George Washington

Significance: The first President of the United States.

Date of Birth: February 22, 1732

Date of Death: December 14, 1799

Place of Burial: Mount Vernon, Virginia

Gilbert Stuart, George Washington, c. 1804.

George Washington was born here, at a tobacco plantation along the shore of Popes Creek, in February of 1732. Although the Gregorian calendar had been introduced over a century beforehand, Great Britain and its colonies had not officially shifted their calendar system until September of 1752. George, who was 20 years old at that time, would have been accustomed to using the Julian Calendar, in which case his birthday would have been February 11th. Today, we acknowledge his birthday according to the Gregorian calendar, on February 22nd.

Three generations of the Washington family had lived upon this land before him and served their community as Justices of the Peace and elected members of the House of Burgesses. During the time of his forefathers, the Tidewater region of Virginia had developed a distinct culture based on a plantation economy that gave rise to the gentry, a small class of individuals who acquired wealth and large land holdings through the cultivation and sale of tobacco. The gentry dominated political, social, and economic life in much of 17th and 18th century Virginia. Cultivating and selling tobacco, through the use of enslaved labor, was essential to supporting the gentry way of life. In addition to managing the business of a tobacco plantation, gentry men were also expected to serve in government and community positions that preserved the social, economic, political, and religious order.

Augustine Washington moved his family upriver when George was three years old, and died when George was eleven. George would have been old enough, though, to watch how his father handled the business of a plantation and iron furnace, as well as how both parents made decisions and interacted with a variety of people of varying social status. Young George also observed how his mother chose not to remarry, a somewhat unusual choice for a woman in the 18th century. Her decision not to remarry meant responsibility for running their plantation and providing for the family, but it also legally protected her children’s inheritance. George would return to visit Popes Creek when his older half-brother, Augustine Junior, inherited this property. It was in the modern day park boundary that George performed his first survey at age 14.George’s childhood experiences, Augustine’s and Mary’s examples, and the culture into which he was born shaped George’s worldview and influenced the person he became.

Read more about the adult career of George Washington.