Valley Forge National Historical Park

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History

Images & Videos

Valley Forge National Historical Park

Learn how George Washington and other commanders reconstituted the Continental Army while wintering at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, during the American Revolution

Valley Forge National Historic Park

Read Next

Close up of a hand placing a ballot in a ballot box. Election vote voter voting

Have Any U.S. Presidents Decided Not to Run For a Second Term?

Washington, D.C. locator map.

What State Is Washington, D.C. In?

Parsons Weems' Fable, oil on canvas by Grant Wood, 1939; in the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Catalog entry: The historian Mason Locke Weems, commonly known by his clerical title, Parson Weems, pulls back a curtain to point at 6-year-old George Washington. Bearing an adult head and holding an axe, George gazes blankly up at his father, Augustine, who questions his son while holding a partially cut cherry tree. All of this takes place in front of a 20th-century brick building, which Wood modeled after his own home in Iowa. The scene illustrates the fable of Washington and the cherry tree, which Weems invented in 1806 for the first president's biography. Wood playfully suggests the artifice of the tale here, presenting the story in the manner of a costumed stage play rather than a real event. Amid the action, two Black figures pick cherries in the background, a reference to Washington' slaveholding past and a reminder of of what often gets left out in historical mythmaking.

Did George Washington Really Say, “I Can’t Tell a Lie”?

The United States Supreme Court building, Washington, D.C.

14 Questions About Government in the United States Answered

"George Washington before the Battle of Trenton" oil on canvas by John Trumbull, c. 1792-94; in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

The Plot to Assassinate George Washington

Discover

Parsons Weems' Fable, oil on canvas by Grant Wood, 1939; in the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Catalog entry: The historian Mason Locke Weems, commonly known by his clerical title, Parson Weems, pulls back a curtain to point at 6-year-old George Washington. Bearing an adult head and holding an axe, George gazes blankly up at his father, Augustine, who questions his son while holding a partially cut cherry tree. All of this takes place in front of a 20th-century brick building, which Wood modeled after his own home in Iowa. The scene illustrates the fable of Washington and the cherry tree, which Weems invented in 1806 for the first president's biography. Wood playfully suggests the artifice of the tale here, presenting the story in the manner of a costumed stage play rather than a real event. Amid the action, two Black figures pick cherries in the background, a reference to Washington' slaveholding past and a reminder of of what often gets left out in historical mythmaking.

Did George Washington Really Say, “I Can’t Tell a Lie”?

Fish. Lionfish. Lion-fish. Turkey fish. Fire-fish. Red lionfish. Pterois volitans. Venomous fin spines. Coral reefs. Underwater. Ocean. Red lionfish swims by seaweed.

10 of the World’s Most Dangerous Fish

January 21, 2019: Superbowl LIII will be played at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, February 3, 2019 against the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams.

What Was the Super Bowl’s First Blockbuster Commercial?

Chapter 4 pg 42 - Chapter header of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Published in 1884 by The American Publishing Company

Periods of American Literature

The Lost Colony of Roanoke, North Carolina, where 115 people mysteriously disappeared c. 1590. John White discovers the word Croatoan carved onto a tree upon his return to the deserted Roanoke Colony in 1590

The Lost Colony of Roanoke

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy. Giant amphitheatre built in Rome under the Flavian emperors. (ancient architecture; architectural ruins)

New Seven Wonders of the World

winter ice melting salt on the ground, pattern as background

Why Does Salt Melt Ice?

Valley Forge National Historical Park

park, Pennsylvania, United States

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Learn how George Washington and other commanders reconstituted the Continental Army while wintering at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, during the American Revolution — Learn how George Washington and other commanders reconstituted the Continental Army while wintering at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, during the American RevolutionLearn how George Washington and other commanders oversaw the regrouping and retraining of the Continental Army while wintering at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in 1777–78 during the American Revolution.
See all videos for this article

Valley Forge National Historical Park, national historical park, southeastern Pennsylvania, U.S. The 5.4-square-mile (14-square-km) park commemorates the site where Gen. George Washington camped with his Continental Army in the winter of 1777–78 during the American Revolution. The park was established in 1976.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.