George Washington inspired a young nation to defeat the greatest power in the world at that time. He also helped make many of the laws and set up the law making systems that we still have today. Washington had many contributions to America and I will discuss the contributions that he made.
In 1774, Washington was one of seven delegates from Virginia to go to the First Continental Congress. Along with 54 other delegates, Washington wrote the "Declaration of Rights and Grievances." The declaration was sent to King George III of England, hoping to prevent a war. .
In 1775, the Second Continental Congress was called together and decided to go to war to fight for independence. On June 15, Washington was elected to be Commander and Chief of the colonial forces. Washington took command of troops surrounding Boston. Even with no uniforms and insufficient weapons the colonials managed to retake Boston. The next few months he trained his 14,000 untrained men. After training, Washington moved his troops to New York, but was defeated by William Howe.
On Christmas night 1776, Washington crossed the Delaware River for a surprise attack in the morning at Trenton, New Jersey, which was captured. Washington was mostly responsible for the direction of the war with high spirits. When the French arrived in 1780 to aid America, Washington was able to capture Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown with the help of the French. .
Washington headed the Virginia delegation to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. He took a big part in the making of the Constitution. As a hero of the Revolutionary War, he was elected for the first presidency. On April 30, 1789 Washington was elected the First President of the United States. The new government had millions of dollars in debt, which the Congress of the Articles of Confederation was unable to pay. Alexander Hamilton proposed that the government would assume wartime debts of the States.