Mount Vernon’s enslaved population resisted their forced servitude in a variety of ways. As argued by Mary Thompson, Mount Vernon’s Research Historian, “The enslaved population at Mount Vernon did not meekly accept their bonded lot in life.” Rather, slaves practiced a mixture of methods of resistance, including tactics such as work slow downs and feigning illness; the advantage of these methods was that “they were often difficult for George Washington and his managers to observe and prove.”
Thompson also points out that “On the opposite end of the resistance spectrum were more active and noticeable actions such as theft, arson, sabotage of crops, and running away.” While these types of actions “might be especially satisfying” for an enslaved person, “they also carried far greater risk of detection and punishment.”
One of the more infamous accounts of resistance at Mount Vernon occurred in 1781 when 17 slaves ran away to the British warship HMS Savage, anchored on the Potomac River close to Mount Vernon. For more information on the HMS Savage see our blog post from February 27, 2013.
During the spring of 1781, seventeen Mount Vernon slaves took advantage of the arrival of the British warship Savage on the shores of the plantation to make a bid for freedom. With George Washington away from his home serving as commander of the Continental Army, the Savage arrived at Mount Vernon seeking supplies. Writing about the experience years later, Lund Washington (the temporary manager of Mount Vernon) explained that the Savage sent a message to Mount Vernon that it would be burned unless the ship was given “a large supply of provisions.”
As explained in today’s featured Digital Encyclopedia entry, while supplies were being sent to the British ship, seventeen Mount Vernon slaves took the opportunity to flee their bondage. Escape to and service under British forces offered the promise of freedom for Virginia’s enslaved population. Early in the war the Royal Governor of Virginia John Murray, fourth Earl of Dunmore, issued a proclamation offering “Freedom to All Indented Servts & Slaves (the Property of Rebels) that will repair to his majestys Standard–being able to bear Arms.”
The event illustrates the complexities and contradictions of the American Revolution, as well as changing definitions of freedom and liberty. In addition, the events surrounding the Savage illustrate the bravery of this group of individuals and their desire to escape from the harshness of their lives as slaves.
Adam D. Shprintzen, Ph.D. Editor, Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington
The Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington is a new digital history project that allows users to interact and explore primary source materials and objects from the Mount Vernon collection. Entries focus on the totality of Washington’s life and experiences, while also covering the Mount Vernon Estate, its history, and preservation. The encyclopedia includes entries written by Mount Vernon staff and experts, as well as a team of more than thirty outside scholars of history and related fields. Periodically, encyclopedia entries will be highlighted on this blog.
George Washington’s connection to enslaved poet Phillis Wheatley illustrates “a telling example of his moral complexity and capacity for humanitarian understanding,” argues Adam Meehan, a doctoral candidate in Literature at The University of Arizona. Wheatley was brought to Boston from West Africa at only seven years of age. Uncommon to the practices of the time, Wheatley was formally educated, tutored by her owners’ daughter in subjects such as Greek, Latin and poetry. At just twelve years old, Wheatley began writing poetry and her works became well-known by the time she was eighteen.
In December of 1775, soon after his appointment to lead the Continental Army, Washington received a letter from Wheatley that included an ode written in his honor. The poem must have struck Washington as it prompted the only known letter that he wrote to a slave. In his letter, Washington extended an invitation for Wheatley to meet at his Cambridge, Massachusetts headquarters.
Adam D. Shprintzen, Ph.D. Editor, Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington
The Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington is a new digital history project that allows users to interact and explore primary source materials and objects from the Mount Vernon collection. Entries focus on the totality of Washington’s life and experiences, while also covering the Mount Vernon Estate, its history, and preservation. The encyclopedia includes entries written by Mount Vernon staff and experts, as well as a team of more than thirty outside scholars of history and related fields. Periodically, encyclopedia entries will be highlighted on this blog.Continue reading Encyclopedia Entry: Phillis Wheatley »
Anyone visiting the estate this summer will have the chance to meet and interact with a new character interpreter — representing an important historical figure from Washington’s time. Christopher Sheels worked as a body servant to George Washington. The term “body servant” in today’s vocabulary sounds more like a body guard, but in the late 18th Century, a body servant was another term for personal assistant or attendant. Sheels was responsible for things like making sure Washington’s clothes were ready in the morning, that his hair was pulled back neatly, helping to deliver messages, and tending to the General’s horse. He became Washington’s sole attendant after his uncle Billy Lee was injured and could no longer fulfill his duties. Sheels was just a teenager when he took over responsibility as the body servant.
Sheels was a “dower” slave brought to the Mount Vernon estate by Martha Custis after her marriage to Washington. He was a trusted man and was taken to the presidential households with Washington in both New York and Philadelphia. He is believed to be one of the few Mount Vernon slaves that could read and write.
As a “dower slave,” Sheels was not included among the 124 slaves whom George Washington owned and freed under the terms of his will upon his death in 1799. In 1802, following Martha Washington’s death he was given back to the Custis estate.
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19 that the Union soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. What a momentous day in history.
In January of 1781, British armed forces entered Virginia in strength and ravaged much of the countryside. In April, as part of this invasion, His Majesty’s sloop of war, the Savage, sailed up the Potomac burning and pillaging rebel American properties along its shores and laid at anchor April 12, 13 & 14th, just one mile upriver from General George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate. The British commander of the ship, Capt. Tomas Graves, sent a message to Lund Washington, the General’s cousin and Manager of the Estate, demanding provisions- and threatening to burn Mount Vernon if refused.
On April 25-26th, soldiers will once again come ashore, and our first person interpreters will re-enact this shocking moment in Mount Vernon’s history. More information about these exciting performances is available on our website.
Mount Vernon recently invited K-12 schools nationwide to request framed portraits of George Washington to display in a respectful, prominent place.
The response was overwhelming: thousands of schools submitted letters! Along with the portrait, schools received curriculum materials to help explore our first president’s contributions.
