NAIS 55 The First President and the First Americans: The Indian World of George Washington
Much of the story we know about George Washington and the birth of the nation takes place in the East--Mount Vernon, Philadelphia, Yorktown-but Washington and the emerging nation also faced west, to Indian country. Washington's world and his life intersected constantly with Native America. He spent much of his life surveying and speculating in Indian lands. He got a crash course in Indian diplomacy at age twenty-one and his mishandling of Indian allies sparked the French and Indian War. He participated in two expeditions against Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh) and defended the Virginia frontier against Indian attacks. His break with Britain stemmed in large part from Crown policy that threatened his investments in Indian land. As commander of the Continental Army and then President of the United States, he dispatched armies into Indian country.