2. Origins of West Point
• West Point was considered one of the most
important strategic places in America.
• General George Washington told Thaddeus
Kosciuszko to design its fortifications.
• West Point is the oldest continuously occupied
military post in America.
• Fortress West Point was never captured by the
British
3. • It started off with a strict civil engineering
curriculum.
• George Washington proposed that it
should focus on the arts and sciences of
military warfare.
• 20 years later, President Thomas
Jefferson signed legislation establishing
USMA.
• He made sure that West Point students
were of a democratic society.
4. Reasons for its Existence
• West Point was designed to reduce America’s
reliance on engineers and artillerists during
times of war.
• “A Peace Establishment for the United States of America may in my
opinion . . . [include] Academies, one or more for the Instruction of
the Art Military; particularly those Branches of it which respect
Engineering and Artillery, which are highly essential, and the
knowledge of which is most difficult to obtain.”
—George Washington, “Sentiments on a Peace Establishment,”
May 1783
• The Academy was also created because the US
was, at nature, a nation of war.
5. • Soon, its graduates began to command
armies on both sides of the Civil War.
• General Robert E. Lee of the South was
one of its graduates.
• General Ulysses S. Grant of the North was
also a graduate of West Point.
• Colonel Sylvanus Thayer upgraded its
academic standards.
• He also instilled military discipline and
honorable conduct.
