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"Your proposal raises the greatest mischief that can befall my country. You could not have found a person to whom your schemes are more disagreeable. Let me conjure you then, if you have any regard for your country, concern for your self or posterity, or respect for me, to banish these thoughts from your mind, never communicate, as from yourself, or anyone else, a sentiment of the like nature."
―George Washington, on the proposal of becoming a king.[src]-[m]

George Washington (1732 – 1799) was the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783 and subsequently the first President of the United States from 30 April 1789 to 4 March 1797.

Born in the colony of Virginia in the British colonies of America, Washington joined the Virginian militia during his youth and participated in the Seven Years' War with the British Army, fighting against the French and their indigenous allies. During the war, he ordered the burning of indigenous villages.

Due to the lack of progress of his military career in the British Army, Washington instead turned to politics. When the American Revolutionary War broke out, Washington supported the Patriots. Following the creation of the Continental Army, the Continental Congress of 1775 appointed Washington as its commander-in-chief although he felt he was unworthy of the command.

The Assassin Ratonhnhaké:ton, better known as Connor, subsequently protected Washington from the Templar Charles Lee, who was angered that he had been passed over for the position. Though the Continental Army suffered many losses under Washington's command, the aid of Connor and his apprentices managed to gain the army small victories.

However, Washington fell out with Connor when the Templar Grand Master Haytham Kenway implicated him in the 1760 destruction of Connor's village Kanatahséton, an attack that had killed his mother Kaniehtí:io, just as he was authorizing another scorched earth campaign on Connor's people when they sided with the Loyalists. After he had saved his village, Connor's continued commitment to the American cause meant that he was willing to continue assisting Washington when necessary, such as in the investigation of a conspiracy at West Point, although their friendship became cold.

After the Continental Army emerged victorious against the British Army in 1781, Washington acquired an Apple of Eden. It gave him a nightmarish vision of what would happen if he were crowned king of the United States with its power in his possession, and so he passed the Apple to Connor for it to be disposed of. This experience strengthened his belief in the liberal democratic constitution of the United States.

Biography

Early life

"Since the death of my father four years ago, our lives have become difficult, and I must help my family."
―George Washington's journal[src]

George Washington was born on 22 February 1732,[1] and he lived in Virginia where his family owned a tobacco plantation at Mount Vernon.[2] His father Augustine Washington died in 1743, and although George enjoyed school, he had to leave before he turned sixteen to support his family in his father's stead.[1] His early business ventures at the age of eighteen involved land speculation.[2] Since at least 1748, he kept a notebook with descriptions of events in his life.[1]

By Invitation Only 5

Washington with his brother Lawrence at Mount Vernon

In 1752, Lawrence Washington, George's half-brother and a Master Templar, was killed by the Assassin Shay Cormac while the three were at Mount Vernon. Prior to his death, Lawrence had specifically asked his fellow Templar members to keep George out of their affairs,[3] and with his passing, George inherited the family plantation.[2]

French and Indian War

"We're far from home with our forces divided. Worse, I fear Braddock's bloodlust makes him careless. It puts the men at risk. I'd rather not be delivering grim news to mothers and widows because the Bulldog wanted to prove a point."
―George Washington talking to John Fraser, 1754[src]-[m]

In 1754, George Washington pursued a military career by joining the Virginian Regiment,[2][4] the local militia,[5][note 1] in which capacity he set off the French and Indian War.[4][6] Initially sent to the Ohio River to erect a fort in disputed territory,[6] his military movements incited the French, who forced them to abandon the site and then completed the fort for themselves as Fort Duquesne.[7] In 1754, Washington was ordered by the British to recapture the area with the Virginia militia,[4][7] During the expedition, Washington encountered a French patrol at Jumonville Glen and attacked them. To defend his troops from French retaliation,[6] he hastily constructed Fort Necessity—little more than a palisade around their supplies—that was promptly attacked on 3 July 1754.[4] With dwindling supplies and no British Regulars, Washington's forces lasted barely a day and surrendered on 4 July[4] before ever having reached Fort Duquesne.[2][7]

The following year, Washington volunteered to join British Army General Edward Braddock,[2] who, recognizing Washington's prior experience in the area, enlisted his as a guide in his expedition to take Fort Duquesne.[8] In the winter of 1754, Washington was stationed in Fort St-Mathieu, where he and Chief Scout John Fraser confided in one another their anxieties with Braddock's rejection of truce offers. Unbeknownst to them, their conversation was eavesdropped upon by the Grand Master Templar Haytham Kenway, who derived from it the intel used to ambush Braddock later.[9]

ACIII-BraddockExpedition 5

Washington riding with Edward Braddock

This ambush came on 9 July 1755 during the march on Fort Duquesne.[8] In what would later become known as the Battle of the Monongahela, [citation needed] their forces were suddenly beset by French soldiers and their native allies a mere ten miles away from their destination. George Washington was riding alongside Edward Braddock when they were approached from behind by Haytham disguised as a British soldier, whose aim was to assassinate Braddock. Washington intercepted the assailant by shooting the man's horse from under him only to be attacked and pinned down by Kaniehtí:io before he could finish him with his pistol. Consequently, Haytham was able to pursue Braddock into a marsh and mortally wound him.[10]

Washington, as one of the few surviving officers,[8] managed to both rally a retreat of the decimated forces[2] and carry the dying Braddock from the field using his sash.[11] Before succumbing to his wounds a four days later, the general bestowed upon Washington this sash as a token of gratitude, which Washington kept for the rest of his life.[8] He buried him under a road to prevent his body from being found and desecrated by enemy fighters.[11]

For his role in organizing the retreat from the ambush, Washington was promoted to the rank of colonel. Now in command of the Virginia Regiment, he focused on completely overhauling its structure and training regimen, hoping that his efforts would grant him recognition and acceptance into the professional British Army. These hopes were eventually dashed, to which the later Assassin historian Shaun Hastings implied may have factored into his later sentiment against the British.[2] By his own admission, he conducted a scorched earth policy on indigenous villages during the conflict, with the home of his later revolutionary war ally Ratonhnhaké:ton possibly having been one of them.[12] In 1758, he resigned from military service and returned home to pursue a political career in the House of Burgesses, the legislature of Virginia.[2]

Becoming Commander-in-Chief

"For the support of the glorious cause I beg they will accept my most cordial thanks for this distinguished testimony of their approbation. But, lest some unlucky event should happen, unfavorable to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered, by every Gentleman in the room, that I, this day, declare with utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the Command I am honored with."
―George Washington upon appointment as Commander-in-Chief, 1775[src]-[m]

By 1765, Washington had become a strong supporter of the Patriots and an advocate against the British Parliament's Stamp Act. [citation needed] The taxation imposed by the British eventually led to armed conflict with the colonists.[13] In response to this, Washington became a part of the Continental Congress, and due to his military service, he was considered for the role of leading the Continental Army along with Charles Lee. However, Washington was favoured because of his modesty, insistence for little pay and his promise to be financially responsible.[13]

ACIII-Conflictlooms 4

Samuel Adams introducing Connor to Washington

On 16 June 1775, George Washington was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in Philadelphia. Present at the time of his acceptance was Haytham's Kanien'kehá:ka Assassin son Ratonhnhaké:ton, known as Connor to the colonists. Washington delivered a speech declaring his humble gratitude for the position, and afterwards, he was introduced to Connor by Samuel Adams. He also had taken note of the disappointment of Charles Lee, who had wished to be appointed commander-in-chief himself. Washington bade farewell to Adams and Connor and went to calm Lee from his frustrations. The next day, the Continental Army achieved victory at Boston, led by General Israel Putnam. During the Battle of Bunker Hill, Connor discovered a plot to assassinate Washington from a letter he retrieved from the body of John Pitcairn, masterminded by Charles Lee and Haytham Kenway.[13]

New York City

"That man is our Jupiter Conservator, destined to lead us not just to freedom, but greatness."
―Mason Weems extolling Washington, 1776[src]-[m]
ACIII-Publicexecution 3

Washington attending Connor's hanging

In 1776, Washington seized and moved his forces to New York City. Connor also travelled to New York to stop Washington's would-be-murderer, Thomas Hickey, who was also enlisted in Washington's private guard. However, Connor was falsely arrested for counterfeiting alongside Hickey and sent to prison, where he was framed for the attempted murder of Washington and the prison warden and sentenced to death. The next day, Washington was in attendance of Connor's execution, with Charles Lee presiding over as executioner. Despite this, with the help of his Assassin allies, Connor managed to escape. In the resulting confusion, Hickey made a desperate attempt to kill Washington, though Connor quickly caught up and killed Hickey, proving his innocence.[13]

After this attempt on his life, Washington left and began his journey back to Philadelphia, before leaving once again to hold New York. Washington was eventually defeated by the British Army and was forced to retreat from the city.[13] On the night between the 25th and 26th December, Washington led his forces on a surprise attack against the Hessians in Trenton, New Jersey, crossing the icy Delaware river with Connor at his side.[1]

Encampment at Valley Forge

"If I can't take a stand against some snow, then there really is no hope for us."
―Washington to Connor, 1777[src]-[m]
ACIII-Pottsresidence 3

Washington and Connor at Valley Forge

From there, Washington moved to the encampment at Valley Forge. It was a site that Washington had not desired as he foresaw that its relative remoteness would make it difficult to keep his soldiers fed, but Congress insisted that the Continental Army be close enough to the British-held Philadelphia to protect them in New York, and it was just out of reach from any surprise attacks from the British.[14]

The commander's apprehension was not unfounded, for it proved challenging to bring supplies to Valley Forge and little housing was available. Through the winter of 1777–1778, thousands of his troops died from hypothermia and disease in what otherwise was a relatively mild winter. Despite this, the army endured intact thanks to their firm discipline in carrying out solutions for these ills, dividing labour between patrols and house construction, and Washington's judicious selection of leaders. The quartermaster he appointed, Nathanael Greene, invented subsistence rations to alleviate starvation while Baron von Steuben taught strategies to ensure basic sanitation and mitigate diseases.[14] Washington also identified Marquis de Lafayette as an valued military instructor and Casimir Pulaski as an unparalleled cavalry whom he later made the cavalry commander.[15] By the following summer, Washington's Continental Army would emerge from Valley Forge competent and refreshed enough to deliver a victory at the Battle of Monmouth.[14]

During that winter, Connor met with Washington at Valley Forge. When the commander informed him that a traitor Benjamin Church had disappeared alongside supply caravans, Connor offered his assistance in locating Church and retrieving the supplies.[16] Before he left, Washington openly expressed to him his forlorn outlook for the revolution and his dejection at his men's suffering. Connor renewed his spirits by relating to his doubts but reminding him that causes such as theirs necessarily involved sacrifice that they were willing to endure for their people.[15] During his mission, Connor entered into an uneasy alliance with his father Haytham, who was also hunting Church for betraying the Templar Order.[16] They eventually tracked him down to Martinique and killed him, allowing Connor to return the stolen supplies to Washington and the Continental Army.[17]

Genocide of the Iroquois

ACIII-Brokentrust 1

Haytham exposing Washington's genocidal plans to Connor.

By 1778, Washington had became concerned over the involvement of the indigenous peoples as several Iroquois clans had allied with the British to protect their sovereignty.[18] In response, Washington organized the Sullivan Expedition, issuing explicit orders to General John Sullivan to raze all Iroquois settlements he could locate,[18] salt their lands,[12] and seize as many prisoners as possible,[18] all with the aim of exterminating them as a people.[12]

On 17 June 1778, Connor returned to Valley Forge with Haytham to share intel that the British Army intended to withdraw from Philadelphia to reinforce New York. Haytham, hoping to convince Connor to defect to the Templars, seized Washington's private correspondence regarding the planned genocide without warning and disclosed it out loud to Connor. Among the target villages was Connor's own home Kanatahséton. Under Haytham's prompting, Washington confessed to not just ordering the imminent attacks but also to having conducted a similar policy during the Seven Years' War. As Haytham had intended,[12] Connor was led to piece together that Washington had been the real perpetrator of his village's destruction in 1760[19] and the death of his mother Kaniehtí:io when he was a child, absolving the Templars of the crime.[12]

Haytham continued to amp up the charges against Washington, but their altercation was cut short by Connor due to the urgency of saving his people. Although Connor felt betrayed by Washington, whom he had until then dearly respected, he saw through Haytham's scheme and severed ties with them both, warning that he would kill either of them should they stop him. Washington, indeed, issued no order for troops to pursue Connor as he rushed back to Kanatahséton to intercept and kill the American soldiers moving against it.[12]

Nonetheless—and notwithstanding Connor's subsequent aid at the Battle of Monmouth—the Sullivan Expedition would move forward in 1779 to be executed with impunity. In total, 40 Iroquois villages were destroyed, with many of their inhabitants being burned alive inside cabins and scalped.[18] Having recognized the centrality of corn to the Iroquois economy and culture, Washington had also expressly ordered that their cornfields be singled out for eradication,[20] and Sullivan destroyed an estimated 160,000 bushels of corn over the course of his campaign.[18] Settlements were not spared for their neutrality, and the Kanièn:keh Nation Territory was so devastated that George Washington henceforth bore the moniker Ranatakáriias ("Town Destroyer") to the Iroquois people.[18] For all that bloodshed, the expedition failed to stop the Iroquois raids as it only intensified the cycle of violence throughout the revolution.[18]

Battle of Monmouth

"Enjoy your victory, Commander. It will be the last I deliver you."
―Connor to Washington at the Battle of Monmouth, 1778.[src]-[m]

In June 1778, Washington acted on Connor's intelligence and moved the Continental Army out of Valley Forge to intercept the British forces that was on their way from Philadelphia to New York. He selected Charles Lee for the advance guard despite Lee's insistence not to engage the British, and Lee finally undertook it after it was offered to Lafayette.[21] On 28 June, the Continental Army confronted the British Army at Monmouth. Ahead of the main army, Lee engaged with his frontline forces first, and his troops were initially faring well, but then he inexplicably ordered a sudden retreat that nearly dissolved into chaos. Had it not been for the efforts of Lafayette and Connor to shore up the withdrawing troops and fight a delaying action in time for the arrival of Washington, the battle could have been a disaster.[22]

ACIII-BattleofMonmouth 4

Washington with Connor and Lafayette in Monmouth

As Washington arrived, Connor and Lafayette approached him to report Charles Lee's peculiar movements that smacked of a scheme to sabotage the battle and discredit Washington. Connor repeated emphatically once more that Lee was plotting his death or disgrace so as to replace him as commander-in-chief. While Washington vowed to investigate Lee's conduct, he could not agree to punishing him without due process as Connor implied, for the political repercussions would be dire. Before leaving, Connor warned that should Washington spare Charles Lee, he would take his life himself and pronounced this to be the last of his military assistance.[22] Returning to the battle, Washington rallied the whole army for a renewed assault and through pitched fighting, he was able to secure victory at nightfall.[21]

Although this victory did not prevent the British from retreating to New York, it cemented Washington's reputation and destroyed that of Charles Lee, whom Washington submitted to a court martial in the aftermath, resulting in his suspension.[21] Even so, Lee was spared execution,[23] and Connor would eventually make good on his word to assassinate him on 2 October 1782 at the Conestoga Inn in Monmouth.[24]

Benedict Arnold's betrayal

"Whom can we trust now, if Patriot heroes are betraying us...?"
―Washington reflecting on Arnold's betrayal, 1780.[src]-[m]
ACIII-BA-Westpoint 4

Washington and Connor at West Point

In 1780, Washington requested Connor's help again, revealing that West Point had been infiltrated, and he had received information of a potential plot to assassinate Benedict Arnold. Connor reluctantly agreed to investigate and stop the plot but warned Washington to never call upon him again.[25]

Connor eventually uncovered that Arnold was a traitor, collaborating with John André to give West Point to the British General Henry Clinton. Though Connor eventually exposed the plot, leading to André's arrest, Arnold escaped on board HMS Vulture, as Connor was forced to defend the fort from Redcoats. Washington later met with Connor, revealing that André would be executed. As Washington lamented over Arnold's betrayal, Connor left, unsympathetically commenting "You reap what you sow."[26]

The Apple of Eden

"Take it! Take it from me. I do not want it! Sink it into the sea. Weight it and sink it into the bottom-most reaches of the ocean!"
―George Washington imploring Connor to get rid of the Apple.[src]-[m]
AC3 Washington Connor Apple Talk

Washington telling Connor about the Apple of Eden

In 1781, Washington came into contact with an Apple of Eden, which was taken from a captured officer following the Siege of Yorktown.[27] The American Revolution eventually ended two years later, with the Patriots as the victors. On 3 September, Washington signed the Treaty of Paris which officially ended the war between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies. Two months later on 4 December, Washington dissolved the Continental Army at the Fraunces Tavern in New York. Later that same month, he resigned from his position as commander-in-chief.[28]

After the British evacuated from the colonies, Connor met with Washington at Bowling Green in New York. The Assassin congratulated Washington for his victory, to which Washington decided to retire and settle into a quiet life. However, Connor scolded the idea, reprimanding Washington and implying that he did not deserve the luxury of relinquishing his responsibility as a leader.[15]

Some time later, Washington began suffering from disturbing dreams, which he suspected were coming from the Apple. In his distress, Washington sought out Connor and proceeded to describe the nightmares he had been experiencing. When Connor expressed his confusion and doubt, Washington showed him the Apple. Connor instantly recognized the Apple's familiar design and could sense its power; he asked Washington to hand it over, but as he touched it, both of them found themselves in an alternate reality of Washington's nightmares—the world of "King" Washington.[29]

Inevitable Confrontation 16

Washington resisting the idea of becoming a king

After Connor fought his way through the illusory world, both he and Washington were released back into reality, and Washington decided to pass the Apple to Connor. The commander suggested Connor dispose of the powerful artifact by dropping it into the sea via a weighted bag. While Connor did this, Washington was sitting in his office when the Apple generated an illusion of a man suggesting the United States needed a king. Washington, having seen the tyrant he had become in his nightmares, responded that crowning another monarch for the States would be a mistake, following which the illusion disappeared.[30]

Later life and death

"My death has not yet quite arrived, but it is near and inevitable as night follows day."
―George Washington journal[src]

In 1789, Washington was elected the first President of the United States. He served until 1797, where he then retired to his home on Mount Vernon. Washington later died in his home on 14 December 1799, but not before writing a final entry in his journal recollecting the events of his life and even remembering and naming Connor's importance in the American Revolution, accompanied by scribing one last page on the day of his death.[1] In his will, Washington freed the slaves on his plantation, but only after he and his wife Martha had died and so would not require their servitude.[31]

Alternate timeline

In the reality created by the Apple, Washington crowned himself king of the United States, used the Apple to obtain loyalty from his troops, and ruled from a massive pyramidic palace in New York. Under the Apple's influence, Washington became vicious and cruel with no trace of the humble but driven man that had led the Patriots to victory. Believing himself to have the Apple under control instead of the opposite, Washington used its power to control his troops and prominent allies he trusted most during the Apple dream, Benedict Arnold, Israel Putnam, and Benjamin Franklin; these men became cruel, wielding absolute power and freely slaughtering innocents in droves. A small rebellion, led by former followers Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson, started up but was no match for the King's loyal Bluecoats. In desperation, a native woman Kaniehtí:io infiltrated the palace and stole the scepter containing the Apple, but Israel Putnam shot it off her back before she escaped, recovering it for the king. [citation needed]

Washington responded to Kaniehtí:io's theft by launching an assault on the Frontier, burning Concord and Lexington to find her and killing all in the way. She and her son confronted Washington in Lexington, but Ratonhnhaké:ton—having been forced into the reality by the Apple of Eden—expressed confusion as to why Washington would do such a thing. King Washington, who never knew Connor, deemed him a delusional savage and rode off.[32]

ACIII-Warn 15

Washington firing his pistols at Ratonhnhaké:ton

Kaniehtí:io and Ratonhnhaké:ton returned to Kanatahséton, where Washington's troops attacked shortly after. The king rode in with Arnold and Putnam at his side and proceeded to kill Kaniehtí:io with the scepter. Ratonhnhaké:ton tried to attack the king, but he was no match for the mad monarch's power, and Washington proceeded to shoot him repeatedly and stab him with a bayonet. Despite this, Ratonhnhaké:ton survived, and after assassinating Arnold, he was captured by Putnam and brought to Boston as a present for the king.[32]

There, an impressed and curious Washington observed Ratonhnhaké:ton in his cell and ordered him beheaded, along with another captured native and a score of innocent citizens taken at random, turning on Franklin when the man questioned the harshness of the suggestion. However, the Assassin escaped and assaulted Benjamin Franklin, severing Washington's grip on his mind. Shortly afterwards, the king appeared seemingly out of nowhere, refusing to have anyone meddle in his plans. However, Ratonhnhaké:ton proved to be a match for the king this time, having embarked on spirit journeys to gain the powers of the wolf and eagle. Washington subsequently fled to his palace in New York, leaving Putnam in charge of Boston.[32]

Dark Waters 11

Washington confronting Franklin

When Ratonhnhaké:ton escaped from Boston after having assassinated Putnam, he arrived in New York and used the Aquila to devastate Washington's fleet. As a result, the king rode out to New York's western district, where he found Franklin washed ashore. Franklin vowed he would not come under Washington's spell again, so the king obliged by trying to kill him instead. Fortunately, Ratonhnhaké:ton's friend Kanen'tó:kon tackled Washington, knocking the scepter away. In a furious show of defiance, Kanen'tó:kon almost assassinated the helpless king, but a group of soldiers managed to shoot him to death. At once, Washington took back the scepter and retreated to his palace.[32]

Buoyed by Ratonhnhaké:ton's destruction of the fleet, Thomas Jefferson led an attack on the pyramid's courtyard. Ratonhnhaké:ton, having gained the power of the bear, began shaking the courtyard, to which Washington overheard from his throne and expressed anger that people would attack him after all he had done in the war. As unrest in the city spread, Washington tried to win popularity by declaring that he would invade England and enslave its population, but this did not prevent the populace from turning on the military occupation.[32]

Inevitable Confrontation 8

A wounded Washington sitting on his throne

As fighting raged before his palace gates, Washington stood atop the pyramid's stained glass ceiling, waiting for Ratonhnhaké:ton to confront him. When the Assassin arrived, he offered to spare Washington if he gave up the Apple, claiming the Apple controlled him, but the king refused. Ratonhnhaké:ton ended the battle by breaking the ceiling, causing the two men to fall inside the pyramid; A mortally wounded Washington picked up the Apple and slumped into his throne, dying where he lay. Following this, by reaching for the Apple, Ratonhnhaké:ton returned to the true timeline.[30]

Legacy

Throughout his life, Washington was a landowner, planter, soldier, politician, and a military hero. Despite some flaws in his leadership and the expenses of his poor military choices, Washington's actions were significant as an experienced officer and leader. As Commander-in-Chief, Washington was notably efficient in organizing the Continental Army by coordinating logistics, training, and drilling his troops. More importantly, he maintained an elevated command presence and was a heroic icon for the Patriots, ensuring their unity, morale, and dedication to the Revolution.

Inadvertently, Washington was also an obstacle to the Templars, Charles Lee in particular, and their plans to control the colonies. As a result, he was unwittingly tangled in the secret war between the Templars and Assassins, and forged a highly beneficial alliance with Connor that would greatly impact the course of the Revolution. However, the revealed truth of Washington's acts against the Native Americans eventually alienated him from Connor.

To this day, Washington remains an important and iconic historical figure in American history, as a Founding Father of the United States and its first President.[2]

Details of Washington's Apple were later collected by the Assassin Clay Kaczmarek in 2012 while he was held captive by Abstergo Industries at their Animus Project laboratory in Rome. He then hid the information within the Animus 1.28 in Glyph puzzles for his successor, Desmond Miles.[33] Sometime in early September,[34] Desmond solved the puzzle set titled "Sixty-Four Squares", in which Washington was included in a list of historic heads-of-states who had all carried the same Piece of Eden.[33]

Behind the scenes

George Washington, famous today as the first President of the United States of America, is a historical figure who features as a major supporting character in Assassin's Creed III (2012), which is set in the time of the American Revolution.

Washington's destruction of Kanatahséton

Washington's arc in the story serves to deconstruct popular appraisal of him as a leading Founding Father of the United States by unveiling the unsavoury aspects of his character and history. In the story, he is initially an idol to the main protagonist, a Kanien'kehá:ka Assassin named Connor, until it is revealed in the memory "Broken Trust" that he has ordered a genocidal campaign against the Iroquois in the midst of the American Revolutionary War. Additionally, when Washington confesses to having conducted the same scorched earth policy in the Seven Years' War, the main antagonist Haytham Kenway implicates him in the prior destruction of Connor's home village Kanatahséton, which resulted in the death of his mother Kaniehtí:io.[19]

The genocide against the Iroquois in the Revolutionary War is the historical Sullivan Expedition, and Washington's responsibility for it is both historical[35] and unequivocal within the fictional story itself. On the other hand, his role in burning Connor's village is more ambiguous because it is only established by Haytham Kenway as an unreliable narrator and because Connor's own eyewitness account heavily supports the Templars being the perpetrators. There are conflicts in the chronology of events for Washington to be the culprit.

The following points introduces ambiguity of Washington's culpability in the destruction of Kanatahséton within Assassin's Creed III as a primary source for the canon:

  • "Hide and Seek", the memory in which the destruction of Kanatahséton occurs, is dated 1760 when Ratonhnhaké:ton is only four-year-old. Historically, George Washington resigned from military service in the Seven Years' War at the end of 1758,[5] a fact that is acknowledged in Assassin's Creed III in his database entry.[2] Moreover, while the Seven Years' War officially ended in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris,[6] virtually all hostilities in the Americas had ceased by 1760[36] with the exception of the conquest of New France.[37]
  • The confession that Haytham extracts from Washington is indirect. He leads Washington into admitting to having burned indigenous villages in the Seven Years' War, resulting in the assumption by players and the characters alike that Kanatahséton must have been one of them—but this is never confirmed. Washington could only have been referring to the Forbes Expedition of 1758, when Connor would have only been two-years-old and two years before the setting of "Hide and Seek". Haytham also gives the wrong timeframe for when the earlier would have been given. stating it was 14 years prior the confrontation. But this would put the incident in 1764, 4 years after the death of Ratonhnhaké:ton's mother.
  • Haytham discounts that Templars were responsible because he had commanded his subordinates to relinquish their pursuit of the Grand Temple protected by the village. His own testimony does not disprove the possibility that these subordinates defied his order or even destroyed a village without him knowing. "Hide and Seek" can be taken as an eyewitness account by Connor that Charles Lee, William Johnson, Thomas Hickey, and Benjamin Church had threatened his life for the village's whereabouts and had intended to threaten the village in turn for information about the Grand Temple—moments before it is set on fire.
  • The Iroquois were historically allies of the British during the Seven Years' War, giving no cause for Washington to attack them.[38]

A couple of works published at a later date, Assassin's Creed: Rebellion and Assassin's Creed: Atlas, simply state that Washington burned Connor's village, without accounting for the discrepancies. Assassin's Creed: Initiates alone tries to do so through the database entry "Smoke Leads To...". Here, Washington is described as ordering the destruction of Kanatahséton to "eradicate the native threat during the 'French and Indian War"—apparently from his own home in Mount Vernon. Dating the event to 2 November 1760, the entry aligns with the date given for the incident in "Hide and Seek" at the expense of alignment with the historical facts of Washington's resignation, the de facto end of conflict in British America, and the alliance between the Iroquois and the British.

Trivia

  • In Assassin's Creed III, Connor can interact with Washington through a game of bocce once he has liberated all of the districts in both Boston and New York. This corresponds on the Animus mini-map with a ⟨W⟩ mark.
  • While Connor holds contempt for Washington after learning of his actions against the Iroquois, he concedes that Washington is a man of reason, compared to the one he encounters in the alternate timeline.
  • In Assassin's Creed: Rogue, Washington wears the standard red uniform of British soldiers. In Assassin's Creed III, however, during the Braddock Expedition, he is distinguished from all the other British troops by his blue uniform, even before the American Revolution has broken out and despite serving with the British Army. This could be done to make Washington more distinct.
  • In the memory "Execution is Everything", it is possible for Haytham to kill Washington, though this causes desynchronization.
  • Washington had reddish-brown hair in his youth, which he powdered in later life. However, Assassin's Creed III depicts him with grey hair in 1755. This oversight was corrected in Assassin's Creed: Rogue.
  • It is necessary for Connor to have three conversations with Washington—two in Valley Forge and one in New York—in order to complete one of the challenges given by the colonial frontiersmen.

Appearances

Notes

  1. The "Virginia militia" in the database entries of Assassin's Creed III is mentioned repeatedly but never by its formal name, the Viriginia Regiment.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 George Washington's notebook
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Assassin's Creed IIIDatabase: George Washington
  3. Assassin's Creed: RogueBy Invitation Only
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Assassin's Creed IIIDatabase: Battle of Fort Necessity
  5. 5.0 5.1 Lengel, Edward G. (2007). "The Virginia Regiment · July 1735 – January 1759". In General George Washington: A Military Life. New York, NY: Random House Trade Paperbacks, pp. 63–80.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Assassin's Creed IIIDatabase: French and Indian War
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Assassin's Creed IIIDatabase: Fort Duquesne
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Assassin's Creed IIIDatabase: Braddock Expedition
  9. Assassin's Creed IIIExecution is Everything
  10. Assassin's Creed IIIThe Braddock Expedition
  11. 11.0 11.1 Assassin's Creed IIIDatabase: Edward Braddock
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 Assassin's Creed IIIBroken Trust
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 Assassin's Creed III
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 Assassin's Creed IIIDatabase: Valley Forge.
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 Assassin's Creed IIIFloating conversations: George Washington
  16. 16.0 16.1 Assassin's Creed IIIMissing Supplies
  17. Assassin's Creed IIIA Bitter End
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 Assassin's Creed IIIDatabase: Sullivan Expedition
  19. 19.0 19.1 Assassin's Creed IIIHide and Seek
  20. Assassin's Creed IIIDatabase: Haudenosaunee Economy – The Three Sisters
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 Assassin's Creed IIIDatabase: Battle of Monmouth
  22. 22.0 22.1 Assassin's Creed IIIBattle of Monmouth
  23. Assassin's Creed IIIBattle of the Chesapeake
  24. Assassin's Creed IIIChasing Lee
  25. Assassin's Creed IIIBenedict ArnoldTraitor in Our Midst
  26. Assassin's Creed IIIBenedict ArnoldBattle of West Point
  27. Assassin's Creed IIIThe Tyranny of King Washington: The RedemptionLucid Memory Fragments
  28. Assassin's Creed: InitiatesDatabase: Washington's Resignation
  29. Assassin's Creed IIIThe Tyranny of King WashingtonLucid Memory Fragments
  30. 30.0 30.1 Assassin's Creed IIIThe Tyranny of King Washington: The RedemptionInevitable Confrontation
  31. Assassin's Creed IIIDatabase: George Washington
  32. 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 32.4 Assassin's Creed IIIThe Tyranny of King Washington [citation needed]
  33. 33.0 33.1 Assassin's Creed IIGlyph 2: "Sixty-Four Squares"
  34. Assassin's Creed: InitiatesThe Desmond Files
  35. Kamensky, Jane. (2019). "American Revolutions, 1775–1783". In A People and a Nation: A History of the United States. 11th edition. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, pp. 146–173.
  36. Nichols, Roger L. (2014). "Living with Strangers, 1700–1783". In American Indians in U.S. History. 2nd edition. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, pp. 41–59.
  37. Kamensky, Jane. (2019). "The Ends of Empire, 1754–1774". In A People and a Nation: A History of the United States. 11th edition. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, pp. 118–145
  38. Pevar, Stephen L. (2012). "A History of Federal Indian Policy". In The Rights of Indians and Tribes. 4th edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, pp. 1–15.

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