George Washington was a slave owner. That is a historical fact. Although his inner struggle between trying to do what was right and not speaking out against slavery for fear it would tear the country apart prevented him from doing that, in the end he did. His will included the freeing of all slaves on his estate. He also privately exercised his influence in Congress to change legislation to end slavery. Nevertheless it is a known fact that while he lived, he owned several hundreds of slaves on his estate. One good thing was that his slaves were married (a marriage recognized by him but not by Virginia law).

Therefore, the fact that he was under peer pressure to maintain slaves can be somewhat forgiven by the fact that he tried his best to treat them as human beings. In a society where one is tempted to do what everyone else does, I believe he is a better man than most because at least he treated his slaves with dignity out of respect for human life, which shows in his leadership as general and president.


Washington & Slave Billy Lee