So, when George Washington was born, according to the Julian calendar it was February 11, 1731. When the calendar changed, so did his birthday. While some people just had their birthdates move 11 days according to the change, Washington's actually moved a whole year (since the 'new year' on the Julian Calendar wasn't until March 25), changing his birthday to February 22, 1732. Confusing, yes. But, fun fact, and something we'll run into a few more times. So just keep that in mind. And George, well, he apparently didn't buy into this new calendar too much, because he always celebrated his birthday on February 11.
But, February 11 or February 22, here we are at the Father of our Country's birthday at the Waterstraut household. If I psyched myself out about Lincoln, Washington was even worse. I mean again, how do you do him justice? And how do you present him in a way that kids find interesting, since everyone knows so much about him already? I drug my feet and procrastinated like CRAZY. I only finished the 'Story of George Washington' yesterday. That story, was 27 pages long. To give you some perspective, FDR was 24. (To be fair I use a really large font and highlight the important parts so I don't forget anything when I give the toy timeline presentation), but still it was a doozie.
I've decided owl mail was in order, maybe we'll do it for every president. It's nice to get some age appropriate worksheets on whatever we're talking about to get everyone a little more information tailored to their skill levels, and they like when I add in some word searches and things too.
George Washington is getting a little special treatment today, as we have two meals and a dessert in his honor today. First up was a brunch of George Washington Hoecakes. These were a favorite of the General (everyone called him General, even Martha). These might look like pancakes, but they are way more dense. They are named howcakes, because they used to be made on garden hoes bent so that you could put them on the fire and have a griddle type service. They're made mostly from cornmeal, and George Washington topped with with honey and butter. They, however, were not awesome. (Which we kind of saw coming, so we added the sausage, potatoes, and eggs).
After lunch and some chores, we got on with the toy timeline.
Augustine Washington was George's father. He was married to Jane Butler, and they had a bunch of kids (only two lived to adulthood though). The most notable of the kids he had with Jane was Lawrence Washington (seen here are Obi Wan). Jane died, and Augustine remarried Mary Ball just a year later.
George (I'm so badass, I don't need a middle name) Washington was the first child born to Mary Ball and Augustine. They went on to have six kids, but George would be closest to his older half-brother, Lawrence. Not a lot in known about George Washington childhood, but we do know he was born in colonial Virgina, and he was tutored at home until for about a total of 8 years. Augustine died when George was 11, and Lawrence took on the roll of father for his younger brother. Since Augustine was gone, Mary couldn't afford to send George off to college in Europe (like his brothers had done), and so he never went to college. But, despite his limited formal schooling, he was super good at math. Oh, and when his dad died, he inherited 10 slaves from him. (At Washington's death he would own over 300 slaves). The Mount Vernon land wasn't given to George, however, it was given to his older brother.
Lawrence looked out for his little brother, he tried to get him into the Royal Navy at age 14, but Mary refused to give her permission. At age 16 George began work as a surveyor, plotting and mapping out land using his mad math skills. He was actually a pretty awesome surveyor (because that's a phrase that's totally common), and became the county surveyor by the time he was 17.
When he was 19, Lawrence came down with tuberculosis. George and Lawrence headed to Barbados (the only foreign county George would ever visit) hoping the warm climate and humidity would help. Because, that's a valid treatment to ailments in the 1700's, just go on vacation. I know you're shocked to hear, but it actually didn't help, and both Washington boys were just miserable. Lawrence was miserable and George caught smallpox. Tuberculosis claimed the life of Lawrence, but George wouldn't let a little thing like smallpox get in his way. Or, tuberculosis. Or dysentery. Or diphtheria. Or pneumonia. Or malaria. Or any other weird disease that anyone who's anyone died of in the 1700's. Because George Washington? He was IMMORTAL. Or at least he thought he was, and he had the proof to back it up.
(Forgive the lack of pictures here, Asa had a transfer call)
Not only could disease not kill him, neither could war. Before George Washington was busy being a badass crossing the Delaware on Christmas Day, or rallying his troops from a miserable winter at Valley Forge-- all whil efighting the British, he actually fought FOR the British in the French and Indian War. Ok, now I know some stuff about history, but I needed a recap on this whole French and Indian War non-sense. So, it was a portion of the 7 years War, a war between the British and French for control of well, anything and everything. The portion fought in the US, that was called the French and Indian War, which actually isn't at all what the name suggests. The British fought the French for control of land in Canada and America, and each side had the help of various Indian tribes. Spoiler alert: The British won the French and Indian War. Does anyone else feel like that's a trick question. Whoever named this war, you suck.
So, that's not all that interesting. Sorry, sometimes it's not. But, what IS interesting, is George Washington (who was totally impulsive and not all that tactical, and actually LOST way more battles than he won in his time), nearly died fighting for the British. He had TWO horses shot out from under him during the SAME BATTLE. Oh yea, and somehow he had holes in his jacket from muscat balls, but that's it. Just his coat. No injury whatsoever. This guy should have been a goner. But even a little MUSCAT BALL couldn't penetrate a couple layers of clothes. (Which he designed by the way, he had quite the eye for fashion)
We gave him a nice hole in his uniform in memory of his immortality.
Not only was he immortal, he was as charismatic as they come. He exuded confidence, he was a good dancer, great in social situations, good at just about everything, and people just liked him, so it was a natural progression for him to be a representative in the first legislative assembly of elected officials: The House of Burgesses. He made some friends there you might have heard of: Thomas Jefferson and Patrick 'Give me liberty or give me death" Henry (what.. what.. name dropping up in here!)
And then good old George met the pretty rich, totally likable, widowed, socialite, Martha. I know you're thinking 'what? Martha?', but um, google her, she was a looker in her heyday (at least by 1700's standards), and she came with quite the dowry of land my friends. A real catch. Martha had been married before, but her first husband wasn't immortal, and she was widowed by her mid-twenties with two kids, Jacky and Patsy. George and Martha got married, and the rest is history.
Kind of, we actually don't know that much about their marriage. Most of what we know about George comes from the man himself. He wrote over 20,000 letters in his lifetime, including one to his best friend's wife, Sally, who he had a bit of a crush on (scandalous!), and a hefty amount to his wife over the 40 years of their marriage. Unlike Sally, Martha burned or distroyed most her letters to retain their privacy. Only FIVE letters to each other actually remain today. It's how we know his teeth bothered him his whole life. All kinds of fun tidbits and quotes come from his letters.
By now George was living at Mount Vernon. If you don't remember, we visited Mount Vernon last May. It's a pretty awesome place, and it was nice for the boys to have that frame of reference. When Lawrence died, his widow got Mount Vernon. She remarried, moved away and rented the estate to George and Martha. When she died the whole place was willed to him.
Even today, when you visit Mount Vernon, it's pretty evident Washington was a fan of animals. But, in fact he treated them like family. His dogs got to eat at the table, and he had funny, funny names for the American Foxhounds he bred at Mount Vernon, my favorites: Tipsy, Sweet Lips, and Drunkard. Washington might have liked his alcohol (in his later years he even had a Distillery). He BRUSHED HIS HORSE'S TEETH. Speaking of horses, he actually is responsible for mules- he figured breeding donkeys and horses made for some hardworking farm animals.
Owning as much land as he did made it easy for him and his friends in the House of Burgesses to get pretty pissed with the British and their taxes. And there were protests, and some dumping of tea into the sea, and some red coats making a stink. Taxation without Representation, not cool King George, not cool.
So, when they all met up at the Second Continental Congress, George Washington decided he'd show up in HIS MILITARY UNIFORM, because he knew where this was heading. And what better guy to lead the Continental Army than the immortal himself. So, everyone looked around and said, Hey George, why don't you do ahead and head off to Massachusetts. I mean who else was going to go? Ben Franklin? What's he gonna do? Attack them with a layden jar, a kite and a key? Whoo them by speaking French? To be fair, he did command troops during the French and Indian War, but come on, I mean, George was dressed for it. He was the obvious choice.
So off he went.
Then you know, The British are Coming! There's a Shot heard round the world,
And The Battles of Lexington and Concord, that you should all know about. (If you don't, come on, I can't teach you EVERYTHING!)
So the Revolutionary War wages on. And General George, well he STILL lost more battles than he won. But, one snowy Christmas Day when the Bristish (more specifically the Hessians, German soldiers paid by the British to fight for them) were least expecting it (because who would be crazy enough to fight in weather like that?),George crossed the Delaware. Sneak Attack for the win.
Historians have called him "a mediocre military strategist, but a master political tactician with almost a perfect sense of timing and a developed capacity to exploit his charismatic reputation, using people who thought they were losing him." Sounds like this guy would be great on Survivor. I mean he made it through the harsh winter at Valley Forge. Somehow he rallied his troops who were dying left and right, freezing, malnourished and lacking shoes. If that's not Survivor material, I don't know what is.
And then you know, the Battle of Yorktown, Cornwallis waves the white flag, and we have ourselves a winner. Suck it, King George.
So the old gang all gets back together to handle the whole business of making a new country. They know they'll need a leader, and who better than George Washington? He becomes the first person to sign the Constitution AND the first leaded of the United States. But, he needed a fancy new title to go with his fancy new job. Nobody wanted another King George, so that was out of the question. His elective majesty? His highness? His mightiness? None of that seemed to fit. Instead, George said he'd like to just be called "Mr. President". And so, General had a new title.
Fun facts about George, he's the only president to be elected unanimously be the electors (both times!). He's the only president inaugurated in two different cities (New York City, and Philadelphia), and he's the only president who never had to RUN for president. He just was. And well he might have had tons of money, but he was mostly land rich. He had to borrow cash to make it to New York City for his first inauguration. Martha didn't even attend. He was sworn in with the oath of office and ad-libbed 'So help me God' to the end.
With George as the first President, John Adams became the first Vice President. Martha was slightly less thrilled with her new job. The term 'first lady' wouldn't be coined until later, and she simply went by 'Lady Washington'; but title or not she wasn't particularly a fan of the job. She called it being a 'state prisoner'. Yikes.
There was a lot of work to be done during his presidency. They had to build a country. He established the Supreme Court. He set up the Navy. He created the mint, the first bank and the dollar as our currency. He even created the first copy write law. He also helped pick the land for the nation's capital city that would be named for him. Though he would never live there (the only president NOT to live in the Executive Mansion), he helped design the White House, and the Capital Building.
His eight years as president was pretty peaceful, except for that pesky Whiskey Rebellion. Don't try and tax farmers on their alcohol, they get pissy apparently. Although, all you have to do is send a sitting president in ready to kick ass, and things pretty much settle down.
George didn't want to overstay his welcome so after two terms, he figured it was someone else's turn to run the county. His decision to only serve two terms became a precedent and nobody would serve more than that till FDR decided he would be President forever- or until he died. Whichever came first. He stepped down and left his friends in charge.
He went back to Mount Vernon where he caught a cold, because he was out riding around on his horse in the sleet and freezing rain. His throat swelled up, and he couldn't breath. Doctors tried everything, including drawing massive amounts of blood to lessen the swelling. It relieved his pain a bit, but George knew he was dying. Long overdue by any normal person standards, death was finally coming for him. He spoke his wishes to be buried at Mount Vernon, not in Washington D.C, and at 10:20 pm on December 14, 1799 Washington died.
At his death, Washington owned more than 300 slaves, and in his will he stipulated when Martha died, they would all be freed. He is the only slave holding president to do so. A vault in D.C. was design as Washington's resting place, and despite pressure to bury him there, Martha refused. The vault, to this day, remains empty.
I don't think I need to talk about his legacy. He was the first one, come on. He ranks up there with Lincoln, obviously.
Speaking of, Abraham Lincoln made February 22, Washington's Gregorian Calendar birthday, a National Holiday. It wasn't until the 60's when Congress decided federal holidays needed to be on Mondays (they just wanted a three day weekend, jerks), that Washington's Birthday was designated as the third Monday in February. This ensured the holiday would never actually be celebrated ON February 22nd though (as the latest the first Monday can be is the 21st). Today we all know it as President's Day, but in actuality the name of the Federal Holiday is Washington's Birthday, it's never officially been changed to President's Day.
Washington didn't have a political party. He's the only president not to have one. So, his number one is made up of maps instead. We added some facts the boys had learned from the timeline and wrote them up on the 1 along with adding some of the props from the toy timeline.
We have his contributions to the U.S. government, and Barbados as a reminder of the only country George Washington ever visited.
Instead of five fun facts, we have five FALSE facts. Blame Parson Weems for most of them. There was no chopping down of a cherry tree, or praying at Valley Forge, or Silver Dollar tosses across the Potomac.
And some of our fun quotes come from George's facebook page. Among my favorites: "it is better to be alone than in bad company"; and "it's better to offer no excuse than a bad one".
The first activity was the day was researching and making a poster of another 'famous firsts'.
I had made a list of things from them to choose from.
Calib went with first person to climb Mount Everest.
Hayden went with the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic.
And Peyton went with the first man on the moon.
We made our birthday cards for his 238th Birthday.
And added our historical hashtag..
Actually I never chopped down that cherry tree #Icannottellalie #HonestB4Abe
And then our second activity. It was time to do a little exercise on Taxation without representation. The boys were given a couple of packages of Smarties, and told they were getting them for their job well down on Washingtons birthday. But, before they could eat it; they had to pay their taxes.
Here are the various taxes.
Asa the tax collector got his cut, some went into the Parliament basket, and the rest went to me, the Queen.
And boy, were they not happy about this.
There were actual tears. And, I'm not going to lie, Asa and I laughed.
And our point got across. Taxation without Representation, not cool at all.
So my February board is complete. I am going to be sad to see this one go in another week or so.
And the February Birthdays are all done. Eight down, 35 to go.
Dinner tonight was fish and veggies, some of Washington's favorite foods. I had gotten the talapia stuffed with crab at Target on markdown, and it was SO good. Much better dinner than brunch.
Dessert was another Washington favorite, cherry cobbler. We haven't dished it up yet, but I'm sure it'll be awesome. Asa does a great job cooking these days. We'll put some ice cream over it, as Washington was a huge fan of ice cream as well.
If you're wondering what else we've been up to this past week, the answer is not much. I know I usually post so that a president gets his own blog, but there really wasn't much to report. Asa's three days off were a glorious three days in which we didn't do a thing. I don't know if you had noticed, but the last three weeks (at least) had been go, go, go, and I needed a break. I've been at this home school/ stay at home mom thing long enough to see a burnout waiting to happen, so I took some days off before we got back at it.
Not to mention it was (litterally) FREEZING this week (though yesterday and today have been beautiful), so nobody really wanted to venture out. We played games. Lots and lots of games. I won spy alley in a time and a half around the board! And caught up on TV. One night we even all ate our slow cooker dinner on the coach. But, by Friday we were back to Checklists, and I was back in planning mode.
We did also take some time this week to put together Hayden's Knex Roller Coaster he had gotten for his birthday. It was a all hands on deck project, but Asa did a great job spearheading the effort and staying way more patient than I ever could.
Oh and we got our season ticket renewal stuff. Our poor, poor member rep, apparently people have just been awful to her as she's been calling to see who wants to renew. It's not her fault the Bucs never won at home last year, people. Geesh.
That's it from here. I was told a couple of times last week that people (grown adults even!) were learning some fun things from my presidents project, and that makes me pretty happy. I know this one was long winded, so kudos to you for making it through.
Next Up: We have some things planned for our 'weekend', but we'll have to see if the weather holds. But the countdown to the big bonus check is on (you know, in case I haven't bragged enough lately, my husband was the top ranked agent in the whole center!)
