| Collection |
WSJHS |
| Description |
The George Washington portrait doll was used by the B'nai B'rith in their education program Dolls for Democracy throughout the country and the Seattle area.
The head is cast with hands molded of flesh colored substance such as cernat. Head and hair are hand painted with white hair. He is wearing a medium blue wool coat in the Revolutionary War period style. Color, placket, cuffs, vest and breeches are made of tan colored gabardine. The buttons are represented with small gold toned glass seed beads. There is a lace jabot at the neck. He wears boots to the knee made of leather. There is a 1/4" satin ribbon glued to the back of his head.
George Washington (1732-1799) was the first president of the United States and one of the most important leaders in United States history. In the French and Indian War he was commissioned a colonel and sent to the Ohio Territory. After Edward Braddock was killed, Washington became commander of all Virginia forces, entrusted with defending the western frontier. He later served in the House of Burgesses, where he supported the colonists cause, and later in the Continental Congress. In 1775 he was elected to command the Continental Army. In the ensuing American Revolution, he proved a brilliant commander and a stalwart leader, despite several defeats. With the war effectively ended by the capture of Yorktown, he resigned his commission and returned to Mount Vernon. Viewing the chaotic political condition of the United States after 1783 with frank pessimism and declaring that "something must be done, or the fabric must fall, for it is certainly tottering," Washington repeatedly wrote his friends urging steps toward "an indissoluble union." At first he believed that the Articles of Confederation might be amended. Later, especially after the shock of Shays's Rebellion, he took the view that a more radical reform was necessary but doubted as late as the end of 1786 that the time was ripe. He was a delegate to and presiding officer of the Constitutional Convention. "My wish is," Washington wrote, "that the convention may adopt no temporizing expedients, but probe the defects of the Constitution to the bottom, and provide a radical cure." His weight of character did more than any other single force to bring the convention to an agreement and obtain ratification. Afterward, he personally circulated copies of The Federalist and worked tirelessly to secure ratification of the Constitution in Virginia. When the state electors met to select the first president (1789), Washington was the unanimous choice, because Washington alone commanded the respect of both the parties engendered by the struggle over ratification, and he alone would be able to give prestige to the republic throughout Europe. He formed a cabinet to balance sectional and political differences but was committed to a strong central government. Elected to a second term, he followed a middle course between the political factions that later became the Federalist Party and the Democratic Party. He proclaimed a policy of neutrality in the war between Britain and France and sent troops to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion. He declined to serve a third term (thereby setting a 144-year precedent) and retired in 1797 after delivering his "Farewell Address." Known as the "father of his country," he is universally regarded as one of the greatest figures in U.S. history.
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| Object Name |
Dolls, portrait |
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