Editing George Washington (section)

==Marriage, civilian and political life (1759–1775)==
{{Main|George Washington's political evolution}}
<!-- linked from redirect "George Washington between the wars" -->
{{multiple image
| image1 = Washington 1772.jpg
| alt1 = Painting of Washington, standing in a formal pose, in a colonel's uniform, right hand inserted in shirt.
| caption1 = ''Colonel George Washington'', a 1772 portrait of Washington by [[Charles Willson Peale]]
| image2 = Martha Dandridge Custis, John Wollaston, 1757.jpg
| alt2 = An oil painting of Martha Washington as a young woman
| caption2 =''Martha Dandridge Custis'', a 1757 portrait of [[Martha Washington]] by [[John Wollaston (painter)|John Wollaston]]
}}
On January 6, 1759, Washington, at age 26, married [[Martha Washington|Martha Dandridge Custis]], the 27-year-old widow of wealthy plantation owner [[Daniel Parke Custis]]. Martha was intelligent, gracious, and experienced in managing a planter's estate, and the couple had a happy marriage.{{sfnm|Ferling|2002|1pp=33–34|Wiencek|2003|2p=69}} They lived at Mount Vernon, where Washington cultivated tobacco and wheat.{{sfnm|Chernow|2010|1pp=97–98|Fischer|2004|2p=14}} The marriage gave Washington control over Martha's one-third [[dower]] interest in the {{convert|18000|acre|ha|-2|adj=on}} [[Daniel Parke Custis#Estate|Custis estate]], and he managed the remaining two-thirds for Martha's children. As a result, he became one of the wealthiest men in Virginia, which increased his social standing.{{sfn|Wiencek|2003|pp=9–10, 67–69, 80–81}}

At Washington's urging, Governor [[Norborne Berkeley, 4th Baron Botetourt|Lord Botetourt]] fulfilled Dinwiddie's 1754 promise to grant land bounties to those who served with volunteer militias during the French and Indian War.{{sfnm|1a1=Rasmussen|1a2=Tilton|1y=1999|1p=100|2a1=Chernow|2y=2010|2p=184}} In late 1770, Washington inspected the lands in the Ohio and [[Kanawha River|Great Kanawha]] regions, and he engaged surveyor [[William Crawford (soldier)|William Crawford]] to subdivide it. Crawford allotted {{convert|23200|acre|ha}} to Washington, who told the veterans that their land was unsuitable for farming and agreed to purchase {{convert|20147|acre|ha}}, leaving some feeling that they had been duped.{{sfnm|Ferling|2002|1pp=44–45|Grizzard|2002|2pp=135–137}} He also doubled the size of Mount Vernon to {{convert|6500|acre|ha|-2}} and, by 1775, had more than doubled its slave population to over one hundred.{{sfn|Ellis|2004|pp=41–42, 48}}

As a respected military hero and large landowner, Washington held local offices and was elected to the Virginia provincial legislature, representing [[Frederick County, Virginia|Frederick County]] in the [[Virginia House of Burgesses]] for seven years beginning in 1758.{{efn|He had been defeated in his campaigns for the seat in 1755 and 1757.{{sfn|Misencik|2014|p=176}}}}{{sfn|Ellis|2004|pp=41–42, 48}} Early in his legislative career, Washington rarely spoke at or even attended legislative sessions, but was more politically active starting in the 1760s, becoming a prominent critic of Britain's taxation and [[mercantilist]] policies towards the American colonies.{{sfn|Ferling|2009|pp=49–54, 68}} Washington imported luxury goods from England, paying for them by exporting tobacco. His profligate spending combined with low tobacco prices left him £1,800 in debt by 1764.{{sfn|Ellis|2004|pp=49–50}} Washington's complete reliance on London tobacco buyer and merchant Robert Cary also threatened his economic security.{{efn|In a letter of September 20, 1765, Washington protested to "Robert Cary & Co." regarding the low prices he received for his tobacco and the inflated prices he was forced to pay on second-rate goods from London.{{sfnm|Chernow|2010|1p=138|Ferling|2009|2p=68}}}}{{sfn|Ellis|2004|p=51}} Between 1764 and 1766, he sought to diversify his holdings: he changed Mount Vernon's primary cash crop from tobacco to wheat and expanded operations to include [[George Washington's Gristmill|flour milling]] and [[hemp farming]].{{sfnm|Chernow|2010|1p=141|Ragsdale|2021|2pp=23, 41&ndash;42}} Washington's stepdaughter Patsy suffered from [[epilepsy|epileptic]] attacks, and she died at Mount Vernon in 1773, allowing Washington to use part of the inheritance from her estate to settle his debts.{{sfnm|Chernow|2010|1p=161|Gardner|2013}}

===Opposition to the British Parliament and Crown===
{{further|American Revolution|George Washington in the American Revolution}}

Washington was opposed to the taxes which the [[British Parliament]] imposed on the Colonies without [[Virtual representation|proper representation]].{{sfn|Chernow|2010|p=136}} He believed the [[Stamp Act 1765]] was oppressive and celebrated its repeal the following year. In response to the [[Townshend Acts]], he introduced a proposal in May 1769 which urged Virginians to boycott British goods; the Townshend Acts were mostly repealed in 1770.{{sfnm|Glover|2014|1pp=42–46|Taylor|2016|2p=75}} Washington and other colonists were also angered by the [[Royal Proclamation of 1763]] (which banned American settlement west of the [[Allegheny Mountains]]){{sfnm|Chernow|2010|1pp=137, 148|Taylor|2016|2pp=61, 75}} and British interference in American western land [[speculation]] (in which Washington was a participant).{{sfn|Calloway|2018|p=184}}

Parliament sought to punish Massachusetts colonists for their role in the [[Boston Tea Party]] in 1774 by passing the [[Intolerable Acts|Coercive Acts]], which Washington saw as "an invasion of our rights and privileges".{{sfnm|Randall|1997|1p=262|Chernow|2010|2p=166|Taylor|2016|3p=119}} That July, he and [[George Mason]] drafted a [[Fairfax Resolves|list of resolutions]] for the Fairfax County committee, including a call to end the [[Atlantic slave trade]]; the resolutions were adopted.{{sfn|Chernow|2010|p=167}} In August, Washington attended the [[Virginia Conventions|First Virginia Convention]] and was selected as a delegate to the [[First Continental Congress]].{{sfnm|1a1=Ferling|1y=2010|1p=100|Glenn|2014|2p=82}} As tensions rose in 1774, he helped train militias in Virginia and organized enforcement of the [[Continental Association]] boycott of British goods instituted by the Congress.{{sfnm|Ferling|2010|1p=108|Taylor|2016|2pp=126–127}}