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So they should not mention that Washington owned slaves, and at the same time he was declaring himself and others independent of England he still felt himself (as did Jefferson) empowered by God to own their fellow man?

I say Hell yes they should let people know about this. It just goes to show that times change.

If you try to make Washington, Jefferson (or Jeff Davis and Lincoln for that matter) into something they are not, or something more than they are, you are guilty of a lie or a sin of omission.

Obviously, slavery is not the most important issue on the site of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Buy when you think that less than 90 years later the Southern States would try to dissolve the Union set there over that very issue, it becomes an interesting footnote.

In bringing his personal household servants with him to Philadelphia, Washington was not making any kind of a statement on the theory of slavery, or anything involved with it. He brought those he was comfortable working with--those whom he trusted. That the labor system was not one where they were paid a wage may be significant in a discussion of labor conditions then and now, but it has little other relevance. For that matter, many Americans in that era would have gladly volunteered to serve General Washington for free. Again, these were people he trusted. People he freed ten years later.

Does anyone make a point as to the freedom of the servants Richard The Lion Hearted took on the Third Crusade? How about the freedom of the servants that Charlemagne took to the Pyranees. Slavery was not seen primarily as a moral issue in 1789. Bondage in one form or another was an accepted part of the social structure going back to Biblical times.

The sole reason for this little controversy is to make Washington look less appealing to the historically illiterate, who do not understand the pre-industrial labor systems. In an era when absolutely no one is advocating returning to such systems, it is pure agitation, and nothing else.

William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site