my recollection was not that he was the "father of his country" because
he may not have been able to father children, but rather, the sign on
Inns dating back to that period "George Washington slept here" had a
larger meaning (wink wink).  But, we should remember that the founders
were neither puritans (except maybe John Adams in spirit) nor
Victorians.  What we know of Jefferson, Hamilton, Burr, and Franklin
illustrates that.

Paul Finkelman
President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
     and Public Policy
Albany Law School
80 New Scotland Avenue
Albany, New York   12208-3494

518-445-3386 
[log in to unmask]
>>> [log in to unmask] 05/21/07 9:55 PM >>>
When I was in school in the 60's the worm was starting to turn regarding
our 
attitudes toward historical figures. I recall the rather cutesy remark,
"We 
all know that George Washington  fathered more than just our country." 
Wink. Wink.
Well. He most probably did not father anyone or anything except this 
country....if you happen to accept him as the grand patriarch of the 
hagiography of yesteryear.
This is a minor example of how stuff gets started, is bandied about 
classrooms without a shred of evidence and works its way into history.

DF Mills
York County, VA




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jurretta Heckscher" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 5:00 PM
Subject: Re: Anne Pemberton's query


> Anne Pemberton's query is interesting as a manifestation of a certain
kind 
> of persistent historical folklore.  Among Americans, at least, who are
(or 
> used to be) taught to see major national figures as impossibly heroic,

> there is a compensatory counter-stream of popular stories attributing 
> various types of sexual misconduct to them.  (I imagine the same goes
for 
> other "rulers" in other societies.)
>
> For instance, one friend of mine, who attended high school several
decades 
> ago, swears her U.S. history teacher taught her some particularly
lurid 
> tale (whose details, alas, I've forgotten) involving GW and some
salacious 
> escapade.  She was amazed when I told her I thought the story was
wildly 
> improbable.  I found it interesting that her decades-long belief in
the 
> story hadn't seemed to cause her to question GW's place in history: 
> instead, against all the heroic mythology, the tale apparently
functioned 
> for her as a balancing assertion that GW could misbehave like any
other 
> man.