Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: Pontiac

Sure would. Because most of them were slave states.

Doesn’t matter the reason. Washington is the only one who actually made any provision for them to be freed.

Washington is the greatest man ever, regardless of this flaw. And the most adulated man ever, even if you include this hateful treasonous age.


16 posted on 02/19/2024 10:14:33 AM PST by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMVs.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies ]


To: the OlLine Rebel; Pontiac
Yes and no. A couple of details.

Virginia, like other states, had a law about slaves that said you couldn't free them if you owed on a mortgage because the slaves were considered part of the estate. An exception is you can free them in your will.

As far as Martha Washington goes, remember that before she married George Washington she was a widow in the wealthy (slave owning) Custis family, before that she grew up in the wealthy (slaving owning) Dandridge family. As a young woman when she married Custis, her family gave her some slaves (as was the custom of the ultra-rich families in the day). She immediately freed them. (By the way, her great-grandaughter Mary Anna Custis did the same decades later when her family gave her some slaves in her marriage to Robert E Lee.) Any talk about Martha Washington and slavery should at least include this selfless act. When Martha Custis' husband died she inherited 1/3rd of his estate (the other 2/3rds going to his kids). When George courted her, one thing he did to get brownie points was give generous tips to the 84 slaves she inherited, which she legally could not free (https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/martha-washington-as-a-slaveowner/).

George inherited slaves, then bought slaves, then inherited more (through marrying Martha). As he got older and started hating the institution of slavery, he worked to reduce the number of slaves at Mt Vernon, while also worked to make our new nation abolitionist. Ultimately, he freed the slaves at Mt Vernon in his will. (https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/george-washingtons-will/). IMHO, he wasn't perfect at all, including with slavery. But he moved the needle in the right direction so that slavery was less of a norm than it was before him. I'm not perfect at all either. Hopefully I'm doing people right to improve society even if one day righteous sounding leftists denounce me like they do Washington.

26 posted on 02/19/2024 11:41:02 AM PST by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson