George Washington as Mirror of America

How to think about the USA on our Semiquincentennial

GEORGE WASHINGTON AS MIRROR OF AMERICA

How to think about the USA on our Semiquincentennial

Abi Ingram

Editors’ note: This is the first of four essays we are publishing in honor of our nation’s 250th birthday. Enjoy!

The 250th anniversary of the United States is drawing near. As we reflect on the realities of our nation—its origins, promise of liberty, recognition of equality among peoples, and its longstanding struggle to bring its founding ideals to life—we might remember, this July 4th, why we are celebrating. Though this exercise would be of benefit to every citizen of the United States, it is especially important to African Americans—a people who, collectively, have long wrestled with their relationship to their home country. Surprisingly, Young Washington, a new film about the adolescent years of America’s first president, helps us do just this.

The younger half-brother of Lawrence Washington, a prominent veteran of the War of Jenkins’ Ear, George appears on the scene not as a powerful commanding general sailing across the Delaware in the harsh winter snow. He does not trot on horseback, through the abounding acreage of his Mount Vernon estate.

Instead, viewers meet young Washington in his search for respect and true equality with the British. Unlike Lawrence, George did not receive formal education in England. As revealed in the film, Lawrence’s upbringing and standing in Virginia’s regiment proved of little benefit in securing a militia commission for George. After relentlessly coaxing then-lieutenant governor Robert Dinwiddie, however, the young Washington receives an appointment as commander of one of Virginia’s militia districts.

Yet George’s early attempt to demonstrate leadership results in significant failure. After leading a small band of soldiers through present-day Pennsylvania en route to the Ohio Territory, Washington is confronted by both representatives of the French militia and their Native allies. A brief skirmish leaves Washington and his men surrounded and with enough casualties to confirm their loss. The defeated Virginia men raise a white flag in surrender.

Through the remainder of the film, Washington struggles to prove to himself and to others that he is capable of commanding a regiment during the French and Indian War. Though the film does not follow Washington through his entire life, it offers a story that is both poignant and real. Young Washington does not present its eponym as perfection embodied. Instead, it paints him as something more significant—a self-made man. There is nothing more quintessentially American.

Washington’s story is that of the United States. Vigilance, determination, and struggle allowed them both to rise to levels of prominence never before imagined. Before that, however, both fell short of their own ideals and others paid the price for their sins. Yet Washington’s own misdeeds—from his early tactical miscalculations to his possession of property in other men—have left no significant stain on his reputation. Perhaps the same grace can be afforded to our American nation.

The Washington family’s slaves do not feature prominently in the film. They are given only a few minutes of screen time, when some of them help a young George sneak into his more established brother Lawrence’s social function. Naturally, they played a much larger role in real life, with over 300 laboring at Mount Vernon by the time of Washington’s death in 1799.

In 1983, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association dedicated a memorial to all those people, named and unnamed, who toiled there without choice. I made my first visit to the site just over seven years ago. There I saw a single, collective grave-marker for so many who were not afforded the freedom to choose who or what they wished to be. Yet as I looked around, I recognized their descendants, and many similar, who now had before them a world of possibility because of the country Washington helped to build.

This weekend we celebrate our nation’s Semiquincentennial. Yet as this momentous occasion descends upon us, many of our fellow citizens are confused about our country. Recent polling data reveal that most Americans believe the U.S. is falling short of its founding ideals. Likewise, a majority says that our best days are behind us.

But polls do not tell all. Over our 250 years, we have made efforts to further realize the promises of our founding documents and ideals—an achievement that cannot be measured by sentiment. In just over 150 years, African Americans have risen to the greatest heights in all three major branches of government. That alone is remarkable progress. So long as we continue to strive toward the ideals encoded in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, our best days will always be ahead. Let us all remember this, as we freely come together in celebration of the Fourth of July in this, our 250th year.

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Abigail Ingram was born in Oxford, England and raised in Southern California. She is a graduate of Baylor University where she studied Political Science and History. Abigail was a 2024 Hudson Institute Political Studies Fellow, a research intern at the Cato Institute, a 2025 Acton Institute Emerging Leader and a Fall 2025 Fellow at the John Jay Institute. Her previous essays for the Journal of Free Black Thought were “The Return of Respectability Politics?” and “Birthright Citizenship.”