The HISTORY OF MOUNT VERNON

by Maria

Mount Vernon is a large estate along the Potomac River in Virginia. George Washington was only 22 years old when he became in charge of the estate. While living there for the next 45 years off and on, Washington achieved many accomplishments.
    
 Washington commanded the Continental Army to fight against England to win independence for the United States. He also presided over the Constitutional Convention of 1787 which would create a new system of government for our new country. Lastly, he would serve as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797.    

Each year, hundreds of people traveled to Mount Vernon by boat, carriage, or by horseback. Whenever people came to visit, Martha, Washington’s wife, would give them a tour of their house and some would stay for dinner or even over night.

As well as being Washington’s home, Mount Vernon was also a working farm.  George Washington was a farmer that grew tobacco, wheat, and other crops.  Washington had 300 slaves at Mount Vernon to help him with the crops.  At first, his cash crop was tobacco. But, Washington soon found that tobacco was bad for the farming business because it drained the soil of proper nutrients that plants needed to grow.   In 1760 he switched from tobacco to wheat for his cash crop.

Washington built a 16-sided, two-level barn that was used for threshing wheat. Horses were trained to run around the upper level of the barn, trotting on the wheat. The grain separated from the stalk and fell through the cracks to the lower floor. The grains were then stored. This idea of Washington’s made the process of threshing wheat easier and faster.

In 1799, George Washington died after riding around Mount Vernon in the rain on his horse.  Overnight he got sick and the next day he died in his bed. He is buried at the tomb in Mount Vernon.

If you visit Mount Vernon, as I have, you can see all of these things, plus more.            

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