Item: i91827

Authentic  Medal of:

United States – George Washington Masonic National Memorial – Bicentennial Medal
1932 Gilt Bronze Medal 32mm (13.97 grams)
GEORGE WASHINGTON BICENTENNIAL 1732 1932, George facing right.
GEORGE WASHINGTON MASONIC NATIONAL MEMORIAL G ALEXANDRIA, VA. GRAMMES, ALLENTOWN, PA., Facade of GW Memorial 1/4 left.

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George Washington  (February 22, 1732  – December 14, 1799) was the  first President of the United States (1789-1797), the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War , and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States . He  presided over the convention that drafted the United States Constitution , which replaced the Articles of Confederation and remains the  supreme law of the land .

Washington was elected president as the unanimous choice of the electors in the elections of both 1788-1789 and 1792 . He oversaw the creation of a strong,  well-financed national government that maintained neutrality in the wars raging  in Europe, suppressed rebellion, and won acceptance among Americans of all  types. Washington established many forms in government still used today, such as  the cabinet system and inaugural address . His retirement after two  terms and the peaceful transition from his presidency to that of John Adams established a tradition that  continued up until Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to a third  term. Washington has been widely hailed as “father  of his country” even during his lifetime.

Washington was born into the provincial gentry of Colonial Virginia ; his wealthy planter family  owned tobacco plantations and slaves, that he inherited. Although Washington  owned hundreds of slaves throughout his lifetime, his views on slavery evolved,  and he desired to free them and abolish slavery. After both his father and older  brother died when he was young, Washington became personally and professionally  attached to the powerful William Fairfax , who promoted his career as a  surveyor and soldier. Washington quickly became a senior officer in the colonial  forces during the first stages of the French and Indian War . Chosen by the Second Continental Congress in 1775 to be  commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution,  Washington managed to force the British out of Boston in 1776, but  was defeated and almost captured later that year when he lost New York City . After crossing the Delaware River in the dead of  winter, he defeated the British in two battles, retook New  Jersey and restored momentum to the Patriot cause.

Because of his strategy, Revolutionary forces captured two major British  armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781 . Historians laud Washington  for his selection and supervision of his generals, encouragement of morale and  ability to hold together the army, coordination with the state governors and  state militia units, relations with Congress and attention to supplies,  logistics, and training. In battle, however, Washington was repeatedly  outmaneuvered by British generals with larger armies. After victory had been  finalized in 1783, Washington resigned as Commander-in-chief rather than seize  power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to American republicanism .

Dissatisfied with the Continental Congress , in 1787 Washington  presided over the Constitutional Convention that devised a new federal government for the United States. Elected unanimously as the first President of  the United States in 1789, he attempted to bring rival factions together to  unify the nation. He supported Alexander Hamilton ‘s programs to pay off all  state and national debt, to implement an effective tax system and to create a  national bank, despite opposition from Thomas Jefferson .

Washington proclaimed the United States neutral in the wars raging in Europe  after 1793. He avoided war with Great Britain and guaranteed a decade of peace  and profitable trade by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795, despite intense opposition  from the Jeffersonians . Although he never officially  joined the Federalist Party , he supported its programs. Washington’s Farewell Address was an  influential primer on republican virtue and a warning against  partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars. He retired from the  presidency in 1797 and returned to his home in Mount Vernon , and domestic life where he  managed a variety of enterprises. He freed all his slaves by his final will.

Washington had a vision of a great and powerful nation that would be built on  republican lines using federal power. He sought to use the national government  to preserve liberty, improve infrastructure, open the western lands, promote  commerce, found a permanent capital, reduce regional tensions and promote a  spirit of American nationalism. At his death, Washington was eulogized as “first in war, first in peace, and  first in the hearts of his countrymen” by Henry Lee .

The Federalists made him the symbol of their party but for many years, the  Jeffersonians continued to distrust his influence and delayed building the Washington Monument . As the leader of the first  successful revolution against a colonial empire in world history, Washington  became an international icon for liberation and nationalism. He is consistently ranked among the top three  presidents of the United States, according to polls of both scholars and the  general public.

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million km²), the United States is the world’s third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe’s 3.9 million square miles (10.1 million km²). With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital’s federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world’s 17 megadiverse countries.

Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century. The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, and the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776. The war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, acquiring new territories, displacing Native American tribes, and gradually admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848.

During the second half of the 19th century, the Civil War led to the abolition of slavery. By the end of the century, the United States had extended into the Pacific Ocean, and its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution, began to soar. The Spanish-American War and World War I confirmed the country’s status as a global military power. The United States emerged from World War II as a global superpower, the first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in warfare, and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The Rights Acts of 1964, 1965 and 1968 outlaws discrimination based on race or color. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the Space Race, culminating with the 1969 U.S. Moon landing. The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world’s sole superpower.

The United States is the world’s oldest surviving federation. It is a federal republic and a representative democracy. The United States is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States (OAS), and other international organizations. The United States is a highly developed country, with the world’s largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP, accounting for approximately a quarter of global GDP. The U.S. economy is largely post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge-based activities, although the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the world. The United States is the world’s largest importer and the second largest exporter of goods, by value. Although its population is only 4.3% of the world total, the U.S. holds 31% of the total wealth in the world, the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country.

Despite wide income and wealth disparities, the United States continues to rank very high in measures of socioeconomic performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP, and worker productivity. The United States is the foremost military power in the world, making up a third of global military spending, and is a leading political, cultural, and scientific force internationally.