Though the British Proclamation Act of 1763 prohibiting settlement beyond the Alleghenies—irritated him and he opposed the Stamp Act of 1765. Intolerable Acts in 1774, Washington chaired a meeting in which the Fair-fax Resolves were adopted calling for the convening of the Continental Congress. He was selected as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in March 1775.
In May, Washington traveled to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia dressed in a military uniform, indicating that he was prepared for war. He won the battle in Boston of 1776 by placing artillery above Boston, on Dorchester Heights, forcing the British to withdraw. Washington moves his troops into New York City.
In August 1776, the British army launched an attack and quickly took New York City in the largest battle of the war. He ordered the remains of his army to retreat across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. On Christmas night, 1776, Washington and his men crossed the Delaware River and attacked unsuspecting Hessian mercenaries at Trenton, forcing their surrender.
Legacy
In the last months of his presidency, Washington felt he needed to give his country one last measure of himself. With the help of Alexander Hamilton, he composed his Farewell Address to the American people, which urged his fellow citizens to cherish the Union and avoid partisanship and permanent foreign alliances.
He came back to his house in Mount Vernon with his wife Martha. On a cold December day in 1799, Washington spent much of it inspecting the farm on horseback in a driving snowstorm. He return home, then he went to bed. The next morning, on December 13, he awoken He retired early, but awoke around 3 a.m. and told Martha that he felt sick. The illness progressed until he died late in the evening of December 14, 1799.
He was not only considered a military and revolutionary hero, but a man of great personal integrity, with a deep sense of duty, honor, and patriotism. For over 200 years, Washington has been acclaimed as indispensible to the success of the Revolution and the birth of the nation.