George washington owned how many slaves

These artifacts were unearthed from the cellar of the House for Families slave quarter at Mount Vernon during excavations that took place in to and to Clockwise from the wine bottle at center are portions of the following objects: a colonoware bowl, a white salt-glazed stoneware teabowl, a pewter spoon, a bone-handled knife, botanical remains, a Chinese export porcelain plate, a tobacco pipe, faunal remains, a Staffordshire slipware dish with oyster shells, and the base of a wine glass.

These items, used by members of the enslaved community, were probably obtained through the formal or informal trade economy that existed or from Washington family members. These freshwater catfish bones were unearthed during archaeological excavations at the South Grove Midden, an eighteenth-century communal trash deposit at Mount Vernon that formed from the daily lives of the enslaved and free people who lived on the estate.

Freshwater catfish was clearly the most abundant fish at Mount Vernon in the years before the Revolutionary War.

At least catfish bones have been identified from the earliest archaeological excavations, when Lawrence Washington lived at Mount Vernon ca.

The enslaved who lived and worked near the mansion often fished in the Potomac River and other tributaries where freshwater catfish was abundant. By fishing for themselves, the enslaved supplemented the meager rations they received and also added some diversity to their diet. Excavations beneath the cellar of the House for Families slave quarters ca. If Washington at times regretted the fierceness of his overseers, he also used it as a threat against house slaves, suggesting that, for slaves, life in the field was very much harsher than life at the mansion.

Clothing shortages occasionally became acute. An overseer reported one December that the children on an outlying farm had no clothes at all.

He was also very sparing of blankets. Mothers received one for each newborn, but slaves had to wait years to get a fresh blanket. The hogs also in pens must be well bedded in leaves. Washington monitored the health of his slaves. Most of these gentlemen give to their Blacks only bread, water and blows. They are more miserable than the most miserable of the cottages of our peasants.

The husband and wife sleep on a mean pallet, the children on the ground; a very bad fireplace, some utensils for cooking, but in the middle of this poverty some cups and a teapot. A boy of 15 was lying on the ground, sick, and in terrible convulsions. The General had sent to Alexandria to fetch a doctor. A very small garden planted with vegetables was close by, with five or six hens, each one leading 10 to 15 chickens. It is the only comfort that is permitted them; for they may not keep either ducks, geese, or pigs.

Every aspect of the home depended on enslaved labor to run smoothly. Show Me More. First, with up to thirty people living in the home, the houses were incredibly cramped and offered very little privacy and space. The Washingtons and other white secretaries and servants in the home were nearly always present and there was almost constant oversight.

The disparity in their status would have been obvious and painful. By the time of his presidency, Washington had determined not to break up families through sales, but he had no objection to separating them physically.

Christopher Sheels and other enslaved people who acted as messengers may have been able to pass notes and verbal messages, but those visits were infrequent. They felt the distance most acutely. He reported that most of the enslaved community at Mount Vernon gathered to say goodbye to Martha and the enslaved individuals she was taking with her. More likely, they were mourning the departure of their enslaved family members that were traveling with Martha, and wondering when they might be reunited, if ever.

She was there to say goodbye to two of her children, Ona and Austin. While Austin had left before to travel with Washington, Betty had never been separated from Ona and the experience must have been distressing for both of them. On the other hand, New York and Philadelphia offered new opportunities not available at Mount Vernon. The school went on to educate many of the leading African-American writers and intellectuals in the nineteenth century.

Philadelphia was more ardently antislavery than New York City and still the largest city in the United States. In May , there were enslaved people in the city, but nearly 1, free African Americans. Black and white abolition societies hosted lectures, printed pamphlets, and conducted secretive campaigns to facilitate the escape of enslaved people.

Most importantly, with such a large free black population, they could have blended into the crowd, at least temporarily. Although Washington, D. In other ways, their experience was unique from any other administration. Click here to learn more about the slavery in Washington, D. The Macomb House was larger, in a quieter part of town, and offered a beautiful view of the Hudson River.

About six months later, Washington returned home to Mount Vernon for his annual summer visit, providing his enslaved workers a rare opportunity to return to their families. This engraving shows the Alexander Macomb House, which President Washington used as the President's House for about six months in In , when Hayward made this engraving, the house was used as a hotel.

If they made friendships or started relationships in New York City, those bonds were severed when they departed, and they left behind no written record. When Washington returned to Philadelphia in November, he made a few changes to the enslaved workforce. Washington permitted Hercules to bring his eleven-year-old son, Richmond. But Hercules had to leave his daughters, eight-year-old Evey and five-year-old Delia, behind.

Furthermore, Richmond was required to work to justify his presence in the house. He labored in the kitchen in his role as a scullion, or an errand boy and assistant, and swept the chimneys. Moll was one example. She was born around and worked for Martha most of her life.

But though he supported abolition in theory, he never tried it in practice. His plantation, his wealth and his position in society depended on enslaved workers. Though the will contained the unheard-of order to free his enslaved workers, it stipulated that they remain with Martha for the rest of her life.

Instead, he used them to justify the continued enslavement of the others. By the time George died, he owned enslaved people outright. But was that really the reason? In January , they left Mount Vernon as free men and women.

They were divvied up between her children when she died in And Martha never freed the single enslaved man she owned outright, even willing him to her grandson. Alexander had lived on a plantation upriver from Mount Vernon. Daniel McCarty, Jr. Skip navigation. Go to main content. George Washington Papers. GW Chriss Ho. Henry 11 Son to Sall ditto Nancy 11 daugh. Children Teney 10 Daughr to Lucy D. Barbary 11 Daughr to Sall T. Ditto Elias 2 Mo.