George Washington and Slavery - Washington's Background

Washington's Background

When Washington was eleven years old, he inherited ten slaves; by the time of his death, 316 slaves lived at Mount Vernon, including 123 owned by Washington, 40 leased from a neighbor, and an additional 153 "dower slaves." For his wife Martha's use during her lifetime and controlled by Washington, they were legally part of the property of her late first husband's estate. As on other plantations during that era, Washington's slaves worked from dawn until dusk unless injured or ill; they could be whipped for running away or for other infractions. They were fed, clothed, and housed as inexpensively as possible, in conditions that were probably meager.

Visitors recorded contradictory impressions of slave life at Mount Vernon: one visitor in 1798 wrote that Washington treated his slaves "with more severity" than his neighbors, while another around the same time stated that "Washington treat his slaves far more humanely than did his fellow citizens of Virginia." Washington's writings show that he had a low opinion of the honesty and work ethic of his slaves, as well as of the ability of his overseers to control them. The overseers were given written authorization to whip those slaves he considered to be in need of such "correction,".