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Position:Home>History> America holds George Washington as a hero, What does the UK think of him as?Question: America holds George Washington as a hero, What does the UK think of him as!? Never in history has a man gave up so much power when he refused to accept a third term as president!. He even refused to have his face on a coin(which was done later on but not while he was in power) because he believed it symbolised monarchy!. Therefore we hail him a hero and true believer of a government lead by the people!.
But!.!. He was a traitor to the British!? What does that mean to people of the British Empire!?Www@QuestionHome@Com Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Most Brits would, as some other posters have mentioned, not be too well informed!. I'm sorry to say the mass of the British populous is almost as unworldly as their US counterparts!.!.!. Those able to form an opinion are generally neutral to him, even positive; retrospectively we can see that Crown policy in the colonies was less than enlightened or politique and those who chose to participate in the insurgency were scarcely perfidious - though maybe somewhat more self-interested and less moral/high-minded than Americans would choose to believe!. His role in the War of Independance is one that we are pretty even-handed about; while we recognise his contributions and able leadership we are naturally less dewy-eyed than many Americans!. Certainly we are less inclined to place his military achievements on a pedestal when compared to those of, say, Rochambeau!. GW's contribution to Britain's earlier wars with France should in theory make him something of a British hero also!. But on the backdrop of Britain's almost endemic colonial wars he was only one of many men skillfully leading small campaigns in remote parts of the world, all but a handful of whom (only Clive & Wolfe come immediately to mind!.!.) are forgetten!. Www@QuestionHome@Com From quite an early date, the British have been great admirers of Washington!. In his 'the Four Georges', the writer Thackeray holds him up as an example of everything that was admirable, in contrast to the completely despicable George IV!. And by the way, Kevan, events in America were very widely known!. In a copy of the Gentleman's Magazine of 1776, (published in London) I found the complete text of the Declaration of Independence, except that some letters in 'King' and 'tyrant' had been blanked out!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Not a lot really, George Washington was not a well known man outside of the American Colonies, he only came to light as the leader of the the fledgling United States and quite frankly only really became known when people started travelling to the states later into the 19th / 20th century!. More people would have been aware of Benjamin Franklin as he had resided in London and corrosponded to the papers and pamphlets around at the time!. also the British where more concerned with what was going on inside Britain and Europe (the French Revoloution and the Horrors)!. The American war of independance was not widely known about in the country unless you had interests or relatives involved in the war and even then the time scale to get information to and from the colony always meant that information was out of date!. Good Luck!.Www@QuestionHome@Com first of, britain DOES know about it!. don't hold them in such low regard!. originally, they despised him, and it was actually because of George Washington that the white house was burned during the war of 1812 as retribution!. The implementation of democracy in britain, and a huge love of him by Winstin Churchill, has turned the public's opinion of George Washington around completely!. In fact, he's adored so much now that some british youth refer to others as G!.Wash as a greeting, like "G!.Wash, what the f*** up!?" which elicits the response: "Aww s***! It's the mutha-******g Franklin!"Www@QuestionHome@Com Sentiment should not cloud historical judgement!. Prior to the Revolutionary war of 1776 George Washington was a soldier fighting for the British army against the French who were trying to establish their territorial claims in both The USA and Canada, with the help of indigenous tribes!. George Washington was a superb horseman and fought with distinction rising to the rank of major by 1860!. He was a steadfast commander of the revolutionary forces during the war for American Independence and should be hailed as a hero!. Www@QuestionHome@Com George Washington was the Revolutionary leader of the United States army with its militiamen!. With his perserverance and knowledge he was able to beat the "World's Greatest Regulars (as it was called in the gentlemen's war)" with him were peasants!. This shame to the British Empire gave way to the title of Washington as a "rebel"!Www@QuestionHome@Com I am not sure that many people know who he is, not being disingenuous to the British, they may know the name but not necessarily his background and history in relation to the US!. Www@QuestionHome@Com I don't think us Brits think or know too much about him!. We know he was the first President and established the emerging, free US and respect that!. We know he is a hero to you but that's about all!.Www@QuestionHome@Com dude, that was a really great question, which oddly enough i wondered recently as well!.!.i cant really give an answer but: did the first poster even read the name!? George WASHINGTON you ****!.Www@QuestionHome@Com The answer to that is on his death the whole british navy lowered their flags to half mast in respect !. After all he was an Englishman !.Www@QuestionHome@Com Why on Earth would people who are not american bother to think about him at all!? Do you think of other countries "hero" figures!? Do you actually know any and know what they did!? Do you care!? Www@QuestionHome@Com Goodness! that was a long time ago! In the UK he is remembered as a Patriot and a Leader!.Www@QuestionHome@Com A man who was born in England and eventually fought against his former countrymenWww@QuestionHome@Com Upstart rebel colonial!Www@QuestionHome@Com Well first of all, the whole Cherry Tree story isn't even true so that just pisses me offWww@QuestionHome@Com Don't really care about him one way or the other to be honest!.Www@QuestionHome@Com george bush is a looser! him and gordon brown need to go on holiday together and never come back! my 6 year old niece could run the countries one on each hand! its a farce!Www@QuestionHome@Com |