George Washington was born into a wealthy Virginia family. At 20 years of age, he inherited a large estate as well as the rank of major in the Virginia militia.

In 1759, he married Martha Dandridge Custis, a wealthy widow and mother of two. The couple had no children of their own. Washington had long opposed British colonial policy. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress of 1774-75. Congress named him commander in chief of Continental American forces when the American Revolution broke out.

At first, Washington suffered serious setbacks, especially when he lost the Battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776. He redeemed himself by secretly crossing the Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776, and defeating the British at Trenton, New Jersey. Following the Battle of Oriskany, Washington sent an army under General James Clinton into the Mohawk Valley. Washington's orders were to destroy the Six Nations villages that sided with the British. To the Six Nations, Washington was known as "Town Destroyer."

On October 19, 1781, British General Charles, Earl of Cornwallis surrendered his army at Yorktown, Virginia, to a combined American-French army under Washington's overall leadership. This surrender signalled the beginning of the end of the war.

After the war, Washington presided over the Continental Convention of 1787. Inspired in part by the Six Nations Constitution, the Convention drafted the American Constitution. As soon as the new Constitution was ratified, the Electoral College unanimously elected Washington as the first president of the United States. He served two terms before retiring to his Virginia estates in 1796. He died three years later. In his will, Washington emancipated his slaves.