Which of these books was not available during the life of George Washington?

George Washington was born in 1732 and died in 1799. Therefore, only Treasure Island was not available to him. Its publication date was 1881.

Robinson Crusoe was published in 1719.

Gulliver's Travels was published in 1726.

The Pilgrim's Progress was written in 1678.

If he read any of them or not is unknown. The death of his father prevented Washington from an education at England's Appleby School, as his older brothers had received. He achieved the equivalent of an elementary school education from a variety of tutors, as well as from a school run by an Anglican clergyman in or near Fredericksburg Va.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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25 Comments

Karen Riedel

I love these kinds of questions.

Dossie M Terrell

Excellent question.

Helga U. Williams

Great question and educational narrative. I had no idea how old these publications were! Very informative! 👍

earlepg

Read three of the books and remembered that Stevenson wrote Treasure Island in the late 1800s, which put it well after Washington.

fdeisner

Went with a gut feeling and got it correct.

gdwhitton

Wow. Read them all years ago but didn't realize how old they were.

Carol Lauter

One of my dad's favorite when he was a boy!

Tom Seigo

It had to be Treasure Island, well after Washington's time!

lmjmom

Got it.

Alisa Boyd

Great question!

Mark Ann Dubaz

Good book. I have a copy of it.

Robert Fowler

I suppose knowing Stevenson also wrote "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde happened in London, mid 1800's, which was approx. 100 years after Washington, helped. Thinking cap had to go on. Thanks, John.