1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:03,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:08,320 Speaker 1: and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Minky listener, discretion is advised. 3 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:16,639 Speaker 1: The first three fun facts that you learn about George 4 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 1: Washington are wrong. Before or even out of elementary school 5 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:25,240 Speaker 1: in the United States of America, we learn plenty of 6 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 1: myths about our first president, George Washington. Take, for instance, 7 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:34,560 Speaker 1: the famous anecdote about George Washington cutting down a cherry tree. 8 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:37,199 Speaker 1: If you haven't heard it or haven't heard it in 9 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:40,559 Speaker 1: a while, the basic story goes like this. At six 10 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:44,519 Speaker 1: years old, George Washington gets a brand new hatchet, and, 11 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 1: excited to try it out, he sets about swinging it 12 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,200 Speaker 1: at his father's prize cherry tree in their front yard. 13 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 1: When George's father gets home, furious about either the hatchet 14 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: marks in the tree or the fact that it had 15 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: been cut down altogether, Mr Washington asks his son if 16 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:08,080 Speaker 1: he was the responsible party. Ever the paradigm of moral virtue, 17 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:12,319 Speaker 1: even as a kindergartener, George Washington admits what he did 18 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: right away with the phrase, I cannot tell a lie 19 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: if you didn't already know that story, endearing as it is, 20 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:25,679 Speaker 1: simply isn't true. It first appeared in a biography written 21 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: by Mason Locke Weemes, who published his book Trying to 22 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: Cash In immediately after Washington's death. Although the cherry Tree 23 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:38,119 Speaker 1: anecdote didn't actually appear until the book's fifth edition, published 24 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:42,360 Speaker 1: six years later, that story just detailed enough to be 25 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:46,119 Speaker 1: memorable and vague enough to apply as a life lesson 26 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 1: for all children immediately caught on. In eighteen thirty six, 27 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: a Presbyterian minister and professor named William Holmes McGuffey included 28 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: it as a lesson on morality in a Chill Duran's 29 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: grammar school textbook, sort of a nineteenth century equivalent of 30 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: a Highlights magazine. Goofus and Gallant. Mcguffey's textbook stayed in 31 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: print for almost one hundred years. The year before the 32 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: textbook came out, circus ringleader and conman P. T. Barnum 33 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 1: purchased an elderly enslaved woman named Joyce Heath and put 34 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: her on display as a sideshow attraction, claiming that she 35 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:31,079 Speaker 1: was the slave who had raised George Washington. Heath, who 36 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: would have been one hundred and sixty one years old 37 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: if Barnum's claim was actually true, told stories to wrapped 38 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: audiences about Washington, including the then already famous Cherry Tree anecdote. 39 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 1: It's easy to understand why the Cherry Tree story had 40 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 1: such longevity. It's an American Horatio Alger novel in anecdote form, 41 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:59,079 Speaker 1: a modern tutor morality play, and it's a perfect celebration 42 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: of the law myth of America that we're a land 43 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:07,360 Speaker 1: of meritocracy. If you're a good person, like the six 44 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: year old who was honest to his father, then you 45 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:15,200 Speaker 1: can and will go on to achieve great things. America's 46 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:20,799 Speaker 1: love mythologizing our founding fathers, turning them into superhero mascots 47 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:25,080 Speaker 1: of our own national self celebration. The next myth about 48 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: George Washington is a little bit harder to trace. The 49 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: idea that George Washington had wooden teeth. He didn't. He 50 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: did suffer from issues with his teeth throughout his life, 51 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 1: and by the time he gave his first presidential address 52 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:42,120 Speaker 1: he only had one of his original teeth left in 53 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: his mouth. But his dentures were never made of wood. Really, 54 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 1: that seems like an awful idea for dentures on any level. 55 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:56,120 Speaker 1: What is porous and absorbent, It warps and cracks. I mean, 56 00:03:56,200 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: imagine the splinters. Throughout George Washington's life, he had multiple 57 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: sets of dentures made for materials like ivory, gold, lead, 58 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: and slave teeth, yes, probably slave teeth. In George Washington's ledger, 59 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:17,119 Speaker 1: he noted that on May eighth, seventy four, he paid 60 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:22,119 Speaker 1: six pounds and two shillings to quote Negroes for nine teeth. 61 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:25,280 Speaker 1: While it's possible that he was buying them for a 62 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 1: family member, it's just as likely that they were meant 63 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: for his own mouth. As the Mount Vernon website itself notes, 64 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:36,039 Speaker 1: selling teeth to dentists was a common way to make 65 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: money for poor people since at least the end of 66 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 1: the Middle Ages. But it is important to remember that 67 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: although Washington paid for these teeth, the enslaved people in 68 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:49,839 Speaker 1: Virginia in the eighteenth century had no choice when it 69 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: came to participating in the transaction. So where did the 70 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:58,159 Speaker 1: idea of wooden teeth come from? Most historian degree that 71 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:03,000 Speaker 1: Washington's ivory dent years became stained and brownish over time, 72 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:07,119 Speaker 1: which made them look wouldn't But why would that story 73 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:11,120 Speaker 1: be so enduring? It doesn't have a simple moral narrative 74 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:14,960 Speaker 1: like the cherry tree story unless you assume that Washington 75 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:18,360 Speaker 1: carved the teeth himself, and then sure it does give 76 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 1: him a rugged, self sufficient man of the people type power. 77 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 1: But well, wooden teeth themselves are memorable. They're oddly specific 78 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:34,719 Speaker 1: and a little gruesome in their imagery and weirdness, Especially 79 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: in conjunction with a historical figure that's so often portrayed 80 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:42,040 Speaker 1: as so virtuous he may as well just be a 81 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: marble sculpture. Is interesting. It makes George Washington seem human 82 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:51,599 Speaker 1: and lets us in the modern day shake our heads 83 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: in superiority at how antiquated, how positively medieval things were 84 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:02,400 Speaker 1: two years ago. But it the third George Washington myth 85 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: that will be talking about in depth today, a myth 86 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: that has so infiltrated the popular culture that I admit 87 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: I didn't know it was false myself until I started 88 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: doing my research for this very podcast. You see, with 89 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,159 Speaker 1: all the attention on the American executive branch during a 90 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:25,160 Speaker 1: presidential election, I found myself thinking about the historical fun 91 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: fact that I've heard so many times, the folk grum 92 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:32,800 Speaker 1: point in American history that could have changed the course 93 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: of our nation with a single decision. The notion that 94 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: they offered to make George Washington not the first president 95 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: of the United States, but the first king. Of course, 96 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,359 Speaker 1: you know the rest of that story. George Washington, he 97 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:54,159 Speaker 1: of the moral backbone to come clean after an act 98 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:58,919 Speaker 1: of fruit tree vandalism, refused the crown, and he ushered 99 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: our young country in as a representative democracy. George Washington 100 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:07,720 Speaker 1: could have been a king, they say, and he chose 101 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 1: not to be. It's a story that makes Washington and 102 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:16,840 Speaker 1: by extension, America, look honorable and virtuous. It's the type 103 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: of story we want to believe about ourselves. But the 104 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 1: truth is always a little more complicated. I'm Danis Schwartz, 105 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:40,400 Speaker 1: and this is noble blood. In seventeen eighty, while the 106 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: soldiers of the Continental Army fought against the British, the 107 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:49,560 Speaker 1: delegates of the Second Continental Congress passed a statute promising 108 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 1: that the American soldiers would receive a pension after they retired, 109 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: half of their current pay for the rest of their lives. 110 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:03,320 Speaker 1: It was a mighty promise from a government that could 111 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: barely find the funds to pay the soldiers. As it 112 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: was at this point in American history, the federal body 113 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: had almost no actual power beyond the symbolic, especially when 114 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: it came to money. Congress had no power to tax 115 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:24,440 Speaker 1: the States to pay the army. The federal government relied 116 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:28,680 Speaker 1: on requisitions from the states that the states would pay voluntarily, 117 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: and as you might imagine, these voluntary payments weren't nearly enough. 118 00:08:35,360 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 1: After the Battle of Yorktown in the war on land 119 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: between the colonists and the British was largely over. Peace 120 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:48,840 Speaker 1: talks were beginning, and even though British ships still bobbed 121 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:54,080 Speaker 1: visible in the Atlantic Ocean, cutting off trade, independence was imminent, 122 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:59,400 Speaker 1: but the Continental Army remained vigilant monitoring. British occupied New 123 00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:02,760 Speaker 1: York City from their base in Newburg, sixty miles to 124 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,560 Speaker 1: the north, but the soldiers were well aware that they 125 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: occupied a strange Noman's land. They were soldiers for a 126 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 1: country that didn't quite exist yet. Hand with the war ending, 127 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:20,040 Speaker 1: they were about to be unemployed. In the meantime, Robert Morris, 128 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 1: the Superintendent of Finance, who would be called the financier 129 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 1: of the Revolution, had to stop army pay in seventeen 130 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:31,200 Speaker 1: eighty two to cut costs. He made the assurance that 131 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: it would be only temporary that Congress would pay back 132 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: all of its soldiers their back wages and the pensions 133 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:42,200 Speaker 1: they were promised. It was just under the Articles of 134 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 1: the Confederation they had no way to actually do that. 135 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:52,320 Speaker 1: A group of Congressmen, including Alexander Hamilton's, recognized that discrepancy. 136 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:56,000 Speaker 1: Without a strong central federal branch of the government with 137 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:59,920 Speaker 1: actual power, this new country wouldn't be a country at all, 138 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 1: and so Hamilton's proposed an amendment to the Articles of 139 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:08,440 Speaker 1: the Confederation, a workaround for the no federal taxes rule 140 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 1: that would allow Congress to levy and import tariff. It 141 00:10:12,559 --> 00:10:17,920 Speaker 1: was immediately shut down. Soldiers wrote to Congress demanding their 142 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:22,080 Speaker 1: pay and their promised pensions, and Alexander Hamilton's would read 143 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:25,720 Speaker 1: these letters allowed in chamber, trying to convince his fellow 144 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:29,400 Speaker 1: congressmen that they needed to do something in order to 145 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:34,240 Speaker 1: actually pay their army. But no amendments or agreements passed. 146 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:39,000 Speaker 1: Soldiers who had gone months without pay were beginning to 147 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:45,000 Speaker 1: feel forgotten. Officers covered their tattered, tearing uniforms with blankets. 148 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:49,160 Speaker 1: Lower ranking soldiers didn't even have blankets to cover themselves 149 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:54,280 Speaker 1: up with. They were all cold and hungry and frustrated 150 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 1: while waiting for the war to officially end. They also 151 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:01,400 Speaker 1: waited to find out what sort of government they would 152 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:04,360 Speaker 1: be serving on the other side, and the government that 153 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:08,080 Speaker 1: they currently had under the articles of the Confederation didn't 154 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:11,280 Speaker 1: seem to be working out for them. It was during 155 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:15,200 Speaker 1: this period of tension that an officer named Colonel Lewis 156 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:19,520 Speaker 1: Nicola wrote a letter to George Washington to say that 157 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:24,360 Speaker 1: they were colleagues would be incredibly generous to Nicola work 158 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:28,720 Speaker 1: acquaintances maybe. Niccola was born in Ireland, and before the 159 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:34,559 Speaker 1: Revolutionary War he lived in Philadelphia with a subscription circulating library. 160 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:37,720 Speaker 1: He went on to join the Continental Army to serve 161 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:41,400 Speaker 1: as City Major Philadelphia, and it was actually he who 162 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:45,320 Speaker 1: proposed that the Continental Congress form an Invalid Corps, a 163 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:48,640 Speaker 1: group of men who wouldn't be fit for actual combat, 164 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 1: but could serve as guards or teachers for other soldiers. 165 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:57,599 Speaker 1: The corps wasn't quite a success. Nicola, as its commander, 166 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:01,319 Speaker 1: was plagued with challenges when it came to recruiting enough men, 167 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:05,600 Speaker 1: and he struggled with order and discipline in the ranks 168 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:12,959 Speaker 1: he commanded. And things were getting even harder for Nicola 169 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:17,719 Speaker 1: as Congress continually refused to honor their promises of wages 170 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:22,120 Speaker 1: and pensions. The wages they did get, Nicola believed where 171 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:25,800 Speaker 1: in paper money whose value had been so depreciated that 172 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:29,960 Speaker 1: was worth far less than promised. As the war drew 173 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:34,400 Speaker 1: to a close, Nicola was, as one historian characterized him, 174 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:40,480 Speaker 1: quote a man harassed and brooding over the universal gloom 175 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:44,079 Speaker 1: and sense of injustice at the neglect which the army 176 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:49,280 Speaker 1: was experiencing. He began his letter to George Washington explaining 177 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: those grievances. Soldiers, he wrote, have quote much reason to 178 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:58,800 Speaker 1: fear that the future provision promised two officers by Congress 179 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:01,720 Speaker 1: will be little tended to when our services are no 180 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:06,960 Speaker 1: longer wanted, and that the recompense of all of our toils, hardships, 181 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:10,600 Speaker 1: expense of private fortune during several of the best years 182 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 1: of our lives will be forgot and neglected by such 183 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:18,800 Speaker 1: as reap the benefits of our labor without suffering any 184 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:22,440 Speaker 1: of the hardships. It's at this point in the letter 185 00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: that Nicola notes that he is not quote a violent 186 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 1: admirer of the republican form of government. The republics of Europe, 187 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:36,120 Speaker 1: which Nicola names Venice, Genoa, and Holland, were short lived 188 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 1: in their periods of power when compared to monarchies. Let 189 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:43,880 Speaker 1: us consider the principal monarchies of Europe. Nicola writes, they 190 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:47,480 Speaker 1: have suffered great internal commotions, have worried each other, have 191 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:51,040 Speaker 1: had periods of vigor and weakness, yet they still subsist 192 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 1: and shine with luster. But Nicola is also quick to 193 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:58,719 Speaker 1: point out that he is not a fan of absolute monarchy. 194 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:03,160 Speaker 1: The answer he's suggests isn't a government not dissimilar to 195 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:06,080 Speaker 1: the one that existed in Britain at the time, a 196 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:11,920 Speaker 1: constitutional monarchy. From there, Nicola proceeds to what he calls 197 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 1: his scheme. What if Congress made good on all of 198 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:21,080 Speaker 1: their promises by giving soldiers tracts of land west of 199 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:25,800 Speaker 1: the existing colonies, where each individual soldier could quote have 200 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 1: his due land with swamps, mountains, lakes, and rivers, and 201 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 1: all of the soldiers could put their land together, quote 202 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:39,040 Speaker 1: into a distinct state under such mode of government as 203 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 1: those military who choose to remove to it may agree upon. 204 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,760 Speaker 1: Congress could also put some of that pension in cash upfront, 205 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:49,200 Speaker 1: so that the soldiers in the new state could buy 206 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:53,880 Speaker 1: farm equipment. For his part, Nicola believes that that agreed 207 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:59,240 Speaker 1: upon government should be a constitutional monarchy. I quote. This 208 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:02,000 Speaker 1: war must have shown to all but to military men, 209 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 1: in particular the weakness of republics and the exertion of 210 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: the army that we've been able to make by being 211 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:12,120 Speaker 1: under a proper head. Therefore a little doubt when the 212 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 1: benefits of a mixed government are pointed out and duly considered, 213 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:20,600 Speaker 1: But such will be readily adopted. In this case, it will, 214 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:24,880 Speaker 1: I believe, be uncontroverted that the same abilities which have 215 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:29,640 Speaker 1: led us through difficulties apparently insurmountable by human power, to 216 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:34,320 Speaker 1: victory and glory, those qualities that have merited and obtained 217 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 1: the universal esteem and veneration of an army, would be 218 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:42,120 Speaker 1: most likely to conduct and direct us in these smoother 219 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:47,720 Speaker 1: paths of peace. In other words, soldiers understand how nice 220 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 1: it is when it's clear who's in charge, and when 221 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 1: that person in charge is as good at leading as 222 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:58,440 Speaker 1: you are, George dot dot dot, if you catch my 223 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 1: drift quote. Some people have so connected the ideas of 224 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:06,920 Speaker 1: tyranny and monarchy as to find it very difficult to 225 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:11,040 Speaker 1: separate them. It may therefore be a requisite to give 226 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 1: the head of such a constitution as I propose some 227 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:18,480 Speaker 1: title apparently more moderate, but if all other things were 228 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:22,560 Speaker 1: once adjusted, I believe strong argument might be produced for 229 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:25,800 Speaker 1: admitting the title of king, which I conceive would be 230 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:31,400 Speaker 1: attended with some material advantages. The letter is seven pages long, 231 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:36,480 Speaker 1: filled with adorable justifications and ideas. This new state is 232 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:40,480 Speaker 1: especially smart, Nicola writes, because won't Congress, and the existing 233 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 1: colonies want soldiers on their western flank protecting them from 234 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 1: Native Americans, and we can also protect them from Canada. 235 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:52,359 Speaker 1: It's a win win. The letter has the self delighted 236 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:56,200 Speaker 1: and slightly delusional energy of a friend who thinks he's 237 00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 1: figured out how to beat the house in a Vegas 238 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:02,000 Speaker 1: casino once and for all. It's somehow at the same 239 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:05,720 Speaker 1: time both naive and also the results of way too 240 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:16,080 Speaker 1: much thought and research. George Washington was wildly freaked out 241 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: by this delusional pitch from a guy who was a 242 00:17:19,600 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 1: polite work friend at best. Washington wrote his response the 243 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:27,520 Speaker 1: very day you received the letter, and just to make 244 00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:29,960 Speaker 1: sure that he was on the record loud and clear, 245 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:34,240 Speaker 1: Washington had his secretary write an exact copy of his 246 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 1: response to keep in his own files. I will read 247 00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:42,600 Speaker 1: the entire second paragraph of his response here, just because 248 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 1: I can't imagine a more brutal shutdown quote. I am 249 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:50,639 Speaker 1: much at a loss to conceive what part of my 250 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:54,840 Speaker 1: conduct could have given encouragement to an address which to 251 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 1: me seems big with the greatest mischiefs that can befall 252 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:01,879 Speaker 1: my country. If I am not deceived in the knowledge 253 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:04,679 Speaker 1: of myself, you could not have found a person to 254 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:09,000 Speaker 1: whom your schemes are more disagreeable. At the same time, 255 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:11,640 Speaker 1: in justice to my own feeling, I must add that 256 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:15,080 Speaker 1: no man possesses a more sincere wish to see ample 257 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:17,960 Speaker 1: justice done to the army than I do. And as 258 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:21,800 Speaker 1: far as my powers and influence in a constitutional way extent, 259 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:25,480 Speaker 1: they shall be employed to the utmost of my abilities 260 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:28,960 Speaker 1: to affect it, should there be any occasion. Let me 261 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:31,960 Speaker 1: just conjure you, then, if you have any regard for 262 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:36,400 Speaker 1: your country, concern for yourself, or posterity, or respect to me, 263 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,320 Speaker 1: to banish these things from your mind, and never communicate 264 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:44,320 Speaker 1: as from yourself or anyone else, a sentiment of the 265 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 1: like nature. With esteem, I am your most obedient servant. 266 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:56,120 Speaker 1: George Washington and Nicola received the message. Upon getting such 267 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 1: an icy response from the man, he admired so much 268 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,680 Speaker 1: George Washington himself for what he thought was his brilliant, 269 00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:10,000 Speaker 1: little intellectual idea. Nicola absolutely panicked. He wrote back not 270 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:14,359 Speaker 1: just once, but three times in a single week, backtracking 271 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:17,960 Speaker 1: and begging for George Washington's forgiveness, saying he must have 272 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:22,119 Speaker 1: been misunderstood, but he realizes he was way out of line. 273 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:27,240 Speaker 1: We don't have Washington's response to these frantic triple messages, 274 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:31,480 Speaker 1: but we assume that Nicola was forgiven and his little 275 00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:36,680 Speaker 1: indiscretion forgotten, because the relationship between him and Washington returned 276 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:39,200 Speaker 1: soon enough to the way it had been before the letter, 277 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:45,200 Speaker 1: the eighteenth century equivalent of saying hi at the Christmas party. Washington, 278 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 1: for his part, never told another person about Nicola's letter, 279 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:57,399 Speaker 1: lest the idea get any legs. This is the sole 280 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:01,679 Speaker 1: source and origin of the rumor that George Washington was 281 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:05,560 Speaker 1: offered the position of king. This is the closest that 282 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:09,639 Speaker 1: anyone got. One guy, not even a congressman, just a 283 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:13,480 Speaker 1: colonel writing a letter, floating a weather balloon for a 284 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:16,440 Speaker 1: new idea for what the soldiers could do after the war. 285 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:19,760 Speaker 1: Just a blue sky pitch from one guy who thinks 286 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:23,200 Speaker 1: monarchies are more efficient than republics and wanted to run 287 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:27,120 Speaker 1: his idea past the big guy. That's the historical basis 288 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:31,520 Speaker 1: for the story that some faceless capital t they offered 289 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:35,920 Speaker 1: George Washington a crown. I read so many direct excerpts 290 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:39,199 Speaker 1: above from Nicola and from Washington because I want to 291 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:43,040 Speaker 1: be fully transparent about how I get my information. To 292 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:48,960 Speaker 1: this day, historians completely mischaracterized that exchange. In two thousand four, 293 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,919 Speaker 1: a New York Times best settling biography of George Washington 294 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:56,840 Speaker 1: called His Excellency, covered the letter from Lewis Nicola by 295 00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:59,760 Speaker 1: saying that the young officer wrote in his letter that 296 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 1: certain disaster would befall postwar America unless Washington declared himself king. 297 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: That's not what the letter says. The book also claims 298 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:12,840 Speaker 1: that Nicola put into writing an idea that several officers 299 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:17,080 Speaker 1: were whispering about. That's a wild stretch on multiple levels. 300 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:20,439 Speaker 1: Lewis knew his idea was outlandish and was going to 301 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:24,360 Speaker 1: be unpopular. He himself, in his letter calls it heterodox 302 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:26,800 Speaker 1: and jokes that some would hear his idea and think 303 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:30,600 Speaker 1: he should be burnt at the state. And again, Lewis 304 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:34,399 Speaker 1: was proposing a new state not suggesting an overthrow of 305 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:38,399 Speaker 1: the existing government. And again, to be clear, he doesn't 306 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:43,159 Speaker 1: really offer Washington the crown explicitly, it's just implied that book. 307 00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:47,840 Speaker 1: His Excellency continued by saying that George Washington's stern response 308 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,720 Speaker 1: to Nicola made its way to King George the Third 309 00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:54,680 Speaker 1: in England, who equipped that if George Washington actually did 310 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:57,760 Speaker 1: turn down the crown, he would be the greatest man 311 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:01,040 Speaker 1: in the world. The seed of the story is true, 312 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:04,160 Speaker 1: but it was what George the Third actually said fifteen 313 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,239 Speaker 1: years later when he heard that Washington was planning on 314 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:12,160 Speaker 1: retiring after two terms as president. I'm not a professional historian, 315 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,280 Speaker 1: and in the course of this podcast, I have absolutely 316 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:19,240 Speaker 1: made a number of errors, usually years I accidentally read 317 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:21,800 Speaker 1: wrong from my script and correct as soon as I can, 318 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:27,120 Speaker 1: and more often errors of pronunciation. And I don't mean 319 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:30,240 Speaker 1: to call out that biographer in some sort of gotcha. 320 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,800 Speaker 1: I just think it's important to reflect on how appealing 321 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:37,479 Speaker 1: mythologies can be so pervasive in our culture that they 322 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:41,880 Speaker 1: just become wrote things we assume are true because we've 323 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:45,920 Speaker 1: heard them repeated so many times that then we ourselves 324 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:50,760 Speaker 1: repeat the narrative of George Washington turning down the crown 325 00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:54,399 Speaker 1: is such a fundamentally appealing one in the myth of 326 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:57,800 Speaker 1: how America came to be. And if you only read 327 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:01,720 Speaker 1: George Washington's reply, not the letter to which he was replying, 328 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:04,480 Speaker 1: it's easy to fill in the gaps of the story 329 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:06,679 Speaker 1: in your head and make it the story that you 330 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:16,840 Speaker 1: want to hear. Washington actually would drastically influence the shape 331 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:20,520 Speaker 1: of the American democracy before the end of the Revolutionary 332 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:24,800 Speaker 1: War and prevent mutiny against Congress, but he didn't do 333 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:27,160 Speaker 1: so with a response to a letter that no one 334 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:30,439 Speaker 1: else actually read. He did it with a pair of 335 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:35,119 Speaker 1: reading glasses. As things were growing more tense within the 336 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:40,280 Speaker 1: Continental Army, a delegation of officers arrived in Philadelphia to 337 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:44,320 Speaker 1: deliver a memo to Congress by hand. There would be 338 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:49,479 Speaker 1: quote fatal effects, they wrote, if Congress didn't supply what 339 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:53,199 Speaker 1: they had promised. The threat was almost too blatant to 340 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:57,760 Speaker 1: be considered implicit nationalists, by which I mean the congressman 341 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 1: who supported a strong national govern ment like Morris and Hamilton's, 342 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:05,640 Speaker 1: were able to convince the soldiers to hold type while 343 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:09,120 Speaker 1: they fought to push their policies through in Congress. On 344 00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:13,040 Speaker 1: one hand, the threat of military coup was terrifying. On 345 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:16,960 Speaker 1: the other hand, nationalists like Hamilton's We're well aware that 346 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:21,960 Speaker 1: from a political standpoint, the discontented military was a pretty 347 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:25,840 Speaker 1: good driving force for convincing his fellow congressman that they 348 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 1: needed to give the federal government some actual power. To 349 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:33,840 Speaker 1: this day, historians argue whether the coup was a legitimate, 350 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:38,240 Speaker 1: impending course of action, or whether the threat was exaggerated 351 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:42,680 Speaker 1: for political benefit, but whether they were political ponds or not, 352 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:54,240 Speaker 1: the officers at Newburgh were getting restless. Early on the 353 00:24:54,320 --> 00:25:00,840 Speaker 1: morning of March tene an unsigned letter circular related amongst 354 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:04,320 Speaker 1: the officers at Newburgh, calling for a meeting at eleven 355 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:09,240 Speaker 1: a m. The letter, later attributed to Major John Armstrong 356 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:14,040 Speaker 1: into camp to Washington's rival, General Ratio Gates, said that 357 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:17,840 Speaker 1: it was time for the army to take a bolder tone. 358 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:22,199 Speaker 1: You have fought for a country. The letter said that 359 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:27,520 Speaker 1: now tramples upon your rights, disdains your cries, and insults 360 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:32,720 Speaker 1: your distresses. And now, the letter said, Congress has left 361 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:38,920 Speaker 1: you to grow old in poverty, wretchedness, and contempt. Would 362 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,760 Speaker 1: they consent to quote wide through the vile miyer of 363 00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:47,000 Speaker 1: dependency and owe the miserable remnant of that life to 364 00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:52,080 Speaker 1: charity which has hithero been spent in honor. As Professor 365 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:55,800 Speaker 1: Richard Cohen phrases, that if so, they would be pitied 366 00:25:56,359 --> 00:26:01,480 Speaker 1: ridiculed for suffering this last indignity. They had bled too much. 367 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 1: They still had their swords. There were two courses of action, 368 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:12,480 Speaker 1: the anonymous letter posited if Congress didn't provide the money 369 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:16,560 Speaker 1: they promised, either the army should disband and leave the 370 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:21,640 Speaker 1: brand new nation defenseless, or once the war ended, they 371 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:26,280 Speaker 1: should refuse to disband. After all, who was Congress to 372 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 1: deny them when they were the ones with weapons. Upon 373 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:37,439 Speaker 1: hearing about the unofficial meeting, George Washington formally objected. He 374 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:41,760 Speaker 1: scheduled an official meeting four days later, and implying that 375 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:45,040 Speaker 1: he wouldn't attend himself, he asked for a full report 376 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:51,400 Speaker 1: to be sent to him after it was over. Four 377 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:54,919 Speaker 1: days later, on March fifteenth, Gates gabbled in the meeting, 378 00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:58,280 Speaker 1: which took place at Camp in a building known as 379 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:02,919 Speaker 1: the Temple. But before Gates could begin with the speech 380 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:09,560 Speaker 1: he had prepared, the door opened. To everyone's surprise, General 381 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:14,680 Speaker 1: George Washington strode into the building and quietly asked John 382 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:19,800 Speaker 1: Gates if he might be permitted to speak. Absolutely stunned, 383 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:24,920 Speaker 1: Gates relinquished the floor to his superior. Washington looked at 384 00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:28,520 Speaker 1: the faces of his officers in the audience. The men, 385 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:34,119 Speaker 1: usually so reverential, urging on worshipful when it came to Washington, 386 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:40,200 Speaker 1: were visibly frustrated. Even Washington's presence didn't dispel the air 387 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:45,679 Speaker 1: of discontent, of unhappiness, of impatience in the room. Still, 388 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:50,240 Speaker 1: George Washington spoke calmly and gave what would come to 389 00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:54,199 Speaker 1: be known as the New Burgh Address. In it, he 390 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:59,640 Speaker 1: denounced the veiled threats of mutiny against Congress. What can 391 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:02,960 Speaker 1: this writer of this anonymous letter have in view by 392 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:07,280 Speaker 1: recommending such measures? Can he be a friend to the army? 393 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:11,399 Speaker 1: Can he be a friend to this country? Rather? Is 394 00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:16,800 Speaker 1: he not an insidious foe? Washington asked his officers to 395 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:21,919 Speaker 1: give once more distinguished proof of their unexampled patriotism and 396 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:26,520 Speaker 1: patient virtue, and place full confidence in the purity of 397 00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:31,280 Speaker 1: the intentions of Congress. At this point, Washington took out 398 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:33,800 Speaker 1: a letter from a congressman that he wanted to read 399 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:37,040 Speaker 1: to his men. He stared at the paper for a moment, 400 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:41,680 Speaker 1: and then as the room fell quiet, he took out 401 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:45,960 Speaker 1: a pair of reading glasses. None of the men had 402 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:52,240 Speaker 1: ever seen Washington in reading glasses before. Gentleman George Washington said, 403 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:56,280 Speaker 1: you will permit me to put on my spectacles where 404 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:59,840 Speaker 1: I have not only grown gray but almost blind in 405 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:04,400 Speaker 1: the service of my country. Officers in the crowd felt 406 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:09,200 Speaker 1: tears come to their eyes. After Washington finished reading the letter, 407 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:13,280 Speaker 1: he folded it neatly, placed it into his pocket, and 408 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:17,240 Speaker 1: left the meeting hall. All of their anger, their talk 409 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:22,400 Speaker 1: of mutiny, it dissolved like morning fog. Washington sent a 410 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: copy of the anonymous letter that had circulated to Congress, 411 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:31,160 Speaker 1: who found it distressing. As you might imagine, Alexander Hamilton's 412 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:34,200 Speaker 1: sprung into action, and he helped form a committee which 413 00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:38,920 Speaker 1: ultimately finalized an agreement that would provide soldiers five full 414 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:42,320 Speaker 1: years of pay after they retired instead of the lifetime 415 00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:48,600 Speaker 1: half pay. The crisis was averted. Many challenges still threatened 416 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 1: the new nation, but for the time being, its own 417 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:56,440 Speaker 1: army wasn't one of them. Washington's charisma and the loyalty 418 00:29:56,560 --> 00:29:59,920 Speaker 1: that he inspired in his troops was a formidable force, 419 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:03,960 Speaker 1: the type of force that should he have wanted to 420 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:06,959 Speaker 1: become king, maybe would have allowed him to do so, 421 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:12,640 Speaker 1: But that's a hypothetical. What George Washington actually did when 422 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:16,320 Speaker 1: faced with soldiers discontent at the end of the Revolutionary War, 423 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:20,680 Speaker 1: how he secured the nation against military control in favor 424 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:24,800 Speaker 1: of loyalty to Congress is more than interesting and dramatic 425 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:28,760 Speaker 1: enough to hold our attention. But still the man who 426 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:33,880 Speaker 1: would be King story endures. After all, We do all 427 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:37,440 Speaker 1: love the allure and implied glamor of any story with 428 00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:42,920 Speaker 1: a connection, however tangential to a monarchy, Don't I know it? 429 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:53,040 Speaker 1: That's the story of George Washington's offer to become king. 430 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:56,320 Speaker 1: But keep listening after a brief sponsor break to hear 431 00:30:56,400 --> 00:31:01,760 Speaker 1: about his extremely interesting family legacy and a quick personal note. 432 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:05,160 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is on Patreon. If you want to support 433 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:07,720 Speaker 1: me and the show, go to patreon dot com that 434 00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,800 Speaker 1: slash Noble Blood Tales, where you can subscribe to get 435 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:15,720 Speaker 1: behind the scenes access to bibliographies, episode scripts, first access 436 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:21,360 Speaker 1: to merch and eventually bonus podcast episodes. But support for 437 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:26,560 Speaker 1: the Patreon is completely voluntary, just like states requisitions of 438 00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:30,080 Speaker 1: funds under the articles of the Confederation. Really the best 439 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:32,920 Speaker 1: way to support the show is just to keep listening. 440 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:35,400 Speaker 1: It will always be free to listen to and I 441 00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:38,960 Speaker 1: truly cannot thank you enough for listening and supporting the 442 00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:52,040 Speaker 1: show that way. If at this point you the listener, 443 00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:55,640 Speaker 1: are frustrated that I did an entire episode about someone 444 00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:59,600 Speaker 1: not becoming nobility, well I have a bit of good news. 445 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:02,800 Speaker 1: It's going to take a discussion of a family tree, 446 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:07,440 Speaker 1: so bear with me. George Washington's great grandfather was a 447 00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:12,200 Speaker 1: man named Augustine Warner Jr. Among his children, he had 448 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:17,680 Speaker 1: two daughters, Mary and Mildred. Mildred was George Washington's grandmother. 449 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:23,160 Speaker 1: Mary's descendants would have a slightly different path. Mary had 450 00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:28,120 Speaker 1: a daughter, also named Mary. She married named Mary Porteus, 451 00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:32,200 Speaker 1: would move with her husband from Virginia to Rippon in 452 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:37,800 Speaker 1: North Yorkshire in England. Her son, Reverend Robert Cortius, had 453 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:42,520 Speaker 1: a daughter who got married and became Mildred Hodgson. Mildred 454 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:46,120 Speaker 1: Hodgson had a son, Robert Hodgson Jr. Who became the 455 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:50,680 Speaker 1: Dean of Carlile. His daughter, Henrietta, married the daughter of 456 00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:54,760 Speaker 1: the director of the East India Trading Company. And now 457 00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:57,760 Speaker 1: that the family had married into money, that freed up 458 00:32:57,760 --> 00:33:03,920 Speaker 1: Henrietta's daughter to marry into nobility. Henrietta's daughter, Francis Doris Smith, 459 00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:10,320 Speaker 1: married Claude Bowes lyont Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorn. Their son, 460 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:14,320 Speaker 1: the four Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorn, had a daughter 461 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:18,240 Speaker 1: who married the Duke of York, who, upon the unexpected 462 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:22,320 Speaker 1: resignation of his older brother, became King George the sixth. 463 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:27,120 Speaker 1: That means that their daughter would eventually go on to 464 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:31,960 Speaker 1: become Queen Elizabeth the Second, the current reigning monarch of 465 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:35,720 Speaker 1: the United Kingdom. All of that is to say that 466 00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:40,520 Speaker 1: George Washington and Queen Elizabeth the Second our second cousins 467 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:44,440 Speaker 1: seven times removed. I'm correct on that, I promise you. 468 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:46,880 Speaker 1: I checked it up and drew up a very messy 469 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:49,680 Speaker 1: family tree in my notebook just to make sure I 470 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:53,960 Speaker 1: was right. It's interesting, I mean, sort of everyone is 471 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:57,640 Speaker 1: related somehow if you can go back far enough. But 472 00:33:57,720 --> 00:34:02,640 Speaker 1: with influential and dynastically people, those records are kept and 473 00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:04,600 Speaker 1: are pretty easy to find if you know where to 474 00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:08,200 Speaker 1: look for them. So there you have it for the 475 00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:12,480 Speaker 1: noble blood purists. George Washington was never going to be king, 476 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:16,960 Speaker 1: but he would be the very distant second cousin to 477 00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:25,399 Speaker 1: a Queen. Noble Blood is a production of I Heart 478 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:28,760 Speaker 1: Radio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Minkey. The show 479 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:31,560 Speaker 1: is written and hosted by Dani Schwartz and produced by 480 00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:36,480 Speaker 1: Aaron Mankey, Matt Frederick, Alex Williams, and Trevor Young. Noble 481 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:39,560 Speaker 1: Blood is on social media at Noble Blood Tales, and 482 00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:41,640 Speaker 1: you can learn more about the show over at Noble 483 00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:45,000 Speaker 1: blood Tales dot com. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 484 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:48,720 Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 485 00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:50,200 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.