Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren vog Obam here with a classic
Speaker 1: episode from our archives. When the founders of the United
Speaker 1: States created our government, one thing they did was put
Speaker 1: in place measures to prevent a monarchy from developing. But
Speaker 1: some contemporary people did suggest that George Washington, our first president,
Speaker 1: take on the role of king instead. Here's how it
Speaker 1: all went down, Hey brain Stuff, Lauren vog obam Here.
Speaker 1: There's a popular yarn among American history enthusiasts that George Washington,
Speaker 1: in the waning months of the Revolutionary War, was offered
Speaker 1: the crown of the fledgling nation by a group of
Speaker 1: American military officers fed up with an ineffective Congress. Historians
Speaker 1: even have washington strongly worded rejection letter to prove it,
Speaker 1: but a closer reading of original historical documents tells a
Speaker 1: different story. In this version, the widespread frustration of army
Speaker 1: officers gets mixed up with the pro monarchy day dreams
Speaker 1: of one foolhardy Colonel Washington still comes out of hero,
Speaker 1: but he was never really close to being a king.
Speaker 1: Let's set the scene. The British suffered a decisive defeat
Speaker 1: at Yorktown to American and French forces in seventeen eighty one,
Speaker 1: resulting in the capture of seven thousand British troops and
Speaker 1: their leader, General Charles Cornwallis. The end of the war
Speaker 1: was finally near, but the beleaguer in American Army, under
Speaker 1: the command of Washington was still considered on duty until
Speaker 1: the Treaty of Paris was signed in seventeen eighty three.
Speaker 1: Back in those preconstitution days, the Articles of Confederation handed
Speaker 1: most power to the States, not the federal government. Congress
Speaker 1: had no power to tax, for example, which was a
Speaker 1: problem when it came to paying and equipping the army.
Speaker 1: Congress had to constantly request military funding from the States,
Speaker 1: which were often slow to pay up, if at all.
Speaker 1: With peace, nearly one the army feared that Congress was
Speaker 1: going to stiff them on back pay. The officer corps
Speaker 1: were especially worried about their pensions, which they were romist
Speaker 1: would secure them financially for the rest of their lives.
Speaker 1: Could they trust Congress to keep its word an exact
Speaker 1: payment from the states. Among those army officers sweating over
Speaker 1: their pension in seventeen eighty two was Colonel Louis Nicola,
Speaker 1: a sixty five year old Irish born military veteran who
Speaker 1: lent significant expertise to Washington's forces during the war. Nicola
Speaker 1: and Washington corresponded frequently, usually about Nicola's duties as a
Speaker 1: commander of the Invalid Corps, a garrison of injured soldiers
Speaker 1: who were still fit enough to serve. But Nicola's letter
Speaker 1: to Washington on May seventeen, eight two was something completely different.
Speaker 1: In this now infamous missive, Nicola opened with a reminder
Speaker 1: of what would be at stake if the military wasn't
Speaker 1: properly compensated, namely the threat of open mutiny. Nicola wrote,
Speaker 1: God forbid we should ever think of involving that country
Speaker 1: we have, under your conduct and auspices, rescued from oppression
Speaker 1: into a new scene of blood and confusion. But it
Speaker 1: cannot be expected. We should forego claims on which our
Speaker 1: future subsistence and that of families depend. Then Nicola moved
Speaker 1: on to what he called his scheme. He admitted to
Speaker 1: Washington that he wasn't a quote, a violent admirer of
Speaker 1: a republican form of government, preferring instead a mixed form
Speaker 1: of government with elected representatives ruled by a benevolent monarch,
Speaker 1: and who better for such a leading role than Washington himself.
Speaker 1: Nicola wrote, some people have so connected the ideas of
Speaker 1: tyranny and monarchy as to find it very difficult to
Speaker 1: separate them. It may therefore be requisite to give the
Speaker 1: head of such a constitution, as I propose, some title
Speaker 1: apparently more moderate. But if all things were once suggested,
Speaker 1: I believe strong arguments might be produced for admitting the
Speaker 1: title of king, which I conceive would be attended with
Speaker 1: some material advantages. Washington's response, dated the very same day,
Speaker 1: was withering. He wrote, be assured, sir, no occurrence in
Speaker 1: the course of the war has given me more painful
Speaker 1: sensations than your information of there being such ideas existing
Speaker 1: in the army as you have expressed, and I must
Speaker 1: view with a horrens and reprehend with severity. I am
Speaker 1: much at a loss to conceive what part of my
Speaker 1: conduct could have given encouragement to an address which seems
Speaker 1: to me big with the greatest mischiefs that can befall
Speaker 1: my country. If I am not deceived in the knowledge
Speaker 1: of myself, you could not have found a person to
Speaker 1: whom your schemes are more disagreeable. Washington's rejection of an
Speaker 1: American monarchy was absolute, but was a single letter from
Speaker 1: a presumptuous colonel, the equivalent of being offered the crown,
Speaker 1: as many believe. We spoke with Denver Brunsman, a history
Speaker 1: professor at George Washington University and scholar of the Revolutionary
Speaker 1: War and of Washington. He thinks it would be an
Speaker 1: exaggeration to say that Washington was ever seriously offered the
Speaker 1: title of king. He said, Niccolo was not someone who
Speaker 1: was in the position to do that, and I don't
Speaker 1: think he was part of any real large movement. That
Speaker 1: doesn't mean there weren't people who had those sentiments, and
Speaker 1: I think Niccolo was representative of that. There were other
Speaker 1: individuals in the officer Corps who were extremely frustrated with
Speaker 1: Congress and any hope for a possible solution. Brunsman continued,
Speaker 1: what's most important is Washington's reaction to even the notion
Speaker 1: of being king. She shuts down any possibility. I think
Speaker 1: that's impressive and shows why Washington was able to garner
Speaker 1: the trust of the American people. Today's episode was written
Speaker 1: by Dave Ruse and produced by Tristan McNeil and Tyler Clang.
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