0:02

Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works,

0:06

Hey, brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here. There's

0:09

a popular yarn among American history

0:11

enthusiasts that George Washington, in

0:13

the waning months of the Revolutionary War,

0:15

was offered the crown of the fledgling nation by

0:17

a group of American military officers fed

0:20

up with an ineffective Congress. Historians

0:22

even have Washington's strongly worded rejection

0:25

letter to prove it, but a closer

0:27

reading of original historical documents tells

0:29

a different story. In this version, the

0:32

widespread frustration of army officers

0:34

gets mixed up with the pro monarchy

0:36

day dreams of one foolhardy Colonel

0:39

Washington still comes out of hero, but he was

0:41

never really close to being a king. Let's

0:44

set the scene. The British suffered a decisive

0:46

defeat at Yorktown to American and

0:48

French forces in seventy one,

0:51

resulting in the capture of seven thousand British

0:53

troops and their leader, General Charles Cornwallis.

0:56

The end of the war was finally near, but the

0:58

beleaguer in American Army under the command

1:00

of Washington was still considered on duty

1:03

until the Treaty of Paris was signed in seventeen

1:05

eighty three. Back in those

1:07

preconstitution days, the Articles

1:09

of Confederation handed most power to the

1:11

States, not the federal government. Congress

1:14

had no power to tax, for example, which

1:16

was a problem when it came to paying and equipping

1:18

the army. Congress had to constantly

1:21

request military funding from the States, which

1:23

were often slow to pay up, if at all.

1:26

With peace nearly one the army feared

1:28

that Congress was going to stiff them on back pay.

1:31

The officer corps were especially worried about

1:33

their pensions, which they were promised would

1:35

secure them financially for the rest of their lives.

1:37

Could they trust Congress to keep its word an

1:39

exact payment from the states. Among

1:42

those army officers sweating over their pension

1:44

in seventeen eighty two was Colonel

1:47

Louis Nicola, a sixty five year

1:49

old Irish born military veteran who

1:51

lent significant expertise to Washington's

1:53

forces during the war. Nicola

1:55

and Washington corresponded frequently, usually

1:58

about Nicola's duties as a commander of the Invalid

2:00

Core, a garrison of injured soldiers

2:03

who were still fit enough to serve but

2:05

Nicola's letter to Washington on May twenty

2:08

two was something completely different.

2:11

In this now infamous missive, Nicola

2:13

opened with a reminder of what would be at stake

2:15

if the military wasn't properly compensated,

2:18

namely the threat of open mutiny.

2:20

Niccola wrote, God forbid we should

2:22

ever think of involving that country we have,

2:25

under your conduct and auspices, rescued

2:27

from oppression into a new scene of blood

2:29

and confusion. But it cannot be expected.

2:31

We should forego claims on which our future subsistence

2:34

and that of our families depend. Then

2:37

Nicola moved on to what he called his scheme.

2:40

He admitted to Washington that he wasn't

2:42

a quote, a violent admirer of a republican

2:44

form of government, preferring instead

2:46

a mixed form of government with elected representatives

2:49

ruled by a benevolent monarch. And

2:51

who better for such a leading role than Washington

2:54

himself. Nicola wrote, some

2:56

people have so connected the ideas of tyranny

2:58

and monarchy as to find it very difficult

3:01

to separate them. It may therefore be requisite

3:03

to give the head of such a constitution, as I propose,

3:06

some title apparently more moderate. But

3:08

if all things were once adjusted, I believe

3:10

strong arguments might be produced for admitting

3:13

the title of king, which I conceive

3:15

would be attended with some material advantages.

3:18

Washington's response, dated the very same

3:20

day, was withering. He

3:23

wrote, be assured, sir, no occurrence

3:25

in the course of the war has given me more

3:28

painful sensations than your information

3:30

of there being such ideas existing in the army

3:32

as you have expressed, and I must view

3:34

with abhorrence and reprehend with severity.

3:37

I am much at a loss to conceive what part of my

3:39

conduct could have given encouragement to an address

3:42

which seems to me big with the greatest

3:44

mischiefs that can befall my country. If

3:46

I am not deceived in the knowledge of myself, you

3:48

could not have found a person to whom your schemes

3:50

are more disagreeable. Washington's

3:54

rejection of an American monarchy was absolute,

3:57

but was a single letter from a presumptuous

3:59

colonel, the equivalent and of being offered the

4:01

crown, as many believe. We

4:03

spoke with Denver Brunsman, a history professor

4:05

at George Washington University and scholar

4:07

of the Revolutionary War and of Washington.

4:10

He thinks it would be an exaggeration to say

4:12

that Washington was ever seriously offered

4:14

the title of king. He said,

4:17

Niccolo was not someone who was in the position

4:19

to do that, and I don't think he was part of any

4:21

real large movement. That doesn't mean

4:23

there weren't people who had those sentiments, and I think

4:26

Niccolo was representative of that. There

4:28

were other individuals in the Officer Corps who

4:30

were extremely frustrated with Congress and

4:32

any hope for a possible solution. Brunsman

4:35

continued, what's most important is Washington's

4:38

reaction to even the notion of being king.

4:40

She shuts down any possibility. I

4:43

think that's impressive and shows why Washington was

4:45

able to garner the trust of the American people.

4:52

Today's episode was written by Dave Ruse and

4:54

produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this

4:56

and lots of other trustworthy topics, visit our

4:58

home planet, How Stuff Works Come