Georger Washington Essay example - 4351 Words

George Washington The king of England, George III, was fond of farming. His favorite diversion was to ride about his lands, chatting with the tenants about the crops. Farmer George, he called himself. His arch-opponent, George Washington, had the same fondness for farming. He too enjoyed riding about his lands and talking about the crops. Indeed there was nothing else he enjoyed quite so much. But there the likeness ceased. And among the many other matters that differentiated George Washington from George III, none was more striking than his greater dignity and reserve. George Washington would never have taken the liberty of calling himself farmer George, nor would he have allowed anyone else to do so. Even his close friends took†¦show more content†¦Washington reached up and removed the hand, stepped back, and fixed his eye in silence on Morris, until Morris retreated abashed into the crowd. The company looked on in embarrassment, and no one ever tried it again. . . . It was an axiom of the eighteenth century that the strength of a country lay in its people, and Washington like other Americans wanted the country to grow as rapidly as possible. His only reservation about immigrants from Europe was that they not settle in a group and thus retain the Language, habits and principles (good or bad) which they bring with them. It was important that they become Americans. It was even more important that all who trekked over the mountains, whether immigrant or native-born, remain Americans and not slip either by inclination or by force under the dominion of England or Spain. Both countries had retained footholds in the West, and the rivers flowed relentlessly into the Mississippi toward Spanish territory. The easiest, cheapest mode of exporting whatever the people of the West produced would thus be to ship it downriver to New Orleans. Fortunately, as Washington saw it, the Spanish forbade such shipments, and the Continental Congress was in no position to s ecure the privilege for Americans, though settlers had no sooner arrived in the western country than they began to demand it. Washington was persuaded that the West would gravitate to Spain and Britain unless