As a follow up: was Washington particularly ideological? It seems that the main ideologues were people like Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, and the like, and that Washington was simply the "muscle" in front of the philosophical men behind him. Am I wrong?

This is effectively a placeholder post. I'm hoping one of our 18th century flairs will come in and really add on to it, but I feel the need to tell you, with what limited understanding I have, that you're misconstruing the economic situation of Washington and the other tobacco planters. While they lived very well, generally, their wealth was precarious, and they also tended to blow through what money they made selling tobacco, and, to a lesser extent, wheat and other grains. Due to being heavily dependent on selling their crops to England, market fluctuations could cause their fortunes to ebb and flow massively. A bad harvest, brought about by poor weather, sick slaves, or used-up land could drive a man into heavy debt, and two or three could ruin him.