tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post6374826603667452471..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: Gen. Washington’s Welcome to His New Headquarters?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-27954670077619806132011-01-24T18:02:13.626-05:002011-01-24T18:02:13.626-05:00We don’t have this story from Washington. We appar...We don’t have this story from Washington. We apparently have it from people in Cambridge, who heard it from an aged Vassall man (or from people who had heard him). It’s possible that those locals used “boy” to refer to any black man, even one as old as Tony Vassall was in 1775, and that someone embellished the tale with the “swinging on a gate” detail. It’s also possible that the people passing on the anecdote didn’t care enough to distinguish between Tony and Darby Vassall.<br /><br />Incidentally, Washington wrote of his manservant William Lee as a “man” in most correspondence after Lee’s teens. We don’t know how the general spoke of his male slaves, of course. But it’s conceivable that the demeaning custom of calling grown men “boy” spread after emancipation as a way to reinforce the American caste system.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-68765872341716418722011-01-24T16:20:28.016-05:002011-01-24T16:20:28.016-05:00I believe it was customary (until the mid-20th Cen...I believe it was customary (until the mid-20th Century) for Southerners to use the appellation, "boy," to refer to a black man. Thus, Washington may have indeed been referring to Tony.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11367012840719617546noreply@blogger.com