Transcripts For CSPAN3 Lectures In History George Washingtons Character 20240714

And the character that he developed over a lifetime, and if you think about what weve done for the duration of this course, weve brought him into the story intermittently throughout. Whether its talking about individual battles or whether its talking about how he organized men or how he kept men he recruited men to get them to maintain or stay in the service. And one of the things i try to get across whenever im talking about washington is that washington is a bit of an inenia to a modern audience. Why . Because we really dont know who he was, what he was, how he looked. I mean, when i show you these images here, these images are of three of our noteworthy president s. Every ten years or so about 700 political scientists and historians across the country, they rank our president s. Now, who knows how our current president is going to rank. But nonetheless, whenever those rankings come out, generally these three guys here rank at the top. Sometimes it will be lincoln. Sometimes it will be washington. Sometimes it will be fdr, but the interesting thing about this is that we do not know what george really looked like. We have images of lincoln. Photograph images. And you can follow those photographs over time and see how he changed, how he aged, and, of course, we have images of fdr. I mean, we even have some images of him in his wheelchair. And generally the prez did not take images of him in his wheelchair. But with George Washington, he was there before photography. So we dont have photographs of him. And what we have instead is artist representations. And those artist representations are not always very accurate. I mean, you look at some representation abstract art, and does it really look like a cube . I dont know. Maybe not. Well, George Washington weve spent the better part of 14 weeks already kind of addressing him, talking about him. We know that he is a famous man. We know he was commander of the Continental Army. We know that he had served in the Continental Congress for a short period of time before he accepted command. We know that he is subsequently going to become first president of the United States. Obviously he is a famous man in our history. But hes also a man who had faults. A man who had insecurities. A man who had vices. Hes a man who was a human being just like all of us. And because he was a human being, he was also a complex man. A manysighted man. And the problem with paintings is they dont show that kind of complex character. What i want to do is spend a little time talking about the myths of George Washington, and then we will then talk about how he made choices that ultimately brought him to the point where he became the most revered man in america. Well, you probably know that george is considered the father of our country. But do you know george when he married martha, he wasnt able to sire children . He wasnt able to give martha children, and could he really be the father of our country if he couldnt sire children himself . I mean, and think about when the country decided to make a monument to him. What do they choose to make . The monument is this giant phallicshaped symbol which is kind of ironic for the man who couldnt sire children himself. But even though he couldnt, here is the George Washington shown with marshas children, and when he married martha, he did accept her children, and he became a paternalistic loving father to her children. So in that respect, you know, it shows the character of a person who accepted her children. It showed paternalism, acceptance. Now, most of the stories that we have of washington came from the first real biography of washington. Written by mason lock weems. It was published just shortly after washingtons death. And the washington that weems talks about is a man that is like thor, a man who was larger than life. I mean, weems talks about George Washington throwing a Silver Dollar across the Potomac River. A couple problems with that story. The first is, anybody . There were no Silver Dollars. So how could he throw a Silver Dollar that didnt exist . The second, the Potomac River where mt. Vernon is is about a mile wide. I dont care if youre nolan ryan or roger clemmons, youre probably not going to throw a Silver Dollar across a milewide river. Well, one of washingtons grandsons did say that as a young man George Washington had thrown a piece of slate across his the river at his childhood home this was on the rapahanic, the rapahanic not quite as wide. If you slow slate right, it might bounce across the river. It might have been possible, but what weems is trying to do is give you an image of a man who is larger than life with a great athletic prowess. We know that george is a large man. He stood about 63. About my height. He had a long, straight nose. High cheekbones. At his heaviest he was significantly less than i am. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 220 or so. And at his lightest he was probably about 175, 180. You know, at that day and age, they didnt have the obesity problems that we experience today. But virtually every school kid learns that George Washington had what kind of teeth . Wooden. Wooden, false teeth. Yeah. And that is just absolutely wrong. Here you can see a pair of his dentures. Whats interesting about it you know this right here, thats a spring. Its a ledbase that is Spring Loaded so when you put this in, your jaw keeps it shut. When your mouth opens, it springs open. The teethes themselves are animal, human teeth, pieces of ivory, and i am convinced if you had to wear that thing in your mouth, it would probably be far more uncomfortable than wooden teeth. Well, its those teeth that always play a central role in washingtons life. Youll see right here, theres no tooth there. Because even at the time of his presidency, george had one of his own teeth. And the dentures slipped over the tooth so hes able to highlight his tooth as well. Well, that mouth and those teeth become a big part of the story about who George Washington is. Now, this portrait right here, this portrait, one of the most famous of washington. Its done by the artist Gilbert Stuart. Stuart, when he painted washington at this time, he was a young painter. This was one of his earliest commissions. And stuart was just absolutely terrified to meet the great general. So during the setting stuart tried to make washington more at ease. He said something to the effect to washington, general washington, you must let yourself forget that you are general washington, and i am stuart the painter. Well, washington gave a well intentioned reply. He said something to the effect that well, theres no need for me to forget that i am general washington and you are but stuart the painter. Kind of insulted stuart. He felt that washington was giving him a back handed slap. Well, because of that Gilbert Stuart got to portray washington. One of the images we have of him. This is one of the most famous. When you look at that, what is the central feature of that painting . What is it . The mouth. Look at it. Its kind of clenched. It looks like hes in some discomfort. Some kind of pain. From that image, the view that we have of washington is that he is glum, that he is awkward, he is unapproachable, he is grumpy, perhaps. And that is not so. He wasnt a squarejawed stiff shirt as this image of washington by stuart portrays him. I mean, the George Washington that we know that historians have documented was a George Washington who loved to have a good time. But you remember what ive told you about washington. He believed that theres the personal man and then theres the public man. And those people who had the personal relationship would not display that personal relationship in public. The private man had a public persona, and you stayed outside of arms reach. Well, this was a George Washington who enjoyed playing cards. He enjoyed dock fights, horse races. This is the George Washington who loved to dance. It was reported that george was the best dancer in all of virginia. This is the George Washington who loved to hunt and fish. He loved going to the theater. In fact, his favorite play was tragedy of kato. Its the story of a young, selfless patriot. He also liked hamlet. He also liked jewel yas kree zar. Those were a couple favorites. This was the George Washington who had an eye for the attractive women. In the 18th century she was considered an attractive woman. Not only was an attractive woman. She was the widow of a gentleman, and she was very wealthy. So george is going to end up marrying up. He is not unawe approachable, but he is the man that is going to keep himself in proper decorum. Ive referenced about how he couldnt control his anger. He always had trouble controlling his anger. This episode happens during the Constitutional Convention. Well reference it on thursday, how the governor morris, a new yorker, a man of questionable virtue, was good friends and drinking buddies with alexander hamilton, and the governor morris was boasting he could treat him like any other of his best friends, and morris and hamilton made a wager. Hamilton said if morris could treat him treat washington like any other friend in public, then hamilton would buy dinner and wine for morris and 12 of his friends. Well, on the tight in question a public event, George Washington as we know will become the president of the Constitutional Convention, and he was hosting an event that evening, and governor morris comes in. It was a public event, a big crowd. Governor morris comes in and immediately reaches out his hand to shake georges hand. A gentleman would do that. But as they took hands, morris took that secondhand and brought it up and began patting george on the shoulder and saying general washington, my dear friend, its so good to see you looking so well. What had happened, that familiarity, washington pulled his hand back. He took three steps back, and e stare, and the people who were there froze they simply stood and watched and morris went off into the crowd. Morris later told hamilton that i had won the bet. I will collect my wine and dinner, but that is nothing i will ever do again because morris and washington would never be close enough that morris could come up and pat him on the shoulder and treat him with the familiarity that you would treat a close, personal acquaintance. Well, thats because washington maintained that dignity, that personal space. Did that mean washington had an uncontrollable anger he could not control . No. It just meant that he believed in proper decorum. Now probably the greatest or most famous image of george which was not done during his lifetime, this image here, does it look familiar . Where is the original . Down the street at the aimon Carter Museum. Absolutely. Go down and take a look at it, but this came from the story of mas mas mason weems. Young george, for his sixth birthday his father gave hum a new hat and the young boy was so excited about getting this gift that he went around and barking at literally every tree he could find and he barked one of his fathers favorite english cherry trees and when his father approached him according to weems young george simply threw his hands up and said i did it, father. You know i cannot tell a lie. Well, thats the image that school kids for the last 200plus years have been told. This 1939 painting by grant wood which, as i say down at the aimon Carter Museum just about a mile from here showed mason weems pulling back the curtain and it shows the young george being truthful to his father, but the thing that i find particularly interesting about this image is, look, the same head that you have on the dollar bill. Thats the young head and this is the old head, but they essentially looked the same. Now, the interesting thing about this story, it never happened. Theres no evidence that this ever happened. Weems had simply made the story up to portray washington as a man of great hon of they, that even when the trouble might bring problems for young george he had to be honest to his father. Well, weems also tells us another story about the young George Washington, the surveyor, who was out on the frontier and bad weather is setting in and he finds a local tavern where he can spend the night and orders a dram of whiskey and the barkeep gives him a dram of whisky and george offers a skin. He offers a coon skin in payment, well, the barkeep takes the coonskin and in return gives washington 158 rabbit skins. Thats a lot of rabbit skins to carry around. According to weems, george began buying drinks for everyone in the establishment and during the evening he turned 158 rabbit skins back over to the barkeep. Now what weems is trying to tell us in that story is that this is the George Washington who was generous. This is the George Washington who was kind. This is the George Washington that we want to remember. So you think of these images that weems wanted to tell us and hes honest and hes generous and kind. He has a temper, but he can control it. Well, this is the man that has come down to us as the, you know, more or less the savior of americas mankind. This is the story of the man who remember how we talked about confidential inspiration . This is george as providential inspiration. And even some years later, chief Justice Joseph story made the comment from his commentaries on the constitution that george was the first in all america, the first in war, the first in peace and the first in the heart of his country. So what makes him first in the heart of his countrymen . Well, george as a young man before the scope of this course, george was born on february 11, 1731. Is that the day we celebrated his birthday . No. That was the julian calendar in the early 1750s they changed through the gregorian calendar so it moved his birthday even day ahead, february 22nd and 1731, and as a young man he was obsessed with becoming a gentleman. And what did the gentlemen entail and that meant owning wealth and owning property and potentially owning slaves and having a spouse and being successful. Well, the young george when he was 11 his father died, and young george ended up having to live with his older half brother lawrence. Now lawrence was a gentleman. He had a grand home that he had named after admiral Edward Vernon who had served under queen anne or king george, pardon me. And from that, young george saw what it meant to be a gentleman. He saw that status equated to wealth so he wanted to become wealthy and you remember time and again i said that george is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he does learn from others, and while he was staying with his half brother he learned that he, too, could become successful if he made the right choices. So as a young man he became a surveyor, and at the time, being a surveyor was on par with a doctor, a law wrer because surveyors were always going out on the frontier to survey land and if youre good at it, you have a trained eye and you see the land that is advantageous and the land that is not, and oftentimes you could take your payment and land. Land is something that could bring wealth for the future. So the young man began acquiring land. Now the problem is that 1752 lawrence died and the question was who would inherit mount vernon. Hopefully one of lawrences daughters inherited it. She died shortly thereafter and it passed down to young george. By 1753 here was a guy who had this grand plantation home and this is a view that most of us of have mount vernon. That view is the view from the veranda, the porch looking out on to the Potomac River and thats the front of the house or is that the front of the house. Thats the other side. Its interesting. When lawrence was alive he considered the front of the house this because it was there on the Potomac River, the potomac was the highway to the sea. The sea took you to england and he saw himself as an englishman, and george will consider this to be the front of the house because this faces to the frontier. That faced to the land that he would eventually own. Well, i think thats a huge difference for lawrence and for george and it helps to find really who george is. George saw himself not so much as an englishman, but more as an american. George also had the good fortune in 1758 to marry martha da dandridge custer who reportedly was the wealthiest woman in georgia and by marrying her he mauried the widow of a gentleman. By marrying her, george became a gentleman, and with her wealth and with his drive and determination to secure wealth the washingtons would become one of the wealthiest couples in america. He was a plantation owner, farmer, initially growing tobacco, but coming to the realization that tobacco was a crop that was declining in bayou, but by the time of the revolution what was he trying to cultivate . Wheat. Remember you guys read the Tobacco Culture and how the Tobacco Culture was playing out. Well, this is the George Washington who by the time of his death would own 11,000 acres. He had this ambition for wealth that made him inquisitive and made him sometimes contentious and even after hed established himself he would insist upon exact payment of every debt owed to him in his youth, young george wanted to be a British Military officer and the beginning of this course remember we made reference to how young george was the guy who started the seven years war. Glen when half king had killed the young french diplomat and then george rescues the remaining prisoners, but then he himself would be captured at Fort Necessity in july and with that he was forced to sign a document written in what language . French which george doesnt read and steubenville. And well, because of that, george felt that he had to redeem himself and during the seven years war he positioned himself, he negotiated and tried to secure a british Officers Commission and in fact general Edward Braddock promised him an Officers Commission and he was on that expedition with braddock and then, of course, what happened . The disaster failed miserably. The french and indians attacked, decimated the British Force and braddock would be killed, and washington would lead the survivors back to safety and the braddocks successor, jeffrey amhearst would not honor that commitment to give washington an Officers Commission and because of that, young george felt he felt that he and other colonials would always remain in a subservient position. Subservient position as long as they were british subjects. Well, he would finally get the commission he sought, but it wouldnt be until 1775 and it would not be a british army commission. Instead, it would be commander of continental forces in this revolutionary protest, and as he takes command of the Continental Army young george told he would not pay for his service, however he did expect that his expenses would be reimbursed and in fact, through the course of the war year after year, george will be reappointed year after year as commander even though people like Horatio Gates and people like charles lead were angling to have washington replaced. Washington stays in command. He doesnt take the pace, but he does accept expenses for his travels and in fact, every winter martha would come stay with them, and in fact, washington would ask for her expenses because shes there and she keeps him entertained and keeps him happy and also works to make the plight of the troops better. Well, over the last eight weeks or so we talked about how washington was as a military commander, and we pointed out that if you were a football coach in texas he would be fired. A record of 391, and we kind of detailed what the engagements he wants, you know, but how do you keep men willing to fight for you . How do you keep them willing to sacrifice for the larger cause . And thats what george was good at. George was good at motivating men, convincing them that what they were fighting for was larger than themselves. Those three victories he won, of course, do you remember the new York Campaign where hed beaten, battered and bruised in brooklyn and driven to rhode island and white plains and then rushing south just just with wallaces cavalry nipping at his heels and he crossed the Delaware River in 1776. What washington learned from that during the new York Campaign, washington had divided his army and the british had used concentrated force to crush those smaller pieces. Washington, the one thing you could say about washington. Hes not a military genius, but he learns from his mistakes and he surrounds himself with capable people and he listens to their suggestions, and what he learns from that new York Campaign when you divide your army, you make yourself susceptible to the enemy. Well, as his army crossed over the delaware he would begin striking at the divided british army. Remember, as i showed you that image that george was probably hunched down in the barge hanging on for dear life. Can you imagine one of those ice floats hit the boats and knocked him out. That probably wouldnt be a refreshing experience, but nonetheless, his army did cross over and they attacked british at trenton. They scored an easy victory, six americans. A week later he engaged British Forces at trenton pardon me, at princeton. Im sorry. He engaged the British Forces at printt princeton, and geez, im having a hard time saying that, and he wins there. So by the end of 1777 hes won two of his three victories. Do you remember what that tie was . That was monmouth courthouse in the summer of 1778 as the british evacuated philadelphia and marched back to new york. Remember washington wanted to attack the rear guard of the british, and when charles lee refused to engage the rear guard, washington took command himself and in the summer heat and that was his tie. The americans held the battlefield, but the british had a tactical victory because they were able to evacuate their arm narmy in new york and then that third victory like winning the play on the last play of the game, throwing that long td pass. If he was coach at tcu and he beat texas on the last play he missed 391 and hed probably be retained, but nonetheless, winning at yorktown four years after the great victory at saratoga, that was the event that brought him into the struggle. There was still negotiations taking place and the british still occupied, but george had kept the men in the field and he kept them committed to the cause, and he had shown that while he wasnt a military genius, he was a competent tactician. He was persistent. Hes a natural leader of men and he was able to convince those soldiers time and time and time again to renew their enlistment and remember joseph plum martin. Time and again, what did he do . He reenlisted because the cause was bigger than him and here is a guy who has built his entire life on acquiring things and becoming richer and holding more land and becoming a gentleman, and you know, grabbing hold of things and hed been pretty good at it. Where george makes a name for himself, where he cements his place in history is not where he grabs thing, but where he instead lets things go. In fact, remember last thursday we were talking about trials and tribulations and the economy was sour and there was a political incompetency. There was no sense of political control, and yet soldiers were still in the field because the british hadnt quite evacuated new york yet and there north of the city near west point was the American Army at newberg and there, soldiers were grumbling especially the officers. They were led to believe that they were not going to be paid for their time and they were not going to be paid for their service. They were going to simply be dismissed and wiped away. Well, washington understood that. He understood their frustration and anger, and on march 15th 1783. Washington would be in the con tonement there and meet with officers. There was a circular letter that had been floated among the officer core and what they suggested was that the officers rise up and march on the civilian government and seized control and in fact, the year before, the continental colonel named louis nicola had written george a letter in which he suggested that george used the army and seized power and made himself a king and more or less a dictator and washington had read that letter and was mad as hell. He wrote a scathing reply to nicola, and when nicola got washingtons reply he sent three letters back to washington over time persistently apologizing for such a suggestion. He was loyal to his commander and he was loyal to his government and on march 15th, on that day george spent the entire day crafting a speech and agonizing over every word that he was going say to those officers and that evening he went to the contonement and to the officers meeting and as he came in, these were battle trained soldiers and these were men who had served with george throughout much of the conflict and as he went in their cold, icy stares almost froze george himself. He was friends with his men and you would never know by the look on their faces and as george began to speak he tried to explain to these officers that the larger cause they were fighting for and how they should remain loyal to that cause, and he looked out and there was still this icy stare. He remembered he had a letter in his jacket on the Continental Congress, another letter where the congress would promise him the officers would be paid and they would be given their land as promised so he pulled that letter out. He opened it up because he was going to read it to them, and then all of a sudden he paused. He quietly made the comment. Ive already grown gray in the service of my country, and now it seems im going blind, and all of a sudden those icy stares melted. What george had just done he admitted his frailty. He admitted his weakness. He admitted his vulnerability, that he had sacrificed so much for this cause that even his health was declining and as he looked out over the crowd, many of those battlehardened soldiers had tears in their eyes. George simply folded up the letter and put it back in his coat and never read it and walked out of the meeting. The officers then voted unanimously to remain loyal to george and remain loyal to their government. In fact, one of georges staff officer, one of his Staff Officers made the comment some years later that the United States are indebted for the republican form of government solely to the firm and determined republicanism of general washington at that time. That was a political performance and george had played it to a tee. He had the chance to become king. King george i of america and he did not accept it. In fact, nine months later George Washington traveled to annapolis, maryland, and there he would once and for all surrender his sword to the civilian government. To say that perhaps this was his greatest achievement and that as he arrived there that morning he had said farewell to his troops, his Staff Officers and he rode into annapolis that day alone. He entered into the Maryland State House and you can go to this room today. When i taught the Naval Academy i taught my students there to show them this momentous setting and there, the Continental Congress or the articles of congress, i should say, had convened. The galleries were full, but what you see there in the background and see the whitehaired lady there, who thats supposed to be and in the artist depiction its supposed to be martha. Martha wasnt there. She was back at mount vernon waiting for her husband to get back for christmas time. There were not throngs of women there in the galleries. The building was near full, but certainly martha was not there, and when washington arrived, president mifflin, thomas mifflin, the president of the article of congress that year, he welcomed the general, and he read a statement, a statement that had been drafted by thomas jefferson, but before that statement, before mifflin read that Statement Washington himself rose having now finished the work assigned to me i retire from the great theater of action and bidding an affectionate farewell under whose orders i here offer my commission and take my lead from all of the employment of public life. Mifflin then rose and read his statement in which he said cryo conducted the great military fortitude for the power through all disasters and changes, but what washington had done had not been done in a thousand years. Washington had all the power. He had control of the military and he had simply turned it loose. In fact, he surrendered his sword and left the Maryland State House, mounted his horse, rode off to mount vernon and he was there by christmas time. The idea that the young man who had wanted everything and yet who had given up the ultimate price, so to speak, that attests to the growth and development of that young mans character. A man who made the right decisions for the right reasons, and of course, after this episode, we know what will happen, as we will see on tuesday that a Constitutional Convention and then we will see after the extent of this course that george will become the first president of the United States and he will only serve two terms even though people wanted him to serve more terms, he established an unofficial twoterm tradition that approximately tigzs woupolitici follow until Franklin Delano roosevelt, and of course, that was the crisis of world war ii, as well. One of the more interesting scenarios that happened after washington had retired as president , a young painter, a painter named Benjamin West was actually in britain and he was commissioned to pantint a portrt of an aging king george iii and george making small talk with Benjamin West, he said now this general you had, George Washington, what is he doing now . And Benjamin West said well, he has retired to private life and he has returned to his farm in virginia, and he is a private citizen, and george iii kind of looked surprised and said something to the effect, if washington could do this, he is the greatest man in the world. He had done that. He simply walked away when he had everything in his hands, and i think when you combine all these stories about washington and you see the choices that he makes, you start to see the development of his character. The choices that he made for the betterment of his nation rather than for the betterment of him. That is the type of character that a photograph or even that a portrait cannot portray. So well open up the floor for questions now. Any questions, guys . Make up questions and ill make up no . No . No . Okay. Up here. How did they select george to be the commander of the Continental Army . George had attended the Continental Congress wearing a military uniform and he had served in the seven yearswar and he saw himself as a military man and read about military treatises and as he traveled to the Continental Congress, most of those in the congress understood at that time 1774 and 75 that these colonies were on the path to war so washington was going to be prepared, and as he wore his uniform he was making a statement that he was prepared to be the commander of this military board, and its interesting that john adams would make the nomination and as he was making the nomination his cousin samuel adams was sitting over there and looked like hed eaten a cat with a smile on his face because he thought his cousin would nominate him to be the commander of the military, but he nominated george because that brought virginia into the struggle, most populous, the biggest and most important colony and by doing so it broadened the conflict from new england to the midatlantic and the south. Other questions . Yes . When did the official recruitment for soldiers begin and did george initiate that . The Continental Congress issued a plea for soldiers and yeah throughout the war the Continental Congress was year after year making pleas for soldiers and offering different, more or less different contracts. As we read about joseph, he time and again would reenlist and would get reward for doing so, but some soldiers would reenlist and then skip, jump their contract and kind of blend into the general public again and then find in another neighborhood another place and a place to reenlist to get the benefit. Some people are less scrupulous than others. I know after the failure of the articles of confederation that he decided to come back into power. What was the main decision that led him to come back . In 1785 george agreed to host a meeting at mount vernon so they could talk about navigations of the chesapeake and the Delaware River and you had delegates from virginia, maryland and new jersey there and what they realized is they were talking about these navigation and trade issues. They realized that this was a much bigger question than just the three colonies. So thats why you will get a convention the following year in annapolis where they tried to bring all of the colonies together and only about nine or so will show up in annapolis and what they agree there is theyll have another meeting in the spring of 1787 and you only get 12 of the colonies up there, 12 of 13 and those Rhode Islanders who chose not to play well with others. Other questions . Okay, guys. On thursday well come in and well talk about the Constitutional Convention and then well wrap it up next tuesday. Have a great, great day, guys. All week, were featuring American History tv programs as a preview of whats available every weekend on cspan3. Lectures in history. American artifact, real america, the civil war, oral history, the presidency and special, ve even conk of our nations history. Enjoy American History now and every weekend on cspan3. American history tv products are now available at the new cspan online store. Go to cspan store. Org to see whats new for American History tv and check out all of the cspan products. Watch cspans campaign 2020 coverage of the candidates at the New Hampshire Democratic Party convention. Our live coverage is saturday at 9 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan. Online at cspan. Org or listen to the free cspan radio app. American history tvs lectures in history series continues now with the class looking at the American Revolution and the Continental Army. When you hear about how the American Army differed from the British Military in demographics and organization and the office of selection process. This is about an hour. All right. Welcome, everyone, to another exciting adventure in the history of war. Today weve gotten to the Continental Army, so welcome to all of you and welcome to many of our new students watching from who knows where . Happy 40th birthday,