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Question: Where did the American forefathers stand on social issues!?
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How about War as a social issue!.!.!.George Washington (February 22, 1732–December 14, 1799) commanded America's war for independence (1775–1783), and was the first President of the United States, from 1789 to 1797!. Because of his central role in the founding of the United States, Washington is often called the "Father of his Country!." His devotion to republicanism and civic virtue made him an exemplary figure among early American politicians!.


This, the earliest portrait of Washington, was painted in 1772 by Charles Willson Peale, and shows Washington in uniform as colonel of the Virginia Regiment!. The original hangs in Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia!.In the early 1750s Washington was sent as an ambassador to the French traders and Indians as far north as present day Erie, Pennsylvania!. Virginia was very interested in this area as the gateway to western expansion via the Ohio River and onward!. Pennsylvania and Virginia both competed for this area around what would become Pittsburgh, but the French saw it as even more valuable; a way to unite Quebec and Louisiana via river while pinning the English to the East Coast!.

At twenty-two years of age, Washington fired some of the first shots of what would become a world war!. The trouble began in 1753, when France began building a series of forts in the Ohio Country, a region also claimed by Virginia!. Governor Dinwiddie sent young Major Washington to the Ohio Country to assess French military strength and intentions, and to deliver a letter to the French commander, which asked them to leave!. The French declined to leave, but Washington became well-known after his account of the journey was published in both Virginia and England, since most English-speaking people knew little about lands on the other side of the Appalachian Mountains at the time!.


Washington's map of the Ohio River and surrounding region containing notes on French intentions, 1753 or 1754!.In 1754, Dinwiddie sent Washington, now commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel in the newly created Virginia Regiment, on another mission to the Ohio Country, this time to drive the French away!. Along with his American Indian allies, Washington and his troops ambushed a French Canadian scouting party, of some 30 men, led by Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville and sent from Fort Duquesne to discover if Washington had in fact invaded French-claimed territory!. Were this to be the case he was to send word back to the fort, then deliver a formal summons to Washington calling on him to withdraw!. His small force was an embassy, resembling Washington’s to Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre the preceding year, and he neglected to post sentries around his encampment!. At daybreak on May 28, Washington with 40 men stole up on the French camp near present Jumonville, Pa!. Some were still asleep, others preparing breakfast!. Without warning, Washington gave the order to fire!. The Canadians who escaped the volley scrambled for their weapons, but were swiftly overwhelmed!. Ten of the Canadians were killed, one wounded, all but one of the rest taken prisoner!. Washington and his men then retired, leaving the bodies of their victims for the wolves!.[citation needed] The French commander, Ensign Jumonville, and most of the other wounded French were subsequently massacred, the French later claimed, by Tanacharison and the other Indians!.[1] Washington then built Fort Necessity, which soon proved insufficient, as he was soon compelled to surrender to a larger French and American Indian force!. The surrender terms that Washington signed included an admission that he had "assassinated" Jumonville!. (The document was written in French, which Washington could not read!.) Because the French claimed that Jumonville's party had been on a diplomatic (rather than military) mission, the "Jumonville affair" became an international incident and helped to ignite the French and Indian War, a part of the worldwide Seven Years' War!. Washington was released by the French with his promise not to return to the Ohio Country for one year!. Back in Virginia, Governor Dinwiddie broke up the Virginia Regiment into independent companies; Washington resigned from active military service rather than accept a demotion to captain!.
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American forefathers were solidly WASP!. Their thinking was a product of their times - that meant they condoned slavery, they thought women were 'incomplete persons' and weren't entitled to vote, or voice opinions, and other items on that agenda!. Today, their views would not be allowed, but you can't compare the two agendas without considering the times in which they were formulated!. Www@QuestionHome@Com