So, reading up on history today, and apparently there was a mayor of New York who tried to have George Washington killed. Yes, that George Washington.
I tend to tell my friends stories from history a fair amount of the time. I think some of them think I'm making them up, which is why I can't tell them this story because it is way too crazy. There are too many details that sound made up, like the fact that this idea was planned out in a tavern. The moment that came out of my mouth everyone would think this was a tall tale. Me? I think it's the sort of thing that could only happen in New York.
Yes, Eliza, I believe you.
ReplyDeleteNow, what I am about to tell you you might find difficult to swallow. London used to be the capital city of America.Before the Wars of Independence London was full of merchant traders from all over the Empire including America. Benjamin Franklin lived and worked in London for about sixteen years of his life and lived with a common law wife.Many Americans wished the War of Independence never happened. It ruined their trade. Obviously a minority!!!!!!
George Washington came here.
However after the Wars of Independence George developed a hatred of England and all things English.
In the 1920's the good people of Virginia had a great desire to give the English people a statue of George Washington. Why? I'm not quite sure. Then somebody discovered that George, in his will, had mentioned emphatically that he never wanted to set foot on English soil again. Well that stymied the good people of Virginia and their desire to give us a statue of George. Then some bright spark came up with an idea. Why not dig up a load of earth in Virginia and send it over to England? We, the English, could then did a hole fill it with the soil from Virginia and plonk the statue of George on top. That is exactly what happened. Trafalgar Square has a piece of land which is really Virginia so that George Washington can stand proud in front of our National Gallery.
A quote form Wikapaedia;
"There are two statues on the lawn in front of the National Gallery: James II by Grinling Gibbons to the west of the portico, and George Washington, a replica of a work by Jean-Antoine Houdon, to the east.[13] The latter, a gift from the state of Virginia installed in 1921, stands on soil imported from the United States, to honour Washington's declaration he would never again set foot on British soil.[14]"
All the best,
Tony
A link to the statue of George in Trafalgar Square:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Statue_Of_George_Washington-Trafalgar_Square.jpg