Were they considered such a thing as “the American people” in those days? I thought the US was pretty much a union of independent states until the Civil War.
I remember reading this some time ago... creepy, if true.
It seems that George Washington’s vision has gone through history as truth until recent skeptics questioned its validity.
Washington’s Vision, written by Charles Alexander under the pseudonym of Wesley Bradshaw.
Charles Alexander was a publisher of ‘true crime’ stories around the time of the Civil War.
I’ve seen this before, but not much. Maybe only once.
I have my doubts, too, although generally lovely. But frankly the close post-proximity to the Civil War and “Union” makes me think made-up stuff. What with the apparent viewpoint that “union” is what it’s all about and of course, it was maintained - albeit at gunpoint.
This has been debunked a million times. I can’t believe anyone still believes this nonsense.
The original article was written by a man who authored several of these “visions” including one by General George McClelland. The story was first published in 1880 in the National Tribune.Later it was reprinted in Stars and Stripes in the 1950’s
The author claimed he first heard the story in 1859 (on July 4th in Philadelphia) from a 99 year old revolutionary war veteran named Anthony Sherman. There is no record of any Anthony Sherman serving with Washington at Valley Forge where the vision supposedly took place.
Furthermore there is no record of Washington ever mentioning such a vision to any of his contemporaries. Washington was a man who left many written letters and accounts of his life and historians have found nothing to corroborate this story.
The story was a hoax written after the fact to appear as a prescient vision of the future. No legitimate historian believes this story.