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George Washington owned hundreds of slaves, including eight in his Philadelphia household. He used a legal loophole to avoid freeing them after six months. Washington knew this was ethically questionable but continued to hold slaves throughout his life.
Like many of the Founding Fathers, George Washington’s views on slavery were complicated, not to mention morally problematic. Washington owned hundreds of slaves throughout his life, mostly at his Mount Vernon plantation in Virginia. And during his presidency, Washington even used a legal loophole to hold some of those slaves longer than the law allowed.
In 1780, Pennsylvania passed a law freeing any slave who lived in the state for more than six months. George Washington lived in Philadelphia, then the nation’s capital, from 1790 to 1797, and had eight slave laborers in his household.
Rather than abide by the spirit of the Gradual Abolition Act, Washington ensured that slaves in his Philadelphia family were smuggled out of state lines before they reached six-month residency. When they returned, their time in the state would start afresh.
It is clear from a note to his personal secretary, Tobias Lear, that Washington knew what it was doing was ethically questionable. “I ask that these Sentiments and this advice be known only to you and Mrs. Washington,” he wrote. Washington continued to hold slaves throughout his life, although his will stipulated that all slave laborers would be freed upon the death of his wife, Martha.
What you may not know about George Washington:
Washington had only an elementary education. Instead of attending school, he worked on a tobacco farm and became a land surveyor at age 16.
George Washington’s false teeth were not made of wood but of gold, ivory, parts of the teeth of slaves and animal bones.
In addition to being featured on the first US postage stamp, Washington has had more stamps than all other presidents combined.
