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The Mother of Presidents
By: Seth Grenier (age 11)
When
you hear the name Virginia, you might think of your grandmother, a great aunt, or in my case, my mom. But Virginia is also the name of a state, and this state is the “Mother of Presidents.”
You
may wonder how
a state could be a mother to
presidents. Well, that’s because the state of Virginia is the birthplace
to more than three presidents. In
fact, there have been a total of eight U.S. presidents born in the state of Virginia, and this is how it got its nickname,
Mother of Presidents.
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| George Washington |
One
of the most famous of these eight is George Washington. Washington was the first U.S. president, and he also was a general during the Revolutionary War. This was the war that won us our independence from England,
and made us a brand new country, known today as the United States of America.
Thomas
Jefferson was also born in Virginia. Not only was he the third U.S. president,
but he also wrote our Declaration of Independence. This document was signed in
Virginia by our founding fathers, and is the law that binds us as a country to this day.
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| Thomas Jefferson |
The
other U.S. presidents from Virginia are:
James Madison, the fourth U.S. President, serving from 1809 to 1817.
James Monroe, the fifth U.S. President, serving from 1817-1825.
William Henry Harrison,
the ninth U.S. President, serving only one year of office in
1841.
John Tyler, the tenth U.S. President, serving from 1841 to 1845.
Zachary Taylor, the twelfth U.S. President, serving from 1849 to 1850.
Woodrow Wilson, the twenty-eighth U.S President, serving from 1913 to 1921.
Besides
being the Mother of Presidents, Virginia could also be considered the mother to American
history. You see, Virginia is where the first English colony of Jamestown was settled.
You can still visit Jamestown today. Of course, it doesn’t look
the same today as it did back in 1607, when it was settled.
Virginia
is also where most of the plotting for the revolutionary war took place. The
capitol for the colonies at that time was Williamsburg, Virginia. It was then
moved to Richmond, which is still the capital of Virginia today. The final battle
that won our independence from the British took place in Virginia—the famous battle of Yorktown.
Virginia
may not be giving birth to any recent presidents, buy this state still looks over those who are called to serve. You see, the Mother of Presidents lives next door to Washington, D.C, the capital of the United States, and the working home to our current president, George W. Bush.
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