tothesource: Why did you write a book about Washington at this time?
Paul Johnson: My publisher found that young people don't know George Washington. This is tragic. The main reason is that all the books on Washington are too long. They asked me if I thought I could write a book on Washington under 40,000 words. I said, to use one of your American expressions, it's a cinch! So it's just out now. It's a short book and it's dedicated to my American granddaughter.
tts: What's her name?
PJ: Roxanna.
tts: Would America be America without Washington?
PJ: No! For quite a lot of reasons. One of the most important things Washington did, in my view, was to prevent the Revolutionary War from degenerating into guerrilla warfare. An army must behave like an army. For America to be legitimated it must have a legitimate army. When the British wanted to contact him he insisted that they address him as General Washington. He miraculously kept his army together for eight years with only three victories. Washington believed that sooner or later the British would tire, which they did, at Yorktown. As a result deep bitterness between the two enemies never took place. That is why that after the war Britain and America eventually came together as friends.
Second point! Washington was not so much interested in the taxation without representation issue. Instead, Washington knew the American interior. He was a surveyor and had spent a great deal of time in the interior. He knew its limitless riches. Riches all the way to the Pacific! He wanted America to pursue what was later called "Manifest Destiny". George III confined settlements to the east of the Allegheny Mountains. George III regarded the Indians as much his subjects as his colonists. Washington wanted the colonists move west to be unfettered.
Third point! Washington was primarily a farmer. He was interested in large acreage farming and believed large farms could be farmed more efficiently than smaller ones. He was aware, of course, of the Industrial Revolution taking place in Britain at that time and he wanted to bring large scale thinking to America and do the same here. He thought slave labor was hopelessly inefficient. He wanted the American farmers to switch to wheat farming because it needed fewer laborers.
tts: What kind of man was Washington?
PJ: Though he was modest, he knew a lot. Curiously enough, he had no desire whatever to siege political power. Not like Napoleon. After the war, when George III asked the American born President of his Royal Academy what Washington would do now that the war was over, he said, "He will go back to his farm. If he does do that he will be the greatest man in the world." And, of course, he did just that. Congress had to summon him to take part in the Constitution.
Washington was a very formal man. That was his nature. He loved England and thought that English gentlemen were wonderful and he modeled himself on their mannerisms. He did not like shaking hands.
tts: There is much debate today regarding Washington's religious beliefs. Can you help clear this up?
Washington was certainly a Christian. He supported the local church for many reasons, one being his duty as a large land owner. I don't think that Washington had strong religious feelings. Often he would refer to Providence instead of God and never referred to Jesus Christ that I am aware of. He believed that the Christian religion was the best method of social stability in existence. He did not want it specifically put in the Constitution. In some ways the most important religious aspect in his life was Free Masonry. His marriage was conducted according to Masonic Ritual and so was his funeral.
I think Washington thought Christianity was essential to American well-being and he would have been horrified by the attacks on Christianity in the name of the Constitution that are made today. He firmly believed that without Christians, you would have to have more policemen and more military to stabilize American society. There was no doubt in Washington's mind that Christianity was essential to American self-governance and good citizenship.
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