George Washington

Every American knows that George Washington was the first President of the United States of America. President Washington had a great reputation for fighting for all people in America during his era. Washington is also known as the "Father of our country." He is attributed to the Revolutionary War and the Battle of Valley Forge. Washington is known for chopping down his father's cherry tree as a child. The nation's capital, Washington, D.C., is named for the former first President of the United States. George Washington's face is on the one-dollar bill today. The well-known American landmark, the Washington Monument, is in his honor. George Washington is recognized for many great things that happened during his lifetime. Slavery is one that will be looked at because it is important to see that even though he fought for other's rights, he would go against that because he owned his own slaves.

Pogue states in his periodical the following: "born into a world where slavery was considered a normal part of life, George Washington initially appears to have felt no qualms about following along the same slaveholding path taken by his father, by his many relatives and by virtually every other man of wealth and stares whom he knew and respected. At the age of 11, George Washington inherited 10 slaves from his father's estate. Just as he was ever eager to expand his land-holdings, to improve the productivity of his farms and to win election to public office, he steadily acquired more slaves during the next two decades. Along with marrying well, another arena in which Washington was enormously successful, these achievements were the main components of the tried-and-true formula for acquiring wealth and social prominence in colonial Virginia." This shows the times of his era and what constituted wealth and success.

Pogue continues that, "it was probably with a strong sense of relief that George Washington wearily made his way to his second-floor bedchamber on the evening of July 9, 1799. A self-described old man at 67 years of age and with little more than five months of life ahead of him, Washington had just completed a task that seemingly resolved an issue that had troubled him for decades. It was on that day that the former president finished writing his last will and testament, which spelled out his directions for freeing the more than 100 enslaved human beings that he personally owned. Much more than just a functional legal instrument, the will served as Washington's final message to his country, and the manumission clause represented one of the most symbolic acts of his long and distinguished career in public service."

Interestingly the author continues his passage stating the following: "because Washington had no offspring of his own, his estate was passed on to the children of his siblings, to the Custis family relations he gained by marriage, to a