Slaves were by definition there to do manual labor, and work that was 
not considered suitable for a white man.

I suggest that you might want to conduct some additional research on 
this topic. There were any number of highly skilled and trained slaves 
some serving in the same occupations that plantation owners apprenticed 
their sons including serving as unsupervised overseers of quarters. 
Slaves whether in the U.S. or elsewhere, like indentured servants, came 
from a variety of backgrounds with a variety of skills and aptitudes.

Barbara Vines Little, CG
Dominion Research Services
PO Box 1273
Orange, VA 22960

540-832-3473 (7-10 p.m.; all day Sunday)
[log in to unmask]

CG, Certified Genealogist, is a service mark of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under
license by board certified genealogists after periodic evaluation, and the board name is registered in the
US Patent & Trademark Office. 



Anita Wills wrote:
> To those of us interested in the discussion on whether George 
> Washington owned interest in Iron Works, here is a link to his 
> fathers' Will. If you read down, you will notice that he left his son 
> Lawrence the interest to his mine works. When Lawrence died, he left 
> that interest to his brother George Washington. Lawrence Washingoton 
> had one daughter who died in childhood (so he died without Issue), and 
> his estate went to George Washington, including the iron works. If any 
> whites worked in mines it was to supervise slaves. I doubt that anyone 
> cared whether slaves worked in dangerous conditions. Slaves were by 
> definition there to do manual labor, and work that was not considered 
> suitable for a white man.
>
> Anita
>
> This information is kept by the Kenmore Foundation.
>
> http://www.kenmore.org/WashingtonFamilyInfo/augustine_wash_will.html
>
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