Washington (miniseries)

In 1754, American colonist George Washington is an ambitious young officer of the Virginia regiment for the British Army. He is sent to the Ohio Country to deliver an ultimatum to the French Army camped near the border of the Iroquois nation. However, the Half-King takes advantage of his inexperience and attacks the French soldiers, inadvertently starting the French and Indian War. With a defeat at Fort Necessity and the chaos in the Battle of Monongahela, Washington redeems himself by creating the first American regiment. After Lord Loudoun uses Washington's strategy to attack Fort Duquesne, putting an end to the war, he resigns. He marries widower Martha and returns to Mount Vernon to be a farmer. Then, in 1763, the British passes a proclamation to ban buying land in the west, thus begins a decade-long crackdown on colonists ambitions. This kicks off with a slew of new taxes on all goods, starting with the Stamp Act. As Americans are killed in the Boston Massacre, people in other colonies take notice, including Washington who becomes a reluctant revolutionary. When this young country is on the verge of collapse in 1775, Washington is called upon to lead the Continental Army as the commander-in-chief, but it won't be an easy task.

In 1776, Washington's Continental Army, a bunch of undisciplined rag-tag soldiers is getting ready for a war with the British Empire. After marching to north with his untested army, Washington soon realizes that he was given an impossible task. With his eager team of patriot officers, Henry Knox, Nathaniel Green, and Alexander Hamilton, Washington sees the largest military force he's ever faced. At the same time General Howe's British fleet of warships sail into the harbor, the Declaration of Independence is drafted which will unite all colonists to the cause. In the first major battle of the war, Washington's army gets crushed during the Battle of Long Island and he plans an audacious escape in the night. After losing Manhattan, he moves into New Jersey with 6,000 remaining soldiers. In a snowstorm, he plans a symbolic offensive by Crossing the Delaware River in the dead of night and attacks the Hessian mercenaries holding an outpost in Trenton. As the British cripples congress in the capital of Philadelphia, there's rumblings that Horatio Gates be in charge. In 1777, at the Battle of Saratoga, major general Benedict Arnold is seriously wounded but becomes a hero. French ally Marquis de Lafayette comes to help Washington and later, Benjamin Franklin convinces France to an alliance. In the winter, the army battles a ration shortage at Valley Forge, but Washington writes to the people for help. After not getting compensated, a jaded Arnold, defects to the enemy.

In 1781, the Revolution War has gone on for six years. At the forefront is Brigadier General Arnold who took down the Continental Army with his act of betrayal. Washington orders a manhunt to capture the turncoat, but he escapes to England. After years of fighting without pay, soldiers form a mutiny, but Washington quickly squashes it and saves his army. In order to end the war, he plans an all-out assault on General Cornwallis' Virginia camp with the help of the French fleet and a constant bombardment of cannon fire on Yorktown. The British surrender and agree to a peace treaty two years later. With the Revolution won, Washington, now 57-years-old, is nominated to run this new country as the first president of the United States. He appoints James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and his most trusted allies, Knox and Hamilton. He and his advisors invent the government branches, the Bill of Rights, and start building Washington, D.C. However, not everyone agrees and uprisings threaten from within. Washington not only has to end this treachery, he has to keep a fragile country together when he is elected to his second term. He puts on his uniform once more to disperse a rebellion who disagrees with his polices. In 1797, Washington hands over the presidency to John Adams and goes back home. Two years into retirement, he catches a throat disease and passes away; he was 67. An age of history dies along with him, but his legacy will never be forgotten.