The Legend Of George Washington As An American Hero

George Washington started out as an ordinary boy who soon would become an

American hero and a man that would never be forgotten in American history. Washington grew up on a family farm in colonial Virginia, and later became a land surveyor. Eventually this ordinary boy, fought in the French and Indian War, was commander in chief during the

Revolutionary War, and became America’s first president where he served for two terms. He left a legacy of strength and leadership that has been passed down for generations (Chernow,

20). He has had an impact on Americans for centuries. However, most of that we know about

Washington is a blend of fact and myth (Marrin, 16). Children, teens, and adults grow up learning about Washington’s magnificent strength

and

In the original story, a young George Washington received a hatchet as a gift. With this hatchet, he damaged his father’s prized cherry tree. This angered his father and he then confronted George. The story tells us that George honestly confesses to his father and says, “I cannot tell a lie, I did damage it with my Hatchet” (Marrin, 15). Washington’s father looked past the fact that his son had cut down his tree and rejoiced because he was proud of the honesty and character that George had shown at such a young age.

This myth was also conjured by the author, and one of Washington’s first biographers,

Mason Locke Weems. Weems was the same author who wrote the silver dollar myth. He wrote the story of the cherry tree after Washington’s death in 1799 because people were desperate to know about the legendary George Washington. It is ironic that the legendary story about honesty was written with no factual evidence to support it. It was written to supply the demands of the people who wanted to know about Washington’s life (mountvernon.org). This story was published in the fifth addition of Weems biography “The Life of Washington” in 1806.

Weems had many motives for writing this legend. Profit was a definite motive.