George Washington and the cherry tree
American children learn the story of how George Washington, when he was a little boy, inexplicably chopped down his father's cherry tree, and when questioned by his father said, "Father, I cannot tell a lie. I cut it down with my own little axe." As the story goes, Mr. Washington praised his son for being honest, and because of his honesty did not punish him. The moral of the story is "do not tell a lie."
I read an interesting book by Garry Willis called "Cincinnatus -- George Washington and the Enlightenment" which gives the history of this story.
The story appeared in "Life of Washington", written by Mason Locke Weems in 1800. Weems approved of the "new" approach to child-raising that was being introduced by Enlightenment philosophers, notably by John Gregory's "A Comparative View of the State and Faculties of Man with Those of the Animal World." Gregory advocated that children should learn the way animals learn -- by instinct and curiosity, by exploration and experimentation -- and not by rote, repetition, and punishment of errors by the rod.
It turns out that the cherry tree story was a device used to praise Washington's father, rather than George himself. Weems was praising the father's "liberal" parenting style.
"Never did the wise Ulysses take more pain with his beloved Telemachus than did Mr. Washington with George."
In Weems' story, Mr. Washington talks with George one day, and tells him that of course the boy will at times do things that are wrong, because he is young. He goes on to say that many parents actually impel their children to lie, because the child is fearful of physical punishment. He says, "George, I hope you never feel that you have to lie to me."
And so, when George cuts down the tree (apparently by accident as he casually swings his axe while walking along one day!) and tells his father the truth, his father is overjoyed at the kind of trustful relationship he has established with his son.
It was years later, when the story was incorporated into a school textbook, "McGuffey's Reader", that it became a moralizing tale about " never tell a lie."
I read an interesting book by Garry Willis called "Cincinnatus -- George Washington and the Enlightenment" which gives the history of this story.
The story appeared in "Life of Washington", written by Mason Locke Weems in 1800. Weems approved of the "new" approach to child-raising that was being introduced by Enlightenment philosophers, notably by John Gregory's "A Comparative View of the State and Faculties of Man with Those of the Animal World." Gregory advocated that children should learn the way animals learn -- by instinct and curiosity, by exploration and experimentation -- and not by rote, repetition, and punishment of errors by the rod.
It turns out that the cherry tree story was a device used to praise Washington's father, rather than George himself. Weems was praising the father's "liberal" parenting style.
"Never did the wise Ulysses take more pain with his beloved Telemachus than did Mr. Washington with George."
In Weems' story, Mr. Washington talks with George one day, and tells him that of course the boy will at times do things that are wrong, because he is young. He goes on to say that many parents actually impel their children to lie, because the child is fearful of physical punishment. He says, "George, I hope you never feel that you have to lie to me."
And so, when George cuts down the tree (apparently by accident as he casually swings his axe while walking along one day!) and tells his father the truth, his father is overjoyed at the kind of trustful relationship he has established with his son.
It was years later, when the story was incorporated into a school textbook, "McGuffey's Reader", that it became a moralizing tale about " never tell a lie."
