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00:00In this video, we are going to learn about an important man in American history, George Washington.
00:09George Washington was a military general and led the American colonists to victory in the American Revolution.
00:16He was a founding father of the United States, meaning he was one of the people who started the United States of America.
00:23And he served as the first president of the United States, the very first president of the United States.
00:33Let's look at his life to see how George Washington helped start the United States of America.
00:39It starts in 1732.
00:42That was a long time ago.
00:46George Washington was born in the colony of Virginia in 1732.
00:51Now, when George Washington was born, the colony of Virginia was part of Great Britain.
00:57In fact, all of the American colonies were part of Great Britain.
01:04This is what the British flag looked like during George Washington's lifetime.
01:10It looked pretty similar to what it looks like today.
01:13The colony of Virginia, the place where George Washington grew up, belonged to Great Britain.
01:21Now, a lot of people have wondered what George Washington was like as a kid, right?
01:28But George Washington didn't share many details about his childhood.
01:34There is a popular legend about George Washington when he was six years old.
01:40It's an interesting one.
01:45The legend says that George Washington received an axe for his birthday and used it on one of his dad's cherry trees.
01:54Uh-oh!
01:55That's a weird gift to get for your sixth birthday.
01:58When his dad found out that his cherry tree was damaged by young George, George was brave and told his dad the truth, saying,
02:09I cannot tell a lie.
02:12This legend is one of the most famous legends in American history.
02:17The legend was written by this guy, a man named Parson Weems.
02:24That's an interesting name.
02:26He was the first person to write a biography on George Washington after he died.
02:32Most historians believe this story was made up by Parson Weems.
02:36Even though it was made up, it is a legend that many people think of when they think of George Washington.
02:43One thing we know for sure about George's childhood is that his dad died when George was just 11 years old.
02:57After his dad died, George spent some time living with his half-brother named Lawrence at a place called Mount Vernon,
03:06the plantation owned by Lawrence.
03:09George was able to learn how to survey land.
03:20To survey land is to figure out the distance between different parts of a piece of land,
03:26usually to figure out how big a piece of land is.
03:30Someone who surveys land is called a land surveyor.
03:34In order to be a land surveyor, you have to know a lot of math.
03:41George Washington had to use his math skills to survey land.
03:45As he got older, people paid him to survey their land,
03:49and he had to use math skills every time he did it.
03:53This is pretty cool.
03:57Here is a picture of a land survey done by George Washington himself.
04:02Oh my goodness, he had fancy handwriting.
04:07This is so sad.
04:08He may have continued working as a surveyor if it weren't for another tragedy in his life.
04:15Nine years after his dad died, George's half-brother Lawrence got sick and died too.
04:22George was 20 years old when Lawrence died.
04:28Two years later, when George was just 22 years old, he became the full owner of Mount Vernon.
04:36Now, we didn't mention this earlier, but Lawrence had been a military general for the British in the Virginia Militia.
04:47Remember, the colony of Virginia, like the other American colonies, belonged to Great Britain.
04:56George decided to follow in his footsteps and became a major in the Virginia Militia.
05:02This was a big deal, especially for someone as young as George was.
05:09And it didn't take long for George Washington to be put to the test.
05:17The governor of Virginia sent George Washington on a special mission
05:22to tell the French to leave an area called the Ohio Valley.
05:26They didn't like that, and they made it clear they would not leave the Ohio Valley.
05:34And one year later, George Washington led hundreds of soldiers in an event
05:38that would start the French and Indian War.
05:41The French and Indian War made George Washington famous.
05:45He wrote about his experiences and became well-known,
05:49not just in the colonies, but also across the Atlantic Ocean in Great Britain.
05:55The French and Indian War not only made George Washington famous,
06:03but it also gave him military experience that he would later need during the American Revolution.
06:09After the war, George was not offered a placement in the regular British Army,
06:14which must have been so frustrating after all he did.
06:16And he returned to his plantation, remember, called Mount Vernon.
06:22He got married to a lady named Martha and started a family at Mount Vernon.
06:33So he settled down, and that might have been the end of his story,
06:37but he also got involved in politics, which would put him at the right place at the right time.
06:44After years of being a politician in Virginia,
06:49in 1774, George Washington was chosen to be a delegate of Virginia in the First Continental Congress.
06:58A delegate is someone who is sent to represent other people.
07:02Virginia trusted George Washington to represent their interests.
07:07It was really cool.
07:07George Washington was frustrated with how the colonies were being treated by Great Britain,
07:17just like so many other colonists.
07:21Many of their rights were taken away by laws called the Intolerable Acts.
07:27Colonists called them the Intolerable Acts because they weren't able to take it.
07:31They were intolerable.
07:32Well, in 1775, the American Revolutionary War began,
07:42and the Second Continental Congress decided to set up their own army called the Continental Army.
07:50They selected George Washington as the commander of the Continental Army.
07:56It made sense.
07:57He not only had a lot of experience as a general in the French and Indian War,
08:01but he also wanted the American colonies to be independent and free from Great Britain.
08:07George Washington accepted the position,
08:10but he refused to get paid to serve as commander of the Continental Army.
08:14That's right.
08:15He wanted to volunteer and serve without any cost to the American colonies.
08:20What a nice guy.
08:25So he got to work.
08:26George Washington trained and prepared the Continental Army for battle.
08:31He wanted to make sure they were ready and helped them become a better, stronger army.
08:39And here was his job, if you will.
08:42George Washington helped come up with battle plans,
08:45led the Continental Army in many battles,
08:48and helped the Continental Army run like a well-organized unit.
08:53And he was a great commander.
08:55Part of what made him a great commander was he was not afraid to take risks.
09:00For example, in one of the most famous moments in the Revolutionary War,
09:09George Washington led troops across the Delaware River to do a surprise attack on December 25th in 1776.
09:18That was Christmas night!
09:20Oh my goodness!
09:21Even though the water was icy and dangerous,
09:24George Washington knew it would be a great surprise attack.
09:28Everyone was like,
09:29George, too much ice!
09:30Too much ice, man!
09:32But they pressed on,
09:33and it was a big victory for the Continental Army.
09:38George Washington eventually led the Continental Army to victory.
09:42With help from the French,
09:44the Americans defeated the British.
09:50After winning the Revolutionary War,
09:53the American colonies began setting up their brand new government.
09:59And really to no one's surprise,
10:02George Washington was picked to lead the Constitutional Convention
10:05that established order in the new government.
10:09And of course, because he was presiding over everything,
10:12George Washington signed the Constitution.
10:20Then, when it came time to elect officials,
10:23the American people decided there was no better man to serve
10:28as the very first President of the United States
10:31than George Washington himself.
10:34He was elected President in the first national election.
10:38In 1789, after he was sworn in as President of the United States,
10:45he went to live in Philadelphia.
10:48Philadelphia was the temporary capital of the United States.
10:53This is a picture of the house he lived in while he was President.
10:57Now, of course, this was before the White House was built.
11:00This is the house in Philadelphia that George Washington lived in.
11:09Before we keep talking about George Washington as President,
11:13we have a random fun fact about George Washington for you.
11:17Did you know that George Washington didn't wear a wig?
11:23That's right.
11:24That was always his own hair.
11:27He grew it long and would just pull it back.
11:30The reason his hair always looked white
11:33was because he powdered his hair.
11:35He must have thought it looked awesome.
11:37So if anyone ever asks you for a cool random fact,
11:42let them know that George Washington didn't wear a wig.
11:45I guess he didn't need one.
11:51It's shocking, isn't it, Mr. Whiskers?
11:53It's just crazy he didn't wear a wig.
11:56He didn't wear a wig.
11:57All right.
11:57Well, back to George Washington as President.
12:02As we mentioned earlier, he was living in Philadelphia,
12:05which was the temporary capital of the United States,
12:08which is interesting.
12:09And as you might imagine, as neat as being the first president sounds,
12:13it was really difficult and challenging.
12:16There were many issues that needed fixing.
12:18You know, being a brand new nation and all.
12:25But George Washington worked hard to give the United States a strong start.
12:30In the second national election,
12:32George Washington was elected president for the second time.
12:36He refused to run a third time and started the tradition by most presidents
12:41of serving no more than two terms.
12:44Can you spot President George Washington in this picture?
12:49Uh-huh.
12:50Yeah, he's right there.
12:51Right there.
12:52Yep.
12:53Mm-hmm.
12:55Not only did George Washington help the American colonies win their independence
12:59and become a new nation,
13:01but George Washington also served as the first president of the United States.
13:06That is why George Washington is often called the father of his country.
13:16Sadly, George Washington wasn't able to see much of what America would become.
13:22He became sick and died in 1799 at Mount Vernon.
13:26George Washington made a huge impact and he is celebrated and honored all around us.
13:34The capital of the United States, Washington, D.C., was named after George Washington.
13:44The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. was built to honor the memory of George Washington,
13:50the father of the United States.
13:52We see George Washington honored on our money like the dollar bill.
13:59Dollar bills are super cool and George Washington is on all of them.
14:07He is also on the quarter.
14:10George Washington is on the front of every single quarter, even the state quarters.
14:14And, of course, George Washington is on Mount Rushmore.
14:19It's the amazing sculpture that was carved right into the granite of a mountain in South Dakota.
14:26Wow.
14:27He is featured on many other sculptures, but this is the biggest and most famous.
14:36What a life George Washington lived.
14:39Here are just a couple of his accomplishments.
14:41He was a general in the French and Indian War.
14:43He was the commander of the Continental Army and he was the first president of the United States.