If only this wasn’t how the Pig War was started in 1859. Though it was between two farmers instead of generals.
Too bad ol’ GW had more respect for his enemy’s dog than he did for the human beings he enslaved.
Washington was engaged in a scheme to free the dower slaves he did not legally own at the time he died, and freed the slaves he directly owned in his will.
Yeah, in his will.
Because, as mentioned, he was engaged in an attempt to free the dower slaves he did not directly own while he was alive.
That’s a remarkably low quality article from the Smithsonian, and I’m deeply disappointed by it. Yes, that Washington. Ona Judge was one of the aforementioned dower slaves owned by the Custis estate. Washington’s entire presidency was oriented around avoiding controversies which might split the newborn republic apart - including controversies over state authority and slavery, both deeply controversial issues.
I would like to emphasize that I am not trying to portray Washington as some moral paragon - he was a stodgy old patrician who preferred to do things the ‘socially accepted’ way, even if the socially accepted way at the time was fucking horrific. But the narrative of him as a callous slaver leaves out a great deal of information and context that renders his motivations and behavior less vile.
No, @[email protected] , he was a life-long slaver and piece of shit
Another “misbehaving fellow” was shipped off in 1791, and was sold for “one pipe and Quarter Cask of wine from the West Indies.”
Every citation I can find for that quote leads back to The True George Washington, a piece of rather dubious scholarship from the late 19th century that contradicts several well-known facts and relies on secondhand accounts of conversations had with third parties for a number of its conclusions, and oral histories of one of Washington’s distant descendants.
The actual event seems to be that a slave, one Waggoner Jack, was sold by Washington to the West Indies for unspecified misbehavior in 1791, with no more information than that. One would think that would be condemnation enough without having to add flourish to it.
By contrast, the multiple schemes attempted in the last decade of Washington’s life to free both the slaves he legally owned and the dower slaves which he did not legally own are well-documented, despite your denial.
Dude literally founded a slave empire, your apologia means nothing
Dude literally founded a slave empire, your apologia means nothing
Lord.
In my eyes a slaver is a slaver, plain and simple.
It’s an evil thing to treat people as property, no matter how well intentioned someone thinks they may be.
Granting freedom in a will also doesn’t count for much in that regard. It screams “I know it’s evil to enslave these people, but I’m too weak to do anything about it and too dependent on abusing them to live on my own.”
In my eyes, people who are unable to look at the past with an ounce of nuance as to what was acceptable at the time, and view everything through the lens of present day morals are drooling idiots who’s opinion is worth less than used diaper.
Imagine in the future, some dipshit claims you were an irredeemable heartless monster because you ate chocolate at a time when most chocolate comes from essentially slave labor.
Was it acceptable at the time? In his lifetime Pennsylvania and Vermont implemented total bans on slavery, and within a decade of his death slave trading was illegal throughout the British Empire, the Northern states had abolished slavery itself, and the importation of slaves was illegal acroas the entire US.
As early as 1315 slavery was illegal in Metropolitan France, and in the 1540s was abolished by the Spanish Empire.
Washington knew it was wrong. They all did.
The whole “they just didn’t understand it was wrong” defense straight-up ignores that there were, in fact, people at the time who deeply opposed slavery.
It’s about a completely different slave owner, but I always think back to W.E.B. Dubois thoughts on Robert E Lee whenever the topic of defending slavers comes up. I’ll copy the full quote below:
“It is the punishment of the South that its Robert Lees and Jefferson Davises will always be tall, handsome and well-born. That their courage will be physical and not moral. That their leadership will be weak compliance with public opinion and never costly and unswerving revolt for justice and right. It is ridiculous to seek to excuse Robert Lee as the most formidable agency this nation ever raised to make 4 million human beings goods instead of men. Either he knew what slavery meant when he helped maim and murder thousands in its defense, or he did not. If he did not he was a fool. If he did, Robert Lee was a traitor and a rebel – not indeed to his country, but to humanity and humanity’s God.”
If you were born rich in the American south in 1815 you would have been a slaver.
Those were the days, sigh….
George Washington literally traded slaves for rum, who the fuck cares about some rich asshole’s dog
why do white people care more about dogs than white people? there’s your meme
