Yes all these place names need to be changed if we’re going to cleanse our history like this.
If William Penn cannot be honored, then by extension, the state of Pennsylvania cannot be named after him.
Washington DC cannot be named after George Washington. The state of Washington would need a new name.
Was Georgia named after King George? I don’t know the origin of that name, but if it was named in honor of some person, and that person did not have a 21st century politically correct conscience, then that name has to go.
Deb Haaland is a member of the Pueblo of Laguna tribe who hails from New Mexico. A progressive Democrat, she successfully ran for Congress in 2018 and was re-elected in 2020. In December 2020, President Joe Biden nominated Haaland as his Secretary of the Interior. This position oversees public lands...
1. George Washington inherited enslaved people at the early age of eleven.
John Trumbull’s 1780 painting of George Washington depicts William Lee, an enslaved man who was Washington’s body servant during the Revolutionary War. William Lee remained enslaved by Washington until the conditions of Washington’s will granted him freedom in 1799 (Metropolitan Museum of Art).
When Washington’s father Augustine died in 1743, George Washington inherited enslaved people at the early age of eleven. In his will, Augustine left his son the 280-acre family farm near Fredericksburg, Virginia. In addition, Washington was willed ten enslaved people. As a young adult, Washington purchased at least eight more enslaved people, including a carpenter named Kitt. Washington purchased more enslaved people in 1755, including four men, two women, and a child.
WASHINGTON’S CHANGING VIEWS ON SLAVERY
2. At the time of George Washington’s death, the Mount Vernon enslaved population consisted of 317 people.
Of the 317 enslaved people living at Mount Vernon in 1799, a little less than half (123 people) were owned by George Washington himself. Another 153 enslaved people were owned by the Custis estate. When Martha Washington’s first husband, Daniel Parke Custis, died without a will in 1757, she received a life interest in one-third of his estate, including enslaved people. Neither George nor Martha Washington could free these people by law and upon Martha’s death, these people reverted to the Custis estate and were divided among her grandchildren.