The Real George Washington combines historical research and archaeological investigations at Mount Vernon and Ferry Farm to tease us with tidbits about Washington's life.
Washington was an ambitious man, who had an unrequited crush on his best friend's wife. Not only would he "tell a lie", he was deeply interested in spying and misdirection and used them as wartime strategies. He was a free mason, and he was a slave holder with a nasty temper. His teeth--well, I'll let you see the video for that.
All of that crammed into an hour. Fascinating stuff--but I want to know more. My main complaint about this video is that there is almost too much to cover in the hour allowed--and the video brings up more questions that haven't been answered.
I guess that means the video does a good job of piquing the viewer's interest!
More Resources
- The Real George Washington, Official page on National Geographic, November 2008, has been taken down.
- Ferry Farm
- Mount Vernon
Campana, D.V. and P.J. Crabtree. 2002. The Diet of Washington's Soldiers at Valley Forge during the Winter of 1777-1778. pp. 28-32 in Integrating Zooarchaeology, edited by Mark Maltby. 9th ICAZ Conference, Durham. Free download.
Chadwick, B. 2005. The First American Army: The Untold Story of George Washington and the Men Behind America's First Fight for Freedom. Sourcebooks, Inc.
Morgan, P.D. 2005. "To Get Quit of Negroes": George Washington and Slavery. Journal of American Studies 39: 403-429
Razdan, A. et al. 2005. Digital 3D Facial Reconstruction of George Washington. SPIE-IS&T/ Vol. 6056 60560I-8.
Unger, H.G. 2006. The Unexpected George Washington: His Private Life. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
The Real George Washington will premiere on Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 9 pm ET/PT on the National Geographic Channel. Check local listings.
