They both wanted to release their slaves, but for different reasons, Virginia law prohibited it.
Jefferson would not buy or sell slaves, as he didn’t believe in buying or selling human beings. But he was in debt, and the laws of Virginia prohibited him from releasing slaves while he was in debt.
Washington’s slaves were actually his wife’s, and Virginia law prohibited releasing dowry slaves.
Robert E. Lee had the same situation. Both he and Washington were married to Custis women, and the slaves were Custis slaves who were part of the dowry for the marriage.
“Jefferson would not buy or sell slaves”
Monticello says:
“Jefferson purchased fewer than twenty slaves in his lifetime.”
“Many slaveowners, including Jefferson, understood that female slaves—and their future children—represented the best means to increase the value of his holdings, what he called ‘capital.’”
‘”I consider a woman who brings a child every two years as more profitable than the best man of the farm,’ Jefferson remarked in 1820.”
“He purchased slaves occasionally, because of labor needs or to unite spouses. Despite his expressed ‘scruples’ against selling slaves except ‘for delinquency, or on their own request,’ he sold more than 110 in his lifetime, mainly for financial reasons.”
“There were over twenty known escapees from Monticello from 1769 to 1819.”
“Thomas Jefferson freed two people during his life. He freed five people in his will. He allowed two or three people to escape without pursuit, and recommended informal freedom for two others. In total, of the more than six hundred people Jefferson enslaved, he freed only ten people – all members of the same family.”
https://www.monticello.org/slavery/slavery-faqs/property/
Thank you, your post has enlightened me.
A point to add is that the STATES had the overwhelming legal and police power at that time. It was not until after the Civil War that that 'balance of power' shifted to the FEDERAL side.