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Thanks to the patronage of his brother's friend, Thomas Fairfax, Washington begins working as a surveyor in the Shenandoah Valley.
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Washington accompanies his tubercular brother Lawrence to Barbados on a rest cure. While there, he is exposed to smallpox. The experience leaves him immune to the disease but probably contributes to making him unable to have children.
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Reflecting his new status as a leading man in the community, Washington is elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses. He will become increasingly radical over the course of his fifteen-year service in the House. 1761
Inheritance of Mount Vernon -
British regulars fire on Boston civilians, killing five. The Boston Massacre greatly exacerbates tensions between Britain and the colonies.
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In protest against the newly passed taxes on tea, Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty, disguised as Indians, raid the British ships docked in Boston harbor and dump their cargo of tea into the Charles River in an act that will become known as the Boston Tea Party.
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British soldiers and colonial militia clash at Lexington and Concord in what will come to be known as the first battles of the Revolutionary War.
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Colonial militia fight the Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston, inflicting heavy losses on the British.
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General Horatio Gates captures British general John Burgoyne's army at the Battle of Saratoga. The surprising Continental victory spurs France to enter the war as a colonial ally.
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Frustrated by the weakness of the Articles of Confederation, Washington chairs the Constitutional Convention to revise them. His signature on the final document guarantees it will be taken seriously.
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Congress instructs Washington to select the location of the permanent capital on the banks of the Potomac River, all but within sight of Washington's Mount Vernon estate. He will spend the next years of his life planning the city that will bear his name.
