Washington, George. “George Washington Papers: Digital Collections: Library of Congress.” The Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/collections/george-washington-papers/about-this-collection/.
For any students learning about the formation of the United States of America, the Revolutionary War, or the early years of the United States as a nation, these papers will provide a valuable resource for educators to use and share. Often when students are learning about the early years of the United States as a nation, they consult primary source documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution, but rarely do they read George Washington’s letters during this time. Students will be able to learn about Washington’s thoughts and concerns during this time of forming a new nation through his first presidency.
The papers of army officer and first US president George Washington (1732–1799) held in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress constitute the largest collection of original Washington papers in the world. They consist of approximately 77,000 items accumulated by Washington between 1745 and 1799, including correspondence, diaries, and financial and military records. The collection documents Washington’s childhood education, his first career as a surveyor, his experiences as a militia colonel during the French and Indian War, his election as a Virginia delegate to the first and second Continental Congresses, his role as general of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, his presidency of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, his two terms as president (1789–1797), and his retirement. Also documented is his management of Mount Vernon, his plantation home in Virginia, and the lives of his family, servants, and slaves.
Notable correspondents include John Adams, Benedict Arnold, Edward Braddock, Alexander Hamilton, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, and the Marquis de Lafayette. Because of the wide range of Washington's interests, activities, and correspondents, which include ordinary citizens as well as celebrated figures, his papers are a rich source for almost every aspect of colonial and early American life.
- In 1776, the American colonies declared their independence from England to establish themselves as their own country, the United States of America, with the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
- George Washington was a general during the Revolutionary War, and he became the first president of the United States on April 30, 1789. He remained president until March 4, 1797.
- These papers span Washington’s personal and professional documents from before the Revolutionary War until two years after his presidency.
- How did Washington’s writing change over the course of his career?
- What were some of the maps that Washington included in his letters, and why were these maps significant?
- How do Washington’s thoughts in his letters mirror some of the concerns of the American colonists/American citizens?
- How do the ideas presented by Washington in these letters align with historical fiction, including Rebellion 1776 by Laurie Halse Anderson and Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda?
New Jersey Student Learning Standards
- NJSLS - RI.CI.9–10.2.: Determine one or more central ideas of an informational text and analyze how it is developed and refined over the course of a text, including how it emerges and is shaped by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
- These letters and documents span 1745–1799, and as a result, students can track how Washington’s ideas have changed or remained the same over time. Students can refer to specific details in history that may have caused any changes that they identify over the course of the letters.
- RI.IT.9–10.3.: Analyze how an author’s ideas unfold throughout the text, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.
- Washington’s well-written letters will serve as a great example of informational text for students to read in terms of rhetoric, organization, and language. Students can analyze the points that Washington makes in his letters and how he lays out those claims in an organized way.
- Laurie Halse Anderson stated that she used these George Washington Papers on the Library of Congress website in order to complete some of her research for Rebellion 1776. Use an excerpt from Anderson’s Rebellion 1776 and have students make connections between information learned in the text and George Washington’s letters. Teachers can pre-select relevant letters from the collection or, for more advanced students, teachers can let them sift through the collection to find the connections.
- When students are learning about significant historical documents, such as the Declaration of Independence or the US Constitution, provide them with some of George Washington’s letters from the time of the creation and signing of the documents. Ask students to compare and contrast Washington’s concerns in his letters with those ideas presented in each primary source document.
As a Founding Father, George Washington is taught in most schools, so there may not be as much potential for challenge with this source as with some others on the LOC website. That being said, some of the ideas held by the Founding Fathers may be viewed as outdated and antiquated, especially regarding the taking over of Native American lands. Educators can refer to this resource from Facing History about the teaching of the founding of America.
- Print of the Declaration of Independence: https://www.loc.gov/item/2018757136/
- The U.S. Constitution: https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/constitution/
- American Revolution and Founding Washington: https://www.loc.gov/free-to-use/american-revolution/
- Benjamin Franklin Papers: https://www.loc.gov/collections/benjamin-franklin-papers/about-this-collection/
We the People: Expanding the Teaching of the US Founding: Facing History