Like
generations of American school children before me, one of the first things I
learned about George Washington was the story about the cherry tree. Invented by Washington biographer, Mason Locke Weems, the tale describes
little George’s inability to lie to his father after cutting down a small
cherry tree.* “I can’t tell a lie, Pa.”
the boy is said to have responded when confronted with this act, and so, the
suggestion goes, the child was father to the man, and our first president was
an honest man whose word could be trusted. Would that it were so with all our
politicians.
With
the recent observation of President’s Day I started thinking more about how
children now learn about our two most famous presidents. Happily, there are
plenty of books around on both Washington and Lincoln. While the POV in books
for the youngest children appears to remain largely one of unadulterated
admiration, some interesting presentations can be found. George vs. George, for example, by Rosalyn Schanzer, is subtitled The American Revolution as seen from Both
Sides. In it Schanzer not only describes the life and times of George
Washington, but the vanquished King George III.
George vs. George by Rosalyn Schanzer |
Schanzer shows that these adversaries were similar in many ways, including in their
physical appearance, love of horse back riding and hunting and (originally)
their political alliances. Washington had fought alongside the British during
the French and Indian Wars.
Rather
than depicting George III simply as a tyrant, Schanzer explains the King’s
belief in his divine right and duty to take care of his people including those
in the colonies. She includes a section entitled “What Ever Happened to King
George III?” which tells the reader of a meeting between John Adams and the
King in 1785 in which the King is quoted “I was the last to consent to the
separation; but…I would be the first to meet the friendship of the United
States as an independent power.” Despite being known by adults as the mad King
George in later years, the King did much to cultivate the sciences and the arts
in England and, according to Schanzer “freely opened his excellent library to
scholars, gave an enormous amount of his own money to charities and the needy,
and improved education for the poor.”
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George Washington by Brendan January. |
In
a more traditional biography, George
Washington-Encyclopedia of Presidents, Brendan January gives a
chronological account of Washington’s life, the important battles he engaged in
and includes a chapter entitled called “Home at Last” in which considerable
discussion is devoted to Washington’s role as a slave owner. At one time, the
man who led the country to a victory in a war for independence owned more than
300 slaves. Later in life he seems to have had doubts about
being a slave owner. However, he did not free his slaves, but instead made a provision in his
will that his slaves would be freed after
his death and that of his wife. As January points out, “Nine later presidents
would be slave-owners, and none of them freed all their slaves.”
* *
* *
With his colorful background and eccentric personality, his leadership in the war that “pitted brother against brother”, the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, and his tragic assassination, I think that Abraham Lincoln's life and times must be compelling even to those otherwise uninterested in American history. Our enduring fascination with Lincoln is reflected in an impressive statistic—this courageous, brilliant, fascinating, and imperfect man has been the subject of more than 15,000 book. Inspired by this fact, curators at the recently opened Center for Education and Leadership (part of the museum complex in Washington D.C. that also includes Ford's theater) commissioned a 34-foot high tower that appears to be made up of 7,000 books about Lincoln. The tower is actually made of aluminum.
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The tower of "books" about Lincoln at the Center for Education and Leadership. |
With this overwhelming number of volumes available, it may be hard for adults to know where to begin (though Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals seems like an excellent start.) However, for
very young readers, my choice would be Maira Kalman’s Looking at Lincoln. In
colorful and striking drawings and just enough text, Kalman tells some of the
important stories of Lincoln’s life and encourages the reader to make his or
her own connection to this remarkable man.
A first look at Lincoln, the man and the leader. |
Kalman reminds the reader of the roles of Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass, both of whom met with Lincoln to discuss an end to slavery. |
* *
* *
Monday
in Manhattan with George
On
Monday, February 21, President’s Day, I paid my respects to George Washington
with a visit to Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan, a restored building on the
site where the President said goodbye to his officers at the conclusion of the
Revolutionary War. Today the building houses a restaurant and
museum.
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After immersing yourself in history at the museum, it's slightly startling upon leaving to see how the building is dwarfed by the towers of the financial district |
One of the many depictions of Washington on view in the Fraunces Tavern dining room. |
If
you want to learn more about Washington’s time in New York City, downtown
Manhattan is a wonderful place to tour and sites well worth visiting including
Federal Hall (the site of the original building where Washington was
inaugurated), Bowling Green—which once contained a statue of King George III,
and Trinity and St. Paul’s churches. The National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy has created a number of publications covering the history of the area. To download their well-written self-guided tour of George Washington's New York, go here.
* Weems’ actual story of George and the cherry
tree is not for the faint-of heart. In it, the father tells the boy: "But,
Oh! how different, George, is the case with the boy who is so given to lying,
that nobody can believe a word he says! He is looked at with aversion wherever
he goes, and parents dread to see him come among their children. Oh, George! my
son! rather than see you come to this pass, dear as you are to my heart, gladly
would I assist to nail you up in your little coffin, and follow you to your
grave. Hard, indeed, would it be to me to give up my son, whose little feet are
always so ready to run about with me, and whose fondly looking eyes and sweet
prattle make so large a part of my happiness: but still I would give him up,
rather than see him a common liar.”
Did you know that Samuel Fraunces may have been black? Widipedia disagrees, but Lawrence Hill, who did extensive research for his great novel The Book of Negroes (US title: Someone Knows My Name) concluded that he was indeed a free black man.
ReplyDeleteThat book tower is astounding.
A portrait of a white man identified on a nameplate as Fraunces hangs in the Long Room (where Washington made his famous farewell), but a curator has acknowledged that this may not be Fraunces at all, and that there is debate about his race. I think there is a consensus that he was from the West Indies.
ReplyDeleteI hope to see the tower some time this spring. It's been a long time since I've visited DC.