1
00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:27,600
Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome

2
00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:30,840
Speaker 1: to the show, Ridiculous Historians. Thank you, as always for

3
00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:35,279
Speaker 1: tuning in. What a show we have for you today.

4
00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:38,640
Speaker 1: We've got a lot of fans on our Facebook page

5
00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:42,600
Speaker 1: Ridiculous Historians, fans not of us, but of presidential episodes

6
00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:46,640
Speaker 1: of history and general of history in general and presidents

7
00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:52,160
Speaker 1: and specifics. So we were very excited to finally get

8
00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:56,000
Speaker 1: to an episode of Ridiculous History that we've been holding

9
00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:58,000
Speaker 1: off for a while because we wanted to give it

10
00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:02,279
Speaker 1: the attention. Uh dare I say the finesse that this

11
00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:05,640
Speaker 1: episode deserves. Also, I'm Ben, Ben, I'm no, And I

12
00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:08,240
Speaker 1: know you're a fan of finesse. You're a very suave individual.

13
00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,160
Speaker 1: You're wearing sort of this dapper cap right now, very

14
00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:13,640
Speaker 1: well shaven. You've got a nice line shirt on. What

15
00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:15,920
Speaker 1: do you call lined striped pin stripe? What do you

16
00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:18,760
Speaker 1: even call that? Just just stripes, you know, you know,

17
00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,000
Speaker 1: And I get up every day and I take that

18
00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:23,800
Speaker 1: fabric chalk and I draw these stripes in So I

19
00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:26,480
Speaker 1: really appreciate it does display a certain sense of finesse.

20
00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:29,240
Speaker 1: Is when I'm getting on speaking of a certain sense

21
00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:32,400
Speaker 1: of finesse. Where would we be without our super producer,

22
00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:38,839
Speaker 1: Casey Pegram. But no, you and I know what's different

23
00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:41,920
Speaker 1: about today's episode because we could actually see each other.

24
00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:47,720
Speaker 1: We are not entering into this presidential rabbit hole alone,

25
00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:50,320
Speaker 1: are we? We are not. We are in fact joined

26
00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:52,280
Speaker 1: by a name you might be familiar with, because we've

27
00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:55,520
Speaker 1: been sliding it in to our credits, a gentleman by

28
00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:57,560
Speaker 1: the name of Ryan Barrish. We've been crediting as a

29
00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:03,120
Speaker 1: research associate. Hello, Iran, alongside the likes of research associate

30
00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:06,040
Speaker 1: luminaries like Christopher Haciotis, who has been on the show

31
00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:09,960
Speaker 1: for in Gabe Louisier exactly. Ryan, thank you so much

32
00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:12,800
Speaker 1: for coming on the show. We it's a it's a

33
00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:14,960
Speaker 1: big deal for us for people to be able to

34
00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:18,000
Speaker 1: put a voice to the name. So you can, first

35
00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,160
Speaker 1: things first, verify that you are indeed a real person. Correct, Okay,

36
00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:25,680
Speaker 1: we did not make you up. Okay, I think we're

37
00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,160
Speaker 1: set to go. They think we are now now Ryan?

38
00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:33,440
Speaker 1: You uh? You and Noel and Casey and I started

39
00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:39,200
Speaker 1: working together a few months ago because your research with

40
00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:42,840
Speaker 1: us ties into in some ways your academic pursuits. Is

41
00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:47,360
Speaker 1: that correct? Yeah? So UM, I'm a master's student in

42
00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:51,160
Speaker 1: the Heritage Preservation program at Georgia State and UM A

43
00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:53,920
Speaker 1: lot of the topics I've been researching have tied into

44
00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:59,880
Speaker 1: topics we have explored either on trips or in classes

45
00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:03,799
Speaker 1: I've taken. So it's been a good little crossover. And UM,

46
00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:06,800
Speaker 1: as you guys know, the deeper you get into these things,

47
00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:10,679
Speaker 1: the otto the history can get. So so we uh,

48
00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:15,160
Speaker 1: we had talked off air a number of times and

49
00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:19,600
Speaker 1: we we had this meeting of the minds where we said, well, Ryan,

50
00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,760
Speaker 1: in your studies or in your personal life, what are

51
00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:27,360
Speaker 1: some historical people, events or places that really speak to

52
00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:31,520
Speaker 1: you that really, uh like moved you or inspired you

53
00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:33,799
Speaker 1: to dig deeper and deeper and deeper. What are your

54
00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:39,520
Speaker 1: rabbit hole subjects and topics? And you immediately named one,

55
00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:42,560
Speaker 1: just like off the top of your head, right, yeah,

56
00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,800
Speaker 1: I had. UM, I had recently come back from UM Barbados,

57
00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:51,200
Speaker 1: where I learned quite a bit about George Washington. That's weird, right,

58
00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:54,200
Speaker 1: that's weird. You wouldn't associate George Washington with Barbados, and

59
00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,080
Speaker 1: yet here we are talking about a trip to Barbados

60
00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:59,160
Speaker 1: and we're talking about George Washington. People might be like,

61
00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:03,320
Speaker 1: why right, Yeah, I think it's a little known fact

62
00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:07,440
Speaker 1: that he had spent some time there. He's still kind

63
00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:10,680
Speaker 1: of a prominent figure in their telling of modern history.

64
00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:13,040
Speaker 1: And that is a little bit odd because the time

65
00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:16,360
Speaker 1: that he spent there was actually very brief. But despite that,

66
00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:20,640
Speaker 1: he has a whole whole structure dedicated to him there um,

67
00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:23,240
Speaker 1: which is actually the home that he stayed at while

68
00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:26,880
Speaker 1: visiting George Washington. Do we want to go ahead and

69
00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:31,040
Speaker 1: jump into the background or yeah, yeah, let's let's start

70
00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:37,320
Speaker 1: with Barbados itself. And as much as George Washington influenced Barbados,

71
00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:39,919
Speaker 1: well we're also talking about today, is the way Barbados

72
00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:43,960
Speaker 1: influenced George Washington. Yeah, I think that might be, um

73
00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:50,039
Speaker 1: the bigger influence. It shows itself in in who Washington became,

74
00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:52,840
Speaker 1: or if he was even able to become who he

75
00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:55,160
Speaker 1: was exactly. So before we get into that, let's get

76
00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:58,200
Speaker 1: into some background of Barbados, just briefly. Starting with the

77
00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:02,680
Speaker 1: formation of Barbados. It was formed when the Atlantic crustal

78
00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,440
Speaker 1: and Caribbean planes um collided about a million years ago,

79
00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:09,560
Speaker 1: along with the volcanic eruption. Coral kind of formed there

80
00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,600
Speaker 1: This unique feature of being a coral based island allows

81
00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,760
Speaker 1: the water to be pure um naturally as it as

82
00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:19,360
Speaker 1: it rises through the earth. That's something that's different than

83
00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:22,960
Speaker 1: most islands in the Caribbean, but really any land in general,

84
00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:27,200
Speaker 1: and it is something that ties back into Rome, which

85
00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:31,520
Speaker 1: is again a big product in Barbados. Another odd detail

86
00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:35,599
Speaker 1: that differs from a lot of the American settlements is

87
00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:38,479
Speaker 1: that the indigenous population had died off prior to the

88
00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:42,800
Speaker 1: Europeans coming. They came from Venezuela. They were called the

89
00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:47,159
Speaker 1: amer Indians, and there were two tribes, the shorter air

90
00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:51,000
Speaker 1: Walks and the taller Caribs, who ended up killing the

91
00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:55,520
Speaker 1: air Walks but then traveling back to Venezuela and different

92
00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:58,599
Speaker 1: islands in the Caribbeans, and it's not really known why,

93
00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:01,800
Speaker 1: but by the time the Europeans came through, they did

94
00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:05,160
Speaker 1: not see them. And going to the naming of Barbados,

95
00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:07,960
Speaker 1: what is odd about it is that the Portuguese were

96
00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,039
Speaker 1: traveling to Brazil, which many of you guys know is

97
00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:13,919
Speaker 1: still a country that speaks Portuguese, was a was a

98
00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:17,440
Speaker 1: colony of Portugal. But as they passed by, they noticed

99
00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:20,960
Speaker 1: some fig trees um and these fig trees have these

100
00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:25,080
Speaker 1: kind of viny downwards sloping I guess vines or branches

101
00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:28,120
Speaker 1: um that give it a beard like appearance. So Barbados

102
00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,480
Speaker 1: actually translates to bearded ones. And wasn't at Pedro di

103
00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,240
Speaker 1: Compost that actually kind of coined that, right, Yeah, Yeah,

104
00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:37,680
Speaker 1: he was the one leading the exploration to Brazil, but

105
00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:41,560
Speaker 1: he did not He did not settle the island, right,

106
00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:43,960
Speaker 1: He just he's the guy who said, look at these

107
00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:46,440
Speaker 1: weird trees. Yeah, he just it was kind of a

108
00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:49,480
Speaker 1: footnote in his trip, enough of a footnote to give

109
00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:51,599
Speaker 1: it a name and make it identifier as he passed it,

110
00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:54,760
Speaker 1: but not something that he really saw the value in.

111
00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:57,839
Speaker 1: But then the English they came through in in six

112
00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:02,039
Speaker 1: five when Captain John Powell claim the island on behalf

113
00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:04,640
Speaker 1: of King James the First, but he also didn't settle it.

114
00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,799
Speaker 1: That would happen two years later when his brother, along

115
00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:10,520
Speaker 1: with eighties settlers and tense slaves, brought a ship from

116
00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:15,440
Speaker 1: England down to Barbados, where they quickly cleared much of

117
00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,280
Speaker 1: the land to make way for tobacco and cotton plantations.

118
00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:20,000
Speaker 1: Why do you think some of the early folks who

119
00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:21,960
Speaker 1: discovered it didn't see the value in it. I mean,

120
00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:24,960
Speaker 1: it's obviously a beautiful place. It was lush and green.

121
00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:27,520
Speaker 1: If they know anything about planting and cultivation, you think

122
00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:29,440
Speaker 1: they would have been like, ah, this is a great

123
00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:31,880
Speaker 1: place to to make up you know, civilization. Well, we

124
00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:35,160
Speaker 1: have to remember that a lot of these explorers were

125
00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:39,680
Speaker 1: either given some specific set of constraints or specific destination.

126
00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:42,840
Speaker 1: It seems cartoonist to us now, but it was a

127
00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:49,080
Speaker 1: fairly common practice for various for for various sailing operations

128
00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:53,000
Speaker 1: to see new land and essentially say okay, dibbs will

129
00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:55,760
Speaker 1: come back to that to five ten years if they

130
00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:58,960
Speaker 1: ever did right, right, right, Yeah. And I think with

131
00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:02,360
Speaker 1: Barbados specific thickly because it wasn't settled, there was no

132
00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:05,120
Speaker 1: sign of people, it might have been regarded that that

133
00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,080
Speaker 1: just wasn't an island that can sustained life properly. Not

134
00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:10,920
Speaker 1: a good sign. Yeah, yeah, if there's nobody there beyond

135
00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:14,560
Speaker 1: the excitement of conquering people, um, there was just no

136
00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:18,160
Speaker 1: resources readily available. It's a really good point. Do we

137
00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:21,600
Speaker 1: know anything about why those those native people disappeared? We

138
00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:24,800
Speaker 1: know one tribe killed the other, The tall stout ones killed,

139
00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:27,280
Speaker 1: the shrimpy short ones but was there anything in the

140
00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:29,240
Speaker 1: record that indicates what happened to them, or are there

141
00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,680
Speaker 1: any structures remaining behind that were like indigenous structures and

142
00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:34,520
Speaker 1: things like that. You know, when I went to the

143
00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:38,679
Speaker 1: National History Museum of Bartados, they were mentioning that there

144
00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:41,760
Speaker 1: really was almost no sign of the natives left behind.

145
00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:44,360
Speaker 1: Tools and boats and things were found in the woods,

146
00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:48,520
Speaker 1: but no permanent structures. So it's possible that they were

147
00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:50,880
Speaker 1: kind of commuting or using it as a midway point

148
00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:54,720
Speaker 1: between Venezuela and the other islands. So that makes sense

149
00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:58,319
Speaker 1: with the watercraft they were using to right, dugouts, Yeah, yeah, exactly,

150
00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:03,240
Speaker 1: So dugout would be the kind of vessel that that

151
00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,720
Speaker 1: would benefit from having a couple of midway points, right,

152
00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:10,240
Speaker 1: so you're not just lost out in open seas. But

153
00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:11,959
Speaker 1: I want to get back to I want to get

154
00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:15,880
Speaker 1: back to what you were saying about the original agricultural

155
00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:19,520
Speaker 1: efforts by the by the Europeans. They made tobacco and

156
00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:25,240
Speaker 1: cotton plantations, but Barbados isn't very well known for these

157
00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:30,800
Speaker 1: plantations historically, right, correct. Yeah, tobacco specifically, Um, A lot

158
00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:33,679
Speaker 1: of people are familiar with the Cuban tobacco that's a

159
00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:37,720
Speaker 1: highly prized crop, and the idea was that it's close

160
00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:41,640
Speaker 1: enough to Cuba, so possibly tobacco would take on a

161
00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:44,480
Speaker 1: similar flavor, but it actually was very low quality. The

162
00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:49,720
Speaker 1: soil conditions weren't the right kind to to harvest tobacco. Cotton,

163
00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:51,840
Speaker 1: on the other hand, still existed in a smaller form

164
00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:54,319
Speaker 1: and they actually have a very soft cotton that they're

165
00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:56,800
Speaker 1: proud of, but it just doesn't really make the island

166
00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:58,720
Speaker 1: a lot of money. So you start to see a

167
00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:02,239
Speaker 1: transition in the sixteen thirties when sugar cane was introduced

168
00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:05,160
Speaker 1: from nearby islands. It was brought and planted, and it

169
00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:08,760
Speaker 1: turned out that the earth in Barbados was actually very

170
00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:13,920
Speaker 1: very ripe to to nurture the sugar cane plants, almost

171
00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:16,000
Speaker 1: more so than the surrounding islands. Even like it just

172
00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:20,439
Speaker 1: really took off like wildfire. Yeah. Yeah, Jamaica and Barbados

173
00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:23,680
Speaker 1: with the two prominent islands that we're doing that, and um,

174
00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:27,560
Speaker 1: Barbados became one of the richest places in the world

175
00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:29,920
Speaker 1: at that point in the in the mid sixteen hundreds,

176
00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:34,040
Speaker 1: due to how quickly and how high quality the sugar

177
00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:36,959
Speaker 1: cane was and a little bit of a side note,

178
00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:40,880
Speaker 1: because of the the connection with Brazil and it's it's

179
00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:46,120
Speaker 1: proximity to Brazil, Barbados, there were actually Jewish Dutch people

180
00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:49,840
Speaker 1: who were exiled from Brazil who came to Barbados and

181
00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:53,600
Speaker 1: they brought with them plans for windmills. And it was

182
00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:57,160
Speaker 1: those windmills that allowed the locals to crush the sugar

183
00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:00,640
Speaker 1: cane effectively and efficiently, and that was something that didn't

184
00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:04,160
Speaker 1: have also the means of production. So it creates an

185
00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:06,920
Speaker 1: easier path to an economy of scale. Right. They were

186
00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:10,800
Speaker 1: able to, you know, use the wind to literally just

187
00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:14,640
Speaker 1: just pump it out versus hand crushing stalks of sugarcane

188
00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:18,840
Speaker 1: and getting that quid. And so now we've got we've

189
00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:23,360
Speaker 1: got Barbados becoming the number one player right in this

190
00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:27,600
Speaker 1: field as far as sugar is concerned, because of those windmills.

191
00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:30,040
Speaker 1: I have a side question there before we lose that point.

192
00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:36,040
Speaker 1: Were these Jewish Dutch individuals were they exiled like because

193
00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:41,080
Speaker 1: of religious persecution? Yeah? Yeah, so originally they were. This

194
00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:44,839
Speaker 1: actually ties into like Oliver Cromwell and the whole whole

195
00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:48,920
Speaker 1: English religious persecution that was also happening there at at

196
00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:53,040
Speaker 1: this time, and of Barbados was an English colony, and

197
00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:58,880
Speaker 1: Cromwell used Barbados as a way to accept refugees from

198
00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:04,280
Speaker 1: Brazil that were Jewish to appease the Dutch financiers as

199
00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:07,920
Speaker 1: he was looking to finance war and in different parts

200
00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:12,000
Speaker 1: of Yeah, so instead of accepting them into Great Britain,

201
00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:15,240
Speaker 1: he kind of had a different place he could show

202
00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:18,000
Speaker 1: goodwill towards the Dutch and the and the Jewish population

203
00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:21,600
Speaker 1: that is in the Netherlands and allow them to settle

204
00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:25,480
Speaker 1: in Barbados, which is a quick side note, home to

205
00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:29,800
Speaker 1: the oldest synagogue in the Eastern Hemisphere, so a very

206
00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:33,560
Speaker 1: religiously diverse place, just kind of from its even inception, right, Yeah,

207
00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:37,280
Speaker 1: although the congregation is is quite small. I think um

208
00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:40,600
Speaker 1: five families still practiced there. But it was the week

209
00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:44,160
Speaker 1: we were there. Prince Charles and Camilla were also there.

210
00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:48,079
Speaker 1: They towards the synagogue and though the various religious institutions

211
00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:50,760
Speaker 1: there there tons of churches, one for each parish. They

212
00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:53,040
Speaker 1: heard you guys are going to be there, right, Yeah,

213
00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:54,959
Speaker 1: they came the week that came and we grew there,

214
00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:56,280
Speaker 1: but we didn't get a church with them. Were the

215
00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:02,000
Speaker 1: week beforehand. So at this point We've set up the context,

216
00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:08,440
Speaker 1: the backdrop for Barbados, both its historical origins, and it's uh,

217
00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:14,240
Speaker 1: it's contemporary with washington economic status. There's something fascinating here.

218
00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:16,720
Speaker 1: There's a character in this story that I did not

219
00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:22,560
Speaker 1: anticipate Ryan, because we always think of these luminaries, these

220
00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:26,000
Speaker 1: uh men and women of great important history, we always

221
00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:28,400
Speaker 1: think of them kind of in an isolated way. We

222
00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,440
Speaker 1: tend to think of them as singular entities that have

223
00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:34,440
Speaker 1: you know, historical footnotes, as parents blah blah blah, they

224
00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:36,320
Speaker 1: might have had some kids blah blah blah, but let's

225
00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:40,240
Speaker 1: focus on this person. It turns out that George Washington

226
00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:44,560
Speaker 1: was by no means and only child, and uh, his

227
00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:48,320
Speaker 1: sibling actually is the reason he ended up in Barbados, right. Yeah.

228
00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:52,240
Speaker 1: From his youth he was almost a wouldn't say a

229
00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:55,520
Speaker 1: black sheep of the family, but he was um associated

230
00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:59,800
Speaker 1: with his father's second wife. But he was still providing

231
00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:05,040
Speaker 1: like monetary gifts and leaving his inheritance to his elder brother, Lawrence.

232
00:14:05,679 --> 00:14:09,520
Speaker 1: So George was Lawrence's half brother and they kind of

233
00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:14,800
Speaker 1: coexisted in in Virginia. But George really didn't see himself

234
00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:19,080
Speaker 1: getting out of kind of a second or third tier gentry,

235
00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,320
Speaker 1: you know, probably would own land, but but wasn't going

236
00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:26,200
Speaker 1: to be anything spectacular. Finished school at sixteen. He was

237
00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:28,920
Speaker 1: actually obsessed with this Book of Manners, so he he

238
00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,640
Speaker 1: kind of idolized Um the upper class, but he didn't

239
00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:35,520
Speaker 1: actually know how to break into the upper class. And

240
00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:38,880
Speaker 1: he didn't even leave Virginia, like, he had a very

241
00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:42,880
Speaker 1: myopic worldview up until this this adventure that we're about

242
00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:46,000
Speaker 1: to talk about. And he didn't even meet his older

243
00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:49,440
Speaker 1: brother Lawrence until seventeen thirty eight, when he was six

244
00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:52,640
Speaker 1: years old. I think, Yeah, they lived very separate lives,

245
00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:56,160
Speaker 1: very different lives, and he looked up to his brother,

246
00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:59,360
Speaker 1: but didn't quite have the same resources to really be

247
00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:01,360
Speaker 1: on the same aim with his brother and running the

248
00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,440
Speaker 1: same circles. But yeah, once they've kind of got to

249
00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:07,280
Speaker 1: know each other a little bit better. His his brother,

250
00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:11,080
Speaker 1: Lawrence Um contracted a pulmonary disease that is often believed

251
00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:14,720
Speaker 1: to be tuberculosis. All signs point that it was, but

252
00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:18,280
Speaker 1: he asked him, well, Lawd's wife actually asked George if

253
00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:22,280
Speaker 1: he'd accompany him on a trip to get some fresher air,

254
00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:24,280
Speaker 1: clean air. You hear that a lot with people with

255
00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:26,360
Speaker 1: TV and they say, oh, you gotta move to where

256
00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:28,960
Speaker 1: it's a little dryer, like where the climate will suit

257
00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:31,960
Speaker 1: you a little bit better and you can convalesce. Right. Yeah,

258
00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:34,480
Speaker 1: something you guys talk about a lot is um and

259
00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:37,120
Speaker 1: at this point in history, there isn't a lot to

260
00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:40,120
Speaker 1: do to get better, Right, It's a change of scenery.

261
00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:42,520
Speaker 1: It's a wait and see approach kind of. Yeah, it's

262
00:15:42,560 --> 00:15:47,360
Speaker 1: like the world is your hospice. Yeah. So also, wasn't

263
00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:50,320
Speaker 1: there an issue where his wife could not accompany him

264
00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:54,000
Speaker 1: because they had already lost several children and they couldn't

265
00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:57,680
Speaker 1: risk the surviving child to you know, die on a

266
00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:01,240
Speaker 1: treacherous sea voyage, which happened plenty. Yeah. I think that

267
00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:03,800
Speaker 1: is a really great point. And old you look to

268
00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:06,440
Speaker 1: kind of have protect the kids that you do have,

269
00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:08,920
Speaker 1: and if that means sending the parent away the other

270
00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:10,880
Speaker 1: parents for a while, that's something that you have to

271
00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:14,040
Speaker 1: do because you're trying to protect those that are healthy

272
00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:18,480
Speaker 1: and the chance of recovery with tuberculous is is very low,

273
00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:22,560
Speaker 1: but the chance of infecting others is very high. Yeah.

274
00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:24,480
Speaker 1: And like I said, even if they did want to

275
00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:26,920
Speaker 1: bring the family along, mom was like, no, no, no, no no,

276
00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:29,200
Speaker 1: I don't know if this young, you know, kind of

277
00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:32,640
Speaker 1: feeble child can survive this sea voyage, you know, even

278
00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:34,400
Speaker 1: if they did want to live on the island in

279
00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:37,600
Speaker 1: quarantine away from dad. You know. So it was very

280
00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:40,680
Speaker 1: much probably a twofold thing, right. It's a very valid

281
00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:43,480
Speaker 1: concern for sure, And we have to we can picture

282
00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:48,280
Speaker 1: a little bit of how George may have regarded his

283
00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:53,920
Speaker 1: older brother because he's been you know, largely relegated to Virginia, right, Uh,

284
00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:57,880
Speaker 1: sort of fantasizing about an aristocratic life that he feels

285
00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:01,360
Speaker 1: he will never lead. He sees his older brotherho would

286
00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:05,879
Speaker 1: have ventured abroad in England, had been in a pretty

287
00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:10,919
Speaker 1: well known school, Appleby Grammar School, getting a top notch education.

288
00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:15,720
Speaker 1: It's it's kind of like this mysterious figure comes in

289
00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:19,520
Speaker 1: and there's something aspirational about it for George. So how

290
00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,679
Speaker 1: would you not jump at the chance right to to

291
00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:25,720
Speaker 1: go on an adventure with this super cool dude. Yeah.

292
00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:29,240
Speaker 1: I mean he's going to an island that's a British colony, um,

293
00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:31,919
Speaker 1: just like the United States is at this point, and

294
00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:35,639
Speaker 1: he's getting a chance to be in his brother's inner circle.

295
00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:37,879
Speaker 1: I mean that's a chance that he might not have

296
00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:42,680
Speaker 1: gotten had Lawrence not fallen ill and it's something that

297
00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:46,040
Speaker 1: allows him to kind of, at least for for a

298
00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:50,760
Speaker 1: temporary period, experience the life that he was wishing to obtain.

299
00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,679
Speaker 1: And he's about nineteen at this point, correct, Yeah, he

300
00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:57,040
Speaker 1: I mean he was about nineteen, so he was kind

301
00:17:57,040 --> 00:18:00,520
Speaker 1: of in the the early adulthood period of his life.

302
00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:03,560
Speaker 1: And really this was this is a very pivotal time.

303
00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:06,280
Speaker 1: I mean, if we think about this in in modern days,

304
00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:10,440
Speaker 1: taking trips in your late teens early twenties can really

305
00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:15,639
Speaker 1: change your worldview and specifically pre really any transmission of

306
00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:20,920
Speaker 1: data short of um, books, newspapers, um. That was kind

307
00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:24,320
Speaker 1: of missing from from sure maybe letters, right, that took

308
00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:26,840
Speaker 1: months to arrive. We also had his diaries, though, which

309
00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:29,640
Speaker 1: is an important part of what we know about this journey. Yeah,

310
00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:36,040
Speaker 1: he was a known, known taker of diaries. I like

311
00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:41,000
Speaker 1: how that sounds vaguely accusatory and scatological. User are a

312
00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:50,400
Speaker 1: known diarist, So he he kept this diary during this trip,

313
00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,720
Speaker 1: which obviously to this point would be his biggest adventure.

314
00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:56,040
Speaker 1: Keeping a diary makes perfect sense, and this is our

315
00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:59,560
Speaker 1: primary source to write. Correct. Yeah, there's still um the

316
00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,879
Speaker 1: diaries and fairly good condition for its age. Um. There

317
00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:06,359
Speaker 1: are missing missing pages, but that's to be expected. But

318
00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:09,240
Speaker 1: what is in there um gives a pretty good idea

319
00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:10,880
Speaker 1: of his time on the island and what he thought

320
00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:13,159
Speaker 1: about it. How how long did he end up on

321
00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:16,480
Speaker 1: the island. So what's what's odd about this because of

322
00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:20,040
Speaker 1: the impact it has and how Barbados still recognizes George

323
00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:23,000
Speaker 1: Washington as an important figure in its history. Is he

324
00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:26,720
Speaker 1: only spent seven weeks, which is about the same length

325
00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:30,639
Speaker 1: of the trip there um and back, So it was

326
00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:34,119
Speaker 1: kind of a fourteen week trip and only half of

327
00:19:34,119 --> 00:19:37,919
Speaker 1: it was actually spent in Barbados. But he credited this

328
00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:40,399
Speaker 1: trip to giving him a larger perspective on the British

329
00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:47,000
Speaker 1: Empire and fresh insights on the plantation management, agricultural productivity, slavery,

330
00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,399
Speaker 1: wealth and poverty, which is something he wrote in his

331
00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:54,600
Speaker 1: journal when leaving Bridgetown, Barbados the capital. Now let's explore

332
00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:56,480
Speaker 1: that a little bit further, because you had a note

333
00:19:56,520 --> 00:20:00,960
Speaker 1: about Bridgetown where you mentioned that this would have been

334
00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:03,920
Speaker 1: Would this have been the largest city that George Washington

335
00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:06,240
Speaker 1: had seen at this point in his young life. Yeah,

336
00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:11,760
Speaker 1: he mostly spent time in and medium sized cities in Virginia. UM,

337
00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:14,960
Speaker 1: Barbados at this point, because of its wealth from the

338
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:20,959
Speaker 1: sugar industry, was actually a pretty pretty bustling metropolis comparatively

339
00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:24,560
Speaker 1: to the kind of semi rural area that he'd come

340
00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:28,960
Speaker 1: from in Virginia. So imagine growing up in some part

341
00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,919
Speaker 1: of Georgia that's not Atlanta and coming to Atlanta for

342
00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:34,680
Speaker 1: the first time. The size of the buildings as you

343
00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:37,119
Speaker 1: travel through downtown can can kind of give a similar

344
00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:39,480
Speaker 1: effect of a of a different world. So I think

345
00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:42,080
Speaker 1: you do. You mentioned that this this sea voyage would

346
00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:44,800
Speaker 1: have taken about six weeks. It's funny in context because

347
00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:48,560
Speaker 1: apparently a flight from Washington, d C. To Barbados now

348
00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:50,919
Speaker 1: is only about six hours, So it would have been

349
00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:53,600
Speaker 1: a real commitment to get to this place. And and

350
00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:56,960
Speaker 1: and consequently, Um, it's really interesting they when he was

351
00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,560
Speaker 1: on the ship, George Washington kind of earned a lot

352
00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:03,560
Speaker 1: about navigation, and he also did a lot of fishing

353
00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:05,640
Speaker 1: with his brother off the side of the boat. And

354
00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:09,800
Speaker 1: they actually on November two, Um, they sighted land way

355
00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:12,880
Speaker 1: earlier than they expected because I guess that the captain

356
00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:14,960
Speaker 1: wasn't as crack a navigator as he thought he was,

357
00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:16,760
Speaker 1: and they thought they were like a hundred and fifty

358
00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:19,520
Speaker 1: leagues to the east of Barbados. But then they have

359
00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,480
Speaker 1: this very early call of land. Ho and you'd mentioned

360
00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:25,000
Speaker 1: those coral reefs and how what Barbados is kind of

361
00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:27,920
Speaker 1: composed of, and so this side of the island that

362
00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:30,520
Speaker 1: they were approaching was pretty treacherous. I mean, it would

363
00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:32,960
Speaker 1: have had all of these rocks and corals and things

364
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:36,280
Speaker 1: that would have would have wanted to prepare for and expect.

365
00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:40,320
Speaker 1: But luckily they did land without you know, crashing the ship.

366
00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:43,280
Speaker 1: The Success right, the name of the of the ship,

367
00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:47,840
Speaker 1: so luckily the Success was not uh not to be

368
00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,399
Speaker 1: an ironic name, at least at that point. And they

369
00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:53,920
Speaker 1: anchored in Carlisle Bay, and that is when he got

370
00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:59,119
Speaker 1: his first look at this bustling economy, this absolutely you know,

371
00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:02,399
Speaker 1: alien in world to him, right, And Carlisle Bay is

372
00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:06,280
Speaker 1: um is now pretty resorted. But you can tell why

373
00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:09,119
Speaker 1: it was chosen as a as a landing point because

374
00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:13,040
Speaker 1: it's in a little concave area in the island and

375
00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:15,000
Speaker 1: it's full of sand, but all around it are the

376
00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:17,359
Speaker 1: rocks and the coral that and all described from the

377
00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:20,080
Speaker 1: Atlantic side. The Atlantic side is a treacherous, rocky side,

378
00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:24,320
Speaker 1: and the Caribbean sea waves those are softer and make

379
00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:26,560
Speaker 1: for an easier landing. Um, they kind of split the

380
00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:29,600
Speaker 1: difference and went into Carlisle Bay, which is still a

381
00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,719
Speaker 1: really prominent port for Bridgetown. Got it. So, speaking of

382
00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:39,000
Speaker 1: easy landings here, one thing that's fascinating about this is

383
00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:42,400
Speaker 1: that this mode of travel, or this kind of travel,

384
00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:46,440
Speaker 1: has a lot in common with travel today in unfamiliar places.

385
00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:49,639
Speaker 1: The number one rule of traveling to an unfamiliar place

386
00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:52,399
Speaker 1: is that things tend to go easier if you have

387
00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:55,480
Speaker 1: a local connection. You know, sometimes they call him a

388
00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:58,719
Speaker 1: fixer depending on the country, but sometimes it's just a friend.

389
00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:03,359
Speaker 1: And this is where George and Lawrence. But you know,

390
00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:08,240
Speaker 1: George starts to actualize his dream of moving in these

391
00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:12,680
Speaker 1: elite circles, right, Yes, So they were arranged to spend

392
00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:15,560
Speaker 1: some time with the Clark family, Gedney or Jedney Clark.

393
00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:17,320
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if you guys have input on that.

394
00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:19,639
Speaker 1: That would go with the hard G and I just

395
00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:22,199
Speaker 1: commit commit to the hard G. We're gonna go with

396
00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:26,600
Speaker 1: Gedney Clark. And um, he was a prominent merchant in Bridgetown,

397
00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:28,960
Speaker 1: he invited them to his house, but at that time

398
00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:32,800
Speaker 1: his family though he was Lawrence Washington's wife's uncle, right yes,

399
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,480
Speaker 1: and Mrs Clark actually had smallpox, so George was a

400
00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:40,119
Speaker 1: little bit uh skeptical about going there. He had not

401
00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:43,720
Speaker 1: suffered from it, but Lawrence hadn't and so he was immune.

402
00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:47,240
Speaker 1: But this illness was enough to keep the Washington's from

403
00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:50,719
Speaker 1: lodging from them um as they originally in attended, which

404
00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:53,760
Speaker 1: actually turns out to be a benefit because that particular

405
00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:57,080
Speaker 1: house is further away from the city center of Bridgetown,

406
00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:00,840
Speaker 1: and instead the brothers stayed with James Order, who was

407
00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:03,280
Speaker 1: a relative of a of the Carter family that was

408
00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:07,439
Speaker 1: pretty well known back in their hometown in Virginia, so

409
00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:10,480
Speaker 1: they stayed with him for the first four days of

410
00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:15,560
Speaker 1: this of this trip, and then Lawrence's doctor, Dr. William Hillary,

411
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,919
Speaker 1: whom he was recommended to go see while he was

412
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:22,040
Speaker 1: in Barbados, suggested that they go further up. As you

413
00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:24,880
Speaker 1: go in the center of Barbados, it elevates and kind

414
00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:27,480
Speaker 1: of the center of the island is mountainous and the

415
00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:30,399
Speaker 1: air is dryer. Obviously it's away from the humidity of

416
00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:34,159
Speaker 1: the sea. But fortunately for this story. They weren't able

417
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:37,600
Speaker 1: to find any lodging up there, and so they returned

418
00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,080
Speaker 1: back to the city where George, who was not stuck

419
00:24:41,119 --> 00:24:43,720
Speaker 1: staying in bed, was able to go out at night.

420
00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,880
Speaker 1: He actually took in his first theater play at this time. Um.

421
00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,919
Speaker 1: He went to dances and dinners with social elites like

422
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:54,280
Speaker 1: he'd always desired. He ate at the nicest homes in

423
00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:56,920
Speaker 1: the country. He met with military leaders. This was kind

424
00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:01,119
Speaker 1: of his first experience with military leader. And something that

425
00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:04,800
Speaker 1: is really unique about Barbados is it's the only British

426
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:08,680
Speaker 1: colony that was never lost. Britain never lost it due

427
00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,800
Speaker 1: to military conquests or anything. They've always been able to

428
00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:15,280
Speaker 1: fend off um invaders, the French and others. He was

429
00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:19,480
Speaker 1: heavily fortified. Right And this is also is one of

430
00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:23,080
Speaker 1: my favorite details. This is also where George Washington finds

431
00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,280
Speaker 1: one of his favorite foods, right Yeah, he um. He

432
00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:29,719
Speaker 1: first tasted the pineapple during this trip, which is just

433
00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:33,160
Speaker 1: a superior snack. I'm just gonna say, yeah, I mean

434
00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:36,240
Speaker 1: it's it's a great fruit and it's one that he um.

435
00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:38,840
Speaker 1: He carries with him throughout his life and is seen

436
00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:42,760
Speaker 1: almost every dinner that he hosted in the White House. Um,

437
00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:45,760
Speaker 1: he loved it as a as a post dinner cleanser

438
00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:48,640
Speaker 1: kind of and you guys know that that's pretty refreshing,

439
00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:52,920
Speaker 1: and it it becomes something that he kind of talks about.

440
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,240
Speaker 1: You know, when you take a trip and you try

441
00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:57,600
Speaker 1: a new food for the next few months, that's all

442
00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:01,960
Speaker 1: you talk about. Well, for George, that's uh, that's kind

443
00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:03,640
Speaker 1: of becomes his life. He kind of has a has

444
00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:09,040
Speaker 1: a pineapple antidote nearly all of his conversations. So, first off,

445
00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:11,199
Speaker 1: I love that idea, and it's going to color the

446
00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:13,960
Speaker 1: way I think about all his conversations for the rest

447
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,680
Speaker 1: of my life. At least, I want to go somewhere

448
00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:20,000
Speaker 1: interesting with this in a bit of a secuitous fashion.

449
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:25,119
Speaker 1: So we know from his own writing that he was

450
00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:29,960
Speaker 1: amazed by not just Barbados itself, but by Barbados in

451
00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:34,120
Speaker 1: comparison to Virginia, right because Virginia was more rural, less

452
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:38,959
Speaker 1: intensely cultivated, and he talked about how there were just

453
00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:42,520
Speaker 1: people everywhere. I think he said specifically everywhere was furnished

454
00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:46,680
Speaker 1: with inhabitants. And while this was a good thing for him,

455
00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:52,920
Speaker 1: it probably led to his medical concerns as well, right, yeah,

456
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:55,680
Speaker 1: you know, while he was there going to these parties. Um,

457
00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:59,240
Speaker 1: he's in the early prime of his adulthood. Um, he's

458
00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:03,359
Speaker 1: taking women to the theater. He's going on dates. Hold on,

459
00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:06,480
Speaker 1: is that a euphemism taking someone into the theater? It

460
00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:12,080
Speaker 1: could be um, but yeah, he's um, you know, he's

461
00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:14,880
Speaker 1: doing what what most people do in their in their

462
00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:19,840
Speaker 1: late teenagers. And uh. During this time, he contracts smallpox

463
00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:23,679
Speaker 1: despite not staying at the Clarks, which is an important

464
00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:27,760
Speaker 1: note in this story. For sure, smallpox as as he

465
00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:30,960
Speaker 1: contracted it on the island where he was already in

466
00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:34,480
Speaker 1: a home that had frequent doctors visits, he had servants

467
00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:36,520
Speaker 1: to wait on him. He was also in a good

468
00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:41,120
Speaker 1: climate to recover from it. There weren't wasn't anything taxing

469
00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:42,840
Speaker 1: he was. Yeah, it was not for good. He was

470
00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:45,520
Speaker 1: there in the first place, with someone who was suffering

471
00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:48,600
Speaker 1: from a free, debilitating condition to help them convalesce. So

472
00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:50,639
Speaker 1: this was sort of an optimal place for him to

473
00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:53,040
Speaker 1: catch this and and probably whether it in a way

474
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:55,560
Speaker 1: that maybe wouldn't have been the case back home. Right. Yeah,

475
00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:59,440
Speaker 1: So if we think about Washington, the Revolutionary War general,

476
00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:03,960
Speaker 1: he is able to recover in a bed in warm,

477
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:08,600
Speaker 1: beautiful tropic Barbados as opposed to the battlefields UM where

478
00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:12,280
Speaker 1: many of his soldiers died from smallpox. So, as I

479
00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:16,320
Speaker 1: mentioned earlier with Lawrence, as you contract smallpox and recover,

480
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:19,119
Speaker 1: if you're successful, then you have an immunity to it

481
00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:24,199
Speaker 1: um and this is actually credited as a reason for

482
00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:28,200
Speaker 1: George Washington's success in that war, UM in the Revolutionary War,

483
00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:32,879
Speaker 1: but also Barbados, like I mentioned before, is important because

484
00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:36,399
Speaker 1: he gets he gets exposure to British military tactics while

485
00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:39,240
Speaker 1: meeting there, which also plays plays a part in his

486
00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:42,360
Speaker 1: war success. Would that have been through firsthand encounters with

487
00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:45,360
Speaker 1: British military officers of some of these fancy dress parties,

488
00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:48,240
Speaker 1: you know exactly? Yeah, he was able to The house

489
00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:50,600
Speaker 1: is his house that he stayed at it and he's

490
00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:53,040
Speaker 1: still there. Is right next to one of the largest

491
00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:56,360
Speaker 1: forts on the island, and he would frequently go there

492
00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:59,760
Speaker 1: for lunches and dinners and have conversations with high ob

493
00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:03,600
Speaker 1: jet rules which in the American military or the colonial

494
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:06,960
Speaker 1: military at the time, he wouldn't really have access to

495
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:12,720
Speaker 1: that level of information. And it's information of what would

496
00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:16,760
Speaker 1: later become the opposing I because it's easy to forget

497
00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:20,760
Speaker 1: at the time, Washington is a subject of the British Empire.

498
00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:23,239
Speaker 1: He's a you know, I mean, that's that's what's up.

499
00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:26,959
Speaker 1: He is, Uh, he's definitely not a British citizen, but

500
00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:30,880
Speaker 1: he's on their side. Technically. He has no idea at

501
00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:34,760
Speaker 1: this point he's going to become such a figure in

502
00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:37,800
Speaker 1: American history. Me that's the most fascinating part of this story.

503
00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:40,320
Speaker 1: He has no idea just to continue. He has no

504
00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,520
Speaker 1: idea that the United States will even be a thing.

505
00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:46,719
Speaker 1: This is a very different look at this guy. And

506
00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,920
Speaker 1: also while we're doing a very different look, I propose

507
00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:53,320
Speaker 1: we do a very honest look because this is something

508
00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:56,680
Speaker 1: whenever we talk about the Founding Fathers, this is something

509
00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:02,120
Speaker 1: that often gets skirted around or circumvented. But this guy

510
00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:05,600
Speaker 1: was not a saint, right. He has actually been dogged

511
00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:11,440
Speaker 1: by some rumors or allegations that he left his mark

512
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:15,360
Speaker 1: on Barbados. In more than one way. He's been People

513
00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:18,520
Speaker 1: have said that he actually may have fathered some children. Yeah,

514
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:20,880
Speaker 1: you know, when I was there. Um, several of the

515
00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:23,920
Speaker 1: people we met with, including Dr Carl Watson, will come

516
00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:27,600
Speaker 1: up later in this in this podcast, would often make

517
00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:30,920
Speaker 1: jokes with locals saying, is your last name Washington? Or

518
00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:33,880
Speaker 1: you look like one of the Washington kids. Um, it's

519
00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:36,280
Speaker 1: a it's kind of a joke that he's kind of

520
00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:38,760
Speaker 1: the father of the island in that in his in

521
00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:42,080
Speaker 1: his uh seven week period, he it's possible that he

522
00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:46,600
Speaker 1: may have helped conceive at least a handful of children.

523
00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:49,640
Speaker 1: And um, it's kind of a it's kind of an

524
00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:52,760
Speaker 1: interesting idea because as many of you guys know, he

525
00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:58,240
Speaker 1: didn't have children of his own that he claimed at

526
00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:01,400
Speaker 1: least that that you know that or shown as um

527
00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:05,560
Speaker 1: direct descendants of him done with Martha Washington, right, Yeah,

528
00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:09,880
Speaker 1: And it's often thought that he was actually sterile due

529
00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:13,120
Speaker 1: to a previous about that he had with malaria. But

530
00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:16,200
Speaker 1: despite that, it's also rumored that he fathered his son

531
00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:20,680
Speaker 1: with Venus, who was his half brother, Um John Augustine

532
00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:25,280
Speaker 1: Washington slave, so a different half brother, and the son's

533
00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:30,040
Speaker 1: name is west Ford and his great great great granddaughter

534
00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:33,320
Speaker 1: at least Ford. Alan has stated that Washington kept Venus

535
00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:36,480
Speaker 1: as a and she is a quote from a from

536
00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:39,960
Speaker 1: an article in The New York Times from um as

537
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:43,760
Speaker 1: a personal sleep partner, and that when it was obvious

538
00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:46,120
Speaker 1: she was pregnant, he no longer wanted to sleep with her.

539
00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:53,160
Speaker 1: Yeah boy, yeah. So the story, oddly enough was well,

540
00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:55,120
Speaker 1: I guess it makes sense, but was corroborated by a

541
00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:58,600
Speaker 1: cousin that they only knew of each other for five

542
00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:01,120
Speaker 1: years when the story came out. So they've grown up

543
00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:05,080
Speaker 1: completely separate lives knowing the same story that they were

544
00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:09,520
Speaker 1: descendants of George Washington through Venus, who was again one

545
00:32:09,560 --> 00:32:13,160
Speaker 1: of the enslaved people that John Augustine Washington kept. So

546
00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:16,200
Speaker 1: it's an it's a fascinating story. In Nicholas Wade writes

547
00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:19,720
Speaker 1: about it and the descendants of slaves. Son contended that

548
00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:22,040
Speaker 1: his father was George Washington. It's a really good New

549
00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:24,200
Speaker 1: York Times article. Um, if you want to do any

550
00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:28,720
Speaker 1: further reading on that, I have to ask, personally, how

551
00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,400
Speaker 1: much sand do you think there is to these claims?

552
00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:37,040
Speaker 1: I think that there is um a good amount of

553
00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:39,720
Speaker 1: of truth to these because, um, some of these have

554
00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:42,239
Speaker 1: been backed up by by DNA tests, and there's at

555
00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:45,920
Speaker 1: least enough DNA too to make the argument. I also

556
00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:49,960
Speaker 1: think that this isn't an isolated incident for presidents, for

557
00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:54,000
Speaker 1: men of this time, or for George Washington. Himself. So

558
00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:56,800
Speaker 1: it's been often said that he and Martha had more

559
00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:00,840
Speaker 1: of kind of a coexisting, co parenting relationship rather than

560
00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:06,640
Speaker 1: a physical and outwardly affectionate relationship. So it is possible

561
00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:11,840
Speaker 1: that he was receiving that um, that affection elsewhere, which

562
00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:16,680
Speaker 1: kind of leads us to an interesting rumor about Alexander

563
00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:20,239
Speaker 1: Hamilton's UM and I can't hear anybody even speak those

564
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:22,880
Speaker 1: words without singing it in my head. Yeah, he's famous

565
00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:25,560
Speaker 1: for that musical, right, Yeah, yeah, he's um you know,

566
00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:27,440
Speaker 1: and many of us know him because of the musical

567
00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:30,680
Speaker 1: Now and uh, he's one of the founding fathers, and

568
00:33:30,680 --> 00:33:34,080
Speaker 1: he was also the first Secretary of Treasury. But there's

569
00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:41,400
Speaker 1: been theories UM linking Alexander Hamilton's to George Washington, and

570
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:44,360
Speaker 1: that link that is written about in Robert P. Watson's

571
00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:48,720
Speaker 1: Affairs of the State, The Untold History of Presidential Love, Sex,

572
00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:52,400
Speaker 1: and Scandal. It's a very interesting book that tries to

573
00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:57,720
Speaker 1: make an argument um that during George Washington's time in Barbados,

574
00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:01,800
Speaker 1: Alexander Hamilton's mother, who had never been to the United

575
00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:05,920
Speaker 1: States at this point, was visiting various Caribbean islands and

576
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:08,520
Speaker 1: at some point they met up and may have had

577
00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:13,360
Speaker 1: a relationship. Now it's pretty easy to to debunk because

578
00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:16,640
Speaker 1: there's actually no record of her visiting Barbados specifically, and

579
00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:19,720
Speaker 1: no record of George Washington going elsewhere. But George Washington's

580
00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:22,319
Speaker 1: Barbados journals had like pages ripped out. I mean, this,

581
00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:25,040
Speaker 1: this is not this is a fallible system of record keeping.

582
00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:27,839
Speaker 1: I would I would Devil's advocate there. So I guess

583
00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:30,120
Speaker 1: we have to look at the chronology then, right, yeah,

584
00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:34,560
Speaker 1: So so with that, Washington left in December of seventeen

585
00:34:34,640 --> 00:34:37,240
Speaker 1: fifty one, he left Barbados to go back to Virginia.

586
00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:41,680
Speaker 1: But Hamilton's wasn't born until January seventeen fifty five. So

587
00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:45,120
Speaker 1: unless there was a long period of uh, what is it,

588
00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:51,960
Speaker 1: gestation stations, the um, then then it seems not plausible. Well,

589
00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:53,600
Speaker 1: you can't let the facts get in the way of

590
00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:57,239
Speaker 1: a good story. My mother always says, it's true. Yeah,

591
00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:00,279
Speaker 1: and they you know, they ended up still having a

592
00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:05,719
Speaker 1: relationship Hamilton's and Washington, just not a a paternal relationship.

593
00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:07,799
Speaker 1: But isn't that sort of where what got the rumor

594
00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:10,399
Speaker 1: mills started here is that they almost treated each other

595
00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:13,720
Speaker 1: in almost like a father and son kind of way. Yeah.

596
00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:19,080
Speaker 1: You know, many political rivals uh of Hamilton's would would argue,

597
00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:22,640
Speaker 1: um that he was receiving unfair treatment from Washington and

598
00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:26,320
Speaker 1: a positive unfair treatment. Um that was kind of putting

599
00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:28,719
Speaker 1: in positions of power that they didn't feel he was

600
00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:31,600
Speaker 1: qualified for. And so that could have been where the

601
00:35:31,680 --> 00:35:34,760
Speaker 1: rumor really got its legs. How you can slander an opponent.

602
00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:38,799
Speaker 1: We see that a lot and and say it's nothing new.

603
00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:41,720
Speaker 1: Um by any means, it was just a different era

604
00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:45,600
Speaker 1: political slander at that time. I mean, they they went

605
00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:49,919
Speaker 1: for it. I'm impressed with the propagandists of old. Yeah.

606
00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:59,160
Speaker 1: We have to say though that it is amazing only

607
00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:04,640
Speaker 1: seven eeks could have such a profound impact on George Washington.

608
00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:07,239
Speaker 1: I think you're right, Bryan. I think it had. The

609
00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:10,600
Speaker 1: island had more of an impact upon him than he

610
00:36:10,719 --> 00:36:14,360
Speaker 1: had upon the island. But you can still see, you

611
00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:17,480
Speaker 1: can you can still see traces of George Washington's time

612
00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:20,600
Speaker 1: there right like there, surely there's a George Washington house

613
00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:24,000
Speaker 1: right or a complex you went to, Uh, tell us

614
00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:27,239
Speaker 1: a little more about Dr Carl Watson. Yeah, So Dr

615
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:29,880
Speaker 1: Carl Watson was someone who met with a couple of times.

616
00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:33,480
Speaker 1: He's a local historian of great importance. He's done, um

617
00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:37,480
Speaker 1: many great things for the island, preserved historic buildings, but

618
00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:40,320
Speaker 1: this one project that he started a couple of years back,

619
00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:45,440
Speaker 1: it's something that is helping George's legacy live on in Barbados.

620
00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:48,200
Speaker 1: What he's done is created a sort of dinner theater

621
00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:52,120
Speaker 1: where he plays George Washington, which is which is odd

622
00:36:52,160 --> 00:36:56,120
Speaker 1: because Carl Watson as um, definitely not nineteen, but he

623
00:36:56,239 --> 00:37:00,920
Speaker 1: dresses as Washington. UM, and your your entertain with drinks.

624
00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:04,640
Speaker 1: Then you get a multi course meal, um, which is

625
00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:07,399
Speaker 1: accurate as you're able to get to a historic meal.

626
00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:10,200
Speaker 1: You did this? Yes, what are we talking to? Um?

627
00:37:10,520 --> 00:37:13,680
Speaker 1: They call it dolphin but it's some sort of swordfish fish.

628
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:17,320
Speaker 1: Dolphin fish. Yeahs like mahi mahi. I think. Yeah. Pineapple

629
00:37:17,400 --> 00:37:20,520
Speaker 1: was obviously their red wine was was the drink, and

630
00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:23,400
Speaker 1: a lot of rum drinks were offered. Some sort of

631
00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:26,319
Speaker 1: a large kind of bean and rice dish that is

632
00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:28,120
Speaker 1: still pretty calm and kind of looks like black eyed

633
00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:31,760
Speaker 1: peas and rice. The food there is actually very similar

634
00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:34,319
Speaker 1: to two food of the South. There's actually a lot

635
00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:39,960
Speaker 1: of ties between Barbados and Charleston, South Carolina. Architecturally, culturally,

636
00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:43,560
Speaker 1: and um, the gold Ghichi people as well. If you

637
00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:46,120
Speaker 1: want to know what the the accent in Barbados sounds

638
00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:49,640
Speaker 1: like a person of the gold Ghichi area of Georgia

639
00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:51,600
Speaker 1: and South Carolina is going to give you a real

640
00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:56,040
Speaker 1: idea of that. Wow, okay, fascinating. Yeah. So the meal there,

641
00:37:56,200 --> 00:37:59,200
Speaker 1: you know, it was six or seven courses. His right

642
00:37:59,239 --> 00:38:03,160
Speaker 1: hand man, his his enslaved person that he was appear

643
00:38:03,239 --> 00:38:05,560
Speaker 1: to have a really good relationship with, Um was kind

644
00:38:05,560 --> 00:38:09,920
Speaker 1: of running things and they were they were having conversations,

645
00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:14,000
Speaker 1: having jokes. Um he was able to flirt with his

646
00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:17,239
Speaker 1: his main choice. Sort Yeah, he picked out one of

647
00:38:17,280 --> 00:38:19,719
Speaker 1: the one of the women and had her sit next

648
00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:22,320
Speaker 1: to him and they had a nice little time potential

649
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:25,959
Speaker 1: sleeping partner. Yeah, and uh sait on old George's lap

650
00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:28,560
Speaker 1: here and that it's a little creepy, you know, and

651
00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:30,839
Speaker 1: then she just played into it. This is literally someone

652
00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:33,120
Speaker 1: that was a tourist that was there for the dinner. Yeah. Yeah,

653
00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:35,960
Speaker 1: he had his choice of of eight. He chose one

654
00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:40,359
Speaker 1: and uh yeah, they did it. But the important thing

655
00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:42,359
Speaker 1: about it is that it's a way to raise money

656
00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:45,080
Speaker 1: for the property and to keep the property in good shape,

657
00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:48,880
Speaker 1: something that many island nations have issues with his preserving

658
00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:51,920
Speaker 1: buildings in the conditions, the humidity of the salt, all

659
00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:55,719
Speaker 1: of that is really unforgiving and requires a lot of money. UM.

660
00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:58,279
Speaker 1: So I think that's something really important that Dr Carl

661
00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:00,719
Speaker 1: Watson is doing with that program to double back. That

662
00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:04,160
Speaker 1: is your kind of primary focus in your in your

663
00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:07,680
Speaker 1: studies is preservation of these kinds of spots. Yeah, this

664
00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:12,000
Speaker 1: trip wasn't focused on the preservation aspect, but it is

665
00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:14,600
Speaker 1: something that's always important when we're looking at history and

666
00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:18,120
Speaker 1: how to tell accurate history is being able to preserve

667
00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:22,040
Speaker 1: structures that can help understand what the what the past

668
00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:24,759
Speaker 1: was like. They do a great job there with historical

669
00:39:25,239 --> 00:39:28,239
Speaker 1: furniture in the building. They've raised the ceilings but they've

670
00:39:28,239 --> 00:39:31,319
Speaker 1: marked how low the ceilings were um because they were

671
00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:33,560
Speaker 1: like six and a half foot ceilings at the time.

672
00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:37,240
Speaker 1: You know, there are many people who are around six

673
00:39:37,320 --> 00:39:40,520
Speaker 1: five and collers, so they have accommodated um and it's

674
00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:42,520
Speaker 1: something they've done a really good job in the past

675
00:39:42,560 --> 00:39:45,920
Speaker 1: decade of in Barbados is making this historic structure is

676
00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:50,319
Speaker 1: accessible to all people, including those who are disabled or

677
00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:54,760
Speaker 1: need assistance with accessing different parts of these buildings because

678
00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:57,960
Speaker 1: obviously a house built in the sixteen hundreds, it's not

679
00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:01,759
Speaker 1: going to have an elevator or ray for people in wheelchairs.

680
00:40:02,160 --> 00:40:05,480
Speaker 1: But Barbados is taking great pride in making their their

681
00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:08,920
Speaker 1: buildings accessible, so I think it's really important in their

682
00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:14,439
Speaker 1: preservation work. Ryan, thank you so much for showing us this.

683
00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:21,680
Speaker 1: I'll say, this largely unknown episode of George Washington's life,

684
00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:26,280
Speaker 1: and I'm fascinated with this. And I have to ask,

685
00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:28,360
Speaker 1: I understand if you can't tell me due to some

686
00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:31,840
Speaker 1: sort of proprietary in d A or something, But what

687
00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:33,600
Speaker 1: what are you working on now? What are you what

688
00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:35,879
Speaker 1: are your studies focusing on? I mean, right now, I'm

689
00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:39,000
Speaker 1: I'm kind of wrapping up my last couple of classes

690
00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:43,680
Speaker 1: in the program, actually working on archival work. Museum studies

691
00:40:43,719 --> 00:40:47,080
Speaker 1: are kind of the two big places I'm doing. I'm

692
00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:51,280
Speaker 1: I'm studying how visitor interactions work when you're in a museum,

693
00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:56,160
Speaker 1: and ways to maximize content for all types of visitors,

694
00:40:56,200 --> 00:41:00,160
Speaker 1: not just the highly educated or the older crowd. But

695
00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:03,680
Speaker 1: we want to have the same exhibits um give information

696
00:41:03,719 --> 00:41:07,240
Speaker 1: to both young and old, educated, uneducated, and just making

697
00:41:07,280 --> 00:41:10,839
Speaker 1: history more accessible too to all sorts of people. And

698
00:41:11,239 --> 00:41:15,080
Speaker 1: my primary focus in in history always has been underserved

699
00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:18,080
Speaker 1: populations and making sure that they're credited with their part

700
00:41:18,120 --> 00:41:20,840
Speaker 1: in history. And that's where I think. Um. While this

701
00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:25,680
Speaker 1: story about George Washington and Barbados is extremely fascinating and important,

702
00:41:26,160 --> 00:41:30,000
Speaker 1: I think there are many things in Barbados that warrant

703
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:32,760
Speaker 1: their own special consideration. It's an island full of history.

704
00:41:33,160 --> 00:41:35,799
Speaker 1: It's not just the birthplace of Rihanna, although they do

705
00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:39,759
Speaker 1: have a really great monument tour which is her grandma's

706
00:41:39,760 --> 00:41:42,280
Speaker 1: house that they basically enshrined and it's not a house

707
00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:45,279
Speaker 1: and there's a video board in front of it that

708
00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:47,880
Speaker 1: just has pictures of of Rihanna. It's a it's a

709
00:41:47,960 --> 00:41:50,280
Speaker 1: It's an interesting city, for sure. They're they're proud of

710
00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:53,040
Speaker 1: of their God is there. They're proud of their God

711
00:41:53,120 --> 00:41:58,320
Speaker 1: is there. Indeed also the home of grapefruit, right, Yeah,

712
00:41:58,360 --> 00:42:02,359
Speaker 1: there is a Welshman whole Gully, which is a kind

713
00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:05,239
Speaker 1: of now a nature preserve, but was once a plantation

714
00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:07,880
Speaker 1: of of a prominent soldier there. He was really interested

715
00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:12,680
Speaker 1: in diversifying the plant life in Barbados. He combined the

716
00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:16,319
Speaker 1: sweet orange and shattuck plant um to create what at

717
00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:19,279
Speaker 1: the time is called the forbidden fruit, um, but later

718
00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:23,600
Speaker 1: the name was changed to the less uh interesting grapefruit.

719
00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:27,520
Speaker 1: Grapefruit because of how it grows in clusters. But I

720
00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:29,879
Speaker 1: kind of also don't really see that. I don't really

721
00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:33,640
Speaker 1: see how they grow much different than than oranges. But

722
00:42:33,719 --> 00:42:37,040
Speaker 1: apparently grapefruits grow closer together than oranges do. I will

723
00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:39,640
Speaker 1: say this though, I did not know until um talking

724
00:42:39,640 --> 00:42:42,319
Speaker 1: about this with you, what a shattuck was. And it's

725
00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:45,040
Speaker 1: it looks like a pair, but it's a citrus fruit

726
00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:47,160
Speaker 1: and it breaks open and it's got like segments. It

727
00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:50,080
Speaker 1: looks look like a lime inside. So um, that's really

728
00:42:50,080 --> 00:42:52,680
Speaker 1: interesting to hybridize those. And now you don't really hear

729
00:42:52,680 --> 00:42:55,719
Speaker 1: about shattucks anymore. Yeah, also called a pomelo. And I

730
00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:59,680
Speaker 1: think grapefruits are just terrible. I get harassment this littime.

731
00:42:59,680 --> 00:43:03,120
Speaker 1: I can't stand pulp. I like orange juice. It has

732
00:43:03,160 --> 00:43:06,640
Speaker 1: to be basically water. I can't do any type of pulp,

733
00:43:06,719 --> 00:43:09,040
Speaker 1: So citrus fruits I can bite on them, but then

734
00:43:09,040 --> 00:43:11,400
Speaker 1: I'm out. Grape Fruits a little too bitter for me.

735
00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:14,560
Speaker 1: But the monkeys at Welshman Whole Goalie, they love them.

736
00:43:15,160 --> 00:43:17,800
Speaker 1: There's why there's one type of monkey on the island

737
00:43:17,880 --> 00:43:22,080
Speaker 1: and it sits in the Goalies, one of its prominent homes,

738
00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:25,640
Speaker 1: and eats the grapefruits, throws the peels around, uh, cohabitates

739
00:43:25,640 --> 00:43:29,439
Speaker 1: with chickens. It's a pretty interesting place of uh not

740
00:43:29,480 --> 00:43:34,960
Speaker 1: necessarily historical significance short of the grapefruit, but the diversity

741
00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:38,759
Speaker 1: of wildlife that is there is mind blowing. It's it's

742
00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:41,960
Speaker 1: a really good example of a dense rainforest that's easily accessible.

743
00:43:42,120 --> 00:43:44,239
Speaker 1: And we've hinted at this two already with Washington and

744
00:43:44,360 --> 00:43:49,480
Speaker 1: his obsession with the stuff. But Barbados huge for rum distillation,

745
00:43:49,560 --> 00:43:52,440
Speaker 1: which was a byproduct of all of that sugar cane

746
00:43:52,440 --> 00:43:54,239
Speaker 1: that they were able to make and crush up so

747
00:43:54,280 --> 00:43:59,799
Speaker 1: efficiently using those Dutch windmills. Right. And the oldest distillery

748
00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:03,320
Speaker 1: um in the world I believe, was in Mount Gay

749
00:44:03,920 --> 00:44:07,200
Speaker 1: and Bridgetown, Barbados. Right, the oldest rum distillery, that's what

750
00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:10,239
Speaker 1: I meant, excuse me exactly, the oldest run distillery. Yeah. Um.

751
00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:13,760
Speaker 1: And this this rum distillery dates back to seventeen or three,

752
00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:15,960
Speaker 1: and that's based on some land deeds that are still

753
00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:20,400
Speaker 1: kept by the by the city of Bridgetone. The interesting

754
00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:24,719
Speaker 1: thing about sugarcane production and the formation of molasses is

755
00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:28,680
Speaker 1: that a sugar cane has almost no no waste product,

756
00:44:29,040 --> 00:44:31,400
Speaker 1: even to this day when they're when they're creating it

757
00:44:31,440 --> 00:44:34,799
Speaker 1: in Barbados. Even the runoff of the molasses that's used

758
00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:37,440
Speaker 1: to make the rum is then used for fertilizers. So

759
00:44:37,800 --> 00:44:41,960
Speaker 1: it's almost a hundred percent used product, which is pretty

760
00:44:42,040 --> 00:44:44,040
Speaker 1: rare and and does a lot for the island. It's

761
00:44:44,040 --> 00:44:46,719
Speaker 1: still a part of its economy, obviously not as it

762
00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:50,239
Speaker 1: once was, but the rum industries is huge, and Mount

763
00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:52,840
Speaker 1: Gay is sold here in the States. It's a pretty

764
00:44:52,920 --> 00:44:55,719
Speaker 1: nice rum and we got to tour the facility there.

765
00:44:56,239 --> 00:44:59,200
Speaker 1: I had almost no experience with rum, and now I

766
00:44:59,280 --> 00:45:02,600
Speaker 1: know the differences, and there are some really strong ones

767
00:45:02,920 --> 00:45:05,200
Speaker 1: that that I can't imagine what you drink them with.

768
00:45:05,280 --> 00:45:07,960
Speaker 1: But for whatever reason, they do exist. There are some

769
00:45:08,080 --> 00:45:11,000
Speaker 1: RUMs so so potent there that they have to cut

770
00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:14,320
Speaker 1: them because they're they're about a hundred and sixty proof

771
00:45:15,120 --> 00:45:17,239
Speaker 1: um RUMs that they're having to cut down to get to.

772
00:45:17,280 --> 00:45:20,960
Speaker 1: Like ad, that's a little more reasonable. So if you

773
00:45:21,600 --> 00:45:25,760
Speaker 1: find yourself hurdled backward in time and you are speaking

774
00:45:25,800 --> 00:45:28,480
Speaker 1: with George Washington, and you really want to get on

775
00:45:28,520 --> 00:45:31,759
Speaker 1: his good side. You show up with a pineapple and

776
00:45:31,880 --> 00:45:36,319
Speaker 1: a handle of rum from Mount Gay. Yeah. In fact,

777
00:45:36,360 --> 00:45:40,280
Speaker 1: just like the pineapple, he would often reject Jamaican room

778
00:45:40,320 --> 00:45:42,400
Speaker 1: at his home if it showed up and and asked

779
00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:46,680
Speaker 1: that they go get him some Mount Gay or other

780
00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:50,080
Speaker 1: Beijian rooms. And invasion is just a kind of short

781
00:45:50,120 --> 00:45:53,839
Speaker 1: local word for Barbadian, but Beijian is what they say

782
00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:57,520
Speaker 1: more commonly, so he preferred the Beijian rum too, the

783
00:45:57,600 --> 00:46:01,759
Speaker 1: Jamaican rum every time until his athlete was always well

784
00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:04,560
Speaker 1: stocked at his homes. So there you have it, folks,

785
00:46:05,040 --> 00:46:08,200
Speaker 1: Ryan Barrish, thank you so much for helping us a

786
00:46:08,400 --> 00:46:11,960
Speaker 1: prove your real person and be teaching us so much

787
00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:17,520
Speaker 1: about not just George Washington, but Barbados, grapefruits, historic preservation,

788
00:46:18,120 --> 00:46:20,759
Speaker 1: all of this stuff. The amazing program at Georgia State

789
00:46:20,840 --> 00:46:24,200
Speaker 1: University right here in Atlanta, that's you're a part of. Yeah.

790
00:46:24,360 --> 00:46:26,160
Speaker 1: Side note, by the way, I don't know if we

791
00:46:26,160 --> 00:46:29,759
Speaker 1: can say this, Ryan, your professor has been in the

792
00:46:29,920 --> 00:46:33,880
Speaker 1: studio evaluating this the whole time. Uh what do you

793
00:46:33,920 --> 00:46:36,360
Speaker 1: what do you think? Doc? Thumbs up, thumbs down. The

794
00:46:36,480 --> 00:46:38,839
Speaker 1: thumbs up kind of solid thumbs up. There we go.

795
00:46:38,920 --> 00:46:42,000
Speaker 1: He he knows I'm a real person now too, So Ryan.

796
00:46:42,040 --> 00:46:45,400
Speaker 1: If people want to learn more about you and your work,

797
00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:48,279
Speaker 1: where can they follow you? Um? You can follow me

798
00:46:48,320 --> 00:46:51,400
Speaker 1: on Twitter at UM. The handle is just Barrish b

799
00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:54,919
Speaker 1: R E s c H, which is my last name. UM.

800
00:46:54,960 --> 00:46:57,640
Speaker 1: Pretty easy, but that's probably gonna be the best place,

801
00:46:58,239 --> 00:47:00,920
Speaker 1: UM to keep up with me. You can also follow

802
00:47:01,080 --> 00:47:06,200
Speaker 1: Georgia State University's Heritage Preservation program on Instagram at g

803
00:47:06,480 --> 00:47:11,480
Speaker 1: s U Underscore MHP. Alright, so that is Bearish on Twitter.

804
00:47:11,800 --> 00:47:16,280
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for tuning in ridiculous historians. As always,

805
00:47:16,400 --> 00:47:20,480
Speaker 1: thanks to Casey Pegram, our super producer, Thanks to Gabe

806
00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:23,879
Speaker 1: Lousier and Hey, Ryan, We've said it multiple times now,

807
00:47:23,920 --> 00:47:26,040
Speaker 1: but you're part of the show, so we always say

808
00:47:26,040 --> 00:47:28,520
Speaker 1: thank you to you at the end. It's not weird

809
00:47:28,560 --> 00:47:31,600
Speaker 1: that we're saying it while you're here. Okay, So thanks

810
00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:34,840
Speaker 1: big thanks to uh super producer Casey Pagram, Alex Williams,

811
00:47:34,840 --> 00:47:38,440
Speaker 1: who composed our theme Christopher hasciotis. Um. There's always a

812
00:47:38,600 --> 00:47:40,400
Speaker 1: Christopher shaped hole in my heart that I think is

813
00:47:40,400 --> 00:47:43,000
Speaker 1: gonna get filled. Maybe not in my hartbor, but in yours.

814
00:47:43,320 --> 00:47:45,920
Speaker 1: Next week when he joins you for a couple of episodes. Right,

815
00:47:45,960 --> 00:47:52,080
Speaker 1: that's true. Spoiler alert, Yes, we have some surprises in store. Thanks,

816
00:47:52,200 --> 00:47:56,160
Speaker 1: of course to you, folks for listening. The conversation doesn't

817
00:47:56,200 --> 00:47:59,319
Speaker 1: stop just when the recording ends. You can find us

818
00:47:59,360 --> 00:48:01,920
Speaker 1: on faceboo Look, you can find us on Twitter. You

819
00:48:01,960 --> 00:48:04,400
Speaker 1: can find us on Instagram. Hang out with our favorite

820
00:48:04,400 --> 00:48:06,920
Speaker 1: part of the show, your fellow listeners on our Facebook

821
00:48:06,920 --> 00:48:11,080
Speaker 1: page Ridiculous Historians where some version of ridiculous history all

822
00:48:11,120 --> 00:48:15,319
Speaker 1: over the Internet. We also have personal instagrams that you

823
00:48:15,360 --> 00:48:17,920
Speaker 1: can find us on if you want to follow our own,

824
00:48:18,400 --> 00:48:21,879
Speaker 1: uh non ridiculous history adventures. Yeah, I am at how

825
00:48:21,920 --> 00:48:25,000
Speaker 1: Now Noel Brown Instagram and I am at Ben Bowling

826
00:48:25,080 --> 00:48:27,960
Speaker 1: on Instagram. I am at Ben Bowling h s W

827
00:48:28,360 --> 00:48:31,520
Speaker 1: on Twitter. Let's see what else you want to go like,

828
00:48:31,760 --> 00:48:42,520
Speaker 1: get some wrong big time. We'll see you next time, folks.

829
00:48:42,560 --> 00:48:44,640
Speaker 1: For more podcasts for my Heart Radio, visit the I

830
00:48:44,680 --> 00:48:47,600
Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

831
00:48:47,640 --> 00:48:48,560
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.