Another interesting note is that Washington's slaves were to be freed only after the death of Martha Washington. However, poor Martha supposedly feared that a rebellious slave would "do her in", and freed the slaves herself sometime later. Ole' George didn't think his immancipation act through, IMHO. And, left his wife in quite a predicament. I often wonder how Martha managed to continue to run her plantation after she freed all the slaves. ----- Original Message ----- From: "James P. Lynch" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2001 11:59 AM Subject: Washington's slaves > It would be interesting to learn what happened to Washington's slaves > and their descendants. Has such a study been done? > > Henry Wiencek wrote: > > > > ..... Washington was not a racist, at least at the end of his > > life. Washington came to believe that the apparent deficiencies in > > blacks were not innate but the result of their enslavement. One very > > powerful indication of this is to be found in Washington's will, in > > which he freed his slaves and specified that the orphan children and the > > children of parents unwilling or incapable of providing for them should > > be bound out to masters and mistresses until age 25 for proper care and > > education in a trade. > -- > James P. Lynch > [log in to unmask] > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html