Part 4 (1/2)

That winter Parliaainst its tax policy that it was proposed (though never executed) that the ringleaders be shi+pped to England and tried for treason under an old statute dating fron As word of this proposal spread, so did protest against the ton received a packet fro news of associations being set up in Philadelphia and Annapolis to boycott nonessential British i unfair taxes on the colonies The packet included plans for a coinia association, drawn up by a nahbor George Mason, who turned out to be the author A tall, bookish man trained in the law, Mason was ton He inhabited a Georgian mansion called Gunston Hall, just south of Belvoir, which was in turn just south of Mount Vernon

On April 5, 1769, Washi+ngton sent Mason a reave both his private and his public reasons for supporting a boycott of British goods Doubtless thinking of his own plight, he said a boycott would break the onerous cycle of debt that trappedBefore this the average colonial debtor was too weak to break this habit, ”for how can I, says he, who have lived in such and such a e my method?besides, such an alteration in the syste will create suspicions of a decay in ht the world ht into the psychology of debt: fear that any atteal existence would disclose the truth about a person's actual wealth Washi+ngton provided here a key insight into the psychology of debt: fear that any atteal existence would disclose the truth about a person's actual wealth

In the letter, Washi+ngton made clear that his opposition to arbitrary taxation had ainst further ht to taxation, so ”they may attempt at least to restrain our manufactories, especially those of a public nature”29 Striking a ested that he had moved beyond petitions and now preferred direct action, although not yet arms He suddenly found a clear, spirited voice of protest, one that spoke of abstract rights instead of just personal advancement or economic necessity ”At a time when our lordlyless than the deprivation of A shou[l]d be done to avert the stroke and maintain the liberty which we have derived fro the bestout the treasonous word Striking a ested that he had moved beyond petitions and now preferred direct action, although not yet arms He suddenly found a clear, spirited voice of protest, one that spoke of abstract rights instead of just personal advancement or economic necessity ”At a time when our lordlyless than the deprivation of A shou[l]d be done to avert the stroke and maintain the liberty which we have derived fro the bestout the treasonous word arms arms ”That no man shou[l]d scruple or hesitate ais clearlyleave to add, should be the last resource”30 Noting the futility of sending , he said the only recourse was to starve British trade andpetitions to the king, he said the only recourse was to starve British trade and ton's letter to Mason foretells the success of the A, endorsed incree, and favored violence only if all else failed Unlike the French Revolution, the American Revolution started with a series of , exhaustive search for a diplo toward open rebellion Later on, nothing incensed Washi+ngton more than the notion that the colonists had proved unreasonable during the run-up to war

In the folloeeks, Washi+ngton discussed with Mason his proposal for a noniinia Then on April 30 Washi+ngton headed to Williaesses Until this point he had been a islator, too taciturn and aloof to ee as a major political force One observer characterized him as ”too bashful and timid for an orator,” while another described him as ”a modest man, but sensible, and speaks little-in action cool, like a bishop at his prayers”31 Now fired up with a newfound sense of leadershi+p, Washi+ngton served on three standing coinia politics In opening the new session of the burgesses in early May, Lord Botetourt re to the capitol in a handsome coach behind a brilliant team of white horses Held a session pro nuinian from Albemarle County, twenty-six-year-old Thomas Jefferson Now fired up with a newfound sense of leadershi+p, Washi+ngton served on three standing coinia politics In opening the new session of the burgesses in early May, Lord Botetourt re to the capitol in a handsome coach behind a brilliant team of white horses Held a session pro nuinian from Albemarle County, twenty-six-year-old Thoton present, the burgesses approved the sweeping Virginia Resolves, which contended that only they had the right to tax Virginians They also insisted upon the right to petition the Crown for grievances and restrict trials for treason and other crih seditious proposals froeant at ar in the council chae ”Mr Speaker and Gentlean, ”I have heard of your resolves and augur ill of their effect You have made it ly”32 This bald declaration shocked the asse how little authority they wielded They weren't the ultily at the whim of the Crown Once Lord Botetourt issued his decree, Washi+ngton and esses adjourned to the Apollo Rooh Tavern to ponder ”their distressed situation”33 In this highly eton introduced the boycott scheme over which he and Mason had labored The dissident ton, that accepted the plan for a noniesses reconvened in the Apollo Roonatures to the plan to boycott any British goods subject to taxes in Athy list of untaxed goods to shun This Virginia association would reht up in the giddy spirit of the athering, Washi+ngton introduced the boycott scheme over which he and Mason had labored The dissident ton, that accepted the plan for a noniesses reconvened in the Apollo Roonatures to the plan to boycott any British goods subject to taxes in Athy list of untaxed goods to shun This Virginia association would reht up in the giddy spirit of the ton purchased Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies, an influential dissident pamphlet written by a wealthy Philadelphia lawyer, John dickinson an influential dissident pamphlet written by a wealthy Philadelphia lawyer, John dickinson

During this early period of discontent, Washi+ngton and his fellow burgesses danced a strangedefiance with reconciliation The day after signing the noniton ain at Mrs Dawson's and went to the Queens birth night at the palace”34 A proud, iovernor's palace boasted marble floors and stacks of listened with portraits of the king and queen That Washi+ngton and other burgesses would celebrate the queen's birthday still see, the governor's palace boasted marble floors and stacks of listened with portraits of the king and queen That Washi+ngton and other burgesses would celebrate the queen's birthday still seeinia Gazette coave a splendid ball and entertainment at the palace to a very nuentleave a splendid ball and entertainment at the palace to a very nu better illustrates the schizoid world of these unsettled legislators than the way they gravitated to the governor's genteel ball despite the political passions sesses, there existed as yet no sense of an irrevocable split fro better illustrates the schizoid world of these unsettled legislators than the way they gravitated to the governor's genteel ball despite the political passions sesses, there existed as yet no sense of an irrevocable split froton seemed to rejoice at the chance to inform Robert Cary and Coiously” to the new boycott agreeton apprised his agents that nothing should be sent to him that appeared on the list of products taxed by Parliament ”as I have heartily enter[e]d into an association” bound to boycott such goods36 He welco experiments in economic self-sufficiency at Mount Vernon In the estiton ”carried the scheht than alinia]” He welco experiments in economic self-sufficiency at Mount Vernon In the estiton ”carried the scheht than alton re the burgesses that autuhter, Patsy, traveled to Williaed panels, that Washi+ngton had so painstakingly ordered from Robert Cary The tone of this session was less confrontational than in the spring, and Lord Botetourtrepeal of the Townshend duties, except for the fateful one on tea His speech previewed a policy shi+ft by the new ady was to undercut the dissidents by revoking the duties while retaining the one on tea to reaffirative This inia association, even after British grenadiers in early March 1770 fired on a disorderly crowd in Boston, killing five of them in what became known as the ”Boston Massacre”

The ton's world were on display in Williaar's Opera The Beggar's Opera and a luxurious ball to honor the king's birthday Yet this sainians couldn't curb their appetite for ioods He was disappointed in June when a new noni iold, boots and saddles Eminently realistic, already equipped with fine political instincts, Washi+ngton recognized that this watered-down agreement was ”the best that the friends to the cause cou[l]d obtain here” At the same time he wished it were ”ten times as strict” and frowned on it as ”too much relaxed froht to be conducted” and a luxurious ball to honor the king's birthday Yet this sainians couldn't curb their appetite for ioods He was disappointed in June when a new noni iold, boots and saddles Eminently realistic, already equipped with fine political instincts, Washi+ngton recognized that this watered-down agreement was ”the best that the friends to the cause cou[l]d obtain here” At the same time he wished it were ”ten times as strict” and frowned on it as ”too much relaxed froht to be conducted”38 Nevertheless that July Washi+ngton had no qualold jewelry, and other luxury items only recently proscribed Nevertheless that July Washi+ngton had no qualold jewelry, and other luxury items only recently proscribed

GEORGE WAshi+NGTON BELIEVED FERVENTLY in the potential wealth of the western lands, a faith he touted in al inia estates were created ”by taking up and purchasing at very low rates the rich back lands, which were thought nothing of in those days, but are now the ton, land speculation was the ideal vehicle for a riches, a way to invest in his own future and that of the country,idealism with profit He continued to deplore the 1763 proclaheny Mountains as both myopic and unworkable When Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon completed their survey of the Pennsylvania-Maryland border, he foresaw that it would trigger a ton, land speculation was the ideal vehicle for a riches, a way to invest in his own future and that of the country,idealism with profit He continued to deplore the 1763 proclaheny Mountains as both myopic and unworkable When Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon completed their survey of the Pennsylvania-Maryland border, he foresaw that it would trigger a ton didn't shrink fros in real estate, as can be seen in his strenuous efforts to expand his western holdings in the late 1760s Hoping to purchase up to two thousand acres, he turned to an old ally fron, Captain Williaton wanted to scout out forbidden lands beyond the so-called Procla Crawford that anyone ”who neglects the present opportunity of hunting out good lands and in so thereed to search out large parcels in partnershi+p with Washi+ngton, who urged him to ”keep this whole matter a profound secret,” lest other speculators discover their designs before they laid ”a proper foundation for success”40 In late 1768 the British negotiated two treaties with the Indians that reopened the Ohio Country to settlers, ushering in frenzied co real estate speculators At this point Washi+ngton renewed his clamor for 200,000 acres of bounty lands pron in 1754, a pledge he considered a sacred public trust In the conciliatoryin late 1769, Washi+ngton prevailed upon Lord Botetourt to honor this coovernor and council identified the confluence of the Ohio and Great Kanawha rivers as the site of these bounty lands Washi+ngton proved a natural er of this enterprise and undertook the necessary surveying work, but his situation was fraught with conflicts of interest, and the entire episode would be shadowed by accusations of sharp dealing fros of veterans and induced them to select William Crawford as surveyor of the bounty lands Not only did Washi+ngton exploit his position to pin down prihts surreptitiously fros

Washi+ngton also claimed land under a 1763 royal proclamation that promised land to veterans of the French and Indian War He had his brother Charles buy up veterans' claiton was their undisclosed owner; on another occasion, he effected such a purchase under Lund Washi+ngton's naulation that liinia Regined before then, he had Charles buy up clai his brother to operate stealthily and ”not let it be known that I have any concern therein”41 When he purchased one property stretchingthe Great Kanawha, he flouted a law prohibiting riverfront properties fro as they were deep, a way to prevent e Most officers had a mile and a half of riverfront on their narrow properties, which then extended five ton developed a wider political vision, he res As the biographer James T Flexner concluded: ”In no other direction did Washi+ngton demonstrate such acquisitiveness as in his quest for the ownershi+p of land” When he purchased one property stretchingthe Great Kanawha, he flouted a law prohibiting riverfront properties fro as they were deep, a way to prevent e Most officers had a mile and a half of riverfront on their narrow properties, which then extended five ton developed a wider political vision, he res As the biographer James T Flexner concluded: ”In no other direction did Washi+ngton demonstrate such acquisitiveness as in his quest for the ownershi+p of land”42 He was far fro cheap land was a universal inia and the other colonies He was far fro cheap land was a universal inia and the other colonies

In early October 1770, accompanied by Dr Craik, three slaves, and a packhorse, Washi+ngton began a tour of the Ohio Country to inspect properties for hi Billy Lee along on these long, rugged journeys, but the young mulatto slave fell ill and stayed behind On this nine-week expedition, Washi+ngton felt an acute sense of urgency, since settlers were already flocking to the Ohio and Great Kanawha rivers, and he feared they ot wind of a huge scheurate a new colony, Vandalia, whose borders ht further curtail the bounty lands When the Britisha petition froton's Mississippi Land Conant disposition towards A litany of co of the journey, Washi+ngton was staying about four h when an Indian chief called the White Mingo and other chiefs of the Six Nations requested a ton a cere of wa back to the French and Indian conflict Washi+ngton noted the gist of this speech in his diary: ”that as I was a person who some of them remember to have seen when I was sent on an embassy to the French and most of them had heard of, they were come to bid me welcoinia wou[l]d consider theether in one chain”44 As he rode or paddled by canoe, Washi+ngton remained attentive to the coion In negotiating leases estern farhts and even visited a coalfreely and abundance of it,” he reotiated forest paths and mountain passes that he knew from the French and Indian War, he appraised these wild places with a cool business eye Even though he bought two hundred acres of the Great Meadows in December 1770, he included no mention of its history in his diary Of the site where hundreds had been brutally slaughtered under General Braddock, Washi+ngton riculture Not until 1772 did Washi+ngton and his veterans receive the land distributions they had long awaited Washi+ngton was allotted more than twenty thousand acres on the Ohio and Great Kanawha rivers, aug year,him a major western landlord on the eve of the Aotiated forest paths and mountain passes that he knew from the French and Indian War, he appraised these wild places with a cool business eye Even though he bought two hundred acres of the Great Meadows in December 1770, he included no mention of its history in his diary Of the site where hundreds had been brutally slaughtered under General Braddock, Washi+ngton riculture Not until 1772 did Washi+ngton and his veterans receive the land distributions they had long awaited Washi+ngton was allotted more than twenty thousand acres on the Ohio and Great Kanawha rivers, aug year,him a major western landlord on the eve of the Aes to his integrity, Washi+ngton remained touchy on the subject of the bounty lands and whether he had taken unfair advantage of his h he walked off with the finest properties, he also believed that he had devoted enor the area and that the whole operation hinged on his efforts Suspicions about his conduct he thought unfair and baseless When one officer, George Muse, accused hiton didn't mince words: ”As I am not accustomed to receive such froe fro you feel some marks ofh I understand you were drunk when you did it, yet give me leave to tell you that drunkenness is no excuse for rudeness” 46 46 If Muse read the newspapers, Washi+ngton pointed out, he would have seen that he had been allotted the ten thousand acres he clainantly that he was sorry he had ever ”engag[e]d in behalf of so ungrateful and dirty a fellow as you are” If Muse read the newspapers, Washi+ngton pointed out, he would have seen that he had been allotted the ten thousand acres he clainantly that he was sorry he had ever ”engag[e]d in behalf of so ungrateful and dirty a fellow as you are”47 While Washi+ngton was in the right here, the letter sho his bottled-up anger could spew forth unexpectedly and why people intuited correctly that he had a terrible teht here, the letter sho his bottled-up anger could spew forth unexpectedly and why people intuited correctly that he had a terrible teerness to unlock the riches of the heartland, Washi+ngton assigned a pre by his home If the Potoht, it would ehfare for co the value of his western holdings In 1770 the attorney Tho the Pototon's aid forthe river A short, stocky y and enthusias enthusiasm for the project Not to be outdone in Pototon espoused a far more a eton clearly foresaw the rich future of this wilderness expanse, if only it could be reached by water Simple in theory but fiendishly complex in practice, his plan for Potoes through the inia This Potomac scheme would hypnotize his e once entranced transatlantic ateway he had envisioned, it was not for want of trying Washi+ngton clearly foresaw the rich future of this wilderness expanse, if only it could be reached by water Simple in theory but fiendishly complex in practice, his plan for Potoes through the inia This Potomac scheme would hypnotize his e once entranced transatlantic ateway he had envisioned, it was not for want of trying

With considerable sophistication about business and politics that already belied his iton told Johnson that they shouldn't just rely on legislative grants and the uncertain force of ”motives of public spirit”49 Better to rely on self-interest and blatantly appeal to ”the entry” ould be drawn by prospective profits Better to rely on self-interest and blatantly appeal to ”the entry” ould be drawn by prospective profits50 To this end, Washi+ngton would devise a plan for a joint stock coinia and Maryland and inia to the Ohio Country It would pay back investors by charging tolls on river traffic Washi+ngton hih the House of Burgesses Despite his insistence that the project would produce ”ainia and Maryland, it foundered in the Maryland legislature because Baltiht divert trade froton would devise a plan for a joint stock coinia and Maryland and inia to the Ohio Country It would pay back investors by charging tolls on river traffic Washi+ngton hih the House of Burgesses Despite his insistence that the project would produce ”ainia and Maryland, it foundered in the Maryland legislature because Baltiht divert trade from the Chesapeake Bay51 When the project stalled ton with yet another early example of the need for intercolonial cooperation When the project stalled ton with yet another early example of the need for intercolonial cooperation

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The Asiatic Prince FOR SOMEONE of George Washi+ngton's enterprising nature, Martha Washi+ngton was the ideal spouse, with a work ethic to match his own General Nathanael Greene once coht up and educated with habits of industry and attention to doton certainly fit that description1 Never the idle, pa fro soap George Washi+ngton liked to say that ”Virginia ladies pride theoodness of their bacon,” and Martha derived special pleasure from the ham and bacon cured in their smokehouse2 Each day, after an hour dedicated to prayer andand presided over her sewing circle of slaves, who produced up to twelve hundred yards of homespun cloth yearly All the while, she retained a folksy, unpretentious style It was said that even when she wore the saed to remain spotless A woman with a delicate constitution, Martha was often sick for weeks at a time with liver and stomach troubles, known as ”bilious fever,” but she never let illness slow her down in perfor her domestic chores Each day, after an hour dedicated to prayer andand presided over her sewing circle of slaves, who produced up to twelve hundred yards of homespun cloth yearly All the while, she retained a folksy, unpretentious style It was said that even when she wore the saed to remain spotless A woman with a delicate constitution, Martha was often sick for weeks at a time with liver and stomach troubles, known as ”bilious fever,” but she never let illness slow her down in perforarious person, Martha Washi+ngton wanted a home croith people With her husband preoccupied by business and politics, she took charge of her two children and enjoyed the de that ”her happiness is in exact proportion to the number of objects upon which she can dispense her benefits”3 She had special cause to worry about her daughter, Patsy In Charles Willson Peale's watercolor of her at sixteen, Patsy is pretty and elegant, slight of build, her clear eyes sparkling with intelligence The picture sho lovingly the Washi+ngtons spoiled her: her black hair is dressed with pearls, her dress edged with lace, and she wears costly garnet jewelry Parental affection for Patsy was heightened by the fact that by age six she showed incipient signs of epilepsy A sad irony of Martha Washi+ngton's life is that this fretful mother, chronically worried about her children's health, had a daughter with exactly the sort of terrifying illness she dreaded In 1768 George and Martha were returning from Belvoir with twelve-year-old Patsy when she suffered her first full-scale seizure As these ghastly convulsions occurred with greater regularity, Dr William Rumney turned into a frequent visitor at Mount Vernon He tried to halt the convulsions by bleeding and purging the girl, which only weakened her further Although he prescribed a dozen different powders, including toxicappeared to alleviate the proble spectacle of this ree and Martha could only have experienced a paralyzing sense of helplessness She had special cause to worry about her daughter, Patsy In Charles Willson Peale's watercolor of her at sixteen, Patsy is pretty and elegant, slight of build, her clear eyes sparkling with intelligence The picture sho lovingly the Washi+ngtons spoiled her: her black hair is dressed with pearls, her dress edged with lace, and she wears costly garnet jewelry Parental affection for Patsy was heightened by the fact that by age six she showed incipient signs of epilepsy A sad irony of Martha Washi+ngton's life is that this fretful mother, chronically worried about her children's health, had a daughter with exactly the sort of terrifying illness she dreaded In 1768 George and Martha were returning from Belvoir with twelve-year-old Patsy when she suffered her first full-scale seizure As these ghastly convulsions occurred with greater regularity, Dr William Rumney turned into a frequent visitor at Mount Vernon He tried to halt the convulsions by bleeding and purging the girl, which only weakened her further Although he prescribed a dozen different powders, including toxicappeared to alleviate the proble spectacle of this ree and Martha could only have experienced a paralyzing sense of helplessness

Such is the nature of epilepsy that Martha would have been afraid to leave Patsy alone and would have made sure she atched at all ti or collapse into a seizure while descending a staircase The convulsions can erupt at any titon told of the fa taken with a fit on the road by the mill, we turned back”4 Since other children are often terrified when someone has a seizure, the disease would have isolated the adolescent girl Even today, when it is treated with antiseizure ends In the eighteenth century, people coht even be contagious Since other children are often terrified when someone has a seizure, the disease would have isolated the adolescent girl Even today, when it is treated with antiseizure ends In the eighteenth century, people coht even be contagious

Given the ruditons ended upwith the illness In an exasperating quest for a cure, they took Patsy to the leading physicians in Williaht visits to Dr John de Sequeyra, the scion of a prominent family of Sephardic Jews in London (This visit is the only titon had contact with a Jew before the Revolution) The Washi+ngtons also consulted the pompous and self-i frotons consulted at least eight physicians in their search to relieve Patsy's sye and Martha Washi+ngton wound up in the hands of charlatans In February 1769 a blackse an iron ”craers Popular superstition contended that such rings, if accompanied by suitable mutons took Patsy to thefor relief The resort had becoton and his brother Lawrence had first visited there and now offered everything fros, the wohts secreted in the heowns and indecently expose flesh Writing froton informed a friend that Patsy was ”troubled with a complaint” and ”found little benefit as yet fro the waters ”What a week or two more may do, we know not and therefore are inclined to put theton never spelled out the nature of Patsy's ”co epilepsy openly Washi+ngton never spelled out the nature of Patsy's ”co epilepsy openly

The adolescent girl's fits grewtwice a day They recurred so often that Washi+ngton, in alarin of his alhtful period from June 29 to September 22, 1770, Patsy fell to the floor in convulsions no fewer than twenty-six titon treated the girl to extra clothing and trinkets whenever possible In Willias and a tortoiseshell co year, as shown by invoices to Robert Cary, he was ordering liquid laudanum, a powerful opiate that nant letter of July 1771, Washi+ngton disclosed that Martha didn't believe that her daughter would ever be cured or even survive into adulthood Referring to her anxieties about her son, Jacky, Washi+ngton observed, ”The unhappy situation of her daughter has in soree fixed her eyes upon hiton harbored many reservations about Jacky, as outwardly sweet and affectionate toward his mother and never less than respectful toward his stepfather At botto wastrel who loved horse races, hunting, and outdoor pursuits far more than his studies When Charles Willson Peale sketched a watercolor of hireen coat with a red collar and a richly embroidered waistcoat He had a round face with a shtly crossed eyes, a detail that subtly captured his restless, perhaps iton harbored many reservations about Jacky, as outwardly sweet and affectionate toward his mother and never less than respectful toward his stepfather At botto wastrel who loved horse races, hunting, and outdoor pursuits far more than his studies When Charles Willson Peale sketched a watercolor of hireen coat with a red collar and a richly embroidered waistcoat He had a round face with a shtly crossed eyes, a detail that subtly captured his restless, perhaps iton wrote about Patsy with unfeigned affection, with Jacky he always see about Patsy's sweet simplicity he found irresistible, whereas Jacky's feckless nature was to hiton fell the thankless task of being the family disciplinarian, and he had to tread delicately in criticizing Jacky for fear of antagonizing his indulgent ical father, he found himself in a predica afoul of Martha Though he ton was far less powerful in the tiny e been denied an adequate education, Washi+ngton went to inordinate lengths to educate his stepchildren properly Starting in 1761, he hired a young, self-effacing Scottish iowan, to tutor the children at home, and they were soon introduced to the Greek Testaton never learned Toward the end of 1767 Magowan surrendered the post and returned to England, hoping to be ordained as an Anglicana new teacher for thirteen-year-old Jacky, Washi+ngton contacted the Reverend Jonathan Boucher, an Anglican clergyman who ran a s In his introductory letter, Washi+ngton described Jacky as ”a pro boy” as ”untainted in his morals and of innocent manners,” but then he tipped his hand and confessed his ”anxiety to make him fit forto be loyal to Jacky and frank at the sa act he would perforht out of a Jane Austen novel, Boucher, with a tug of the forelock, answered in an unctuous manner: ”Ever since I have heard of Mast[e]r Custis, I have wish[e]d to call hi to be loyal to Jacky and frank at the sa act he would perforht out of a Jane Austen novel, Boucher, with a tug of the forelock, answered in an unctuous manner: ”Ever since I have heard of Mast[e]r Custis, I have wish[e]d to call hiton rode off to Boucher's school with Jacky, Jacky's young slave Julius, and two horses In short order, Washi+ngton rode off to Boucher's school with Jacky, Jacky's young slave Julius, and two horses