George and Martha Washington at Home in New York

by Beatrice Siegel, Frank E. Aloise (Illustrator)

Describes the life shared by George and Martha Washington, with an emphasis on the government activities, historical events, and social and sociological aspects of their residence in New York City during the seventeen months when it was the nation's first capital.Describes the life shared by George and Martha Washington, with an emphasis on the government activities, historical events, and social and sociological aspects of their residence in New York City during the sixteen months when it was the nation's first capital

Genres: Biography, History

74 pages, Library Binding

First published April 1, 1989

Reviews

[Sarah Huebner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Very informative, yet a quick read.
Recommend for kids at least 10 & up. There is a lot of information & there is especially one part (page 46) that I'd check out before handing to a child. I have included the passage below.

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It's in a chapter about the poorer classes in New York City after the American Revolution, with this part of the chapter talking about how the poor could sometimes be "unpredictably violent".

"It was known as the doctors riot.
It started innocently, when a foolish medical student studying at the hospital dangled the arm of a corpemse from an upper window to dry. It caught the attention of some boys playing on the grounds below. One of the boys, who had just lost his mother, rushed home to report the incident to his father, a Mason. The Mason aroused his neighbors, who had know for some time that medical students had been dragging bodies out of the potters' burial field, the negro burial ground, and other cemeteries. They were desecration graves to use bodies for dissection.
Enraged by the students' insensitivity, the Mason, his friends, and a large crowd of neighbors armed themselves with whatever was at hand : tools, knives, staves, crowbar, hammers, stones. They surrounded the hospital, broke open the doors, and destroyed the anatomy specimens in their medical cabinets. They dragged medical students from their hiding places and handed them over to police, who put them in jail, pending a trial. Even the police shared the outrage at the desecration of burial plots.
The next day, the violence grew worse when protestors searched physicians' homes for bodies, then stormed the jail, broke windows, tore down fences, and threatened to kill every doctor in the city."

I don't know why all the details of this particular incident, with the corpse arm, was the one chosen to include - but I was mighty glad I did proofread it before giving to my cousins.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covers the inauguration and beginning of Washington's presidency, a few of the new trials he faced as the first president and the trials of his wife, Martha, as the very first “First Lady”, some of Washington's thoughts on slavery, and the aftermath of the Revolutionary war for the people of New York. A wonderful book for young readers. {3rd or 4th grade reading level.}

“It was April 1789, and New York City, the first federal capital of the nation under the new constitution, was being overhauled for a most unusual event: the inauguration of George Washington, the first president of the United States... Horseback riders, carrying news back and forth, tracked the president from the day he left his home in Mount Vernon, Virginia. At 10 A.M. on April 16 he started north by coach... The crowds and outpouring of love that greeted him on his journey moved him to tears, for he had not fully realized how popular and beloved a figure he was... Amid all the celebrations, George Washington had one priority: to keep the country united, to hold it together while it took it's first steps as a nation.”

{It's a shame there isn't a cover photo of this book here, it's so charming}

[Teri Dona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read, interesting insight into early times of our nation's history