NOT EXACTLY HISTORY
George Washington Threw What Across What River?
What do you call it when false history is debunked with more false history?
If you search for anything involving George Washington and throwing things across a river, you will find many articles that supposedly tell the real story. Most will tell you that it wasn’t a silver dollar, but a piece of slate. Some will say that his son or grandson witnessed the toss.
Most of these stories are as apocryphal as the story they want to debunk. Let’s do the tiny bit of research that most neglect.
The river
In case you have somehow convinced yourself that the river was the Delaware or the Potomac, the stories will explain that it was the Rappahannock. Many will smugly finish by noting that there were not any silver dollars to throw until 1794 when the U.S. Mint first produced them.
Few mention any dates for the slate toss, though 1775 and 1779 do turn up, and others insist it took place in his childhood. George was born in 1732; one would think that at least some physical maturity was necessary for this feat, so let’s assume that whatever happened, it wasn’t before 1744.
