How is a "Gen Lee High School" any different from a "Heinrik Himmler High School"?

[MADem]

34. He didn't try to break away from the country in order to preserve the institution of slavery.

It wasn't an issue that rose to the level of civil strife fracturing a nation during his lifetime. That's the distinction and the difference.

It's time for some honesty on this topic, and with any luck, this sleazy flag will help to open the discussion about our actual "American heritage." America needs to own the fact that the country was built on slavery--hell, the WHITE House was built by BLACK men, and they didn't have a choice in the matter, either.

In point of fact, more than half of his slaves were actually MARTHA's!! He got them because women had no rights back in the day, either...they were slaves in much improved circumstances, in essence. I don't think his slaves were particularly well treated, though--he sounds a bit vindictive to me.

Here are some fascinating facts about George and the institution of slavery:

http://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/ten-facts-about-washington-slavery/


Despite having been an active slave holder for 56 years, George Washington struggled with the institution of slavery and spoke frequently of his desire to end the practice. At the end of this life Washington made the bold step to free his slaves in his 1799 will - the only slave-holding Founding Father to do so.....

....3. Marrying Martha Washington significantly increased Washington’s number of slaves

After marrying Martha Dandridge Custis in January of 1759, George Washington's slaveholdings increased dramatically. As the widow of a wealthy planter who died without a will in 1757, Martha’s share of the Custis estate brought another eighty-four slaves to Mount Vernon. The stark increase in the enslaved population at Mount Vernon at this time reflected similar trends in the region. When George Washington took control of the Mount Vernon property in 1754, the population of Fairfax County was around 6,500 people, of whom a little more than 1,800 or about 28% were slaves of African origin. The proportion of slaves in the population as a whole rose throughout the century; by the end of the American Revolution, over 40% of the people living in Fairfax County were slaves.

4. Accounts vary regarding Washington’s treatment of the Mount Vernon’s enslaved population

Sources offer differing insight into Washington's behavior as a slave owner. On one end of the spectrum, Richard Parkinson, an Englishman who lived near Mount Vernon, once reported that "it was the sense of all his [Washington's] neighbors that he treated his slaves with more severity than any other man." Conversely, a foreign visitor traveling in America once recorded that George Washington dealt with his slaves "far more humanely than do his fellow citizens of Virginia." What is clear is that Washington frequently utilized harsh punishment against the enslaved population, including whippings and the threat of particularly taxing work assignments. Perhaps most severely, Washington could sell a slave to a buyer in the West Indies, ensuring that the person would never see their family or friends at Mount Vernon again. Washington conducted such sales on several occasions.
....

6. On numerous occasions, slaves ran away from the Washington household in an attempt to gain their freedom.

Mount Vernon’s enslaved community took opportunities, when possible, to physically escape their enslavement. For example, in April of 1781 during the American Revolution, seventeen members of the Mount Vernon enslaved population—fourteen men and three women—fled to the British warship HMS Savage anchored in the Potomac off the shore of the plantation. In other instances, members of the enslaved community who were directly connected to the Washingtons either attempted to or were successful in their escape plans. These individuals included Washington’s personal assistant Christopher Sheels, whose plan to escape with his fiancée was thwarted, the family cook Hercules and Martha Washington’s personal maid Oney Judge, both of whom escaped successfully.

7. Slaves at Mount Vernon also resisted their enslavement through less noticeable means

Running away was a risky venture that often did not succeed. As a result, Mount Vernon’s enslaved population frequently resisted their bondage through a variety of methods while working on the plantation. Individuals utilized less noticeable methods of resistance, including feigning illness, working slowly, producing shoddy work, and misplacing or damaging tools and equipment. More active means of protest included actions such as theft, arson, and sabotage of crops. Theft was a particularly frequently act of visible slave resistance. Over the years slaves at Mount Vernon were accused of stealing a wide variety of objects, including tools, fabrics, yam, raw wool, wine, rum, milk, butter, fruits, meats, corn, and potatoes.