[Of those opposed to slavery,] George Washington belonged, with Mason and Jefferson, in the hardest category — disapproving owners. Theirs was the most difficult position to maintain, psychologically and rhetorically. It would not be maintained over the next sixty years, as southern antislavery rhetoric withered. Practically and politically, disapproving owners were in the hardest position from which to achieve their goals. How do you weaken an institution in which you and all your neighbors are enmeshed? Washington did enough, finally, to free his own slaves, which was more than many owners in his position did. Jefferson never freed all his, nor did any of the other slave-owning presidents.
Gallery
American Artists | 6 albums
Works by John Singleton Copley American Painter, 1738—1815 » view » |
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Works by Charles Willson Peale American Painter, 1741—1827 » view » |
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Works by Rembrandt Peale American Painter, 1778—1860 » view » |
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Works by Gilbert Stuart American Painter, 1755—1828 » view » |
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Works by John Trumbull American Painter, 1756—1843 » view » |
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Other American Artists Mather Brown • Ralph Earl • James Peale • Charles Peale Polk • William Rush • Edward Savage • Thomas Sully • John Vanderlyn • Benjamin West • Other American Works » view » |
Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington (1996)