Mount Vernon and slavery: Confronting the uncomfortable legacy behind George Washington’s estate

Behind the grand mansion and formal gardens of Mount Vernon lies a quieter, more troubling story. Visiting the reconstructed slave quarters at Mount Vernon forces a reckoning with George Washington and slavery, and with choices that shaped the early United States.

It looks like a particularly austere dorm. Perhaps from a hostel still wedded to the institutionalised 1950s model. Wide, basic but sturdy wooden shelves line up against the bare brick wall.

Dividing panels split them up into separate beds, and thin sheets provide the most basic of cover. Elsewhere, there are cooking pots used to feed all with ration-stretching one pot meals and stools where the older women would perch for hours at a time while sewing or spinning.

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The recreated slave quarters at Mount Vernon

The recreated slave quarters at Mount Vernon are austere without falling below the line into the realms of callously grim.

From a slave’s perspective, there will undoubtedly have been worse plantations in the American South, and there will have been better.

What makes this plantation so significant is who it belonged to – a man who could have ended slavery long before it was finally abolished.

Mount Vernon and the edge of a divided nation

On 18 December 1865, the 13th Amendment became part of the United States Constitution, outlawing slavery in a country that had been almost riven in two by the issue.

Mount Vernon sat on the very edge of that North–South line, just inside slave-owning Virginia but only a few miles down the Potomac River from slavery-free Washington DC.

George Washington’s estate and enslaved workforce

George Washington inherited the Mount Vernon estate in 1761, transforming it from a simple dwelling on 2,000 acres into a 21-room mansion set within an 8,000-acre property.

It began as a tobacco plantation, but Washington switched to wheat in 1766 when tobacco was no longer financially sustainable.

The vast majority of the work was done by enslaved people. When Washington died, there were 316 enslaved men, women and children living on the estate.

Washington was not alone among early presidents. At least nine former US presidents owned slaves.

Power, precedent and moral compromise

As the first president of the new nation, Washington had more power than most to shape its path.

He set precedents for serving only two terms, being addressed as ‘Mr President’, and delivering the annual State of the Union as a speech to Congress.

On slavery, however, he equivocated.

There is strong evidence that Washington became increasingly opposed to slavery later in life. He freed his slaves in his will, but fear of splitting the fragile new nation appears to have outweighed freeing them during his presidency.

What Mount Vernon reveals about enslaved life

Modern-day Mount Vernon is far more than a historic house. It’s one of several US presidents’ houses in Virginia, while also one of the best presidential museums in the United States. Visitors can explore formal gardens, a distillery, a gristmill, a sample farm with livestock, a museum and education centre, and a wide range of themed tours.

One tour focuses specifically on Washington and slavery, a notable inclusion given that Washington’s heroic reputation draws vast visitor numbers.

The guide presents Mount Vernon as home to a community of enslaved people, with family ties and social bonds.

Washington encouraged marriage and families, although the line between humane intent and practical self-interest is blurred. More children meant more slaves, and family ties reduced the likelihood of escape.

Enslaved people who were too old, young or infirm to work, around 40% of the population, were supported rather than abandoned.

Letters, discipline and daily labour

Much of what is known about Washington’s treatment of enslaved people comes from his letters.

In one, he criticised an overseer for viewing slaves “in the same way as beasts in fields”.

In another, he approved the whipping of an enslaved woman named Charlotte, writing: “If they refuse to do their duty or are impertinent, they must be corrected.”

Washington expected slaves to work as hard as he did: from daybreak to sundown, six days a week, with Sundays free.

Routine, resistance and the absence of freedom

Walking back through the slave quarters, what stands out most is the sense of routine rather than theatrical brutality.

Two outfits a year. Meagre food rations supplemented by hunting and fishing. Night-time treks of up to six miles by men visiting families on distant farms.

Life may have been materially better than that of some poor free families elsewhere, except for one crucial absence: freedom.

Acts of resistance, from breaking tools to feigning illness and attempting escape, underline that this was never a contented existence.

The slave cemetery at Mount Vernon

Beyond a patch of woodland lies the slave cemetery at Mount Vernon, now the focus of ongoing archaeological work.

Machinery churns the soil in an effort to learn more about the men and women who kept the estate running.

Had they been free to live and die elsewhere, American history may have unfolded very differently.

Mount Vernon visitor information

Nearby attractions around Mount Vernon

• George Washington’s Distillery and Gristmill: Working reconstructions nearby.
• Old Town Alexandria: Historic streets, waterfront and dining.
• Potomac River waterfront: Scenic walks and viewpoints.
• National Mall: Monuments and museums in Washington DC.
• Arlington National Cemetery: A short drive north.

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