andfree verse.[89] His published poetry shows great versatility, using anapestic and trochaic forms, blank verse, heroic couplets, ballads and sonnets.[90] Typically, Longfellow would carefully consider the subject of his poetic ideas for a long time before deciding on the right metrical form for it.[91Toshiba Satellite L550-20W CPU Fan ] Much of his work is recognized for its melody-like musicality.[92]As he says, "what a writer asks of his reader is not so much to like as to listen".[93] As a very private man, Longfellow did not often add autobiographical elements to his poetry. Two notable exceptions are dedicated to the death of members of his family. SONY Vaio VPC-EB3E1R/BQ CPU Fan "Resignation", written as a response to the death of his daughter Fanny in 1848, does not use first-person pronouns and is instead a generalized poem of mourning.[94] The death of his second wife Frances, as biographer Charles Calhoun wrote, deeply affected Longfellow personally but "seemed not to touch his poetry, at least directly".[9Dell Precision M4500 CPU Fan