Lee’s slaves were those of his wife. She inherited them upon the death of her father, George Washington Parke Custis. The slaves were largely descendants of Martha Washington’s slaves. George Washington’s slaves were freed upon his death but Martha’s were not. GWP Custis was Martha’s grandson, but he had been raised by George and Martha after his father’s death.
GWP Custis’ will instructed Lee to free the slaves within five years of his death. The Arlington estate was in debt and the slaves could be claimed by the creditors if the debt wasn’t paid off. So they were worked until the debts were paid off, which happened a few months prior to Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Declaration.
Thank you for the clarification. I know things were much different then, and it is pointless to condemn our ancestors by holding them to today’s standards.
People owning people, slavery, was the default, not the exception through history. And in the United States, inheritance went both ways. Debts too.
Think about that for a while. When your parents died, whatever they owed, fell on you. I’m surprised this hasn’t made a comeback, considering the level of student loans and credit account (CC) debt, mortgages etc. As I recall studying it, they maintained two different types of debtor’s prisons generally. One for what we would call secured debt, and others for unsecured debt. And they were horrible.