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Re: : Re: : The Iroquois and the Early Radical Feminists
Lief M. Hendrickson (hendrick@NOSC.MIL)
Thu, 1 Feb 1996 22:43:06 PST
On Feb 1, Gail Nazemi wrote:
>You do not think that most history in school books is "written
>to support an agenda?" Certainly wishing me to believe that Washington
>never lied about that cherry tree was on someones agenda. It's doubtful
>that it was "history" and it certainly made everyone "feel good" about
>having a president who didnt lie.
Maybe so, but that doesn't justify continuing the trend. Scholars
should do better.
Speaking about misinformation about George Washington- you may not
believe the bit about the cherry tree, but I'll bet you think he died
of natural causes. Not so. He was the first U.S. president to be
killed, and it was done by his doctors.
It seems George, at the age of 66, went horse back riding for six hours
on a cold winter day in 1799. The next day he was bedridden with a
cold and sore throat. Bloodletting was the cure of the day, so he had
one of his men draw a pint of blood. When his physician, Dr. James
Craik arrived, Dr. Craik drew another pint. Later Dr. Craik again
drew another couple of pints.
Dr. Gustavus Brown and Dr. Elisa Dick arrived thereafter. Not wanting
to be left out, Dr. Brown drew another pint of old George's blood.
This was done with concurrence of Dr. Craik, who was still there,
though over protests from Dr. Dick. After losing approximately 5
pints of blood, George Washington then faded and died- not surprising
since his doctors had drained his body of almost half its blood
supply. Pretty severe treatment for a sore throat!
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