'Washington as general and president was both father to his nation and {as plantation and slave owner} father to his slaves.(Emphasis added) So, as the author argues, 'the Washington mythology opened a space for the incorporation of slaves into this national family, with slaves, like white Americans, united in bonds of affection and gratitude {and consent?} to Washington ... {Thus, the} paternalist ideology of nationalism blended into and eventually authorized a paternalist {and acceptable} ideology of slaveholding as these texts promoted both nationalism and slavery in the name of the father.'I think the former Colonists already had some idea of themselves as a nation, and while the contradictions are evident, there's no reason to assume that any of what he is talking about was intentional.
Nations happen. They aren't invented. See various attempts at "nation-building."
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