History is written by the victors. In American history textbooks, George Washington is the ultimate hero—the stoic general who led a ragtag army to victory and the wise first president who stepped down from power. He is the "Father of His Country," carved into mountains and immortalized on currency. But if we strip away the mythology and examine his actions through the lens of strict legality—both 18th-century law and modern definitions of political violence—a different picture emerges. It is the portrait of a man who, while achieving great political feats, was also a perpetrator of acts that fit the definitions of treason, terrorism, and war crimes. To truly understand our history, we must be willing to look at the full ledger. Here is a breakdown of the "criminal" acts committed by George Washington. 1. The Terrorist: Leading a Conspiracy Against the Crown Before he was a president, George Washington was a radical insurgent. By modern definitions, his ...