George Washington Personal History Reading Quiz

Washington ran errands for _______ and kept his orderly book. He also met numerous British officers. Some saw promise in him and shared their knowledge of martial matters or loaned him copies of their military manuals...Given his penchant for ____________, Washington learned much about the structure of headquarters and how a professional army went about its business.

Braddock, observation

He (like _____________) lived for several years in a household under the ____ of a widowed mother. Mary Ball Washington was the daughter of an ________ immigrant who prospered as a _________ planter.

Jefferson, sway, English, Virginia

Dinwiddie knew the Virginia assembly would not appropriate funds for an army to invade the Ohio Country but consented to Washington's request to leave his army yet again, this time to journey to ______________ to call on the commander of the British army. The meeting was disastrous for Washington. The commander imperiously refused to permit him to speak, declined Washington's written entreaty for a ________ to the British army

Philadelphia, commission

This was the formula for _________, if not disaster. Six months after resuming command, the war was going so badly that Washington's confidence disappeared.

ineffectuality

The French treated the Virginia party of ________ cordially. However, they rejected Dinwiddie's message. In essence, they instructed Washington to report that Virginia would have to fight for the West

seven

No one questioned Washington's resolve. He maintained in the fray until Bullets pierced his coat and two horses were shot from under him, yet he miraculously remained unscathed. Some British officers later said he fought with unflinching ___________

courage

Like Adams and Jefferson, Washington exhibited a passion for personal _______.....

independence

Washington had twin objectives. He sought to position himself to attain a high _______ in the army that Virginia would raise when war erupted. He also knew that bearing arms could result in greater ___________ than could ever be attained by toting a surveyor's instruments.

rank, notoriety

George Washington was born in_____ at __________, a planter's county home....in the province's _____________ Neck.

1732, Wakefield, Northern

Lawrence's demise (in _____ at age _____) had an enormous impact on young George. While he grieved, new opportunities suddenly sprang out of tragedy. Lawrence's post as adjunct general of Virginia was divided and George....was appointed by Governor Robert __________ to be adjutant of the southwestern quadrant of Virginia. Lawrence's death also led to George's eventual acquisition of ______________

1752, 34, Dinwiddie, Mount Vernon

In spring ______, Washington learned that _______ had sent a large army under General Edward _______ to Virginia. With aid of colonial forces, Braddock was to seize Fort _________

1775, London, Braddock, Duquesne

The French and the Indians fought in the '__________________', dispersing into the woods and firing from behind trees and ledges. The _______ panicked.... almost 3/4 Anglo-Americans were casualties, including Braddock. While Washington thought the Virginians behaved like Men and died like ___________, he could not say the same for the professional soldiers.

American manner, British, soldiers

Here, and at _________, the Fairfax's nearby plantation, George discovered a wonderful and alluring new world. For the first time he entered the _________, opulent, sophisticated world of the educated planter aristocracy.... Therefore, he longed to live as these _______ lived, aspiring to be distinguished, as they were, from the '________________' of humanity. Although he knew that he would inherit a planter's fortune, he set out to improve himself. He quietly observed the behavior of those who he encountered, and patterned his _________ after theirs.

Belvoir, genteel, planters, common run, mannerisms

Despite his early demise, Augustine influenced his son through the custom of ________

breeching

The family's plan for George to study in England was aborted by Augustine's early demise, and George received no more than two or three years of formal education in Fredericksburg. He learned to read and write and was introduced to _________, etiquette, and mathematics. He read a bit, though nothing in depth, and that which he did pursue he was drawn to by _________....his most important lessons were derived from visits with __________ at Mount Vernon.

penmanship, expediency, Lawrence

In 1759, he had _______ at the age of 27 to the life of a Virginia Planter and that same year, married _______ Dandridge Custis of Williamsburg, an attractive, extremely wealthy widow with 2 children, to whom he gave his full devotion

retired, Martha

Washington was one of _____ surviving children from his father's _____ marriages..... but he was the first _________ offspring of his father's second marriage

seven, two, male

Washington had grown into an impressive young man. He stood six feet and _____ and one-half inches tall, towering over almost every other man....____________ was not the word that came to mind when Washington was described, but he was not unattractive. Words such as rugged and strong were more descriptive of his features. Observers spoke of him as an excellent young man, who was accustomed to the outdoors and hard, physical work, yet who exhibited a glean of ______ refinement

three, handsome, gentrified

Near the time of his father's death, George, who was eleven, met Lawrence, who was _____________. Educated in _________, resplendent in his uniform of the _____________, lionized in Virginia for having participated in the bloody campaign for ___________ (an Anglo-Spanish conflict), Lawrence set an example of ___________ and herosim for his younger half-brother. He also filled a void left by George's absent father..... Lawrence appeared to be larger than life to young George. Lawrence settled at ___________ (Potomac River estate left to him by his father), which he rebuilt and renamed Mount Vernon.

twenty-five, England, American Regiment, Cartagena, urbanity, Epsewasson

Colonel ________, whose daughter was married to Lawrence saw promise in young Washington... He became his patron....Fairfax gave him his _______ job. At age sixteen, Washington accompanied a party to survey a portion of the vast ________ property in western Virginia, a demanding expedition that demonstrated that Washington was not as ______ as Fairfax imagined. After one cold, wet, homesick month, George deserted his colleagues and returned home. However, Fairfax stuck with him and got work for George as an _____________________ in the newly established town of ____________.

Fairfax, first, Fairfax, tough, assistant surveyor, Alexandria

Lawrence prospered as a planter and married into the ______ family, the most prestigious clan in the Northern Neck, won elected to the ________ assembly, and was appointed adjunct general of the colony's ______. Lawrence associated with the most powerful men in the province and with the most ________ women..... Dashing, confident, polished, ________ and not least the object of apparently heart-felt reverence and ________, Lawrence was everything George aspired to be.

Fairfax, provincial, militia, sophisticated, valorous, adulation

Three years after building a more substantial plantation, Augustine Washington purchased ____________...across the meandering Rappahannock River from _____________

Ferry Farm, Fredricksburg

After 1793, when George was on the cusp of adolescence, she lived alone with her children at Ferry Farm, a worn-out tract near _______. Contemporaries described her as quiet, ____, imperious, and strong-willed...regal and ________. It was in part from her that George likely derived his Olympian public persona of the quiet, stately, and _______ individual.

Fredericksburg, aloof, omnipotent, august

Young Washington was soon able to play a seminal role in the diplomatic and military events that engulfed Virginia in the 1750s, a role that Lawrence likely would have filled. Although the great powers (_______________________) were at peace, a _________ lingered. In America, strife centered over river claims to the ______ County, the fertile land that lay west of the mountains and south of the Great Lakes. ________ had dispatched its troops...to formally stake its claim to the region. Several Virginia planters, including Lawrence, responded by forming the ____________________ and successfully petitioned the Crown for a land grant in the region.

Great Britain, France, Spain, cold war, Ohio, France, Ohio Company

Washington's leadership qualities came not from luck but from a student-like lubrication, observation, and attention to detail. He had worked diligently to discover what made an officer an effective leader. He found he must keep some ______ between himself and those beneath him. He discovered a formal demeanor set the proper tone. He sought their _____, even their _____. Yet he never desired intimacy or real familiarity with his underlings

distance, trust, love

The great teacher for Washington was _________

experience

Like other planters of the Tidewater, Washington embraced a life very like that of the English ______. English by ancestry, he was as close to being an English country gentleman as was possible for an American of the day

gentry

The Washingtons has come a considerable distance since George's ____________________ who had settled in America more than a century earlier. Each generation thereafter lived more comfortably than their predecessor....but when George was only ______, Augustine died suddenly.

great grandfather, eleven

Washington's childhood is ________________. Nowhere in his vast correspondence does Washington reveal his feelings about his ________, other than to say that his parents sought to raise him so that he would never be in danger of becoming __________....________ & dissipated.

obscured, youth, indolent, imperious

Three children, Lawrence, Augustine Jr., and _______ survived Augustine Washington's first marriage. George was the first born child to ______ Washington, followed by three _____ and a _________. A warm, ________ bond developed between him and the others, but there can be no doubt that he was in awe of ___________, in whom he found his first profound role model.

Jane, Mary, brothers, sister, familial, Lawrence

He read what they read...he dressed after the fashion exhibited by ________ and practiced fencing and _________... these were unaccustomed ways to him, and he was often ill at ease. He soon learned that it was better to observe and listen than to _______. What began as a youthful strategy grew to be his _________ deportment....However, as a cultivation would be unavailing without economic resources, George began to study surveying.

Lawrence, dancing, speak, habitual

In 1753, Governor Dinwiddie sought someone to carry the French in the disputed area a ___________ setting forth Virginia's claim. Twenty-one year old George Washington volunteered.

message

In June, he marched the ______ men in the Virginia Regiment from Winchester to join General ______ regulars in Pennsylvania. This formidable Anglo-American force secured its objective within 5 months

1900, Forbes'

Washington had run nearly ____ surveys before ______, and averaged a 'tolerably....good reward' for his labors, he said...his wages during his first year enabled him to purchase a tract of _____. Each year thereafter he bought additional acrage and, like most surveyors, he sometimes received ____ in lieu of cash payments. Through inheritance and ______ he had begun to accumulate a modest fortune and to ascend, however gradually, in Virginia's ________ society.

200, 1753, land, land, industry, planting

________________________ was born in a young Washington seemingly trapped on a spent farm and destined, at best, for a life as a small planter, unnoticed and without influence....Washington yearned for ____________

Aggressive ambition, recognition

________ Washington (George's father) had grown up in ________ in comfortable circumstances and attended school in England for a few years. When George was ________, Augustine built a more substantial plantation situated atop a bluff overlooking the ______.

Augustine, Virginia, three, Potomac

Only the year before taking command of the Continental Army at __________, Washington had commenced an ambitious expansion of Mount Vernon....He had abiding dislike of disorder and cared intensely about every detail...and insisted on_______

Cambridge, perfection

Washington informed British headquarters of his desire to 'make the ___________' Braddock was pleased....he offered Washington an unpaid position on his staff. Washington accepted

Campaigne

A year later, almost certainly due to the intercession of Fairfax or Lawrence, Washington was commissioned a county surveyor in _________ County, a post that ordinarily required considerable experience. Altogether, Washington surveyed for ______ years.... there was an element of ______ to what he did, but it was mostly hard, ______ work....

Culpepper, seven, danger, lonely

Augustine was a daring, driven man who resonated _________ and mastery. He was accustomed to having his ____. Augustine was a man of action who introduced his son to a ________ world that extolled heartiness, resilience, ___________, and resourcefulness. Washington grew up to resemble his father in significant ways, especially seeing virtue in diligence, _______, enterprise, vitality, and self control.

authority, way, masculine, courage, boldness

He was eager to break away and chart his own course, and she was protective...However, contention between an adolescent and his mother does not inevitably result in an unhappy childhood or ___________ hatred, and Washington's subsequent behavior suggests that he ________, and perhaps deeply loved, his mother.

brooding, honored

His inexperience compounded the army's problems. Washington was so ________ that at first he was oblivious to the magnitude of his problems. He boasted of certain victory. He was also so _________________ that he spent barely 1/4 of the first 6 months after he resumed command with his army

callow, self-absorbed

By early July, Braddock's force, nearly 1/4 of whom were ______, had painstakingly pushed almost to within sight of Fort Duquesne. On July ___, Washington experienced combat.

colonials, 9

Not for the last time, Washington emerged a hero from a military debacle. Dinwiddie reconstituted the Virginia Regiment into its original form and offered Washington rank as _______________. The experience had touched something deep within Washington, some primal thirst for the strain of __________, and aching to lead men under fire and an ineffable urge to subdue the __________. Washington also wished to gain a commission as an officer in the British army, something Lawrence had failed to attain....

commander, action, adversary