America's Story: George Washington (2nd Ed, 1989)

e [Music] fly along On Eagle's Wings as I tell you America story hello I'm up S Eagle but you can call me US Eagle for short we American Eagles are the national birds of the United States this America story is about George [Music] Washington welcome to the capital Washington DC here is where I have my un United States Hall of history there are wonderful Tales I can tell of the adventures heroes and events of our great nation they're all organized and stored in my friend here the brain omatic computer number one number one number one why number one brainy because today we are telling the story of George Washington and he is number one that's true he was the first president of our country the first and only president to have a state named after him Washington State and lots more things are named after him too Washington DC Washington Redskins Washington Bridge Washington Irving Washington Carver Washington hold on brainy you're getting ahead of yourself sorry let's dim the lights and start slowly one moment please George Washington here he is the first president of our country number one he was also the first general of our army America's first hero number one and he is on our $1 bill right there is a well-known saying about George Washington first in war first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen I just love that saying Washington was born before there was a United States let's go to our video Globe one moment please brainy show us the map of the United States of America one moment please here we are today 50 states let's go back to Washington's birthday February 22nd 1732 1732 there were no 50 states back then only 13 colonies and they belonged to England the colony of Virginia one of the largest colonies Virginia was where George Washington was born we know that George Washington was born into a wealthy farming family there are lot lots of Legends about our first president's Boyhood the most famous is the cherry tree story it goes like this one day George's father was walking through his Cherry Orchards suddenly He Came Upon a cherry tree that had been chopped down he was very angry who did this he demanded his son George stepped forward and replied I cannot tell a lie father I did it with my little Hatchet and because George was so honest his father didn't punish him good thing George didn't have a bulldozer that story is a legend we don't know how true it is people tell it to show how Brave and honest George Washington was what we do know about Washington is that he learned to ride a horse at an early age every boy needed to know how to ride a horse in those days when George was 11 his father died his older brother Lawrence spent a lot of time with George and became like a father to him Lawrence encouraged George to become a surveyor surveyors measure land George went into the fields and woods and measured the land he then Drew Maps like these for farmers and other property owners when people argued about who owned land Maps settle those arguments even countries can argue about who own land like England and France did over the frontier land west of the colonies George Washington because he knew the land so well became a frontier Soldier for the English army he quickly learned what war was like he rode a raft down icy rivers and was shot at many times duck George along the way he became friends with Indians who taught him how to fight and survive in the wilderness after England won the war George Washington returned home he was now a grown man Mount Vernon his brother Lawrence had died so George became the owner of his Plantation called Mount Vernon a plantation is a large farm yes thank you brainy he married a wealthy Widow Martha who came to live with him at Mount Vernon with her two children Washington was now a plantation farmer with the family he worked hard every day it was a big job running a plantation and Washington liked his work the British are coming the British are coming ah the call of the American Revolution also taxes taxes taxes England made the colonies pay a lot of taxes one tax was on tea the colonists were so angry that one winter night they threw the tea into the ocean before anyone could buy it they made ice tea most colonists including George Washington agreed that the taxes were unfair unfair they met in Philadelphia Pennsylvania to talk about their problems with England it was the first time the men who would later make the colonies into one country all met together Washington was there in his uniform they decided to fight for their independence from England they wanted to be free on July 4th 1776 the colonists told the whole world and especially England that they were now free they did it with the Declaration of Independence but they needed someone to lead their fight someone who could lead an army I know I know General George Washington first in war yes I know you know brainy but our audience may not know Washington was a good soldier someone you could trust and he was loyal to America they elected him the first commanderin-chief of the first American army Washington was a good leader he started with men who were farmers and shopkeepers he had to train them to be soldiers and lead them into battle Washington kept them from giving up when they suffered through a terrible winter at a place called Valley Forge after 6 years of war the English were forced to surrender at Yorktown the colonies had now won their freedom right chief that's right brainy they were 13 independent states the United States of America Washington had done a good job some people wanted to make him the new king of America but Washington didn't want to be king or even General any longer he said goodbye to his army and returned to Mount Vernon to become a farmer again tick tick time passed Washington was asked to help the United States of America again the laws of the United States government were not working very well representatives for the 13 independent states met once more in Philadelphia to form a new government for the United States they met in Independence Hall Washington was asked to lead the meeting new laws were written laws that all the states would obey these laws are called the Constitution Washington believed in these laws and was the first to sign the con stitution he was first in peace the Constitution created the Office of president the first man elected to serve as president of the United States was I know I know President George Washington number one right Bry Washington's job was to make the new United States government work he was very careful to follow the laws of the Constitution he kept the new nation at peace and helped to make it a country where people's rights were protected so they could have a good life he traveled by Carriage to all of the states to hear their problems Americans turned out to cheer him George Washington he was first in their hearts after 8 years as president he felt it was time for him to become an ordinary citizen again when he said goodbye as president he told the citizens of the United States to honor the laws written in the Constitution he told them to to get good educations he returned to farming at his Plantation Mount Vernon 2 years later Washington became ill and died during his lifetime Washington owned slaves who helped Run Mount Veron on his death he left an order that made sure all his slaves were freed Washington DC the city that he helped to plan was ready to become the nation's capital the Washington Monument stands in Washington DC in honor of Washington's leadership we honor George Washington because he put service to his country ahead of his own interests and because he was our first president first in war first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen we call him the father of our country I'm us eagle and George Washington is one of the many great heroes in America's story n [Music] n [Music]