Washington Owned Over 300 Enslaved People at the Time of His Death

At the time of his death in 1799, George Washington enslaved 317 people at Mount Vernon. He had moral reservations about slavery — as shown in his will, which provided for the emancipation of his enslaved workers after Martha's death — but he never publicly advocated for abolition and profited enormously from enslaved labor throughout his life. Martha Washington freed the enslaved people in 1801, a year after George's death.

Source

https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/

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Published: April 8, 2026
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George Washington History Politics

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