A Revolutionary Life: Washington's Birthday Through the Years

NPS Animation / G. Purifoy

The nine videos below present early American history through the lens of what was happening in General George Washington's life around the time of his birthday over the years.

This video series was hosted and coordinated by Valley Forge National Historical Park in 2021 and features talks from park rangers and historians at eight historic sites across five different states.

• George Washington Birthplace National Monument in Virginia

• Longfellow House Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site in Massachusetts

• Morristown National Historical Park in New Jersey

• Valley Forge National Historical Park in Pennsylvania

• Wallace House State Historic Site in New Jersey

• Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site in New York

• Independence National Historical Park in Pennsylvania

• George Washington's Mount Vernon in Virginia

You can also watch the full playlist on the Valley Forge YouTube channel.

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  1732 - George Washington's Birth

  George Washington was born in 1732 at Popes Creek in Virginia, today part of George Washington Birthplace National Monument.

  Duration:

  4 minutes, 22 seconds

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  1776 - George Washington's 44th Birthday

  On his 44th birthday at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, George Washington had yet to prove himself as a leader and military commander.

  Duration:

  4 minutes, 49 seconds

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  1777 - George Washington's 45th Birthday

  After the victories at Trenton and Princeton, General George Washington spent his 45th birthday encamped at Morristown, struggling to keep the army together in the face of disease and other challenges.

  Duration:

  2 minutes, 14 seconds

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  1778 - George Washington's 46th Birthday

  George Washington's 46th birthday took place during the Valley Forge winter encampment, which saw the General and the Continental Army facing a whole host of difficult challenges.

  Duration:

  5 minutes, 1 second

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  1779 - George Washington's 47th Birthday

  While there is no evidence of a birthday celebration for George Washington in 1779 per se, the General *did* attend -- and dance at! -- some parties in New Jersey around the time of his birthday that year.

  Duration:

  3 minutes, 54 seconds

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  1780 - George Washington's 48th Birthday

  Halfway through the war, General Washington finds himself back at Morristown on his 48th birthday, enduring the coldest winter of the eighteenth century.

  Duration:

  2 minutes, 13 seconds

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  1783 - George Washington's 51st Birthday

  1783 found George Washington in a headquarters overlooking the Hudson River in New York at the end of a long war.

  Duration:

  5 minutes, 54 seconds

• 

  1790 to 1797 - George Washington's Birthdays as President

  Extravagant celebrations of George Washington's birthday took place in Philadelphia during the years of his presidency, but leading the country in its infancy was not all fun and games for the first President of the United States.

  Duration:

  6 minutes, 7 seconds

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  First in War First in Peace - The Legacy of George Washington and his Birthday Celebrations

  After the war, Washington retired to Mount Vernon to rejoin civilian life, but steadily got pulled back into public service before becoming the country's first President. Celebration of his birthday continued after his presidency and well beyond his death in 1799, eventually becoming a nationally recognized holiday in 1885.

  Duration:

  4 minutes, 10 seconds