The two “G.W.”s

We had another full couple of days here at Mount Vernon. Sometimes I feel like my head is going to explode with the amount of knowledge that his been poured into me by Gilder-Lehrman and the nice folks here at the President’s home.

Gordon Wood is an extraordinary man. He’s an extraordinary man in the sense that he is, well, ordinary. Let me explain. Gordon Wood is one of, if not THE, most influential and learned

scholar of the American Revolution. He is mentioned by Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting. He appears in front of Congress regularly to talk about preservation of American history. He is the Professor of History Emeritus at Brown University. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Bancroft Award, and National Humanities Medal. And do you know what we talked about at lunch today? Parents of students who demand too much, baseball, and beer. He is a “regular” dude. Well, a regular dude with an encyclopedia of knowledge.

The last couple of days in lecture, Gordon spoke more about the significance of the American Revolution and George Washington. Both of which were also extraordinary. Again, the significance of Washington turning down power after the war was over was amazing. He just wanted to back here, at Mount Vernon, and be a farmer. But more importantly, he wanted this republic to thrive. He wanted the people to rule. Gordon explained the difference between a republic and monarchy very succinctly today. In a monarchy, the people are subjects. They are “subjected” to laws and rulers. In a republic, people are citizens. They participate in government. It sound so simple, but it is, in actuality profound. Republicanism changed ALL of society. People were not longer subjects. This takes place in all facets of life, including family. John Locke, a huge proponent of republicanism, speaks about parenting during this time explaining that parents should try to use affection with their children to earn their respect. I parent the way I do because the Revolution was successful. Mind blowing. One of the most amazing points I understood this week (and I have about 15 pages of notes so far), is that when studying history, one must consider the people who we read about don’t know their future. In other words, the Founders didn’t know that they would succeed. Washington didn

’t know that crossing the Delaware at Trenton would start to turn the tide of the war. Jefferson didn’t know that writing “all men are created equal” would spurn equality movements over time. Lincoln didn’t know that the Civil War would be successful. But, they did these things anyway because it was the right thing to do.

Over the last couple of days, I’ve had the unique opportunity to explore Mount Vernon with tour guides and without. I’ve “met” Dr. James Craik (George Washington’s personal physician) and Nelly Custis (George Washington’s granddaughter). I’ve also had the opportunity to see a small part of George Washington’s farm and slave quarters. I’ve learned so much about the man. Quick review…

Dr. Craik was Washington’s personal physician since the French and Indian War. He believed that Washington’s biggest victory in the Revolutionary War was the fact that he insisted his men be inoculated. When he was younger, Washington caught small pox in Barbados (his only foreign visit) and survived. He r

ealized that if people got small pox and survived, they weren’t susceptible to the deadly disease again. The colonist army was inoculated. The British army was not. Thus, more British soldiers died because of small pox.

Nelly Custis told stories of her “grandpa-pa” with us over dinner. She spoke about how her grandfather treated her and her brother. He always followed his Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation that he wrote as a young lad. She also spoke about the visitors that came to Mount Vernon and how Washington was a great host and never turned down a visitor.

Down on the farm, I learned what an innovative farmer George was. He was one of the very few farmers that did not grow tobacco in Virginia. Sacrilege, right? He decided to try his hand at wheat using a 7 year crop rotation cycle, which was not standard. The problem with wheat is the fact that it is a very laborious crop to cultivate. So, Washington built Virginia’s first treading barn. Pictures to the left. The idea is horses would walk in circles in the upper part of the barn on 18 inches of wheat stalks which are placed on top of a wooden floor with slats 1 ½ inches apart. The horses would then be able to

separate the grain from the stalk while the grain fell to the floor below to be collected. Now, what did he do with the grain? Make flour? Sometimes. Washington became the largest maker and distributor of whiskey in the United States! Genius! Everybody in Virginia was making tobacco. What goes good with a nice cigar? A fine whiskey.

I could go on and on about what a great man Washington was. And, honestly, his home is gorgeous. I would recommend a trip here to anyone who visits the east coast. I’ve included lots of pictures on this blog for your pleasure. Enjoy…that’s what George and Martha would’ve wanted anyway.