Description
Book SynopsisThese essays by scholars and popular historians cover every aspect of Washington's life and provide rich new insights into his legacy.
Trade Review"[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)
Table of ContentsList 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
