In the creation story of the United States of America, many men took the roles of father to the young, fledgling country, which had yet to stretch its wings and see where it could go. Among these icons of the American Heritage are men such as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, Aaron Burr, and Alexander Hamilton to name a few, but the man who stood out among the rest and debatably contributed the most to the creation of this spectacular nation would be George Washington.
It would make sense then to infer that if George Washington was the father of our country, It would be safe to say that George's wife, Martha Washington, would be the mother of this country. In a 1897 drawing by Peter Newell, George Washington asks his wife “Dear Martha, will you be the mother of your country, love, this land of liberty?”
With Washington taking his oaths of office and being sworn in as the first President of the United States, Martha took his side as the first of the First Ladies.
George was not Martha's first husband, as she had been married to a man named Daniel Parke Custis. However, two of their babies died and two others were still extremely young when Martha's husband Daniel passed away. Martha married George two years later, and from the start was concerned as to the private life of herself and her children. She had a strong preference in private life, which she shared with George but when he was called to office to be President she followed him bravely and without hesitation.
He helped here husband maintain a warm and welcoming household, as it was felt by the country that the sense of the capital cities in Europe should be maintained by the leaders of the United States. She looked after her busy husband, and provided a role model for the rest of the hard working women in the early days of American society. Even though most of the other women would have loved to be in the position Martha was, the First Lady did not seem to enjoy her role as mother to the United States.
In one of several surviving letters, she confided to her niece that she sometimes felt as though she was imprisoned, and felt as though limitations and restrictions had been put upon her, due to her social standing. Nevertheless, Martha Washington persevered, and went on to a quite life in Mt. Vernon surrounded by no one but their friends and relatives.
One may ask, after identifying who the mother of a particular nation is, what defines that person as the father or mother of their country? This question can more easily be answered for George and Martha Washington as opposed to the various patriarchs and matriarchs of other countries. George and Martha Washington provided support, strength, and leadership during a time period of extensive trials and tribulations for the new country.
In times of war, they lent a helping hand, and in the times of formatting the government that has now lasted over two hundred years, they gladly stepped in to aid their countrymen. The patriarchs of a country are those who above all had the most impact on the birth and survival of a country, and that would be the Washingtons.
