In 1751 when a 19 year old George Washington visited Barbados, who was to know that this small island, albeit unwittingly, would make a major contribution to the USA of today.
Traveling as a companion to his brother Lawrence, who was visiting Barbados to recuperate from tuberculosis, the trip was the one and only journey Washington would make outside America.
During his stay George Washington himself became ill stricken with smallpox. Given good medical care he recovered from the illness and, in doing so, his body naturally built up the immunity to the virus. The true significance of this was only understood years later when Washington's army was decimated by small pox during the American War of Independence. The immune Washington was not affected by the disease, survived to win the war, and went on to occupy the gargantuan place in history that fate had bestowed upon him as the first President of the United States of America.
George Washington had arrived in Barbados as a young man who had never before left his homeland, and whose experiences in life had been limited accordingly. Yet by the time he left these shores, just 7 weeks later, he had been exposed to a multitude of new and highly thought provoking experiences: including the scale and scope of Bridgetown, the biggest city he had ever seen; an elevated level of social skills and hospitality; his first ever play and other cultural events; the commercial activity of the Northern Atlantic's most important port and trading centre; the world's most successful agro-based economy; a new breed of modern scientists and intellectuals; and, perhaps most importantly of all for a man destined to become a revolutionary and national leader, he met Scotsmen who had actually rebelled against the British Monarchy, who were willing to share with him the ardour of their patriotism and the lessons they had learned during their struggles.
These many benchmark experiences in Barbados, all condensed into just 50 days, must surely have made an indelible impression on the open mind of a 19 year old George Washington and, as a direct consequence, must have gone a long way towards shaping the future deeds and decisions of the great man to be. Which leaves just one final thought......What would have happened if he had died of smallpox?
Bush Hill House
While in Barbados George Washington stayed at Bush Hill House, on the Garrison Savannah, where he would have spent many hours observing the everyday drills and training exercises of the English armies stationed there at the time; surely a good preparation for his own military future.
The house still stands today and is currently being restored as George Washington house by the Barbados National Trust, with the support of the USA's National Trust for Historic Preservation. Once restoration is complete, the George Washington House site will be open to the public as a historic house, museum, educational and research resource center and will include a genealogy center where visitors will be able to trace their Barbadian ancestry. Approximately 25% of all visitors to Barbados are from the USA, a group that is likely to find the ancestry-tracing facilities of particular interest. |
