The official story is that George Washington was born, February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Colony of Virginia, which later became part of the United States; however, there were tales circulating that Washington was really born in England.
This is not, of course, an eligibility story since the Constitution did not require those of Washington’s era to be natural born citizens. It is, however, a smear. This little-known story is recounted by David Kolb, former editorial page editor of the Muskegon Chronicle, in an article at MLive.com, titled President Obama is in some good company in Birther Land. Kolb quotes Washington’s grandson, George Washington Parke Custis Esq.:
Lord Byron wrote of an age of bronze, but we live in an age of brass; for surely the idea that Washington was born in England is too monstrous an absurdity to be brazened to the world in the nineteenth century.
When I first read the above mentioned article, I thought it might be a spoof; however the rumors that Washington was born in England are real, as evidenced by the following from Notes and Queries, 1857.
New England Historical and Genealogical Register – January 1857 No. 1:
Yes, there were persistent and various rumors that George Washington was born in England, and that his Virgina mother went to England to birth her son, and RUSHED BACK TO AMERICA just in time to have the future president baptized in Virginia and so his false place of birth recorded in the Washington family Bible. Who knows what we would be thinking of the Father of our Country if there had been an Internet in 1776?
Learn more:
Andrew Jackson was smeared in the same way. It was claimed that he was born in a ship at sea, they even had a woman testify that she was the midwife who delivered him. He was also covered by the “grandfather clause”.
I don’t know if you saw this link for Eisenhower and George Bush Sr., both also said to be foreign born.
http://www.whale.to/b/faked.html
After reading about Eisenhower and Bush (or should I say George Scherff Jr) be sure to follow the Obama (shape-shifter) link.
doesn’t matter
constitution article II eligibility requirements gave an out…..”at the time of the adoption of the constitution”
what next, you obots going to say BO was alive at the time of the adoption of the constitution?
spin away
Do you have such poor reading skills that you can’t read simple words…. see statement quoted from first post.
Did you miss the part where Doc C acknowledged that and explicitly stated this article is not about eligibility? The article is clearly about how President George Washington was subjected to the same sort of smears that President Barack Obama is.
While Barack Obama is famous for being the first black American President…..
President Washington was apparently the last famous white Washington in America.
http://365voice.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/FamousWashingtons.jpg
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/21/washington-blackest-name-america_n_825884.html
President Washington didn’t need an out – he was a natural born citizen of the United States (the grandfather clause was never required).
This data/info about George Washington is very interesting. Thank you.
For some time now I have been researching the claim that Andrew Jackson was born at sea, to Scots-Irish parents, on a ship that was sailing to the New World.
As we all know, according to the US Constitution they were not required to have been born in the USA to be eligible to hold Office of US President.
However, their birth accounts are none the less extremely interesting, especially in this current era of presidential eligibility confusion. I have real doubts that Andrew Jackson was born in America.
Mr. Smith,
Thank you for the interesting comment – can you share the evidence on which you base your doubts? (I would note, however, that the birthers are the only ones confused about presidential eligibility…)
Washington was born in a British colony; there was no United States to be a natural born citizen into when he was born. Aren’t cases like his specifically what the grandfather clause was for?
The only person that I have ever heard of the grandfather clause be specifically added for was Alexander Hamilton. The first version of the eligibility clause didn’t have the grandfather clause – did the Founders originally intend that no American be eligible for the presidency until someone born after the Declaration turned 35?
President Washington was a natural born subject of the State of Virginia (provided he was born there ;-)) and became a natural born citizen of the US at the Declaration of Independence (I think this is when it would have happened). This view is seen in the 14th Amendment (which, I believe, only codified the existing law rather than modifying it…) as well as a plethora of pertinent legislation and jurisprudence from the several states. I would expect that anyone trying to tell President Washington that he wasn’t a natural born US citizen would get a similar reaction as the man who told Buzz Aldrin he didn’t walk on the moon…
About half a dozen members of the Convention were not natural born, Hamilton, Wilson among them.
If you read the debates on the Constitution, you see that in early August, 1787, they came up with a draft constitution. It did not have a Presidential eligibility clause. Shortly after that several members of the convention suggested that Senators be required to be “native born”. James Wilson (who was born in Scotland) objected. He said that it was unfair that while he was at the convention helping to draft the Constitution, that same Constitution would prevent him from being a Senator. Several weeks later, the second draft of the Constitution had the Presidential eligibility clause.
So it has been assumed that the Wilson’s objections, plus Jay’s letter to Washington influenced the eligiblity clause. Natural born Citizen to satisfy Jay and the grandfather clause to satisfy Wilson.
Since my article already says: “This is not, of course, an eligibility story since the Constitution did not require those of Washington’s era to be natural born citizens. ” I cannot fathom why you would make remark you did unless you lacked the attention span necessary to get to the second paragraph.
Probably not. For reasons discussed elsewhere, those born in the colonies were considered as born n the United States when those colonies became states. The “grandfather clause” was for folks like Alexander Hamilton who supported the Revolution, but were born out of the country.
dingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingdingding
It has already been well established that the man who became the first president of the United States of America was not in fact, George Washington, born in Virginia, but Adam Weishaupt, born in Bavaria. Weishaupt killed Washington and took his place. Not only the first President, but the first Usurper!
The portrait on the One Dollar bill is Weishaupt.
I believe that the definitive scholarly research on this subject is the book: The Illuminatus! Trilogy but an encyclopedic entry can be found here: Everything is Under Control
I wonder how soon a forged Andrew Jackson birth certificate will show up…