Part 3 (2/2)

Though an inexperienced planter, the enterprising Washi+ngton was deterh-quality tobacco, and to that end he expanded his acreage and revealed a scientific bent as he dabbled with different varieties Always receptive to innovation, he pored over agricultural treatises and experimented with oats, wheat, and barley, planted in soil from various corners of his property Only in retrospect did he perceive the folly of staking his future on tobacco The soil at Mount Vernon, he duly learned, had ”an under stratu away the thin topsoil and leaving behind ”eyesore gullies”1 It posed insuperable challenges for a novice planter who had to contend with several seasons of drought and heavy rain, which only coraphy, Washi+ngton also had to contend with fluctuating tobacco prices-under iland-and he never knehat his crops would fetch until he heard back froht, it is easy to fault his einia that planters paid taxes with it and engaged in an intense rivalry to produce superior leaves It posed insuperable challenges for a novice planter who had to contend with several seasons of drought and heavy rain, which only coraphy, Washi+ngton also had to contend with fluctuating tobacco prices-under iland-and he never knehat his crops would fetch until he heard back froht, it is easy to fault his einia that planters paid taxes with it and engaged in an intense rivalry to produce superior leaves

In the 1760s Washi+ngton's letters on his tobacco trade often read like one long jeremiad He started out with a bue, only to be repeatedly victiaries of weather ”We have had one of the hts in these parts that ever was known and without a speedy interposition of providence (in sending usrains to mollify and soften the earth), we shall not make one ounce of tobacco this year,” he reported to Robert Cary in 17622 The next year his wheat crop was attacked by a fungus known as rust, while his Indian corn and tobacco were choked by weeds and grass spawned by incessant rains The mediocre quality of his leaves further depressed the price his tobacco drew in London,it iton sounded as if the eleust 1765 he noted that the Mount Vernon soil had been parched since May because of drought, while a mere ten hbors had ”pro crops of corn and tobacco” The next year his wheat crop was attacked by a fungus known as rust, while his Indian corn and tobacco were choked by weeds and grass spawned by incessant rains The mediocre quality of his leaves further depressed the price his tobacco drew in London,it iton sounded as if the eleust 1765 he noted that the Mount Vernon soil had been parched since May because of drought, while a mere ten hbors had ”pro crops of corn and tobacco”3 Perhaps the most pernicious aspect of tobacco culture was its labor-intensive nature,it a natural match with slavery No aspect of his life would so trouble Washi+ngton or posterity as his status as a ht never have become so enmeshed with a reprehensible system that he learned to loathe Slaves were ubiquitous in this rich, populous colony, inia's population In fact, slavery had acquired such a firrip on the colony that one inia without slaves is ton's opposition to slavery took the for over many decades He seldorated on his conscience, preferring polite eupheroes,” ” Washi+ngton talked about slaves as simply another for instructions for buying slaves, telling one buyer, as if he were purchasing a racehorse, that he wanted his slaves ”to be straight-liood teeth and good countenances” as if it grated on his conscience, preferring polite eupheroes,” ” Washi+ngton talked about slaves as simply another for instructions for buying slaves, telling one buyer, as if he were purchasing a racehorse, that he wanted his slaves ”to be straight-liood teeth and good countenances”5 He favored adolescent fe one planter ed him money to sell some slaves in the fall ”when they are fat and lusty and must soon fall of[f] unless well fed” He favored adolescent fe one planter ed him money to sell some slaves in the fall ”when they are fat and lusty and e world, planters posted slaves as collateral for loans, and Washi+ngton upbraided one debtor for asking hiroes, stock, and chattels” In this savage world, planters posted slaves as collateral for loans, and Washi+ngton upbraided one debtor for asking hiroes, stock, and chattels”7 With another debtor, he threatened that, without speedy payroes must be immediately exposed to sale for ready money after short notice” In his diary, he often wrote of being ”at home all day alone” when he was surrounded by slaves in the mansion and fields With another debtor, he threatened that, without speedy payroes must be immediately exposed to sale for ready money after short notice” In his diary, he often wrote of being ”at home all day alone” when he was surrounded by slaves in theit seeenerations, abominable behavior toward dark-skinned people was considered an acceptable way of life In 1767, when four slaves were executed in Fairfax County for supposedly colluding to poison their overseers, their decapitated heads were posted on chi to others nobody protested this patent atrocity At the sahteenth century seldom rationalized or romanticized slavery as a divinely sanctioned systeton, Jefferson, Madison, and other Virginia planters acknowledged the i perplexity as to how to abolish it without producingBritish behavior on the eve of the A nature of the system when he said that, if the colonists tolerated abuses, the British ”will make us as tame and abject slaves as the blacks we rule over with such arbitrary sway”8 The black population at Mount Vernon grew apace after Washi+ngton's ressively to keep pace with his widening econoe, he acquired 13 slaves, then another 42 between 1761 and 1773 Since he paid taxes on slaves older than twelve years of age, we know that he personally owned 56 slaves of working age in 1761, 62 in 1762, 78 in 1765, and 87 in 1770

Whether froard for property, Washi+ngton was tireless in his medical treatment of slaves; his diaries are loaded with references to doctors, and even to Washi+ngton hi the frosty first winter of his rew alarmed by the death of four slaves by late January, three of them dower slaves from the Custis estate As in the arton didn't shi+rk personal involve when smallpox cropped up at his western plantation on Bullskin Creek At once he hastened off to Frederick County and was startled to find that two slaves, Harry and Kit, had already died, and that everything lay ”in the utmost confusion, disorder and backwardness”9 He rushed off to nearby Winchester to secure blankets and medical supplies, summoned a nurse, and instructed his overseer to quarantine slaves with sular practice of inoculating slaves against smallpox The standard method was to scrape contaminated matter from the pustules of a victim with a mild case of smallpox, then slip it on a thread under the skin of the inoculated person This produced a mild case of the disease, which prevented the more virulent form He rushed off to nearby Winchester to secure blankets and medical supplies, summoned a nurse, and instructed his overseer to quarantine slaves with sular practice of inoculating slaves against smallpox The standard method was to scrape contaminated matter from the pustules of a victim with a mild case of smallpox, then slip it on a thread under the skin of the inoculated person This produced a mild case of the disease, which prevented the reeton exhorted the slaves with a modicuree ”that he will take all necessary and proper care of the Negroes co them with humanity and tenderness when sick”10 There seeton wasfor sick slaves During his first terer to have overseers pay special heed to sick slaves, ”for I aenerality of theht than they do a draft horse or ox, neglecting the and nursing them when they lie on a sick-bed” There seeton wasfor sick slaves During his first terer to have overseers pay special heed to sick slaves, ”for I aenerality of theht than they do a draft horse or ox, neglecting the and nursing them when they lie on a sick-bed” 11 11 Possibly because of his scrupulous care of sick slaves, Washi+ngton frequently coht a slave naer to ”examine his casebut not by the doctor, for he has had doctors enough already of all colors and sexes and to no effect Laziness is, I believe, his principal ailment” Possibly because of his scrupulous care of sick slaves, Washi+ngton frequently coht a slave naer to ”examine his casebut not by the doctor, for he has had doctors enough already of all colors and sexes and to no effect Laziness is, I believe, his principal ailton's behavior was comparatively humane, within the overall context of an inhumane system, was in his studious refusal to break up slave faes were not sanctioned by law, Washi+ngton treated the and sacrosanct In ti families Slaves ished to ton's permission, but we have no evidence he ever denied it That he felt a paternalistic responsibility toward his slaves was shown dramatically in his final years when a slave na beaten by her husband Ben, a slave on another plantation Washi+ngton, livid, forbade Ben to set foot at Mount Vernon on pain of whipping Four years later fanny ton conte the Revolution, he expressed reluctance to do so, then told his er that ”if these poor wretches are to be held in a state of slavery, I do not see that a change of masters will render it more irksome, provided husband and wife and parents and children are not separated from each other, which is notoff slaves during the Revolution, he expressed reluctance to do so, then told his er that ”if these poor wretches are to be held in a state of slavery, I do not see that a change of masters will render it more irksome, provided husband and wife and parents and children are not separated froh he stopped buying slaves in 1772, his slave population swelled from natural increase so that he owned 135 able-bodied slaves when tapped to head the Continental Ar scruples about slavery and his refusal to break up fa slave co slaves in 1772, his slave population swelled from natural increase so that he owned 135 able-bodied slaves when tapped to head the Continental Ar scruples about slavery and his refusal to break up fa slave co research at Mount Vernon in recent years, we have obtained a n of the estate made it arduous for slaves to maintain families Mount Vernon came to consist of five farms: the Mansion House Farm (what tourists think of today as Mount Vernon) and four satellite farue Run, Muddy Hole, Union, and River Many Mansion House slaves were either household servants, dressed in brightly colored livery of scarlet coats and white waistcoats, or highly skilled artisans; these last were overwhelly male, while the four distant farms held ely female This sexual division ton's slaves enjoyed the luxury of living with their spouses and children Since the slaves worked a grueling six-day week, fro distances on Saturday evening or Sunday to visit their far-flung fath and tenacity of slave families that two-thirds of the adults re obstacles It speaks voluth and tenacity of slave families that two-thirds of the adults re obstacles

We know that Mary Washi+ngton was tightfisted in treating slaves; one neighbor re their servants at their proper business and in their proper places than to any unnecessary forton had inherited that autocratic style ”Froton] always ruled and ruled severely,” Jefferson was later quoted as saying ”He was first brought up to govern slaves, he then governed an arton had inherited that autocratic style ”Froton] always ruled and ruled severely,” Jefferson was later quoted as saying ”He was first brought up to govern slaves, he then governed an arton dealt with slaves through overseers whom he prodded to ”be constantly with your peopleThere is no other sure way of getting ell done and quietly by negroes, for when an overlooker's back is turned, the ether” For the h overseers whom he prodded to ”be constantly with your peopleThere is no other sure way of getting ell done and quietly by negroes, for when an overlooker's back is turned, the ether”18 Under Virginia law, slaveholders could freely abuse or eventon believed that whipping slaves was counterproductive and tried to restrain such brutality As he lectured one estate e] by watch-fulness and adreeable to every feeling mind in the practice of thes to ard slaves before flogging them In theory, they couldn't apply the lash to slaves unless they first secured written perton, but due to his extended absences from Mount Vernon, the rule wasn't always obeyed ”General Washi+ngton has forbidden the use of the whip on his blacks,” a French visitor to Mount Vernon later averred, ”but unfortunately his example has been little es to ard slaves before flogging them In theory, they couldn't apply the lash to slaves unless they first secured written perton, but due to his extended absences from Mount Vernon, the rule wasn't always obeyed ”General Washi+ngton has forbidden the use of the whip on his blacks,” a French visitor to Mount Vernon later averred, ”but unfortunately his example has been little emulated”20 He wanted his overseers to be strict, not cruel Whether on the plantation, in the arovernment, he stressed the need to inspire respect rather than affection in subordinates, a coerial activities He wanted his overseers to be strict, not cruel Whether on the plantation, in the arovernment, he stressed the need to inspire respect rather than affection in subordinates, a coerial activities

Washi+ngton insisted that overseers track slaves closely during workdays that could stretch up to sixteen hours in su drunk, lazy, or inattentive to their duties Often feeling burdened by the expense and difficulty of dealing hite overseers, he turned to slave overseers, and at one point blacks supervised three of his five far firhter to say later, ”He was a generous and noble master and [the slaves] feared and loved him”21 His presidential secretary, Tobias Lear, said of Mount Vernon, ”The negroes are not treated as blacks in general are in this country They are clothed and fed as well as any laboring people whatever and they are not subject to the lash of a do overseer- His presidential secretary, Tobias Lear, said of Mount Vernon, ”The negroes are not treated as blacks in general are in this country They are clothed and fed as well as any laboring people whatever and they are not subject to the lash of a do overseer-but they are still slaves”22 Several observers noted that Washi+ngton, with perfect self-control in public, could flare up with servants in private During his presidency the wife of the British aton ”acquired a uniform command over his passions on public occasions, but in private and particularly with his servants, its violence soton, with perfect self-control in public, could flare up with servants in private During his presidency the wife of the British aton ”acquired a uniform command over his passions on public occasions, but in private and particularly with his servants, its violence sometiton's reputation for ”warm passion and stern severity” with his servants One cabinet secretary talked of Washi+ngton's reputation for ”warm passion and stern severity” with his servants24 Another observer was taken aback by how gruffly the tactful president addressed his slaves, ”as differently as if he had been quite another er” Another observer was taken aback by how gruffly the tactful president addressed his slaves, ”as differently as if he had been quite another uest noted how exquisitely attuned the slaves were to the master's moods: ”His servants seemed to watch his eye, and to anticipate his every wish; hence, a look was equivalent to a couest noted how exquisitely attuned the slaves were to the master's moods: ”His servants seemed to watch his eye, and to anticipate his every wish; hence, a look was equivalent to a coton displayed an irritable style with his slaves, he could also be short-tempered with his military and political subordinates It should be said that if Washi+ngton displayed an irritable style with his slaves, he could also be short-tempered with his military and political subordinates

Slavery presented special challenges to a hypercritical personality like Washi+ngton, for the slaves had no earthly reason to strive for the perfection he wanted However illogical it ht seem, he expected them to share his work ethic and was perturbed when they didn't follow his industrious exa entitled to extract the maximum amount of work from slaves, he advised one overseer that ”every laborer (male or feth, without endangering their health or constitution, will allow of”27 Not surprisingly, his letters contain frequent references to slaves whoarded such behavior as rational responses to bondage Reproaching his slave carpenters, he said, ”There is not to be found so idle a set of rascals” Not surprisingly, his letters contain frequent references to slaves whoarded such behavior as rational responses to bondage Reproaching his slave carpenters, he said, ”There is not to be found so idle a set of rascals”28 Of a slave named Betty orked as a spinner in the mansion, he complained that ”a more lazy, deceitful and impudent hussy is not to be found in the United States” Of a slave named Betty orked as a spinner in the mansion, he complained that ”a more lazy, deceitful and impudent hussy is not to be found in the United States”29 He talked caustically aboutslaves as if they were salaried workers who had failed to earn their wages-a blind spot he never entirely lost He talked caustically aboutslaves as if they were salaried workers who had failed to earn their wages-a blind spot he never entirely lost

Fond of systeton was styh standards Once in February 1760 he was dismayed to find that four slave carpenters had jointly hewn only 120 feet of poplar logs that day Like a modern efficiency expert, he sat down, consulted his watch, and clocked them in a time-and-motion study The master's presence instantly stimulated the slaves to quadruple quadruple their output to 125 feet of timber apiece Once he had solved the ton wondered about theused ”It is to be observed here that this hewing and sawing likeas of poplar,” he wrote in his diary ”Whatof this wood and [an]other some future observations must make known” their output to 125 feet of timber apiece Once he had solved the ton wondered about theused ”It is to be observed here that this hewing and sawing likeas of poplar,” he wrote in his diary ”Whatof this wood and [an]other some future observations must make known”30 It is easy to see how the ton, with his excellent businessan econoed hard work It is easy to see how the ton, with his excellent businessan econoed hard work

Male slaves at the Mansion House enjoyed acco farms They likely had better quarters because they were often trained artisans and lived within eyeshot of family e brick building with glazed s that was divided into four roo the walls In the four re cabins, crafted flimsily from sticks ceton was taken aback by these squalid hovels ”We entered one of the huts of the blacks, for one cannot call them by the name of houses They are es of our peasants The husband and wife sleep on a round; [there is] a very bad fireplace, so, but in the middle of this poverty, some cups and a teapot”31 Each slave received one set of new clothes per annum-a woolen jacket, a pair of breeches, two shi+rts, a pair of stockings, and a pair of shoes-oftenSlave women received an annual petticoat and smock Some slaves also had Sunday outfits of dark coats hite vests and white breeches Every day the slaves received approximately one quart of Indian corns, which sounds like a terribly ro[e]s should have an ounce of meal more, nor less, than is sufficient to feed theer32 Recent archaeological work at Mount Vernon has revealed that the slave diet was not entirely bleak On Sundays Washi+ngton allowed slaves to borrow his large nets, or ”seines,” to fish in the Potomac At least one elderly slave named Father Jack kept a canoe on the river and supplied fish to others Archaeologists have identified bones from sixteen types of fish in the cellar of the ton also distributed to the slaves htered on the estate, surplus fish from his fishery, and butterical work at Mount Vernon has revealed that the slave diet was not entirely bleak On Sundays Washi+ngton allowed slaves to borrow his large nets, or ”seines,” to fish in the Potomac At least one elderly slave named Father Jack kept a canoe on the river and supplied fish to others Archaeologists have identified bones from sixteen types of fish in the cellar of the ton also distributed to the slaves htered on the estate, surplus fish from his fishery, and buttermilk left after the ical find has been the discovery of lead shot and gun flints, showing that Washi+ngton allowed selected slaves to keep firearht animal species have been identified in the slave cellar The slaves could either eat the gaton's adopted grandson remembered how a slave named To and brought doith his musket ”as many of those delicious birds as would supply the larder for a week”33 This made up part of a strictly liton allowed slaves to till their own garden plots, keep poultry, and sell eggs, chicken, fruits, and vegetables On Sunday s he even permitted them to travel with passes to nearby Alexandria and peddle their wares in the open ton's slaves to meet and marry slaves on other plantations This made up part of a strictly liton allowed slaves to till their own garden plots, keep poultry, and sell eggs, chicken, fruits, and vegetables On Sunday s he even permitted them to travel with passes to nearby Alexandria and peddle their wares in the open ton's slaves to meet and marry slaves on other plantations

That the slaves at Mount Vernon could move about without supervision runs counter to the common view of slavery as a system enforced only by the daily terror of whips and shackles Like other ton owned more slaves than his overseers could effectively monitor, and so the only way to control a captive population was to convince theinia had perfected a systeitive slaves Under a 1748 law, a master could seek out two justices of the peace and have theive the slaves fair warning, the proclahout the county If the slave still didn't surrender, the law said that ”it shall be lawful for any personto kill and destroy such slaves by any ways or means, without accusation or iton, with few exceptions, avoided inflicting har them down, and the problean has coton had forty-seven runaway slaves over the years, or 7 percent of the total population35 A year after his ton pursued a runaway na bounty to a slave from another plantation who recaptured hie and Martha Washi+ngton, who invariably reacted with a sense of shock and betrayal In his diary for 1761, Washi+ngton recorded deep concern for the fate of a slave named Cupid, who had recently arrived frolish, and had contracted pleurisy Thein to inquire after Cupid's health and in one diary entry wrote anxiously that ”when I went to bed, I thought [Cupid] within a few hours of breathing his last” A year after his ton pursued a runaway na bounty to a slave from another plantation who recaptured hie and Martha Washi+ngton, who invariably reacted with a sense of shock and betrayal In his diary for 1761, Washi+ngton recorded deep concern for the fate of a slave named Cupid, who had recently arrived frolish, and had contracted pleurisy Thein to inquire after Cupid's health and in one diary entry wrote anxiously that ”when I went to bed, I thought [Cupid] within a few hours of breathing his last”36 Notwithstanding this special care, Cupid subsequently ran aith three other slaves naton placed a fugitive slave advertise this special care, Cupid subsequently ran aith three other slaves naton placed a fugitive slave advertise that they had escaped ”without the least suspicion, provocation, or difference with anybody, or the least angry word or abuse fro that they had escaped ”without the least suspicion, provocation, or difference with anybody, or the least angry word or abuse froton's description of the four slaves showed that he didn't see theuishable mass but as a collection of distinct individuals Of Peros he said that he was thirty-five to forty years old, had a ”yellowish complex[ion] with a very full round face and full black beard,” and wore ”a dark colored cloth coat, a white linen waistcoat, white breeches and white stockings”38 He added that the runaway slave spoke decent English, had shed much of his African dialect, and was ”esteero” He added that the runaway slave spoke decent English, had shed much of his African dialect, and was ”esteeton noted that ”the skin of his face is coarse and inclined to be piton noted that ”the skin of his face is coarse and inclined to be pimply”40 Two of the slaves showed recent African ancestry, having been scarified by their tribes Jack had ”cuts down each cheek bearing his countryand filed sharp” Two of the slaves showed recent African ancestry, having been scarified by their tribes Jack had ”cuts down each cheek bearing his countryand filed sharp”41 Washi+ngton offered a forty-shi+lling reward for the recovery of all fourreward for the recovery of all four men

Unless they proved repeat offenders, Washi+ngton usually forgave runaere brought back to Mount Vernon He accepted the return of the ”sensible, judicious” Peros without reprisals, only to have hiton didn't have the stomach for the more odious forrisly penalty of selling refractory slaves in the Caribbean, where they faced hard labor and alarcane brakes In July 1766 Washi+ngtonslave naue and runaway”42 He assigned hined him to Captain Josiah Tho for St Kitts Washi+ngton told the skipper to keep Toot to sea and that if he was ”kept clean and triood price was sailing for St Kitts Washi+ngton told the skipper to keep Toot to sea and that if he was ”kept clean and triood price43 Froshead ofwith a barrel of limes and a pot of taton exported recalcitrant slaves to the Caribbean and brandished the threat of doing so to intiton hoped to receive one hogshead ofwith a barrel of limes and a pot of taton exported recalcitrant slaves to the Caribbean and brandished the threat of doing so to intiinia the property of debtors, including slaves, was often sold at tavern lotteries, a partial repayton cosponsored a lottery in Willia for the estate of one Bernard Moore, who had defaulted on a large loan fro investor could purchase a chance to win parcels of Moore's land or some fifty-five slaves divided into thirty-nine lots The most desirable male slaves were sold with their families intact, while other slave faine anything that ton's stated policy of preserving slave fa them off in this public manner With soton ”reached a moral nadir” with the Bernard Moore lottery44 The editors of Washi+ngton's papers have noted that in the 1760s he ”frequently bought tickets for lotteries,” although the Bernard Moore case seeanizer The editors of Washi+ngton's papers have noted that in the 1760s he ”frequently bought tickets for lotteries,” although the Bernard Moore case seeanizer45 Fortunately, such notorious cases were the exception George and Martha Washi+ngton worked in close proximity with their slaves and knew ton acknowledged the humanity of so-standing relationshi+p with his manservant Williaton paid top dollar to a Mrs Mary Lee of Westmoreland County for two roomed William (also called Billy or Will) as his personal servant A dark-skinned mulatto, Billy Lee was a short, coab, a rich fund of anecdotes, and a wealth of opinions A real dare-devil as a horseton in every major activity of his life and was an indispensable asset during the foxhunting season Billy Lee coton's valet, butler, and waiter Whether Washi+ngton was trotting off to the House of Burgesses, the Continental Congress, or Valley Forge, Lee was the trusted aide in attendance A New England visitor noted h