LaTonya Smith The Embodied Presidency July 26, 2008

A General in the American Revolution A Farmer of tobacco, wheat, corn, barley, etc Distiller Owner of Fisheries The First President of the United States Commander and Chief of the Continental Army A SLAVE OWNER

Washington owned 10 enslaved persons at the age of 11, after his father died. Purchased approximately 15 more persons prior to marriage. Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis, who brought another 84 enslaved persons from her previous marriage. At the time of his death in 1799, he owned 318 persons

One gallon of maize (one quart a day, and ½ as much for children) 20 Herrings each per month At harvest time, those in the field have salt meat

They supplemented their rations with their own gardens and raised hens and chickens. They were not permitted to keep ducks, geese, and pigs They also went hunting and fishing

Depending on the farms they worked on and their job descriptions, determined their living conditions Those on the Mansion House Farm resided in a large, brick Greenhouse/slave quarter complex, called “House for Families” House servants and artisans were housed near the mansion The cook, had lived over the kitchen Most lived on farms, in small huts, made of logs, scrap lumber, and patched with clay dirt.

“Blacks. We entered one of the cabins of the Blacks, for one can not call them by the name of houses. They are more miserable than the most miserable of the cottages of our peasants. The husband and wife sleep on a mean pallet, the children on the ground; a very bad fireplace, some utensils for cooking, but in the middle of this poverty some cups and a teapot.” As recorded and described by a Polish visitor to Mount Vernon in 1789

WHY?

“Jumping the Broom” Encouraged procreation (childbirth) Enslaved persons, less likely to run away or rebel Offered family stability Provided a CARROT (I will define later)

Enslaved persons were not the docile people we often see in pictures; however, many of them often exhibited some type of resistance/rebellion. There are two types of resistance Active-occurs where people are taking specific and deliberate action to resist the change Passive-occurs where people do not take specific actions

Rebellions and insurrections, such as Stono, Nat Turner, Denmark Vessey, etc Physically Fighting Back Flight (the most common) "...but at this moment--from whence came the spirit I don't know--I resolved to fight...My long-crushed spirit rose, cowardice departed, bold defiance took its place; and I now resolved that, however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact."--Frederick Douglass, from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

“Silent Sabatoge” Foot Dragging (Work slow-down) Covert Poison Breaking tools “accidentally” misused tools and animals Pretend to be sick Feigned difficulty understanding instructions Internal Hatred Depression

used to refer to the act of rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior Swing the carrot in front of someone is a reward The stick refers to the switch that one may be disciplined with

Verbal Encouragement “the better sort” be given to adult slaves and those who were “most deserving” “the highest price and best [linen], to the grown and most deserving men and women” Direct cash awards given by Washington “six shillings were paid to Ben at Dogue Run “for his good be[haviour] In harvest”

Threats punishments “the more indifferent sort” would be doled out to “the younger ones and worthless” “he ordered that cheaper linen be “given to the boys and girls”

Near the end of Washington’s life he left in his will the following: “Upon the decease of my wife, it is my Will and desire that all the Slaves which I hold in my own right, shall receive their freedom.-To emancipate them during her life, would tho’ earnestly wished by me, be attended with such insuperable difficulties on account of their intermixture by Marriages with the Dower Negros, as to excite the most painful sensations, if not disagreeable consequences from the latter”

AND DID HE REALLY?

Leader and Slave Owner LET’S DISCUSS