Rip van winkle was a character in a short story by the American writer washington irving. in the story,Rip lived in a little town in the Hudson Valley,in New York,in the 1770s,around the time of the American Revolution. Rip Went out hunting one day,took a nap under a tree,and fell asleep.He woke up 20 years later to find himself a citizen of a brand-new country-the united states of America.