The unfortunate condition of the persons, whose labour in part I employed, has been the only unavoidable subject of regret. [39] He was constantly disappointed with enslaved workers who did not share his motivation and resisted his demands, leading him to regard them as indolent and insist that his overseers supervise them closely at all times. 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial HighwayMount Vernon, Virginia 22121. [160] At his death, Washington's extensive library included at least seventeen publications on slavery. [44] Between 1766 and 1799, seven dower slaves worked at one time or another as overseers. [40][41][42], In 1799, nearly three-quarters of the enslaved population, over half of them female, worked in the fields. Let’s start with their names. While George Washington was an active slave owner for 56 years, he was often conflicted with the idea of slavery. Wiencek suggests Washington considered making precisely such a statement on taking up the presidency in 1789. [1], In 1671, Virginia counted 6,000 white indentured servants among its 40,000 population but only 2,000 people of African descent, up to a third of whom in some counties were free. Some crops were grown at this farm, but the main agricultural business was conducted at the four outlying farms located in a radius of between one and a half miles (2.4 km) and three miles (4.8 km) from the mansion: Dogue Run Farm, Muddy Hole Farm, Union Farm (formed from the earlier Ferry Farm and French's Farm) and River Farm. As Lafayette forged ahead with his plan, Washington offered encouragement but expressed concern in 1786 about "much inconvenience and mischief" an abrupt emancipation might generate, and he gave no tangible support to the idea. Of the 317 enslaved people at Mount Vernon in 1799, 123 of the individuals were owned by George Washington and were eligible to be freed as per the terms of the will. Upon Martha Washington’s death in 1802, these individuals were divided among the Custis grandchildren. Morgan called slavery a system “that enmeshed master and slave” and one Washington sunk further into as he aged, despite his personal desires to eliminate it … They belonged to the Custis estate and were held in trust by Martha for the Custis heirs, and although Washington had no legal title to them, he managed them as his own property. [65] They used the proceeds to purchase from Washington or the shops in Alexandria better clothing, housewares and extra provisions such as flour, pork, whiskey, tea, coffee and sugar. Moses and Susan Carver, his owners, reputedly opposed slavery. Of that total, he owned 124, leased 40 and controlled 153 dower slaves. [89] The living arrangements left some enslaved females alone and vulnerable, and the Mount Vernon research historian Mary V. Thompson writes that relationships "could have been the result of mutual attraction and affection, very real demonstrations of power and control, or even exercises in the manipulation of an authority figure". [36] He demanded from all of his workers the same meticulous eye for detail that he exercised himself; a former enslaved worker would later recall that the "slaves...did not quite like" Washington, primarily because "he was so exact and so strict...if a rail, a clapboard, or a stone was permitted to remain out of its place, he complained; sometimes in language of severity. [132] The historian Edmund Sears Morgan explained that Washington was not alone in this regard: "Virginia produced the most eloquent spokesmen for freedom and equality in the entire United States: George Washington, James Madison, and, above all, Thomas Jefferson. List of Slaves Belonging to George Washington and John Parke Custis [December 1771] An … Morgan writes that in 1772, Washington was "all business" and "might have been buying livestock" in purchasing more slaves who were to be, in Washington's words, "strait Limb'd, & in every respect strong & likely, with good Teeth & good Countenance". [228][229] Washington also signed into law the Slave Trade Act of 1794 that banned the involvement of American ships and American exports in the international slave trade. [75] The value attached to the birth of an enslaved child, if it was noted at all, is indicated in the weekly report of one overseer, which stated, "Increase 9 Lambs & 1 male child of Lynnas." [b] – making him one of the largest slaveholders in Fairfax County. Influences from both African and European religious practices can be found amongst Mount Vernon’s enslaved population. [204][205] Later the same year, he declined a suggestion from the leading French abolitionist Jacques Brissot to form and become president of an abolitionist society in Virginia, stating that although he was in favor of such a society and would support it, the time was not yet right to confront the issue. Slavery was a system in which enslaved people lived in fear; fear of being sold, fear of being separated from their families or their children or their parents, fear of not being in control of their bodies or their lives, fear of never knowing freedom. [78] African-born slaves brought with them some of the religious rituals of their ancestral home, and there is an undocumented tradition of voodoo being practiced at one of the Mount Vernon farms. [303], An alternative narrative more in line with proslavery sentiments embraced rather than excised Washington's ownership of slaves. Each document than 100 year old George Washington and slavery continued at Mount Vernon ’ s property. 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