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Chocolate and the Forging of a Nation

  • Writer: PACC
    PACC
  • 4 days ago
  • 2 min read

As America celebrates its 250th birthday, we're looking back at one of the more unique connections between the nation's founding generation and one of today's most beloved delicacies: chocolate.


During the eighteenth century, chocolate was not eaten in the form of bars or truffles. Instead, it was most often enjoyed as a warm, frothy drink served alongside coffee and tea. In fact, chocolate was so popular in colonial America that hundreds of tons of cacao beans were imported into the colonies each year.


Among chocolate's most devoted fans were George and Martha Washington. Records preserved at Mount Vernon show that George Washington began purchasing chocolate as early as 1757 and continued ordering it throughout his life. Historical invoices and receipts document regular purchases for the Washington household, confirming that chocolate was a staple on their breakfast table. Unlike the hot cocoa we know today, eighteenth-century chocolate was typically prepared by grating chocolate into hot water, milk, wine, or a mixture of the three. It was then whisked or frothed, often with the addition of spices.


Martha Washington was also known for her fondness for chocolate. Rather than drinking the richer style favored by many colonists, she often enjoyed a lighter tea-like beverage made by steeping cacao shells. In a 1789 letter, George Washington even requested that a merchant obtain "20 lb. of the shells of Cocoa nuts" for Martha's preferred chocolate drink.


These connections take on special meaning in Pennsylvania, where Washington and the Continental Army endured the harsh winter of 1777–1778 at Valley Forge. While Valley Forge is remembered for sacrifice, perseverance, and the struggle for independence, it also reminds us that the founders were ordinary people who found comfort in familiar foods and beverages during extraordinary times. Nearby Yellow Springs Hospital, which cared for many sick soldiers from the Valley Forge encampment, even listed chocolate among its hospital supplies, reflecting the eighteenth-century view of chocolate as a nourishing and restorative drink. Just as coffee and tea played a role in daily life, so too did drinking chocolate.


More than two centuries later, that history continues to inspire us. As part of America’s 250th anniversary celebration, the Pennsylvania Chocolate and Coffee Festival is proud to unveil a one-of-a-kind chocolate sculpture depicting George Washington on horseback enjoying a cup of drinking chocolate. The sculpture is being hand-crafted by internationally recognized chocolate sculptor and storyteller Paul Joachim, Vice President of the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund, whose work blends large-scale chocolate artistry with education, audience engagement, and guided tastings that explore chocolate’s agricultural, historical, and cultural roots in America. It serves as a tribute to both the nation’s founding and the rich history of chocolate in early America.


On October 24 & 25 visitors to the Pennsylvania Chocolate and Coffee Festival will have the first opportunity to experience this remarkable work of edible art while learning about the surprising role chocolate played in the lives of those who founded our nation. It's a sweet reminder that some traditions, even a good cup of hot chocolate, have been bringing Americans together since the very beginning.



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