1 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to the show Ridiculous Historians. Thank you for tuning in. 2 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: My name is Ben, my name is no. This is 3 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:33,120 Speaker 1: an interesting kind of tradition, more traditional way to start 4 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:35,120 Speaker 1: the show. You threw me for a loop there, Yeah, 5 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 1: I it took it hard. Somebody somebody remembered you. Guys 6 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: on the internet recently referred to me as what's his name? 7 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:46,239 Speaker 1: So I'm gonna try to just play it straight lace 8 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: for a little while. Ben. Did they steal your thunder 9 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:51,559 Speaker 1: Have they robbed you of your mojo? I don't know. 10 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 1: I don't want to feel thunderless. How are we going 11 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: to get your groove back? Well, we're going to rely 12 00:00:55,480 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: on the help of our super producer, Casey Pegram as always, 13 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 1: and that sound always gets my groove right up. So 14 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: we have a pretty fascinating show for you today, folks, 15 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:12,800 Speaker 1: because it came about through a somewhat circuitous fashion. And 16 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:15,759 Speaker 1: who better to help us explain the story of how 17 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:19,640 Speaker 1: we got to this episode for today than our returning 18 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: special guest friends and neighbors Christopher Haciotis Hey everybody, Hey Casey, Hey, 19 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: no a, what's your name? Too soon? Yeah? Come on, 20 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 1: We've got a nurture band do we we do? Okay, 21 00:01:33,680 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: very contract. This is a safe space, yes, Bishop, container 22 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 1: is a is a safe space. Fine. Fine. So we 23 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: love having you on the show, Christopher, and we always 24 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: have a bang up time whenever you bless us with 25 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: some historical knowledge. But in our conversations off air, the 26 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: four of us were, you know, we were kicking around 27 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:59,080 Speaker 1: ideas what should we explore on air today? And you 28 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: recently were turned from a trip to Washington. Yeah, that's 29 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: Washington state. I was out in Seattle for podcom Too, 30 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: which is a podcast convention, podcast conference, so kind of 31 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:15,800 Speaker 1: diving into the weird, strange growing world of podcasting. Headed 32 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: out there was a very sort of d i y scene. Um, 33 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: a lot of great creators, a lot of great podcasters. 34 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:24,640 Speaker 1: Aaron Manky, who's got some shows over here on our network, 35 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: he was out there, and um, it was my first 36 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: time in Seattle. And I know you've got your goal 37 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: of doing a show about every state. So I don't 38 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:35,239 Speaker 1: know if this really counts that I was in Washington 39 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: and we're gonna talk about what we're gonna talk about. 40 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:39,960 Speaker 1: I don't know that accounts for Washington, but that's up 41 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: to you. I don't make your rules. I just sit 42 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: in the back and judge from a distance. Um. But yeah, 43 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:48,359 Speaker 1: we were out there and and that trip to Seattle 44 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: to Washington State made me think, Hey, what's this place 45 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: named after? It's named after a guy. Did you have 46 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 1: a guess? You know, it wasn't named after an apple. Okay, 47 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:02,079 Speaker 1: wasn't named after a city on the other side of 48 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: the nation. And it wasn't named after George Washington Carver. 49 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: It wasn't President Numerouno George Washington himself. Yeah, I thought 50 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:13,400 Speaker 1: there's a there's a lot of cool stuff that we 51 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: can talk about when it comes to George Washington. He's 52 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:21,359 Speaker 1: a you know, revered statesman, our first president, a general, 53 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 1: super military commander. Um. You may know him for his 54 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: fake teeth, his cherry tree. We can get into all 55 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 1: of that. And whether that actually happened. Quite a snappy dresser, 56 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:36,440 Speaker 1: well weren't. Weren't they all sure he had a particularly 57 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:40,840 Speaker 1: I mean during their paintings, they did exactly know what 58 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: they wore on a regular Thursday. Yeah, I mean the paintings, 59 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: the things that are on the dollar bill, that's essentially 60 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: like the Instagram of the time. It's what they wanted 61 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 1: to put forth. You know, you can be looking at 62 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: someone's Instagram feed and they're happy, they're with their significant other, 63 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 1: and you have no idea that they're going through financial 64 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: troubles and dealing with a mortgage and they're about to 65 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: break up. Looks like the life is so I think 66 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: it's just got real. Not not speaking from personal experience here, 67 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: but um, yeah, so maybe. Uh. You know, that's one 68 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: of the nice things about paintings. You can put the 69 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:12,640 Speaker 1: best foot forward. You can work a lot of symbolism 70 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: into it. Um, all of a sudden, we're talking, aren't theory. 71 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: But let's let's get back to George. Yeah, let's get 72 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 1: back to George. One thing I want to mention that 73 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: I think is a very classy aspect of his character. 74 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: He refused to become king. Right. There were proposals early 75 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:32,559 Speaker 1: on in the days of the founding of the nation, 76 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:36,320 Speaker 1: and people said, George, you're great, and he's like, I'll 77 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:39,479 Speaker 1: stop keep going, stop, no, keep going, And they said 78 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,480 Speaker 1: you should be king and he said, nah, I guys 79 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: were kind of missing the point. And that is, in 80 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:48,919 Speaker 1: my opinion, uh, something that speaks very highly to his 81 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:53,040 Speaker 1: character and his reputation. But along the way. As we 82 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:57,480 Speaker 1: decided to explore the life of George Washington, we also 83 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:02,599 Speaker 1: decided to not not to the basic origin story, life 84 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: and times and then death. We decided to look into 85 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: some of the strangest, weirdest things the average person might 86 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: not know about George Washington. And previously on the show, 87 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:17,159 Speaker 1: nol you and I had answered back and forth about 88 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: the misconception surrounding Washington's teeth or his his his allegedly 89 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:26,280 Speaker 1: wooden teeth seahorst teeth. It was straight seahorse teeth and 90 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: bringing it back, bring it back, no, but seriously, I mean, 91 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: that was a time where it was absolutely a thing 92 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:36,840 Speaker 1: to have animal teeth as dentures. Also, I think the 93 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:40,040 Speaker 1: episode in question was about using the teeth of fallen 94 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: soldiers um for dentures. And then we we we discovered 95 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: that seahorse teeth weren't actually the teeth of tiny, tiny 96 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:49,920 Speaker 1: sea horses. That was just what they called hippopotamus as 97 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 1: they called them seahorses and Christopher, in case you missed 98 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:56,480 Speaker 1: it now, straight seahorse teeth is one of our new catchphrase, 99 00:05:56,640 --> 00:06:02,719 Speaker 1: just like saying something's dope, super dope, straight sea horse teeth. Yeah, yeah, Okay, 100 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 1: you picked it up so quickly, super easy. Somehow it 101 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,520 Speaker 1: sounds like it sounds better when you say it straight 102 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: sea horse teeth, straight, sea horse teeth. It's hard to say, 103 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 1: my friend, you could not do it. But no, that 104 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:17,760 Speaker 1: just means if I, if I had, I would have 105 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: conjured like a little demon sea horse right here. That 106 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 1: would have messed up this studio. Something fierce, sort of 107 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:26,040 Speaker 1: a homunculous type, a bit of a bit of a quister. 108 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: Please don't kidding, kidding, kidding, have you ever been present 109 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:33,800 Speaker 1: for the quister? I feel like he's here right now, Sorry, listeners. 110 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 1: He usually is. He kind of does sort of that 111 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: ex ray sisty type thing, or he just sort of 112 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 1: clings to the ceiling in his head, rotates and looks 113 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:41,919 Speaker 1: at us downward. It's a whole thing. He's kind of 114 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:44,719 Speaker 1: the n essay of how stuff works. You know, he's 115 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: he's always around, but he would agree with us. I 116 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:53,240 Speaker 1: hazard that George Washington is an amazing guy who lived 117 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 1: an astonishing life. We know the gist, Christopher. I think 118 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:00,320 Speaker 1: you set it up quite nicely for us. George Shington 119 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:05,240 Speaker 1: born February twenty second, seventeen thirty two passed away December fourteen, 120 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety nine. But in that span of time he 121 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: lived quite a full life, and there are so many 122 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,680 Speaker 1: facts about him. There's so many misconceptions he is. He 123 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: has moved from the realm of earthly creatures into the 124 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:26,640 Speaker 1: world of myth in many ways. And we decided to 125 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 1: each find some lesser known aspects of George Washington's life 126 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:35,360 Speaker 1: and times and share them with each other, and share 127 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: them with you listening today. When did you say his 128 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: birthday was been February twenty two? So apparently that in 129 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: and of itself is a misconception. Is that the case? Yeah, 130 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:48,200 Speaker 1: according to this mental Philows article twenty five things you 131 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 1: might not have known about George Washington, his actual birthday 132 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 1: was February eleven. But that's that's a that's a calendar 133 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: thing we're talking here. This is true because it has 134 00:07:57,200 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: to do with the Gregorian calendar versus the Julian callend. 135 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 1: But it's just that, and I just thought that was fine. 136 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:04,520 Speaker 1: That is, the man is shrouded in mystery. Calendars are 137 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 1: weird anyway, So you're right, the colony switched from the 138 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: Gregorian calendar to the Julian calendar, and his birthday was 139 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:16,360 Speaker 1: moved eleven days. I wonder which of those answers is 140 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:20,000 Speaker 1: the acceptable answer in a trivia game. That's a good question, 141 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:22,160 Speaker 1: and it depends on the trivia host. And how how 142 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: deep into nartitude do you want to get? I was 143 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:25,840 Speaker 1: about to put a call out to any trivia host 144 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:29,040 Speaker 1: in the audience. Is there a code amongst trivia hosts 145 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 1: as to this kind of thing? How pedantic is too pedantic? 146 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 1: For some of the trivia games I've been to, It's 147 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: never too pedants And it depends on how much beer 148 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:43,079 Speaker 1: you've had. So February eleventh, seventeen thirty one, but then 149 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: it changed to February twenty second, seventeen thirty two, and 150 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: actually also changed in terms of the year. And as 151 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:54,160 Speaker 1: you said, Nold, this is just the beginning of the 152 00:08:54,400 --> 00:09:00,679 Speaker 1: of the historical mysteries surrounding George Washington. We learned some 153 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:05,439 Speaker 1: fascinating quick, one off trivia things. You pointed out something 154 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: interesting about his name, Christopher. Yeah, George Washington. That's his name. 155 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: That's it, Noddle, what are you saying, no middle name, 156 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 1: just George. That's that's illegal. Just George. That's not It's 157 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: not okay, George Washington. What happened? What more do you need? 158 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:22,559 Speaker 1: That's he made a state. You know, he's not Prince, 159 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:26,080 Speaker 1: he's not Madonna, He's George Washington. This he's not George 160 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 1: Stephen Washington. This begs the question of when did the 161 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 1: middle name start? And why? Why? Is why people get 162 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:34,120 Speaker 1: so hung up on the middle name because my reaction 163 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:37,079 Speaker 1: there was very real and visceral, but now I'm questioning it. 164 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:42,320 Speaker 1: You know, there is another president who had a middle 165 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:47,360 Speaker 1: name made up. It was are we talking Truman situation here? 166 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: It was, Yeah, it was a fake middle initial. Right. Well, 167 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:54,000 Speaker 1: there's there's some dispute about Harry S. Truman, a lot 168 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:56,680 Speaker 1: of and again this kind of gets back to Noel's 169 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: favorite pedantic trivia folks. But you know, people will often 170 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 1: claim Harry S. Truman he did not have a period 171 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: after the S and his name, and that's the way 172 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:07,040 Speaker 1: it is. And you know, it's the kind of people 173 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:08,680 Speaker 1: who love to jump down your throat on the internet 174 00:10:08,679 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: and say like, well, technically, actually, actually those are our 175 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:15,559 Speaker 1: people that they can be. But those you know, it 176 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 1: can be a little aggressive, It can be a little 177 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 1: off putting. If you are always looking to correct other 178 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:22,600 Speaker 1: people and to shape the world into the way you 179 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 1: see it in my opinion. So, um, yeah, Harry S. Truman. 180 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: Sometimes he signed his name with a period after the S. 181 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:31,719 Speaker 1: So again, it's one of those things that's not consistent, 182 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:35,160 Speaker 1: and um left to the mysteries of the history and 183 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:37,559 Speaker 1: just to stay in keeping with the pedantry of of 184 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:40,480 Speaker 1: our of our people here. Uh. The middle name actually 185 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:42,600 Speaker 1: began in the Middle Ages, and it had to do 186 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:44,520 Speaker 1: with families not being able to decide whether to give 187 00:10:44,559 --> 00:10:47,520 Speaker 1: their kids a family name or a religious name, so 188 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:49,720 Speaker 1: they were able to give them both. And it's different 189 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:53,920 Speaker 1: in other cultures, right exactly. So not to focus too 190 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:57,560 Speaker 1: much on on President Truman in our George Washington episode, 191 00:10:57,559 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 1: which we are endeavoring to count as our Washington State episode. 192 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: You know what, let's let's go. Let's give it a go. 193 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:07,800 Speaker 1: Let's give it a go. I think we can. We 194 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:10,679 Speaker 1: can always leave the door open to do another Washington episode. 195 00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:13,240 Speaker 1: But while we're filling out our fifty, I say, who's 196 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 1: gonna stop us? Oh, Chris So so Harry S. Truman, 197 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:25,080 Speaker 1: According to the story, when he was born in eighteen 198 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:27,560 Speaker 1: eighty four, his parents couldn't decide on a middle name, 199 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:29,960 Speaker 1: so they went with the letter S to honor his 200 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:36,239 Speaker 1: paternal grandfather and his maternal grandfather, a Ship and a Solomon, respectively. 201 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:40,480 Speaker 1: When he took the presidential oath of office, the Chief 202 00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:45,240 Speaker 1: Justice Harlan F. Stone said, I Harry Ship Truman, and 203 00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 1: the President replied, I Harry S. Truman. So we buttoned 204 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:54,560 Speaker 1: that up. Well, does that mean he actually was never president? 205 00:11:54,559 --> 00:11:56,360 Speaker 1: As folks said about Obama when there was like a 206 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:59,400 Speaker 1: little bit of a discrepancy during the swearing in, I 207 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:01,920 Speaker 1: don't know, will be not because cable news did not exist. 208 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:05,560 Speaker 1: On Twitter was not a thing, thankfully for Mr Harry Truman. 209 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 1: This is a good point you make. And now we 210 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:13,120 Speaker 1: return to George Washington having solved the case of Harry S. 211 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:17,320 Speaker 1: Truman's frankly fake presidency. Right, that's not a sweeping statement. 212 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: He had to make an appearance. He just couldn't couldn't 213 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,400 Speaker 1: leave well enough alone. Harry S. Truman, He's the quister 214 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,680 Speaker 1: of fo He's the quister of American president. Really really 215 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:30,720 Speaker 1: is so, George Washington? Yeah, no, middle, I mean, is 216 00:12:30,720 --> 00:12:32,320 Speaker 1: there more behind the story or is that is that 217 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 1: where the story is there? Okay, and I'll leave you 218 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:37,640 Speaker 1: with that, because that's what I know. I like it. 219 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,720 Speaker 1: I like it, I like I like this mysterious air 220 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:45,800 Speaker 1: we are we are creating in today's episode, but we 221 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:49,800 Speaker 1: are not just going to present mysteries for the entirety 222 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 1: of the show. We do have some fascinating facts that 223 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:58,800 Speaker 1: you may not have learned in your school years. Uh, 224 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:01,560 Speaker 1: And I think that I think we're we're all on 225 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:04,079 Speaker 1: the same page. But how do we want to start? Guys? 226 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:06,760 Speaker 1: I thought we were. We were already off to the races. Well, 227 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:09,120 Speaker 1: off to the races. Okay, yeah, let's was that your 228 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:11,280 Speaker 1: first one. Christopher doesn't know that had nothing to do that. 229 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:16,200 Speaker 1: We're just bantering. This is going to be a good one. 230 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:20,000 Speaker 1: You guys to go first. I propose that Christopher goes 231 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 1: pretty here. I am alright, Well, we started off talking 232 00:13:27,679 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 1: about George Washington's birth, his birth date and the change 233 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:33,719 Speaker 1: of that. So let's just fast forward, let's skip all 234 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 1: the rest, and let's go straight to the end of 235 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:40,160 Speaker 1: his life. So yeah, no, I mean, he's not dead yet. 236 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:43,000 Speaker 1: Twilight Year, He's almost dead. He's not dead yet. So 237 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:47,120 Speaker 1: in George Washington leaves the presidency, what's he gonna do 238 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:49,880 Speaker 1: with his life? He decides. There's an actual quote from 239 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:52,959 Speaker 1: one of his biographers, George Washington when he leaves the presidency, 240 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:56,000 Speaker 1: he wants his retirement to be quote more tranquil and 241 00:13:56,160 --> 00:14:00,400 Speaker 1: freer from cares end quote. Yeah, that sounds nice. It 242 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:03,200 Speaker 1: was a chill, Yeah, more tranquil free or from cares. 243 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:05,920 Speaker 1: And he's of course doing this on his palatial estate, 244 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:08,560 Speaker 1: Mount Vernon, right, Yeah, Mount Vernon, which is uh, it's 245 00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:10,320 Speaker 1: south of where d C is now. It's on the 246 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:13,520 Speaker 1: Virginia side of the Potomac River. It's his his estate 247 00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:16,880 Speaker 1: of tens of thousands of acres. And while there in 248 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,800 Speaker 1: his in his final days he's retired, he has a 249 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 1: man managing the plantation, a Scottish immigrant named James Anderson. 250 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:27,000 Speaker 1: Now this plantation manager had a background and a training 251 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:32,640 Speaker 1: in distillation. He made booze. So Anderson suggests to Washington, 252 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:35,640 Speaker 1: Hey Washington, Hey, George Washington, if you're gonna use the 253 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:39,360 Speaker 1: full name, why not start making some booze. So we 254 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:43,320 Speaker 1: almost had George Washington whiskey, and the country did for 255 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:45,960 Speaker 1: a long time. So George Washington died in sin he'd 256 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:50,280 Speaker 1: left the presidency in for the last couple two and 257 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 1: a half years of his life. He started a distillery 258 00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:56,440 Speaker 1: in Mount Vernon. It ended up being one of the 259 00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:59,880 Speaker 1: largest distilleries in the Americas at the time. By by 260 00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:03,080 Speaker 1: early which is the year he ended up dying, at 261 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:05,480 Speaker 1: the end of that year, in December, they were producing 262 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:09,480 Speaker 1: eleven thousand gallons of whiskey. Now, whiskey became really popular 263 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:13,480 Speaker 1: because in the seventeen eighties and during the Revolutionary period, 264 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: rum was the drink of choice. Soldiers were given rations 265 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: of rum, sometimes whiskey, but essentially it became problematic importing 266 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,200 Speaker 1: a lot of the sugarcane from the West Indies to 267 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:28,440 Speaker 1: create rum. So this homegrown liquor whiskey became much more popular. 268 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:32,400 Speaker 1: And um, yeah, there's a distillery right there that Washington ran. 269 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 1: His signature whiskey was made with six rye corn and 270 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 1: five percent barley. And wasn't it considered a non aged rye. Yeah, 271 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 1: it was just it was it was distilled and ready 272 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:46,960 Speaker 1: to go. It didn't last years and years. Um. You 273 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:48,880 Speaker 1: know a lot of the whiskeys you can buy now 274 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:53,600 Speaker 1: in the Rise, they're aged in oak barrels. They're given us. 275 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:55,840 Speaker 1: How it gets the color, Yeah, exactly. They're they're mature 276 00:15:55,880 --> 00:15:57,960 Speaker 1: over a long period of time they developed more flavor. 277 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:00,840 Speaker 1: But um, no, I mean the stuff was distilled right 278 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 1: away and sold, So doesn't that mean it was almost 279 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:05,120 Speaker 1: a little bit closer to something like moonshine or lightning 280 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:07,840 Speaker 1: pretty much pretty much. Um, And it was sold, but 281 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: it wasn't bottled. It wasn't sold in cans or pouches 282 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:16,240 Speaker 1: or anything like that. It was just packaged in barrels pouches. Yeah. Well, 283 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:18,160 Speaker 1: I'm trying to think of how you could have like 284 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:21,400 Speaker 1: a juice box exactly, like you know, one of those 285 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:26,200 Speaker 1: little foil caprisson kind of things. Sure, it's the kind 286 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:27,840 Speaker 1: of thing you could find it like the I don't know, 287 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:31,960 Speaker 1: fire festival or something too soon. Yeah, it was just 288 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:35,160 Speaker 1: sold in barrel straight straight to taverns. They would buy 289 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:38,560 Speaker 1: a whole barrel of this of this whiskey. They didn't 290 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:40,680 Speaker 1: just make whiskey though. They also made other kinds of 291 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:43,280 Speaker 1: brandy on the side. There was a peach brandy and 292 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 1: apple brandy per simmon brandy, and they would also take 293 00:16:46,920 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: the leavings of that and make vinegar. They would take 294 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 1: all the grains that had fermented and feed those to 295 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:54,600 Speaker 1: the pigs that lived on Mount Vernon, So it's a 296 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: sort of cyclical, sustainable, good way to use what you've grown. 297 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:03,720 Speaker 1: Also wildly successful. In his final days, George Washington was 298 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:06,080 Speaker 1: becoming one of the pre eminent whiskey barons in the 299 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:09,600 Speaker 1: United States. The only thing that really derailed the company, 300 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:12,560 Speaker 1: and one of the reasons why we don't have Washington 301 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:15,639 Speaker 1: Whiskey as as a massive legacy institution in the country 302 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:18,960 Speaker 1: today is he died in sev So after he died, 303 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: the distillery was passed to Martha, his wife's granddaughter and 304 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:26,560 Speaker 1: her husband. But a fire in eighteen fourteen burned down 305 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:28,960 Speaker 1: the distillery and that was pretty much the end of 306 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,560 Speaker 1: the operation. So that that really put the final screw 307 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 1: in the tombstone. Nail in the coffin, screw screw in 308 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:39,840 Speaker 1: the tombstone. It's more secure than a nail. It's one 309 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:43,119 Speaker 1: of those ikea tombstones, I think, and now correct me 310 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 1: if I'm wrong in this, or maybe you have a 311 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 1: better timeline. But they're back at it again at Mount Vernon. 312 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:49,600 Speaker 1: They are. They're back at it. Yeah, a couple of 313 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,040 Speaker 1: years ago, within the last ten years, they reopened the 314 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:55,240 Speaker 1: distillery at his historic home. I don't know if they're 315 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:59,240 Speaker 1: using the exact same techniques and methods, but it's in 316 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:02,600 Speaker 1: the same place. And yeah, the Washington distilleries up and running, 317 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:04,560 Speaker 1: probably not going to give some of the other notable 318 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 1: names in the whiskey world today a run for their money, 319 00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:11,040 Speaker 1: but if you go visit Washington's historic Mountain Vernon, you 320 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:14,480 Speaker 1: can definitely sample the whiskey. Come for the history, stay 321 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:17,800 Speaker 1: for the whiskey. I thought you were going to say whiskery, whiskery. 322 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:20,879 Speaker 1: I love pronouncing that hard age. According to Mountain Vernon 323 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 1: dot org um, you can buy a bottle of the 324 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:26,359 Speaker 1: stuff for about ninety eight dollars, which, right, sh ain't 325 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:28,679 Speaker 1: cheap um And they refer to the recipe as the 326 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:30,920 Speaker 1: mash bill, which must have been the old timy way 327 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:35,360 Speaker 1: of referring to this whiskey recipe. And it is um 328 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:38,320 Speaker 1: using the same recipe that they found in the ledgers 329 00:18:38,400 --> 00:18:41,240 Speaker 1: from the original distillery. So great, I would love I 330 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:43,119 Speaker 1: would love to take a road trip up there. I 331 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:44,199 Speaker 1: think it would be a lot of fun if we 332 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:46,119 Speaker 1: could buy not just a bottle, you know, because you 333 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:47,880 Speaker 1: couldn't buy a bottle then, so they're being a little 334 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: a historical. I would just love to just load up 335 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: a barrel and bring it back to the office. Get 336 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:55,280 Speaker 1: a whole barrel. That's what the studio is missing. This 337 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: would not be our first time sampling some tipple from 338 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:03,280 Speaker 1: George Whiskey Power Washington. I believe we've mentioned on previous episodes. 339 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:07,440 Speaker 1: A good friend of ours, our coworker, producer Alex Williams, 340 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:12,280 Speaker 1: is known around how stuff works for making towards the 341 00:19:12,359 --> 00:19:16,800 Speaker 1: end of the year making an historically accurate version of 342 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:21,480 Speaker 1: George Washington's famous eggnog, and just between us folks, that 343 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:24,520 Speaker 1: stuff packs a punch. Oh man, it's boozy. And the 344 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:28,600 Speaker 1: last little direction in the recipe the best part. It 345 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:31,720 Speaker 1: says to let's set in cool place for several days 346 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,919 Speaker 1: and taste frequently, as one does with just about anything 347 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:37,560 Speaker 1: in your cool place. There you go. I think it 348 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: would startle most of us in the modern age to 349 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:43,360 Speaker 1: travel back in time to the days of the founding 350 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:47,119 Speaker 1: Fathers and see just how much and how often they drank. 351 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:50,920 Speaker 1: It's insane. I would say, there was never a sober moment. 352 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 1: I'll point out though, that you know, we were talking 353 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:57,000 Speaker 1: about George Washington's distillery and his recipes. Again, this was 354 00:19:57,080 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: a man who commanded an entire plantation, so he was 355 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: kind of up at the head. This wasn't Washington himself 356 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 1: sitting in there in the distilling room tinkering with a recipe, 357 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:08,239 Speaker 1: coming up with what he most favored. This wasn't really 358 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:09,879 Speaker 1: a passion project for him. It was a way for 359 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:12,080 Speaker 1: him to make money at the end of his life 360 00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:15,439 Speaker 1: because he wasn't nearly as rich as some people may 361 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,000 Speaker 1: have thought he was. He wrote to a nephew who 362 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:20,440 Speaker 1: was asking him for money, Yeah, I'll give you this loan, 363 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:22,480 Speaker 1: but I'm not made of money like most people think 364 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:24,760 Speaker 1: I am. So this this was really a project of 365 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,520 Speaker 1: James Anderson, the plantation manager, as well as six enslaved 366 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: Africans who were the ones doing the actual hard labor 367 00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:34,679 Speaker 1: of making this this distilled liquor getting none of the credit. No, 368 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:38,520 Speaker 1: and uh, and we'll we'll get back to Washington's enslaved 369 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:43,240 Speaker 1: staff soon. Yes, that's that's foreshadowing. Also, before we get 370 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:48,280 Speaker 1: too into the disturbing facts of Washington's life, I have 371 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:51,679 Speaker 1: a proposal for us on the show. Why don't we 372 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:55,119 Speaker 1: hunt for a middle name for George Washington. In the 373 00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:58,200 Speaker 1: course of this episode, as we learned stuff, so right now. 374 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:00,400 Speaker 1: We've got mash Bill, which I think is right. I'm 375 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,480 Speaker 1: a fan of seahorse teeth. Seahorse teeth, I think that's great. 376 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: One word, yeah, okay. I also like whiskey pouch because 377 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:12,920 Speaker 1: it makes them seems so disreputable. It's very good. Can 378 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:17,160 Speaker 1: I can I suggest George George George Washington. That sounds 379 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:22,520 Speaker 1: like an eighties singer. It's George George Washington. Uh yeah, 380 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:24,600 Speaker 1: let's see, let's see what we find. These are all 381 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:28,879 Speaker 1: some great contenders, but we are just setting off on 382 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,160 Speaker 1: our weird Washington journey. What do you what do you think? 383 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:33,919 Speaker 1: Do you have one? Do you want to go? Do 384 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:37,119 Speaker 1: you want to flip? For sure? Okay, it's one to 385 00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:39,800 Speaker 1: three go. We've got Christopher is a witness? All right? 386 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:47,560 Speaker 1: Ready go? No, does that mean you get to choose 387 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:51,080 Speaker 1: what you do? Does that mean you gobih that? I think? Man? 388 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:54,760 Speaker 1: I'd like you to go. Man, Okay, I have something 389 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:58,200 Speaker 1: that is a bit strange but will be old beans 390 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:01,879 Speaker 1: to people who also are fans of our other show stuff. 391 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 1: They don't want you to know. George Washington, you see, 392 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:11,480 Speaker 1: had any number of extracurricular activities, one of which was freemasonry. 393 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:15,160 Speaker 1: George Washington became a Master Mason in seventeen fifty three, 394 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:19,400 Speaker 1: and ever since this has driven more fringe or conspiratorial 395 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:25,400 Speaker 1: researchers further and further into the depths of speculation. He 396 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:29,719 Speaker 1: was a young Virginia planter when he became a master 397 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:34,520 Speaker 1: Mason in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Masonic Lodge number four. He was 398 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:37,679 Speaker 1: only twenty one years old, and soon he would command 399 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:41,480 Speaker 1: his first military operation as a major in the Virginia 400 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:47,840 Speaker 1: Colonial Militia. We know, I think basically what freemasonry is. 401 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:52,119 Speaker 1: It's evolved from the practices and rituals of Stonemason's guilds 402 00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:57,240 Speaker 1: in the Middle Ages, and it was still a powerful 403 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: force in America even and during the time of tension 404 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:04,600 Speaker 1: in the later in the War for Independence against the 405 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:08,560 Speaker 1: British Empire. The first American Masonic Lodge was founded in 406 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:13,199 Speaker 1: Philadelphia in seventeen thirty and do you know who was 407 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 1: a founding member of that. It's pretty easy to guess, 408 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:21,800 Speaker 1: Benny Franks. It is it is. It's the old Libertine himself. 409 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 1: So for a lot of people, this association would seem 410 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 1: to indicate that there's something at work behind the behind 411 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:37,959 Speaker 1: the screen of history right that Freemasonry was involved in 412 00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:42,680 Speaker 1: the American Revolution, or that people were acting under orders 413 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:48,280 Speaker 1: of the Masonic organization. But really, for George Washington, joining 414 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:50,320 Speaker 1: the Mason's was a rite of passage, and it was 415 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:54,199 Speaker 1: sort of an exercise of his civic responsibility. After he 416 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:56,640 Speaker 1: became a master Mason again at the age of twenty one, 417 00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:59,399 Speaker 1: he had the option of passing through a number of 418 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,359 Speaker 1: additional rights that would take him to higher degrees that 419 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,560 Speaker 1: would place him higher in the hierarchy of Masonry. In 420 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:09,479 Speaker 1: shortly before he became the first President of the US, 421 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:14,800 Speaker 1: he was elected the first Worshipable Master of Alexandria Lodge 422 00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:18,440 Speaker 1: number twenty two. And he was not alone in this, 423 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:21,240 Speaker 1: as we pointed out, Benjamin Franklin was also a Mason. 424 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:26,120 Speaker 1: As where Paul Revere, John Hancock, the Marquis de Lafayette 425 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:29,639 Speaker 1: of the Hamilton's musical fame, and the Boston Tea Party, 426 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:34,440 Speaker 1: saboteurs and Masonic rights were in play. They were witnessed 427 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,560 Speaker 1: events like Washington's inauguration, the laying of the cornerstone of 428 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:42,159 Speaker 1: the US Capitol Building in Washington, d C. D C. 429 00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:44,879 Speaker 1: Again is a city supposedly designed with a lot of 430 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:48,160 Speaker 1: Masonic symbols in mind. You have to admit the Washington 431 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:52,159 Speaker 1: Monument it's pretty abstract, you know what I mean. He 432 00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:55,280 Speaker 1: definitely looms large in the horizon in a very sinister way. 433 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:57,480 Speaker 1: If you're walking around on the mall at night, it 434 00:24:57,560 --> 00:24:59,359 Speaker 1: kind of gives me the creeps. To be honest, I 435 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,359 Speaker 1: the whole idea of conspiracy and the Masonic lodge and 436 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:05,639 Speaker 1: all that, it's it doesn't really take into account the 437 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:08,960 Speaker 1: reality of the situation at the time. It's now in 438 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:11,320 Speaker 1: the two thousands. It's easy to look back and think, 439 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:14,000 Speaker 1: oh my gosh, all these people knew each other, they 440 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:17,640 Speaker 1: were all part of the same organization. Everything ties into everything. 441 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:21,520 Speaker 1: But the reality is the population of the colonies at 442 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:24,639 Speaker 1: the time was so small compared to what what we 443 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:27,440 Speaker 1: have today, right, So, I mean, essentially you're talking about 444 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,600 Speaker 1: a population in terms of the landowners and the white 445 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:34,359 Speaker 1: European immigrants or settlers. We're talking tens of thousands, hundreds 446 00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:37,080 Speaker 1: of thousands of people. Essentially. These are small towns or 447 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:39,959 Speaker 1: small cities, so everyone's going to know everyone, especially if 448 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:43,120 Speaker 1: you're near the top of the the upper echelon of society. 449 00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:48,560 Speaker 1: It's not quite as nefarious cabal creating as it sounds, 450 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:51,560 Speaker 1: absolutely not. That's that's the thing. In many ways, it's 451 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:56,160 Speaker 1: a social club. These people are sharing their interests, and 452 00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:58,720 Speaker 1: do they talk about things that they want to do, 453 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: like do they talk about political goals or business ideas? 454 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:05,280 Speaker 1: Of course they do, because that's what friends do when 455 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:07,040 Speaker 1: they hang out with each other, you know, they talk 456 00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 1: about the things they care about and the things that 457 00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:14,800 Speaker 1: they're working on. I enjoy this theory, and I especially 458 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:19,239 Speaker 1: appreciate Christopher, you're pointing out that it's easy for us 459 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:23,040 Speaker 1: to look back in retrospect and perhaps see patterns where 460 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:26,360 Speaker 1: none actually exist. You know what I mean. A lot 461 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:31,120 Speaker 1: of history is coincidence. The human species is not chock 462 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:35,440 Speaker 1: full of amazing planners with very complicated schemes. Now, everything 463 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 1: in the past looks like it unfolded in a way 464 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:40,240 Speaker 1: that it was meant to and in a way that 465 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:43,080 Speaker 1: made sense. But that's because that's the way we know 466 00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:46,440 Speaker 1: how things unfolded. There are innumerable other ways things could 467 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,320 Speaker 1: have happened, and other paths history could have taken that 468 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:52,640 Speaker 1: if we travel down those timelines, would make this one 469 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:56,639 Speaker 1: look particularly ridiculous or strange. The guys you're completely overlooking 470 00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:59,960 Speaker 1: the blood magic rituals to molok Oh, I mean they 471 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:02,439 Speaker 1: did on the regular. Yeah, but that's I mean I 472 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:04,240 Speaker 1: think that I thought we were talking about the one 473 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:08,439 Speaker 1: that I was going to do later. I didn't mean 474 00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:10,800 Speaker 1: to blow up yall. Spot you guys are coming right well. 475 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:13,679 Speaker 1: I didn't get an invite. I brought snacks. I love 476 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,160 Speaker 1: a good snack. I mean, come for the mallock, stay 477 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:21,159 Speaker 1: for the snacks. One last thing about freemasonry and George 478 00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:26,320 Speaker 1: Washington in d C. I have such a fun time 479 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:31,480 Speaker 1: imagining the pitch meeting for building the Washington Monument and say, okay, 480 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:34,359 Speaker 1: we think he's the greatest president, we think he's the 481 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:38,280 Speaker 1: first president. We need something that really says this man 482 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:41,919 Speaker 1: the first president. And you know, they go back and 483 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:44,359 Speaker 1: forth and someone says, well, maybe a statue of the guy. 484 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:48,119 Speaker 1: And they go, uh, I like the idea of something 485 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:52,679 Speaker 1: like a big structure. Okay, okay, maybe like he's on 486 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:55,199 Speaker 1: a horse or as you like to say, Ben, No, 487 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 1: let's get weird with it. That's exactly it. Yeah, they said, 488 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:00,440 Speaker 1: let's get let's get weird with it. Have you guys 489 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:04,359 Speaker 1: heard of like obelisk? And then you mean obelisks like 490 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:08,119 Speaker 1: a dude like in Egypt right on, and that was history. 491 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,199 Speaker 1: I am mostly kidding because if you look into the 492 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:14,280 Speaker 1: story of the Washington Monument, which could be its own episode, 493 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:18,560 Speaker 1: they had much more ambitious plans, and what we see 494 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:24,000 Speaker 1: today is essentially a compromise in scaling down. Again, the 495 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:25,960 Speaker 1: story of our nation and the story of our history 496 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:30,080 Speaker 1: is compromises, half baked plans that in retrospect look like 497 00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:33,520 Speaker 1: what should have happened, but in reality we're just thrown 498 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:35,639 Speaker 1: together at the time with no real idea of what 499 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:39,240 Speaker 1: ramifications would come to pass decades down the line. I mean, 500 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:41,920 Speaker 1: look at anything involving well, we don't need to get 501 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:45,680 Speaker 1: into health insurance and tax law and all sorts of 502 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:49,560 Speaker 1: compromises made in Congress. But yeah, we we are just 503 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:53,160 Speaker 1: a collection of mistakes and bumbles through through the years, 504 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:56,720 Speaker 1: some of which have incredible staying power. Yes, very much. 505 00:28:56,720 --> 00:28:59,040 Speaker 1: So much like a monument itself to our first president, 506 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:01,600 Speaker 1: I would argue, maybe they just want were like, how 507 00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:03,520 Speaker 1: are we going to remind people that he was the 508 00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:06,280 Speaker 1: first president? Let's this This looks like a big number 509 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:16,240 Speaker 1: one number one, So let's reset just a second here, 510 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:19,200 Speaker 1: because it occurs to me that we may be well 511 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:22,200 Speaker 1: on the way to making something that sounds like a 512 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:25,520 Speaker 1: hit piece on George Washington. Because he's a whiskey tycoon, 513 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:29,120 Speaker 1: he's a freemason, he's a slave owner. He's a slave owner. Yeah, 514 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:32,560 Speaker 1: we can't forget that part. But it wasn't it wasn't 515 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:37,120 Speaker 1: all complicated, weird, problematic stuff he had. He had some 516 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,520 Speaker 1: other notable wins. And I don't think being a whiskey 517 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:41,600 Speaker 1: tycoon is that bad. I have nothing wrong with that. 518 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,880 Speaker 1: I think was a slave labor I think that while 519 00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:46,960 Speaker 1: there's me. Yeah, and it's also one of those things 520 00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:50,680 Speaker 1: where it's I can't even fall behind the whole. It 521 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:53,160 Speaker 1: was just that everyone was doing it. It It was it 522 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:55,560 Speaker 1: was a different time. I mean, the thing is he 523 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:59,000 Speaker 1: he also was a pretty forward thinking individual in so 524 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:02,440 Speaker 1: many ways. In fact, he was so influential in creating 525 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:04,680 Speaker 1: the structure that is very much still a part of 526 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:07,880 Speaker 1: our military today that he was posthumously given this title 527 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,560 Speaker 1: um the General of the Armies of the United States, 528 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:15,400 Speaker 1: that is forever un out rankable. Yeah, it's total, total 529 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:18,520 Speaker 1: god mode. You know, you can't let's say they create 530 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:21,080 Speaker 1: seven star generals, eight star generals, nine star generals in 531 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:24,880 Speaker 1: the next couple of years, those still will be underneath Washington. 532 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:29,480 Speaker 1: Kind of similar in some ways to the eternal President 533 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:32,400 Speaker 1: of the d p R K. Kim Il Sung, but 534 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 1: we didn't call him internal president. We just called him 535 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:37,560 Speaker 1: General of everything. Yeah, and I think it's important to 536 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:40,480 Speaker 1: remember about Washington that and and most of the men 537 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:43,880 Speaker 1: back then, this was the first time they were doing that. 538 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:47,760 Speaker 1: He was setting the precedent for the president, the presidential 539 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:51,720 Speaker 1: precedent exactly. And so yeah, he the way he acted, 540 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:54,640 Speaker 1: the choices he made, the statements he put forth, they 541 00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:57,320 Speaker 1: set the stage for what we've had, what we've had 542 00:30:57,320 --> 00:30:59,800 Speaker 1: over the past several hundred years leading up to today. 543 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:02,840 Speaker 1: It's important to keep in mind that anyone who's given 544 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:07,240 Speaker 1: that sort of authority carries weight. They embody what a 545 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:10,800 Speaker 1: country is moving forward. And that actually played into some 546 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:14,840 Speaker 1: of the misconceptions about Washington because his biographers said, we 547 00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,120 Speaker 1: we don't need just a man, we need a myth. 548 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:19,680 Speaker 1: So we're going to invent this whole thing about the 549 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:22,080 Speaker 1: cherry tree. We're gonna make up some stories to make 550 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:29,840 Speaker 1: him larger than life. Biographer Weems, biographer Slash mythologize absolutely 551 00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:33,160 Speaker 1: and and just blatantly, like made it up, not not 552 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:35,480 Speaker 1: fudged it a little bit. Some of the stuff was 553 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,200 Speaker 1: just made up to make him larger than life. Oh absolutely, 554 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:43,080 Speaker 1: I mean, and I honestly, very very frequently confused the 555 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:46,560 Speaker 1: myth of the cherry tree with Abe Lincoln because if 556 00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:49,320 Speaker 1: everyone called him honest Abe, so I sometimes conflate those 557 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:51,920 Speaker 1: stories because he also was a very larger than my figure, 558 00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:54,360 Speaker 1: who grew up poor and in kind of more of 559 00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:58,240 Speaker 1: a rural setting. And he's also similar to Washington. He 560 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:02,920 Speaker 1: has a real underdog story because Lincoln ran unsuccessfully for office. 561 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:06,480 Speaker 1: That's multiple times, you know, so people love to see 562 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:10,280 Speaker 1: some perseverance. Oh man, we're I think we're doing pretty 563 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:12,960 Speaker 1: well here so far. We've got we're drawing in Truman, 564 00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:16,760 Speaker 1: we're drawing in Lincoln. Well, remember earlier, Christopher, when you're 565 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,400 Speaker 1: talking about how the United States was sort of a 566 00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:24,160 Speaker 1: agglomeration of half baked ideas. I look forward to the 567 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:28,240 Speaker 1: emails speaking of half baked ideas. Washington smoked a lot 568 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:30,760 Speaker 1: of weed. No, that's not true, but he grew a 569 00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:33,200 Speaker 1: lot of hemp. That is true. That part is true. 570 00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:35,200 Speaker 1: I was waiting for that. I needed to do that 571 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:37,600 Speaker 1: call back. I had to do it. Thank you for 572 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:41,120 Speaker 1: supplying me with that never true. Um. Hemp was one 573 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:44,520 Speaker 1: of his main cash crops well before he got into 574 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:48,640 Speaker 1: the whiskey trade. On Mount Vernon, Um he grew copious 575 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:53,440 Speaker 1: amounts of hemp, which is marijuana, but it is a 576 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:58,080 Speaker 1: slightly different strain of marijuana. Doesn't contain the psychoactive substance 577 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:02,000 Speaker 1: th HC or it's very very very low tetra hydra 578 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:07,520 Speaker 1: cannabin alls um. And it was used historically for making ropes. 579 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:10,960 Speaker 1: It was a fantastic fiber used the stem that had 580 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:13,720 Speaker 1: these uh. They grew it so it would have these 581 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:17,640 Speaker 1: elongated strands, these fibers in the stems um as opposed 582 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:21,400 Speaker 1: to the plants that were grown to smoke, or you 583 00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:22,960 Speaker 1: would think of the ones that are grown today to 584 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,400 Speaker 1: smoke are much shorter, less hardy plants. Um. They look 585 00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:30,719 Speaker 1: a little more like little bushes. But he grew fields 586 00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:33,200 Speaker 1: of this stuff in an area on Mountain Vernon that 587 00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:37,040 Speaker 1: he called the Muddy Hole, the Muddy Hole, and it 588 00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:41,000 Speaker 1: was because it was a very uh sought after substance, 589 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:43,000 Speaker 1: because it was used to make They even referred to 590 00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:45,440 Speaker 1: ropes in those days as hemps. They call them like 591 00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:49,040 Speaker 1: sailing hemps, like for what all the riggings in various 592 00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:54,040 Speaker 1: types of vessels, and he um would have continued to 593 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:56,440 Speaker 1: grow it if he hadn't have done some kind of 594 00:33:56,480 --> 00:34:00,600 Speaker 1: shrewd calculations and realized that actually, wheat is probably a 595 00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:04,440 Speaker 1: more profitable crop to um use his land for. But yeah, 596 00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:07,120 Speaker 1: he he grew it for quite some time. And as 597 00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:10,240 Speaker 1: it turns out, in the very same way that Mountain 598 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:15,840 Speaker 1: Vernon is now back to distilling whiskey Mashville. Um, they're 599 00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:20,640 Speaker 1: also now growing hemp. Yeahs of two thousand eighteen, right, right, 600 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:25,440 Speaker 1: they harvested their first hemp crop in centuries, I believe. 601 00:34:25,680 --> 00:34:28,759 Speaker 1: And the interesting thing is is that hemp, even though 602 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:33,240 Speaker 1: it doesn't contain very high levels of the psychoactive substance 603 00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:37,160 Speaker 1: at all, were outlawed and made a Schedule one drug 604 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:42,040 Speaker 1: right alongside um. They more you know, trippy counterparts. UM, 605 00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:45,200 Speaker 1: So growing hemp was outlawed. But it's not the same thing, right, 606 00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:47,720 Speaker 1: I Mean, they're there, these plants are cousins, they're related. 607 00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:51,000 Speaker 1: But that's like if you had prohibition of alcohol and 608 00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:54,279 Speaker 1: all of a sudden you couldn't serve cough syrup at 609 00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:56,480 Speaker 1: a drug store, right because just because it has a 610 00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:58,480 Speaker 1: little bit of alcohol in it. We're kind of on 611 00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:00,239 Speaker 1: the same thing, like like people are over re thing 612 00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:03,480 Speaker 1: and and bunching things together, very very very similar. But 613 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:05,680 Speaker 1: if you look at a field of hemp, it looks 614 00:35:05,719 --> 00:35:07,879 Speaker 1: like a field of marijuana players. I mean, they're very 615 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:09,680 Speaker 1: very similar. And in fact, so what I was what 616 00:35:09,719 --> 00:35:13,200 Speaker 1: I was getting to is in there was a farm 617 00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:17,800 Speaker 1: bill that passed that allowed UM research for growing hemp, 618 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:23,320 Speaker 1: and some states have legalized essentially limited hemp farming, and 619 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:27,040 Speaker 1: another bill that passed in the Senate was going to 620 00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:29,960 Speaker 1: allow for full legalization. I don't know if that one 621 00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:31,960 Speaker 1: has has gone through yet or not. I don't have 622 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:33,680 Speaker 1: to do a little more follow up on that, but 623 00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:37,280 Speaker 1: the point is you can get UM. There's another substance 624 00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:40,520 Speaker 1: of compound that's in marijuana and hemp. It's called cb D, 625 00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:42,879 Speaker 1: which you may have read a lot of research about 626 00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:46,319 Speaker 1: people use it for anxiety. It can treat a lot 627 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:49,120 Speaker 1: of different ailments and just kind of has become a 628 00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:52,399 Speaker 1: very popular UM kind of remedy that people are using, 629 00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:55,440 Speaker 1: and it is legal in states where marijuana is not 630 00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:58,520 Speaker 1: legal because you can get it from hemp. It's pretty 631 00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:01,759 Speaker 1: interesting UM but Yeah. Now there's no evidence. A lot 632 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:04,240 Speaker 1: of other Founding fathers grew have to, like John Adams 633 00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:07,160 Speaker 1: and Thomas Jefferson, um, but there is no evidence showing 634 00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:09,319 Speaker 1: that any of them ever tried to smoke. Yeah, it's 635 00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:11,360 Speaker 1: it's a useful crop, and it's a It might be 636 00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:14,239 Speaker 1: a disappointment to your stoner buddy out there who's saying, oh, 637 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:16,560 Speaker 1: Washington and the Founding Fathers had hemp, we need to 638 00:36:16,640 --> 00:36:19,080 Speaker 1: legalize everything. It's not quite the same thing, but it 639 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:23,920 Speaker 1: does argue for nuance, It argues for understanding the uses 640 00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:29,239 Speaker 1: of plants and that uh that anyone plant or one 641 00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:33,920 Speaker 1: species can have different applications. Well said. And also just 642 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:38,080 Speaker 1: a soft historical note there. I don't believe any form 643 00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:41,719 Speaker 1: of cannabis was actually scheduled one until the nineteen seventies, 644 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:44,799 Speaker 1: so it's relatively recent, right, Yeah. And I mean we 645 00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:48,120 Speaker 1: are definitely in a ce change of legalization sweeping the 646 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:50,799 Speaker 1: nation right now, which is pretty fascinating time to be 647 00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:53,200 Speaker 1: around with so many of these changes coming so quickly. Um. 648 00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:55,920 Speaker 1: There's actually a pretty quick great quote in this article 649 00:36:56,040 --> 00:36:59,360 Speaker 1: for the Smithsonian that talks about the first hemp crop 650 00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:03,520 Speaker 1: um being harvested at Mount Vernon recently from this fellow 651 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:05,719 Speaker 1: by the name of John Hudak. He says, I think 652 00:37:05,719 --> 00:37:08,000 Speaker 1: where we're at right now is a situation in which 653 00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:10,480 Speaker 1: finally a lot of members of Congress and finally stopped 654 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:13,680 Speaker 1: buying drug war era rhetoric, stopped thinking about the cannabis 655 00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:16,879 Speaker 1: plant in a very uniform way. So very much sad 656 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:21,840 Speaker 1: supports your point, Christopher, and fascinating For all of our 657 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:25,319 Speaker 1: listeners outside of the US and my friends who live 658 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:28,840 Speaker 1: in different countries, it's it's a weird process to explain 659 00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:31,520 Speaker 1: to them that you can be arrested for one thing 660 00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:35,200 Speaker 1: in one state and it's completely fine in another, and 661 00:37:35,360 --> 00:37:38,080 Speaker 1: you can hop a flight for a few hours and 662 00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:40,200 Speaker 1: being a place where you're in the same country, but 663 00:37:40,239 --> 00:37:42,040 Speaker 1: the laws are completely different. And I kind of have 664 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:45,320 Speaker 1: a feeling that old George Washington might have had issues 665 00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:49,080 Speaker 1: with prohibition of any kind, you know, being that he 666 00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:51,279 Speaker 1: liked his whiskey and he liked his hamp and you know, 667 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:54,360 Speaker 1: it seemed like a you know, civil liberties kind of fellow. 668 00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:55,960 Speaker 1: You know, I don't know, I wonder what he would 669 00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:59,440 Speaker 1: have to say as long as it applied to white landowners. Well, okay, 670 00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:02,279 Speaker 1: that's fair. It was a different time. Yeah, And and 671 00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:05,840 Speaker 1: there there is historical record of of Washington complaining about 672 00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:09,759 Speaker 1: soldiers who were drunkards, who consumed too much, who over indulged. 673 00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:13,080 Speaker 1: And that's been argued by some that Washington was a 674 00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:15,440 Speaker 1: little more uptight than you might be led to believe. 675 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:18,120 Speaker 1: But to me, in reading what he actually said and wrote, 676 00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:20,480 Speaker 1: it looks more like he was against the over indulgence, 677 00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:23,160 Speaker 1: not the actual substance itself. He didn't assign a moral 678 00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:27,160 Speaker 1: value to alcohol or to whatever might have been smoked. 679 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:30,480 Speaker 1: You know what else he wasn't was evangelical. He was 680 00:38:30,520 --> 00:38:33,439 Speaker 1: actually very a religious He was a very moral man 681 00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:35,480 Speaker 1: and had a real code that he lived by. But 682 00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:38,880 Speaker 1: he was not a strict adherent to any form of religion. 683 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:41,640 Speaker 1: That has been made clear in the record which he had. 684 00:38:42,520 --> 00:38:46,879 Speaker 1: He had these sorts of beliefs placing rational morality over 685 00:38:47,200 --> 00:38:51,160 Speaker 1: spiritually motivated morality, in common with some other Founding fathers 686 00:38:51,200 --> 00:38:54,960 Speaker 1: like Jefferson and his famous Jefferson Bible, where he really 687 00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:59,680 Speaker 1: he removes everything that he thought was remotely supernatural, which 688 00:38:59,719 --> 00:39:04,960 Speaker 1: is story for another day. Okay, so we we've painted 689 00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:09,480 Speaker 1: uh pretty in depth picture right now, and just to 690 00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:13,520 Speaker 1: just to recap. We've got a whiskey tycoon who is 691 00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:19,400 Speaker 1: also a freemason who is also a hemp farmer. Hemp tycoon? 692 00:39:19,840 --> 00:39:21,880 Speaker 1: Is that fair? It seems like he was testing in 693 00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:23,520 Speaker 1: a little bit more and then he kind of like 694 00:39:23,600 --> 00:39:26,319 Speaker 1: switched over to grain um. But I don't know. He 695 00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:29,040 Speaker 1: definitely made some money. And it turns out to that 696 00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:33,160 Speaker 1: the it became a very profitable export because the Brits 697 00:39:33,320 --> 00:39:35,719 Speaker 1: really relied on it. They were actually growing in a 698 00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:40,200 Speaker 1: lot when the colonies were still under British control and 699 00:39:40,239 --> 00:39:42,520 Speaker 1: they relied on that from them. So when they split, 700 00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:46,520 Speaker 1: they turned it into much more of a business like exchange. 701 00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:49,560 Speaker 1: So hang on, guys, hang on, Casey, could we get 702 00:39:49,600 --> 00:39:54,040 Speaker 1: a like a game show out of time sound effect? Perfect? 703 00:39:54,320 --> 00:39:57,439 Speaker 1: What's going on? Well, it turns out, Christopher, that we 704 00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:00,560 Speaker 1: have made a game time decision. We are unning low 705 00:40:00,680 --> 00:40:04,680 Speaker 1: on times. We want to give this topic the justice 706 00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:07,239 Speaker 1: it deserves, which means that we are in for a 707 00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:10,360 Speaker 1: spontaneous two partter. What do you guys say, Oh my gosh, 708 00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:12,160 Speaker 1: I love it when you actually decide it's going to 709 00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:15,480 Speaker 1: be a two partner in real time as opposed to postmortem. 710 00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:18,160 Speaker 1: You know, Wait, Ben, what's going on. It sounds like 711 00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:19,480 Speaker 1: you've just got to get out of here. You don't 712 00:40:19,480 --> 00:40:21,200 Speaker 1: want to hang out with us for another couple of 713 00:40:21,239 --> 00:40:24,319 Speaker 1: hours and talk about George Washington. I I do, I do, 714 00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:27,160 Speaker 1: and through the magic of editing, will do that in 715 00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:30,200 Speaker 1: a later episode. Okay, okay, okay, because as we know 716 00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:33,640 Speaker 1: in the podcast world, time is but an illusion, a 717 00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:37,040 Speaker 1: flat circle. Indeed, we've actually been here in the studio 718 00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:40,040 Speaker 1: for about twelve hours talking about George Washington has always 719 00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:42,440 Speaker 1: been here here. We are check in anytime you like, 720 00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:45,479 Speaker 1: but you can never leave. We're kidding. This will mark 721 00:40:45,520 --> 00:40:49,120 Speaker 1: the end of part one of our George Washington and 722 00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:53,480 Speaker 1: Washington State episode technically, but this will not mark the 723 00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:57,279 Speaker 1: end of the show. Please tune in for our next episode, 724 00:40:57,480 --> 00:41:01,000 Speaker 1: when we explore even more strange of secure facts about 725 00:41:01,040 --> 00:41:04,640 Speaker 1: the first president of the United States. In the meantime, 726 00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:07,680 Speaker 1: you can say hello to Casey, Noel, Christopher and myself 727 00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:10,160 Speaker 1: on Instagram. You can find us on Facebook, you can 728 00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:12,280 Speaker 1: find us on Twitter. Hit us up with your favorite 729 00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:14,960 Speaker 1: strange historical facts, and if you want to hang out 730 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:17,760 Speaker 1: with our favorite part of the show, your fellow listeners, 731 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:21,520 Speaker 1: visit us on our community page. Ridiculous historians on Facebook. 732 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:24,319 Speaker 1: If you want a little tiny peek into our relatively 733 00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:26,120 Speaker 1: run of the mill lives, but you know, we do 734 00:41:26,160 --> 00:41:27,600 Speaker 1: some cool things every now and then, you can check 735 00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:30,920 Speaker 1: me out at embryonic Inside on Instagram, and I am 736 00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:37,080 Speaker 1: at Ben Bullen on Instagram molock free photo content. So far, 737 00:41:37,239 --> 00:41:39,239 Speaker 1: it's good to know. Until the next episode comes out, 738 00:41:39,239 --> 00:41:41,239 Speaker 1: I'm just gonna be sitting here pulling dollar bills out 739 00:41:41,239 --> 00:41:45,080 Speaker 1: of my wallet, very very few dollar bills, two money bags, 740 00:41:45,120 --> 00:41:47,960 Speaker 1: just staring at George, staring at George. Wanted to talk 741 00:41:47,960 --> 00:41:50,000 Speaker 1: about him with you guys again soon. I can't wait. 742 00:41:50,040 --> 00:41:51,680 Speaker 1: Do you have any plugs you'd like to plug? I 743 00:41:51,719 --> 00:41:53,120 Speaker 1: do have some plugs. If you want to find me 744 00:41:53,239 --> 00:41:56,200 Speaker 1: on Instagram, I'm at Haciotis. That's h A S. S 745 00:41:56,239 --> 00:41:58,399 Speaker 1: I O T I S. And we all hang out 746 00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:00,839 Speaker 1: on the Ridiculous of his story and Facebook page. We'll 747 00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:03,160 Speaker 1: be there too. In the meantime. We would like to think, 748 00:42:03,200 --> 00:42:06,120 Speaker 1: of course, our super producer, Casey Pegram, would like to 749 00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:08,560 Speaker 1: thank Alex Williams, who composed our track. We'd like to 750 00:42:08,560 --> 00:42:10,840 Speaker 1: thank our pal Gabe who helps us out with research, 751 00:42:11,120 --> 00:42:12,880 Speaker 1: and of course you'd like to thank Christopher Haciota is 752 00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:17,480 Speaker 1: our incredible guest uh and lifelong pal. No, thank you, Casey. 753 00:42:17,640 --> 00:42:19,279 Speaker 1: Thanks and if one of you guys would thank what's 754 00:42:19,280 --> 00:42:22,200 Speaker 1: his name over here for me, I'd appreciate it. We'll 755 00:42:22,200 --> 00:42:23,000 Speaker 1: see you next time.