Coincidentally, George Washington's birthday is falling only about a week after I've been reading through some of his papers for my own research. The picture I'm forming of him, from the bits I've read, is of a very formal, reserved person who seems to have spent a large chunk of his time in Philadelphia drinking tea.
But Wonkette, in its usual snarky way, has put together a funny bio post on Washington. The post summarizes what we know of Washington, identifying him as the guy "who led the terrorist insurrection against the Tory Empire and eventually seized control of the United States just as modern-day terrorists hope to win the presidency in November." It goes on to list a number of random facts, most interestingly that he didn't free his slaves upon his death--they would only be free when Martha died. Apparently she ended up living in fear of being killed by them.
I felt a bit embarrassed that I had no idea that this was the case, whereas somebody at Wonkette did, so I did a bit of digging. It turns out that there is a lengthy passage in Washington's will that explains his reasoning and leaves detailed instructions on the treatment of his slaves. It seems that he didn't want to free his slaves until Martha's death because his slaves were intermarried with hers, and freeing only his would "excite the most painful sensations."
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1 comment:
pretty intersting
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