Many people wonder how George Washington, who has been called the "father of liberty and freedom," could own slaves. By our modern social standards, it is hard to understand the world in which Washington lived – a world where human beings could be considered property and where slavery was common.
Although slavery had been a conventional practice in many parts of the world for thousands of years, chattel slavery - the system of slavery that developed in the North American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries was particularly cruel. Under the laws of chattel slavery, slaves were considered property rather than people. In the eyes of the law, a slave had no greater legal standing than a horse or a dog. Slaves could not legally own property. Their marriages were not recognized by law. Slaves could be bought, sold, and rented like any other form of property. They were given as gifts, bequeathed in wills, and even offered as prizes in lotteries.
At the age of eleven, George Washington inherited ten slaves in his father’s will. The institution of slavery had always been a part of his life – his father, brothers, and neighbors used slaves to work their land, serve in their homes, and help care for their children. As he grew older, Washington acquired additional slaves through purchase and through his marriage to Martha Dandridge Custis, a young widow who brought 25 slaves to Mount Vernon upon her marriage to Washington in 1759.
Many factors influenced Washington’s use of slave labor at Mount Vernon during his lifetime, but the primary reason was a colonial plantation system that was dependent upon the availability of abundant labor. Washington and other large landowners kept thousands of acres under cultivation. From the earliest days of English settlement in the colonies, the issue of labor had been problematic. The colonies filled two roles in England’s economy: they were a source of raw materials for its factories and people, and a market for finished goods. The colonies were, however, chronically short of laborers to produce the raw materials. In the 17th and early 18th centuries, colonists, particularly in Virginia, attempted to enslave Native Americans but quickly found that strategy unsuccessful as the Native Americans could easily slip away and find refuge in their villages or with other tribes. Although many laborers arrived in the colonies as indentured servants, their term of employment lasted from four to seven years, and the sheer amount of land under cultivation meant that there were too few indentured servants to meet the needs of large planters.
Colonists began to look elsewhere for labor, and the introduction of enslaved Africans became common in the colonies by the early 18th century. Economically, slavery was seemingly a better value for planters, as once a slave was purchased they were owned for life. Julian Neimcewicz, a Polish visitor to Mount Vernon in the late 18th century recorded his observations of slavery: "The real cause, or so it appears to me for the necessity and the existence of Negroes in the United States is the excessive extent of the individual properties, and the small number of whites that there are in view of the size of the country."
George Washington had, since childhood, accepted the institution of slavery. For the last twenty-five years of his life, however, he struggled with the whole idea. As early as the 1770s, he decreed that he would no longer sell a slave without his or her permission because he was averse to breaking apart family units. Although the law did not recognize slave marriages, George Washington did recognize and encourage marriage in the community at Mount Vernon.
His experience in the Revolution undoubtedly affected Washington’s perception of slavery. In 1786, he wrote to John Francis Mercer: "I never mean (unless some particular circumstances should compel me to it) to possess another slave by purchase; it being among my first wishes to see some plan adopted by the Legislature, by which slavery in the Country may be abolished by slow; sure and imperceptible degrees." He had spent eight years leading the army – much of it in the North, where slavery was far less common than in his native Virginia – and saw at firsthand an economic system that did not depend upon slavery. Further, the ideals for which he was fighting directly opposed a system that viewed human beings as property. It is almost certain that George Washington saw the irony in this situation. In 1794, he wrote to a friend; "Were it not then, that I am principled against selling Negroes, as you do cattle in the market, I would not, in twelve months, from this date, be possessed of one, as a slave...."
There was also a strong economic reason that factored heavily into Washington’s changing attitude toward the use of slave labor. He was a very practical man, and both his calculation of the economic return on slaves and his experience at Mount Vernon made him question the economic viability of the system. At Mount Vernon, Washington was responsible for feeding and clothing a community of more than 300 people, almost one half of whom were either too old or too young to work.
In 1793, Washington developed a plan that he felt might allow him to free the Mount Vernon slaves. He wrote to British agriculturist Arthur Young and proposed renting all but the Mansion House Farm to British tenant farmers. Washington included a detailed map of his estate as well as a complete description of each farm. Part of his plan called for freeing the Mount Vernon slaves, who would then be paid a salary by the tenant farmers to work the land. His plans illustrate how deeply torn Washington had become over the issue of slavery. If successful, Washington would have been able to free his slaves and ensure they had a means of support. He feared that freeing slaves without providing them a proper training in a trade would set them adrift in the world. Washington never found any viable potential tenants, however, and the plan was never implemented.
As President, Washington also faced the issue of slavery. On several occasions, he was approached by abolitionists who wanted his support to legally end the institution of slavery. Although his personal attitudes had changed, Washington feared the issue was volatile enough to tear the young nation apart. Believing that the southern states would never agree to abolition, he refused to take a public stand, fearing it could potentially generate a crisis in a government already struggling to establish policies agreeable to two new political parties.
As President, he believed the abolition of slavery needed to be a legislative policy. As early as 1786, he wrote to a friend enlisting his support, “there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a plan adopted for the abolition of it [slavery]; but there is only one proper and effectual mode by which it can be accomplished, and that is by Legislative authority.”
Although he did not take a public stand, Washington chose to lead by example and used his will, which was later published, as a way to provide freedom for those slaves at Mount Vernon belonging to him. Of the 316 slaves living on the estate in 1799, 123 belonged to George Washington. Forty were rented, and the remainder were “dower” slaves belonging to the estate of Martha Washington’s first husband. Upon his death, she, as his widow, had been given a lifetime interest in the property. By law, the Washingtons were unable to free the “dower” slaves who legally belonged to Daniel Custis’s other heirs.
In his will, Washington also made special provisions for Billy Lee, who had served him throughout the eight years of the Revolutionary War. Lee was freed immediately upon Washington's death and provided with a pension of $30 per year. By the terms of his will, the remaining slaves were to be freed after Mrs. Washington’s death. His will was very specific: "Upon the decease of my wife, it is my Will and desire that all the Slaves which I hold in my own right shall receive their freedom....And I do hereby expressly forbid the Sale, or transportation out of said Commonwealth, of any Slave I may die possessed of, under any pretence whatsoever."
In the end, however, Mrs. Washington chose not to wait to free the Washington slaves. Many historians theorize that, given the stipulations of Washington’s will, she may have feared for her life. At any rate, on January 1, 1801, she legally freed her second husband's slaves.
However, for many of the former slaves, their freedom was tinged with sadness. Because so many of the slaves had intermarried with slaves from the Custis estate, families were broken apart as the “dower” slaves remained at Mount Vernon. After Mrs. Washington’s death in 1802, they were divided among the Custis heirs as legal “property” that could be transferred from one person to another.
Who were the slaves at Mount Vernon?
Mount Vernon slaves lived and worked at all five of George Washington's farms as well as at the gristmill. By 1799, 316 people, or 90% of the total Mount Vernon community were African-American slaves. Of that number, 42% were either too old or too young to work or were disabled.
By the time Washington died in 1799, the slave population at Mount Vernon consisted primarily of second and third generation individuals. Very few were actually natives of Africa, although Washington’s step grandson, George Washington Parke Custis, wrote in his memoirs of “Father Jack,” a slave born in Africa who would spend hours telling the young boy of his home country and how he was captured into slavery.
Although Virginia law did not recognize slave marriages, George Washington encouraged marriage. Therefore, there were many family units at Mount Vernon, although husband and wife did not always live on the same farm. By law, children followed the condition of their mother. If the mother was a slave, then the child would be a slave. If the mother was free, than her children would be free even if their father was enslaved. At Mount Vernon, if the mother was a dower slave, her children would also be dower slaves.
Slave labor on the estate consisted of three main categories: trade and craftsmen, domestic, and field workers. Domestic slaves worked in the Mansion and included both men and women. Trades and craftsmen such as coopers, spinners, blacksmiths, and carpenters were generally male, while most field workers were female. Of the total slave population at Mount Vernon, 75% were field workers, and of that number, 61% were adult women.
Until about the age of eleven, children looked after themselves and their younger siblings and performed such chores as fetching water and hauling wood for their families. Between the ages of eleven and fourteen, children made up the transition group of “working boys and girls” who helped the adult work force in such tasks as making fences and hauling manure.
Everyday Life
At Mount Vernon, the workweek for slaves was Monday through Saturday with Sundays off. The length of the workday changed with the seasons. In the summer, when the sun rises at 5 a.m. and sets between 8 and 9 p.m., most slaves were probably on the job for up to 15 or 16 hours a day. During the winter, however, the workday might have been five or six hours shorter than in the winter. Washington’s papers show that his slaves received two one-hour breaks every workday for breakfast and dinner. In addition to having Sundays off, they received four holidays at Christmas, one for Easter, and another for Pentecost.
Washington thought of himself first as a farmer, and even while away during the war and the presidency, he kept in constant contact with his farm manager, who was required to submit a written weekly report. Although Washington maintained a formal relationship with the slaves at Mount Vernon, it is clear from his letters and instructions that he was very familiar with each individual. He knew their names, their occupations, their spouses, and their children. As a farmer, he was very intent on the work at his outlying farms, where crop production took place.
Each of the four outlying farms had slaves who lived and worked on the site, under an overseer who reported directly to the farm manager. (Over the years Washington had several overseers who themselves were slaves.) According to the 1799 census, the population at the farms was: Dogue Run Farm – 45 slaves -- 17 women; 7 men; 21 children; River Farm – 57 slaves -- 23 women; 15 men; 19 children; Muddy Hole Farm – 42 slaves -- 17 women, 7 men, 18 children; Union Farm – 72 slaves; 24 adult women; 18 adult men; 30 children. Many slaves also worked at one of Washington’s three fisheries. And several lived and worked at the mill and distillery complex, which also housed his cooperage.
Routine jobs on the farms varied with the seasons. In the spring, the slaves were busy with planting and caring for crops, following Washington’s meticulous instructions for plowing, fertilizing, and crop rotation. The farm laborers worked in “gangs” of eight to ten individuals and were assigned specific tasks, such as hoing or plowing.
Harvesting of crops generally began in the summer and was completed in the fall, when pens were prepared to hold animals over the winter. During the harvesting season, farm workers were joined by skilled and semi-skilled laborers from the Mansion House farm, grist mill, and other Mount Vernon farms. Everyone helped to complete the work on time so the crops would not be ruined. To improve eficiency, each slave was assigned to a specific role. There were cradlers, who cut the wheat; rakers, who gathered the wheat; shockers, who bound the wheat into sheaves; and conners, who stacked the sheaves before it was carted to a barn. It was not uncommon for slaves who worked hard to be granted a day off following the harvest.
Following the fall harvest came winter, when crops were processed, seeds were saved, fences repaired, and hogs slaughtered and preserved for food. In the meantime, the Mansion House slaves were kept busy preparing for the holidays.
Although free time was limited, it was not completely absent. On Sundays, many slaves spent the time attending to their own household chores, tending their gardens, telling stories, and playing music, games, and sports. In addition, the slaves were allowed to hunt and fish to supplement their food rations. In fact, Washington sometimes issued the slaves rifles for hunting. We know of at least one incident when two slaves, Tom Davis and Sambo Anderson, sold Washington ducks they had hunted, using his own weapns!
Visiting family and friends was another common use of free time. Often, family members were separated during the week because they lived on different Mount Vernon farms. They generally visited one another on Saturday nights, staying over until Sunday. Thus a practice called “night walking” was a common occurrence. Although Washington allowed night walking on the slaves' days off, he discouraged it on week-nights because he felt it made them too tired to work the next day.
Many of the slaves kept their own gardens and raised poultry to sell at market in order to earn money for “luxuries.” They were often allowed to go to the market in nearby Alexandria, Virginia, to sell their goods and to shop at the merchants’ stalls. Washington also allowed slaves to attend special events, as noted in his diary entry on October 9, 1786: "Allowed my People to go to the races in Alexandria on one of three days as best comported with their respective businesses."
It is interesting to compare the lifestyles of the slaves living on outlying farms with those living on the Mansion House farm. Although those living at the Mansion House were generally the skilled workers and were accorded more privileges, they also lived a lot closer to the farm manager and the Washington family. Those living on outlying farms often had more freedom because of their distance from the central seat of the plantation and the farm manager. Although they worked long hours, they were not on constant call as were the cooks, maids, and butlers who worked directly for the family.
Living Quarters
There were three types of structures that housed the Mount Vernon slaves. The most permanent was a large 2-story frame building with a brick foundation that stood at the Mansion House farm between 1760 and 1793. It was called the House for Families and housed almost 60 people who worked in and around the Mansion. The communal living space provided little privacy. In the early 1790s, the building was replaced by four large rooms in the wings of the new brick greenhouse that Washington had built . In addition, small private quarters for skilled laborers were sometimes located in the buildings where they worked, such as the blacksmiths shop or kitchen.
Field workers lived in small log structures daubed with mud. One can imagine the impermanence and quality of these homes by reading a letter written by George Washington to his farm manager in 1793: Removing the largest kind of Negro quarters (the smaller ones or cabbins I presume the people with little assistance of Carts can do themselves) to the ground marked out for them.... The houses were very crude, with very little furniture and few personal belongings. They were dirty and smoky and afforded no privacy. Rodents were a constant problem, and many slaves kept cats or dogs to help control them.
In 1798, Julian Niemcewicz, a Polish visitor to Mount Vernon visited one of the outlying farms. In his diary he described a cabin he visited: "We entered one of the huts of the Blacks, for one can not call them by the name of Houses. They are more miserable than the most miserable of the cottages of our peasants. The husband and wife sleep on a mean pallet, the children on the ground; a very bad fireplace, some utensils for cooking, but in the middle of this poverty some cups and a teapot."
Although the quarters of slaves living on the Mansion House farm were more substantial and comfortable than the cabins of the field slaves, they, too, provided little privacy. Further, they were located close to the Mansion, where the slaves were always on call.
Health problems were often made worse by close quarters. Slaves suffered from fleas, intestinal parasites, and body mites. Children were especially susceptible to respiratory and intestinal problems and frequently suffered accidents. Dr. James Craik, who had served with Washington in the war and remained his personal physician, was called to the plantation to treat serious medical problems among the slaves.
Clothing
Clothing was issued once a year and supplemented seasonally. Much of the cloth was manufactured at Mount Vernon, although records show that Washington did order Osnabrig (a coarse linen) from Europe. Men received breeches of wool and linen, a short wool jacket, 2 Osnabrig shirts, one pair of stockings and one pair of shoes. Women were given two Osnabrig shifts, a petticoat (skirt), a short gown (jacket) with a fitted bodice, one pair of stockings, and one pair of shoes. One new blanket was distributed each year as well.
The clothing was plain and coarse, with the exception of the formal outfits "livery" issued to the house servants. The house servants and the most productive artisans and farm workers were given a better quality of clothing than the children, the old, and the disabled.
Food
Food rations were distributed weekly. Each working slave received a peck of cornmeal (eight quarts), salted fish, buttermilk, and some meat, which was usually of lesser quality than cuts served in the Mansion. Food was also used as a reward for good work and extra rations were given during the busy harvest season as well. And, many slaves kept gardens for fresh vegetables and raised fowl for meat and eggs to supplement their diet.
Archaeological excavations at the House for Families slave quarters in 1990 provided a tremendous amount of information about the diet of slaves living at Mount Vernon. The excavation of over 25,000 bones, for example, revealed that the slaves living in the quarters had a much more varied diet than previously believed.
Investigating History
Today most Americans learn about George Washington in school. But in order to understand his home, Mount Vernon, as a community and as a business, we need to know about Tom Davis, Kitty, Doll, Frank, Nat, and the other slaves who lived there in the 1700s and helped to make his achievements possible. Washington was a meticulous record keeper; his letters will fill more than 90 volumes when editing is completed. In addition, invoices, weekly work reports, newspapers, and censuses provide detailed information for historians investigating the daily life of both the Washington family and the Mount Vernon slave community. These primary documents provide tremendous detail.
What is missing, however, from this evidence? For the large part these documents were written by George Washington, his family, his overseers, his farm managers, or visitors to Mount Vernon and reflect the perspectives and biases of the authors. Because few slaves were trained to read or write, there is very little existing primary documentation revealing their own views, personalities, or opinions.
How then do we learn the details about the lives of people whose actions were largely controlled under the institution of slavery, but whose thoughts, dreams, and hopes were their own? Archaeological investigation has played an integral role in exploring the entire Mount Vernon community. In addition to the excavation of sites associated with the Washington family, Mount Vernon archaeologists have excavated several sites where slaves lived and worked.
Perhaps the most significant excavation took place at the House for Families Slave quarters located a short distance from the Mansion. Approximately 60 people lived in the communal quarter. They knew little or no privacy in their daily lives. The excavation of their home provided a more intimate glimpse into their lives than previously revealed through documents. While the enormous amount of primary documents available to historians tell us details such as the slaves’ names, occupations, ages and relationships – they fail to record their point of view. Archaeology allows their story to be told through personal possessions; the 65,000 artifacts excavated from the site offer a tangible link to the slaves themselves. The excavation at the House for Families opened a door into understanding personal lives – allowing us to see what the slaves ate, the plates and glasses they used, how they entertained themselves, how they decorated their clothing, and the tools they used.
Over 25,000 animals bones disclosed that the diet of the slave community was much more varied than previously believed. Archaeology revealed that thei slaves' diet included fish, oysters, turkey, duck, chicken, deer, squirrel, pork, beef, sheep, and opossum. Archaeologists also uncovered a surprising amount of finer glasswares and ceramics, leading to the theory that once a piece was damaged or went out of fashion, it was passed from the Mansion to the slave quarters. Most of the slaves living in the quarter worked in and around the Mansion and had daily contact with the family.
In addition, the discovery of tools helped determine the occupations of slaves living in the quarter. There were also tools used in the slaves' own gardens. Buttons, watch fobs, and jewelry helped illustrate personal adornment. The excavation of lead shot and gunflint reinforced primary document evidence that slaves were issued guns by Washington to hunt. Clay pipe fragments, jaw harps, and game pieces helped reveal leisure time activities.
The excavations at the House For Families offered, then, a unique look into the lives of people living there more than 200 years ago. While we can never fully understand what it was like to be enslaved, archaeology at Mount Vernon has played an important role in providing insight into a community of more than 300 people who lived and worked at Mount Vernon as slaves.
Rebellion
At Mount Vernon and other plantations where large numbers of African Americans were viewed as property, it was not uncommon for those enslaved against their will to express their sense of freedom and individuality through non-threatening methods of rebellion. Misplacing or breaking tools, work stoppage, illness, and even theft were common forms of passive rebellion. There was little a slave owner could do to curtail this form or rebellion, and it is clear from Washington’s papers that he often suspected the enslaved people at Mount Vernon of neglecting their work, of suspicious illnesses, or of theft.
Consider correspondence written by Washington to his farm manager, William Pearce on January 1794: "Speaking of these Seeds, I must give you a hint of what I also very strongly suspect; - and that is – that my Negro Seedsmen take a considerable toll from every thing that goes into their hands – for that reason, make it an invariable rule before it is delivered to them, to mix in a bushel of Sand or well dried earth, as many pints of seed as you allow to an Acre, and let it be sown in this manner......in this State, the Seed is rendered unsaleable..... I find by the Reports that Sam is, in a manner, always returned sick; - Doll at the Ferry, and several of the Spinners very frequently so, for a week at a stretch; and Ditcher Charles often laid up with a lameness. – I never wish my people to work when they are really sick, or unfit for it; on the contrary, that all necessary care should be taken of them when they are so; - but if you do not examine into their complaints, they will lay by when no more ails them than ails those who stick to their business..... December 1794: I perceive by the Spinning report of last week, that each of the spinners have deducted half a pound for dirty wool. – to avoid this in the future (for if left to themselves they will soon deduct a pound, or more) it would be best to let them receive none but clean wool. (Washington always expected a minimum of five pounds of clean wool from his sheep. He often believed that slaves were taking wool for their own use) February 1795: The tedious manner in which my carpenters seem to execute every thing they take in hand, is extremely to be regretted. – They seem from the reports, to have been weeks getting scantling for the Sheds at D: Run; when, from the idea I had of this work, I presumed a few days would have sufficed..... Two weeks later he wrote again regarding the carpenters, In short, it appears to me, that to make even a chicken coop, would employ all of them a week; - buildings that are run up here in two or three days (with not more hands) employ them a month, or more. June 1795 I wish you could find out the thief who robbed the Meat house at Mount Vernon, and bring him to punishment......Nathan has been suspected, if not detected, in an attempt of this sort formerly; and is as likely as any one to be guilty of it now. – Postilion Joe has been caught in similar practices; - and Sam, I am sure would not be restrained by any qualms of conscience. July 1795 Davy’s lost lambs, carry with them a very suspicious appearance; ....If the lambs has been poisoned, or had died a natural death...their bones would have been forth coming, and his not being able to produce them is an argument both of his guilt, and of his not expecting to be called upon for that evidence...... (Davy was a slave overseer who Washington generally thought highly of. In this case he suspected that Davy might be protecting “very sly and cunning rogues” who had sold the lambs) August 1795 A sett of Ploughs, made and taken care of as they ought to be, canot, surely want replacing as often as mine are..... February 1796 I see by the last weeks report that Caesar has been absent six days. – Is he a runaway? If so, it is probable he will escape all together as he can read, if not write." –
While his attitude towards his slaves may seem exacting, Washington’s correspondence from the war and to his overseers and farm managers reflects a very similar attitude towards his soldiers, hired assistants, and contemporaries, as well. It was very much in line with the way George Washington perceived the concepts of labor and duty. A slave, freed by Washington in his will, perhaps summed up George Washington’s attitude most clearly, writing in 1838: "The sun never caught him [Washington] in bed, and he was unwilling it should find any of his people sleeping."
Conclusion
George Washington was a relatively typical slave owner of his time. He differed from many of his contemporaries by recognizing the rights of people to marry, by his refusal to break apart family units, and by his general unwillingness to exert corporal punishment except in what he viewed as extreme cases of misconduct. However, like his contemporaries he, for much of his life, accepted the institution of slavery. But, one of the most remarkable aspects of George Washington’s character was his life-long quest to educate himself. His ideas, perceptions, and actions reflected his study of new theories in agriculture, of the study of military strategy, of constitutional and republican ideals, and, it is fair to say, his view of the institution of slavery. Just as his actions in leading the army, in leading the government, and in pioneering new methods of farming changed and evolved, Washington came to view slavery as an unacceptable institution. Although he was conscious of the fact that his actions would not end slavery in the nation, or present an “ideal” solution to the issue of slavery, he took steps through his personal actions and through his will to express his belief that the institution of slavery should gradually be abolished in the United States.
Discussion Questions:
1.Compare George Washington’s attitude towards slavery when he was young and when he was older. What do your students think changed his attitude? Is it important to be open to new ideas? Do your students think it was unusual for George Washington to have provided for the freedom of slaves in his will?
2. Discuss how laws and society change over time. Is this good or bad? What do we do today that our grandchildren might think of as wrong?
3. Discuss the operation of an 18th-century plantation. What do your students think are the roles of the owner, the overseers, the indentured servants, and the slaves?
4. Discuss the roles of skilled slaves and field workers. What were the advantages for each of these groups?
5. Discuss the idea of passive rebellion with your students. Was it wrong for slaves to express their individuality and freedom
