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The history of George Washington and slavery reflects Washington's changing attitude toward the ownership of human beings. The preeminent Founding Father of the United States and a hereditary slaveowner, Washington became increasingly uneasy with it.
Despite having been an enslaver for 56 years, George Washington struggled with the institution of slavery and wrote of his desire to end the practice. At the end of his life, Washington made the decision to free all of the enslaved people he owned in his 1799 will.
The Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington invites readers to explore a variety of topics related to slavery, enslaved persons, and Washington's land. Use this link to find a list of entries pertaining to enslaved individuals, their lives and experiences, and the plantations where they worked.
Of the nine presidents who were slaveholders, only George Washington freed all his own slaves upon his death. Before the Revolution, Washington, like most White Americans, took slavery for granted. At the time of the Revolution, one-fifth of the colonies’ population lived in bondage.
George Washington began questioning slavery during the Revolutionary War, when he led the North American colonies’ battle for independence from Great Britain. Learn More. Slavery and Washington's Presidency. After the Revolution, George Washington repeatedly voiced opposition to slavery in personal correspondence.
Feb 8, 2017 · In 1796, a 22-year-old enslaved woman named Ona Judge fled President George Washington’s household for a life of freedom in New Hampshire.
Feb 23, 2015 · Speaking Thursday at the fourth annual George Washington Lecture—the intellectual component of GW’s recognition of its namesake’s birthday—Dr. 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 from his life.
May 3, 2024 · George Washington owned enslaved people from age eleven until his death, when his will promised his enslaved people freedom. His actions and private statements suggest a long evolution in his stance on slavery, based on experience and a possible awakening of conscience.
Washington and Congress responded with a series of racist measures: naturalization was denied to black immigrants; blacks were barred from serving in state militias; the Southwest Territory (later the state of Tennessee) was permitted to maintain slavery; and two more slave states were admitted (Kentucky in 1792 and Tennessee in 1796).
To be sure, Washington’s ideas about slavery and the potential for Black emancipation evolved over his lifetime. He did free the enslaved people he owned in his will, which is much more than most people in his generation.
