A Companion to George Washington

George Washington is a national American icon. A towering historical figure both in stature and reputation Washington has attracted generations of scholars while continuing to fascinate the modern public. Yet with so many scholarly and popular works available on Washington, could there possibly be anything new left to be said? The answer is an emphatic yes, with the recent release of some 135,000 new documents through the Papers of George Washington, documentary editing project dedicated to the transcription and publication of original documents. Utilizing this treasure trove of new primary source material, A Companion to George Washington presents a series of original essays that shed important new light on the most enigmatic of the original founding fathers. Featuring original research from several top scholars and popular historians, readings examine almost every conceivable aspect of the great man s life, including Washington s youth, family, and education; his experiences in the French and Indian War; his views on slavery and the management of Mount Vernon; his military career, political career, and retirement; and Washington s enduring legacy for the United States. A Companion to George Washington offers modern readers and scholars alike with a wealth of fresh and fascinating new insights into America s first founding father.

List of Figures viii

Notes on Contributors ix

Introduction xvi

1. The Youth of George Washington 1
Jessica E. Brunelle

2. The Unlikely Success of a Provincial Surveyor: George Washington Finds Fame in the American Frontier, 1749 1754 15
Jason E. Farr

3. Treating American Indians as Slaves , Dogs , and Unwanted Allies: George Washington, Edward Braddock, and the Influence of Ethnocentrism and Diplomatic Pragmatism in Ohio Valley Military Relations, 1753 1755 32
John K. Rowland

4. A Provincial Goes to War: George Washington and the Virginia Regiment, August 1755 January 1759 53
Peter C. Luebke

5. Entrepreneur 70
Dennis J. Pogue

6. George Washington and His Family 86
Patricia Brady

7. Washington and Slavery 104
L. Scott Philyaw

8. What Manner of Man I Am : The Political Career of George Washington before the Revolution 121
Taylor Stoermer

9. George Washington and the Siege of Boston 137
Robert J. Allison

10. George Washington at New York: The Campaign of 1776 153
Barnet Schecter

11. The Crossing: The Trenton and Princeton Campaign of 1776 1777 173
Stuart Leibiger

12. George Washington and the Philadelphia Campaign 1777 190
Thomas J. McGuire

13. Washington at Valley Forge 209
Mary Stockwell

14. The Politics of Battle: Washington, the Army, and the Monmouth Campaign 226
Mark Edward Lender

15. The most unlimited Confidence in his Wisdom & Judgement : Washington as Commander in Chief in the First Years of the French Alliance 245
Benjamin L. Huggins

16. Washington, Rochambeau, and the Yorktown Campaign of 1781 266
Robert A. Selig

17. High Time For Peace : George Washington and the Close of the American Revolution 288
William M. Fowler, Jr.

18. George Washington s Navy 302
John B. Hattendorf

19. Washington s Irregulars 320
John W. Hall

20. George Washington Spymaster 344
John A. Nagy

21. Administrator in Chief 358
Cheryl R. Collins

22. George Washington: America s First Soldier 378
Thomas A. Rider II

23. Revolution and Peace 399
James M. Mac Donald

24. George Washington and the Constitution 413
Whit Ridgway

25. George Washington and Republican Government: The Political Thought of George Washington 430
Nicholas P. Cole

26. One Cause, One Purpose, One Nation: George Washington, the Whiskey Insurrection, and Executive Authority 447
Carol S. Ebel

27. Securing the Revolution: The American Economy and the Challenge of Independence 471
Dana John Stefanelli

28. George Washington and the Emergence of Party Politics in the New Nation 490
Rosemarie Zagarri

29. Foreign Policy in the Presidential Era 506
Jeffrey J. Malanson

30. George Washington in Retirement 524
Alexia Jones Helsley

31. George Washington′s Mind 542
William M. Ferraro

32. Religion: George Washington, Anglican Gentleman 558
Mary V. Thompson

33. George Washington, Death and Mourning 576
Meredith Eliassen

34. The Washington Image in American Culture 592
Scott E. Casper

Bibliography 612

Index 640

Edward G. Lengel is Professor and Editor–in–Chief of the Papers of George Washington, a documentary editing project dedicated to the transcription and publication of original documents, at the University of Virginia. His books include General George Washington: A Military Life (2005); This Glorious Struggle: George Washington′s Revolutionary War Letters (2008), Inventing George Washington: America s Founder in Myth and Memory (2011), and many others. Lengel is a columnist for Military History magazine and has appeared in documentaries about Washington on The History Channel.

"[T]he collection contains an admirable mixture of sturdy, predictable, but necessary chapters intermixed with refreshingly original chapters on less–studied aspects of Washington′s career. ...It promises to be, as other volumes in the Blackwell Companions to American History series aspire to be, the standard one–volume reference on its subject."  (Journal of American History, 1 September 2013

"Scholars of the American Revolution should encourage their libraries to consider adding this title to their collections and should certainly consult it when needed."  ( Journal of Military History, 1 May 2013)