Martha Washington Influence On Women

Martha Washington was the first, first lady of The United States of America and she disliked many parts of this job. But because of her courage, loyalty, and bravery, she got through life. Not only was Martha the first, first lady but she played other roles including being a mother of four, a spouse, a great cook, a leader, and many others. Today Martha Washington inspires so many women to do and accomplish what they want in life.

Martha Washington was born on June 2,1731. She grew up in New Kent County, Virginia and was the first of eight children born to John Dandridge and Frances Jones. With this many children, there had to be a lot of strict rules which John and Francis expected their children to follow. Education was also valued and Martha was tutored, along with her siblings. After age twelve, martha quit tutoring and began learning the basic house chores. In her free time, Martha would sew, knit, and help her mother cook.

After seven years of learning the basic house chores, Martha started looking for a husband. At age 19, Martha was married to Daniel Parke Custis. When they were wed, they moved into a big house called “The White House”. One year after they got married, Martha and Daniel Custis had their

first child, Daniel Jr. and two years later, they had a girl who they named Frances Parke Custis. One year after Frances was born, Daniel passed away at age 3. The same year their firstborn died, Martha and Daniel Custis had yet another child, John Parke "Jacky" Custis. Two years later, they had another child, Martha Parke "Patsy" Custis. One year after little Martha was born, Frances died at age 4. This left Martha with her youngest two children, Martha and John. This happy marriage between John Custis and Martha ended in 1757 when Daniel Custis died of a heart attack.
Even though her first husband died, Martha Washington had to keep her head up.

Because at this point in time it was expected that women should be married, Martha was on the lookout for a man. Martha came across a man who she soon started “courting” by the name of George Washington. Because the courtship went so well, they started planning their wedding. George and Martha Washington got married on January 6, 1759. Because they needed somewhere to live, George and Martha Washington rented a house from the family of George’s brother. They immediately went to live in their new home that was called “Mount Vernon”. George and Martha ended up inheriting Mount Vernon because george’s brother and most of his family that was willing to take care of the house,

died.
Because their inherited house was so big, Martha spent most of her free time directing the house help, including the slaves. When George was a general in the Revolutionary War, Martha was at home taking care of her two children. Sadly, the last daughter that Martha Washington had, Martha, passed away in 1773 at age 17. Eight years later, Martha’s last child, Daniel, passed away. George and Martha never ended up having kids mainly because George did not like kids. Martha was really devastated that all of her children were deceased. Martha started to realize that she was often lonely. George was a General in the Revolutionary War and was too busy to spend time with his wife, most of the time. Martha’s emotions changed when, in 1783, it was decided that George had done his duty in the war and he was to return home to his wife. Now that George was home a lot more, he handled the house’s money and spent time investing it. Meanwhile, Martha helped the servants with the everyday cooking, gardening, and other house chores.
George Washington was elected president in 1789 which made Martha Washington the first, first lady. As the first lady, Martha Washington’s nickname was “Lady Washington”. Martha disliked being the first lady because she was usually lonely. Her husband was working most of the time and did not get a chance to interact with her. Though being president took a lot of George Washington’s time, he still stayed very close to Martha. Martha’s arrangements in her new lifestyle were not ideal and she was hoping for more and that life would get better. Instead of life getting better, life got worse for Martha. She particularly disliked the rules that were made for her by secretaries and other important people who watched over the Washington family. She wanted to make her own decisions in life but with these rules, she could not make her own decisions at all. For example, she could only invite certain people to dine with her and her husband. And even worse, when people invited her to dinner, sometimes she was forced to decline the invitation. Martha also felt that she did not get privacy. She did not want to be lonely but she also did not want the press to follow her everywhere, recording her every move. In her free time, Martha would make the meal plan for upcoming dinners where politicians and famous people would attend. She liked doing this because, for once, she got to make a decision. Martha also enjoyed helping people in need. Martha particularly loved helping Revolutionary War Veterans by cooking meals and keeping them company.
Martha was relieved after her husband’s terms as president where over in 1797. Martha was delighted because her life could now go back to normal. However, Martha’s life did not return to how she thought it would or even near “normal”. George and Martha had many visitors at their home, “Mount Vernon”. Their visitors included future presidents, close friends, politicians, and sometimes enemies.
In her later life, Martha did not get out of her home much. If she did go somewhere, it would be to local towns to shop. On December 14, 1799 George Washington died at their home from Epiglottitis, a very bad throat infection. His remains went straight to the Capitol Building where they soon had a huge tomb for visitors to visit.
After her husband died, almost everything that was his, was taken from her. This was because a lot of people wanted a bit of the “great President”. This left Martha feeling very lonely. Even though she had almost nothing left of her husband, she still had the memories. In her home, Martha Washington died on May 22,1802 because of a terrible fever. She was 70 years old. This was surprising considering the average age of death back then was around 35.
This just goes to show that Martha Washington went through a lot in life but she made it work. She did not like being first lady but she found a way to make a positive thing out of it while doing such tasks as helping others in need. Martha Washington was full of courage ,loyalty, and bravery. Today, people admire her for her many accomplishments.