REMEMBERING NON-REVISED HISTORY: JULY 17, 2013

George Washington

First President of the United States (1789-1797)

Father of the United States of America,
President of the Constitutional Convention
General of the Revolutionary Army

On ‘Immigration & Assimilation’

Biography
George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, serving as the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He also presided over the convention that drafted the Constitution, which replaced the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution established the position of President of the United States, which Washington was the first to hold. » Full Bio

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This Day In History 237 Years Ago
American Revolution
July 17, 1776

Congress Learns of War of Words

On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress learns of General George Washington's refusal to accept a dispatch from British General William Howe and his brother, Admiral Richard Viscount Howe, opening peace negotiations, because it failed to use the title "general." In response, Congress proclaimed that the commander in chief acted "with a dignity becoming his station," and directed all American commanders to receive only letters addressed to them "in the characters they respectively sustain."

The Howe brothers had assembled the largest European force ever to land in the Americas on Staten Island, New York, while Congress was voting their approval of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in early July 1776. The commander in chief of the Continental Army, General George Washington, had spent the spring of 1776 moving his 19,000 men from Boston to New York, where they would confront 30,000 under the charge of the Howe brothers. » Full Article

Significant Events This Day In History

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