How Barbados Helped George Washington Win the American Revolution

Which country takes credit for helping the thirteen American colonies win the Revolutionary War?
1. England
2. China
3. Barbados

Wait...wait....

Further, which country did George Washington visit? He made only one trip out of what would become the United States, and he did so as a young man.

Well, with winter coming on to most parts of these current United States a person's first guess might be Barbados.

Right!

You don't win a trip, but if you ever get to Barbados you'll be able to see where Washington slept.

Yes. Unlike so many places that claim to have had George as a slumber party guest, this is the real deal.

It took some detective work to find it out (it was a long time ago, after all), but Barbados National Trust announced in 1989 that it had located the house of Lawrence Washington, George's brother, and they set about restoring it. Today the house, which President and Mrs. Clinton visited, is open for any American visitors. Tour the property and watch a short video which will tell you about Washington and his only travels outside the American Colonies.

George Washington visited Barbados in 1751, and stayed with his brother in a house they rented for two months. Lawrence was suffering from tuberculosis, and hoped a trip to the warmer, tropical climate would help cure the disease. While in Barbados George contracted a mild case of smallpox. He recovered and it left him with an immunity that would serve him well later, and, indeed, may have saved the original colonies from continued British rule.

Barbados is the eastern most Caribbean island, and was an important trading partner during Washington's time. Rum was a main export from Barbados, and was a main alcoholic drink for the early settlers, who imbibed for pleasure and for medicinal reasons.

Washington's stay on Barbados was a pleasant experience, outside of his short bout with smallpox, and is not unlike the modern day tourist. He took in the scenery, took horseback rides and enjoyed the natural hospitality of Barbadians or "Bajans".

Lawrence Washington did not respond to treatment and would die later back in America.

George Washington, however, took back an important souvenir of his trip to Barbados. When many troops were afflicted with smallpox during the American Revolution, Washington, the Commander-in-Chief of the Colonial Forces stood strong.

He had brought home an immunity to smallpox, thanks to his short visit to Barbados.

Smallpox today is not a problem in Barbados, and neither is tuberculosis, but the warm climate, hospitable Bajans and some of the same activities Washington enjoyed -- as well as the house "where George Washington slept"-- are available for exploration by the modern tourist.