Letter to the Editor

Misuse of Washington

By M. W. Schwartzwalder, Walden
Posted 6/25/20

President Trump has once again cited the fact that George Washington owned slaves as a way to defend having public displays of statues of Confederate soldiers and keeping the names of military bases …

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Letter to the Editor

Misuse of Washington

Posted

President Trump has once again cited the fact that George Washington owned slaves as a way to defend having public displays of statues of Confederate soldiers and keeping the names of military bases named for Confederate officers.

Unlike the officers in the army of the Confederate States of America, Washington knew that slavery was wrong, but he had great difficulty figuring out what would become of his slaves if they were not his. Freed slaves were in many cases snatched up by slavers and sold back into bondage. In 1799 there were 317 slaves at Mount Vernon and 123 were owned by George.

In his will George freed his slaves upon the death of his wife. Martha decided to free George’s slaves earlier than that and in 1800 she signed a deed of manumission for his slaves who were then freed January 1, 1801. Although it’s a bit fuzzy, it seems that many of the freed slaves remained on the estate as share croppers so they would be safe. The other slaves at Mount Vernon were part of Martha’s estate and they went to her children from her first marriage upon her death.

Washington’s ideas about race would not put him at the forefront of “woke” by 2020 standards, but he was ahead of his times on the matter and his perspective was far different than that of soldiers fighting for the Confederate States of America.