Source: Northern Archives
Author: Director of Archives
On August 10, 1835, Joice Heth—a so-called 161-year-old African-American slave—told viewers the story of George Washington's childhood life.
Hess's story is actually a hoax. However, her wrinkled face, long claw-like nails and toothless smile all indicate that she is very old, and in the popular perception, the old man is calm and serious, and most likely will not deceive.
Of course, it is the story of "Little George" told by Hess that also solidifies the audience's belief in her identity.
Her favorite story is the story of Little George using an axe to cut down the family's cherry tree.
During her 7-month tour, Hess earned about $1,500 a week for her owner, PT Barnum, kicking off the performer's path to stardom.
PT Barnum, the legendary American circus tycoon P.T. Barnum, the marketing ghost set up his own "propaganda team" to help him make up all kinds of lies and gimmicks, and he himself often went into battle himself, invented a lot of unconventional and grandstanding propaganda methods, especially good at doing "title parties", and won the maximum exposure for his circus.
Among them, the story of the cherry blossom tree is one of his marketing works.
Why does the story of the cherry blossom tree resonate with the audience?
Because George Washington, in his biography, repeatedly showed the world a glorious image of "I can't and won't lie".
Ironically, this story about never lying is a lie in itself.
"Little George" and the cherry tree
The story of the cherry tree remains one of the oldest and most famous stories of George Washington's childhood.
Legend has it that when Washington was six years old, he received an axe as a gift.
Of course, before the Washington family knew it, their son had wreaked havoc on the family's Virginia plantation with his miniature axe.
Washington's father, Augustine, confronted his son after noticing that one of the cherry trees had not dodged the little boy's attack. To his surprise, the child declared: "I can't lie... I did chop it with an axe. ”
Augustine hugged his young son and told him that honesty is better than a thousand cherry trees.
And just like that, an American myth was born. It was even translated into dozens of versions, spread around the world, and fooled the world.
This will save generations of schoolchildren from the sin of lying. Ironically, it also highlights PT Barnum's biggest lie, the "Hess scheme." (After Hess's death on February 19, 1836, a public autopsy by Barnum for admission fees revealed that she was no more than 80 years old at the time of her death.) ）
Barnum never took the moral behind the cherry tree story to heart, because the story itself was made up to sell a Washington biography.
A Life in Washington became an immediate bestseller
So who invented the story of the cherry blossom tree? It was Mason Locke Weems, an itinerant pastor and bookseller and author of A Life in Washington.
The former U.S. president died in 1799, and Americans were eager to learn more about their first commander-in-chief.
The painting depicts Weems and his famous George Washington and the Cherry Tree.
In January 1800, Weems told his publisher, "Washington is gone!" Millions of people are waiting to read about him ... I plan to write a book that will write his history, and it will be detailed enough... To show his great achievements so far, from his virtues. ”
Weems' autobiography was first published in 1800 and became an immediate bestseller. With the publication of the fifth edition of the book in 1806, the cherry myth first appeared, and Americans enjoyed the parable with relish.
Decades later, a Presbyterian pastor and college professor named William Holmes McGuffey refocused on the story.
He was passionate about teaching morality and religion to children, so he incorporated the legend into his teaching textbook, called The McCaffe Reader.
After its publication in 1836, his readers sold more than 120 million copies.
This fabricated story is getting closer and closer to the truth, and it has been out of control ever since.
There is a text entitled "Washington and the Cherry Tree" in the second-grade Chinese textbook of the People's Education Edition, which is a short story about George Washington, the first president in American history, when he was a teenager.
Renjiao version of the primary school text
Weems and popular history
Why did Weems invent the iconic cherry tree story about the value of honesty?
Obviously, like PT Barnum decades later, in order to make money.
Weems knew that if he could reveal (or make up) enough unknown details about life in Washington to satisfy his audience, he would be very successful.
Of course, there are also moral and political interests in this story, and he wants to correct the early American tendency to deify Washington and bring Washington off the altar.
Here the curator wants to interject and say, politicians' means are really dirty!
In other words, he made George look good, but didn't make him a god.
Weems wants to provide a perfect role model for young Americans, a role model of flesh and blood. From a marketing perspective, it's okay to sacrifice historical accuracy.
At the end of the full article, thank you for your patience in reading
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