In 6th grade I took a class trip to Washington D.C. One of our stops was in Virginia at the home of George and Martha Washington. Mount Vernon is a place I would love to someday take the children, as well as to some of the other presidents' homes in Virginia like Monticello and Montpelier.
For now, I'm content reading about these places.
I finished a book about Martha Washington last week. I’m usually not into historical books. When it comes to reading I prefer novels and inspirational lit. I do like a good biography, but I don’t usually go for a book on a president's wife (other than Jackie Kennedy, of course).
We know so much about our past presidents, but their wives are often seen as just that: the wife of a past president. It’s understandable why textbooks focus so much on these men, but we can sometimes learn even more about them and our country’s history by knowing about the women
that shared, shaped and influenced them.
that shared, shaped and influenced them.
I picked up the book on Martha Washington at our local library. I have been waiting on two novels that are in high demand, and found this book while browsing the shelves. I thought I’d share some of the interesting things I learned about the nation’s first First Lady.
1. All four of her children died before she did. I can’t imagine losing one child, let alone all of my children. Earlier in the week I started a post with a quote from her. The circumstances I was referring to don’t even compare to what she most likely meant by those words. I had a dear friend lose her only child two years ago, and I still feel painfully raw from that experience. It’s unthinkable to fathom how Martha Washington, and many women of her day, dealt with this kind of grief time and again.
2. She and George Washington never had any children together. All four of her children were from her first marriage. After her first husband died (talk about a life of suffering and hardship), she went on to marry Washington. Her child that lived to adulthood did have four children before his death at the age of 27, and she and George practically raised two of those children. It seems a bit sad that the first president had no lineage.
3. She burned all the letters of correspondence between George Washington and herself expect for two. I kinda admire this. She knew that future generations would want to know about their private affairs, and she wanted to make sure her marriage belonged to the two of them only and not to the prying eyes of history.
4. She loathed Thomas Jefferson. It’s interesting how we often here of an age when politics was civil. I personally don’t believe that was ever the case. I think politics has always included much gossip, slander and backstabbing. We have this erroneous belief that the men of Washington and Jefferson’s day always behaved in some gentlemanly manner toward one another. Jefferson not only bad-mouthed Washington, but he wrote about him in newspapers as well. Like many women then and now, when it comes to someone hurting our husband or children, Martha Washington could hold a grudge. It seems she held that grudge against Jefferson until the day she died.
2. She and George Washington never had any children together. All four of her children were from her first marriage. After her first husband died (talk about a life of suffering and hardship), she went on to marry Washington. Her child that lived to adulthood did have four children before his death at the age of 27, and she and George practically raised two of those children. It seems a bit sad that the first president had no lineage.
3. She burned all the letters of correspondence between George Washington and herself expect for two. I kinda admire this. She knew that future generations would want to know about their private affairs, and she wanted to make sure her marriage belonged to the two of them only and not to the prying eyes of history.
4. She loathed Thomas Jefferson. It’s interesting how we often here of an age when politics was civil. I personally don’t believe that was ever the case. I think politics has always included much gossip, slander and backstabbing. We have this erroneous belief that the men of Washington and Jefferson’s day always behaved in some gentlemanly manner toward one another. Jefferson not only bad-mouthed Washington, but he wrote about him in newspapers as well. Like many women then and now, when it comes to someone hurting our husband or children, Martha Washington could hold a grudge. It seems she held that grudge against Jefferson until the day she died.
No comments:
Post a Comment