Riding up to NY in what I can only assume was a bus for ants, I had a thought. My bus was designed for modern men, how much worse would it have been for some very tall men in the US around the revolution when the average height was only 5'5? Specifically in carriage transport. I know there is dispute about how tall 'ol GW was, but for the sake of my question let's 6'4. Tall by today's standards but not freakish, uncomfortable no matter where you are, kind of tall. If my assumptions about average height are wrong, than how has height changed in the US since the 17th 18th century?
Often they simply had to learn to duck. Those of us about six feet and higher still need to.
A rather interesting case was Captain Hardy, who was Admiral Nelson's first officer. The man stood at over six feet, yet had to serve aboard a heavy first rate ship of the line. Having been aboard the HMS Victory, I can tell you that the lower decks are very low and claustrophobic as it is when its in a dry dock stripped mostly bare for the public to wander around.
At sea it would have been perilous, with a crew running about and with the French firing at them (well most of the cannoneers with aptitude were actually drafted into Napoleon's artillery, which meant the French navy suffered from a talent drain resulting in slow reloading times - a problem the maritime dependent Brits didn't have, yet shots fired could still inflict grievous damage when they hit).
Going back further however, height was something that was indicative of excellent health and a good diet. As such, despite slurs about inbreeding and the like, many of the nobility were often of what today would be considered an average or tall height. Henry VIII stood at around 6'3, and was quite the intimidating figure, even when he had become corpulent in his latter years.
Actually, the United States had about the tallest average height in the world in the late 18th century. There are a variety of reasons for this - lower population density, less urbanization, plenty of rich farmland, far lower taxes than in Europe. While Washington was certainly tall, he was not a giant among pygmies.