Did George Washington really chop a cherry tree?
hello Tradition has it that George Washington, America’s first president, chopped down a cherry tree in his youth. The incident may have been the concoction of an ex-parson turned bookseller, Mason Locke Weems, who first wrote about the incident. According to Weems young George had a new hatchet. Hatchets are meant for chopping wood. The trunk of the supposed cherry tree was, of course, wood, so what better place for George to try out his new tool? In Weems’ story George gives the tree a good whack and chops it down. His father sees the damaged tree and asks his son if he knows who did the deed. George is reported, in Weems’ writing, to have replied to his father’s query by answering: “I can’t tell a lie, Pa; you know I can’t tell a lie. I did cut it with my hatchet.” So the culprit is caught. However, Weems’ story continues with the elder Washington saying he is glad that George killed the tree, explaining that by George being honest about the situation he has well paid his father for
