George Washington's 600 slaves and cultural runaway
Episode 7 of In the Field with Michael Muthukrishna. A Theory of Everyone will be released in the US on Oct 31 (next Tuesday)
Hi Lab,
A Theory of Everyone must be a terrific book (in the original sense of terrifying). It’s new release date in the US and Canada is next Tuesday, October 31, ready for Halloween. I suppose it does deal with some scary topics like tax, inequality, and energy scarcity (but with solutions and pathways).
The 7th episode of In The Field with Michael Muthukrishna was shot at George Washington’s house in Philadelphia, which was lost for decades, accidentally demolished, and at one point used as a public toilet. When the significance of the remaining walls was realized, it was turned into a commemoration. But a commemoration not to George Washington, but to George and Martha Washington's nine personal slaves.
Since 2010, this site has stood as a reminder that we, the people, did not always include all people. And while all men are created equal, might have seemed self-evident, it was not self-evident that it should include women or those with the wrong skin color. As I describe in my book, the words in the Constitution may have helped trigger progress through consistency and runaway cultural evolution, but they were far from practiced at the time that they were written.
George Washington had over 600 slaves
James Madison had over 100 slaves
James Monroe around 75 slaves
Andrew Jackson around 200 slaves
John Tyler had 29 slaves
James K Polk had 56 slaves
and Zachary Taylor had around 300 slaves
John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams are notable for being the only two presidents and the first dozen to not have any slaves!
I think it's appropriate that this commemoration be situated in the birthplace of America between the Constitution Center and Liberty Bell, between a center that celebrates all the promise of the powerful words of the US Constitution and a broken bell that nonetheless remains a symbol of all those who yearn for freedom. This is part of modern America's ongoing reckoning with all aspects of its past.
But resolving the ongoing results of this past, of tackling the challenges of diversity, governance in the 21st century, inequality and maximizing the performance and potential of as many people as possible is essential to reaching the next era of abundance.
Transcript
I'm standing at the site of George Washington's presidential house in Philadelphia. The president lived here from 1790 to 1797 after the American capital was moved from New York City to Philly. The location and the significance of the house was lost over history, and at one point it was used as a public toilet. In 1951, the remaining original walls were destroyed without anyone realizing the significance of those bricks.
In the early 2000s, when this history was rediscovered, people were naturally outraged and a commemoration was planned. But a commemoration not to George Washington, but to George and Martha Washington's nine slaves whose names are listed on this wall. Christopher Sheels, George's personal slave. Their coach, Hercules. Hercules’s son, Richmond. The slaves who looked after the horses Giles and Paris. Martha’s personal slaves Oney Judge and Moll, the house slave Austin and the coach driver Joe Richardson. Videos play on repeat, reminding people that Washington not only had slaves, but in his own words, feared that they would talk to the free blacks in Philadelphia, writing that the idea of freedom might be too great a temptation for them to resist. By Pennsylvania law, the slaves would be free once they lived in Philadelphia for six months. And so Washington made sure that they were taken out of the state before that time limit was set, making sure that the clock reset. Washington in fact wrote to Secretary Tobias Lear if, upon good advice, it is found expedient to send them back to Virginia, I wish to have it accomplished under the pretext that they may deceive both them and the public. When George Washington died, he freed his slaves on his death, but his wife, Martha, did not. Instead, their grandchildren “inherited” her slaves and their children. The US capital would eventually move from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., in part as a compromise with the Southern slave owning states to not have the nation's capital in an abolitionist state.
Since 2010, this site has stood as a reminder that we, the people, did not always include all people. And while all men are created equal, might have seemed self-evident, it was not self-evident that it should include women or those with the wrong skin color. As I describe in my book, the words in the Constitution may have helped trigger progress through consistency and runaway cultural evolution, but they were far from practiced at the time that they were written.
George Washington had over 600 slaves. I doubt he knew all their names. James Madison had over 100 slaves. James Monroe around 75 slaves. Andrew Jackson around 200 slaves. John Tyler had 29 slaves. James K Polk at 56 slaves, and Zachary Taylor had around 300 slaves. John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams are notable for being the only two presidents and the first dozen to not have any slaves.
I think it's appropriate that this commemoration be situated in the birthplace of America between the Constitution Center and Liberty Bell, between a center that celebrates all the promise of the powerful words of the US Constitution and a broken bell that nonetheless remains a symbol of all those who yearn for freedom. This is part of modern America's ongoing reckoning with all aspects of its past.
But resolving the ongoing results of this past, of tackling the challenges of diversity, governance in the 21st century, inequality and maximizing the performance and potential of as many people as possible is essential to reaching the next era of abundance.
Best wishes,
Michael