Favorite US President

[Anomalocaris]

You're joking, right?

Not at all. The letter was written, sent and received before the end of the revolutionary war.

A coup is an attempt to seize power from a legitimate governing authority. By any sensible standard, a revolution is simply a successful coup.

Boru

obviously the legitimacy of the governing authority depends on who one asks.   one does not rebel if one thinks the authority is governing legitimately, or is legitimate in any other important sense.    So I think the key here is what was George washington’s own perception of what legitimate governing authority he operated under just before the possibility of his being crowned king is raised, and in view of that perception whether his conduct after that was raised would be praise worthy.