Life as a Slave At George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate
Here’s what the enslaved people had to go through.
A part of American history that is often overlooked and ignored is how the first US President, George Washington, owned a workforce of slaves at his plantation estate in Mount Vernon.
Washington’s views on slavery might’ve changed towards the end of his life, the fact remains that he inherited enslaved people at the early age of 11. Washington and his family collectively owned more than 500 people over five decades. The life of these slaves was quite challenging and laborious, as is the case for most enslaved people of the era.
The slaves at Washington’s Mount Vernon plantation worked a tiresome 6-day week, with Sundays off. The slaves had to grow and cook their own food. In case their clothes were torn or damaged during work, they had to repair and patch the garments themselves. Most of the slaves would have multiple patches on their clothes.
In a letter to one of the overseers at his plantation, Washington detailed how he expected the slaves to be up and working at the break of dawn. He wrote,
“To request that my people may be at their work as soon as it is light, work till it is dark, and be diligent while they are at it can hardly be necessary because the…
