Mt. Vernon

Mt. Vernon was the home of George and Martha Washington. It is a historic landmark and is thought of by many to be the picture of American domesticity. One of these admirers of Mt. Vernon was Sarah Josepha Hale, who idolized George and Martha Washington and sang her praises of them in her conduct manual Manners. Hale considered George Washington to be “the great leader and exemplar of the American people,” and calls Mt. Vernon “the holiest place in uninspired history.”

Hale considered Martha Washington to be an ideal wife and partly why George Washington was able to be such a great man. She describes how Martha followed George to the frontlines during the Revolution. Of Martha’s presence during the war Hale said, “Her presence was his pleasure, her sympathy his support, next to faith in God. And in this faith the wife set the example as wives should; softening the man’s stern will by ever having on her tongue the ‘law of kindness.’” Hale credits George Washington as a hero that American women can be thankful for because he had the presence of a good mother, a good wife, and God in his life.

-Maksim Latman