Washington and the cherry tree

Cultural  

1. The subject of a fanciful story by an early biographer of George Washington, Mason Weems; the source of the saying “I cannot tell a lie.” According to Weems, the young Washington received a new hatchet and used it to chop down his father's prized cherry tree. His father demanded to know how the tree had fallen. George was tempted to deny his misdeed, but then, “looking at his father with the sweet face of youth brightened with the inexpressible charm of all-conquering truth, he bravely cried out, ‘I cannot tell a lie. I did cut it with my hatchet.’”

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Washington and the cherry tree

Even as a kid, I never fell for that bit about George Washington and the cherry tree.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 1, 2016

Unauthenticated is his pious anecdote of young George Washington and the cherry tree.

From Time Magazine Archive

Throughout the gallery stand nearly life-size wooden cutouts of Washington and his horse, Washington and the cherry tree, Washington crossing the Delaware.

From Time Magazine Archive

What if the generation after next grew up without ever hearing about John Smith and Pocahontas or even George Washington and the cherry tree?

From Time Magazine Archive

About this time we have some narratives concerning his honesty that compare favorably with the story of Washington and the cherry tree.

From Life of Abraham Lincoln Little Blue Book Ten Cent Pocket Series No. 324 by E. (Emanuel) Haldeman-Julius