The life of American author Washington Irving.

Essay by mariek04High School, 11th gradeA+, July 2003

download word file, 6 pages 4.9

Washington Irving was a man of many accomplishments; he was a writer and diplomat who earned fame both at home and overseas. His writings would become the first American Literature classics which paved the way for American writers.

Washington Irving was born in New York City, near present day Wall Street, on April 3, 1783. Irving was born into an overall prosperous household where he was the youngest of 11 children. Only eight of the eleven children would grow up to reach adulthood . Since Irving's birth came near the end of the American Revolution, he was named in honor of General George Washington.

Washington's parents were Scottish-English immigrants. His father was William Irving, a sea faring Scotsman, who served as petty officer in the British armed fleet. He met Sarah Sanders, an Englishwomen and granddaughter of a clergyman, in Falmouth. They were married in 1761 and moved to New York City in 1763.

William was a very strict and religious businessman who established himself in trade on William Street. William is said to have been a strict disciplinarian with a high sense of honor while Washington's mother was a lively and cheerful person, who loved her house-hold. William did move his family out of New York when his house was within cannon shot of British war ships during the American Revolution. He moved the family to New Jersey and later returned to New York into a new and bigger house.

During Washington's childhood, New York City was a town of 25,000 people. Many of his stories were based on childhood memory. Other stories were based on trips to the Hudson River Valley and the Catskills to escape the city life. As a child he read a great deal from his father's library including the classiss Sinbad, Gulliver, and Robinson...