Presenter: David Reyes

Mentor: Professor Brian Waddington

Title: Spurious George: Thomas Paines Letter to George Washington and the Need for
Alternative Narratives in History

In 1796, an imprisoned Thomas Paine wrote a letter to George Washington that

exorciated the American President; blaming the duration of Paines imprisonment in France on
Washington. After imprisonment Paine published his 1796 letter to expose George Washington
as a fraud. Paines letter, an indictment of Washingtons leadership ability through the American
Revolution and his Presidency, as well as of the hypocrisy of a government formed in the name
of liberty and equality, is as much a break-up letter as it is a revealing report on the transfer of
power from the aristocratic monarchy of England to the ruling elites of the thirteen colonies all
executed under the guise of federalism.
Paine concluded that Washington should have helped free Paine from imprisonment
stating that Washington owed it to me on every score of private acquaintance, I will not now
say friendship; for it has some time been known by those who know him, that he has no
friendships, (Letter 698). Furthermore Washingtons governance was instrumental in the
corruption of Americas character: It is as well the ingratitude as the pusillanimity of Mr.
Washington, and the Washington faction, that has brought upon America the loss of character
she now suffers in the world (Letter 721).
Thomas Paines letter to George Washington dripped with anger and hurt but that does
not mean Paine was wrong. Paine showed that his anger did not cloud his ability to write a letter
that could, although heavy with anger and resentment, create a picture of the treachery and
corruption that he felt Washington was capable of. Measured in his words, Thomas Paine draws
up an alternative narrative of the founding father that shows major flaws in both the story and the
character of the man that benefits most from his place in American mythology.

Works Cited
Billias, George Athan. "George Washington's Generals and Opponents: Their Exploits
and Leadership. "Google Books. 1994. Accessed December 1, 2015. (In Paper)

Keane, John. Tom Paine: A political life. New York: Grove Press, 1995. (In Paper)

Paine, Thomas. "Letter to George Washington." In The Complete Writings of Thomas Paine,
edited by Philip S. Foner, 691-723. Vol. II. New York, New York: Citadel Press, 1945.
Hereafter cited parenthetically as Letter