George Washington and slavery
Subtitle: a documentary portrayal
By: Fritz Hirschfeld.
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Columbia
Language: eng
Number of pages: 256
Subjects: Washington, George, 1732-1799 -- Sources; Slavery -- United States -- History -- 18th century -- Sources
Description: No history of racism in America can be considered complete without taking into account the role that George Washington - the principal founding father - played in helping to mold the racist cast of the new nation.

Because General Washington - the universally acknowledged hero of the Revolutionary War - in the postwar period uniquely combined the moral authority, personal prestige, and political power to influence significantly the course and the outcome of the slavery debate, his opinions on the subject of slaves and slavery are of crucial importance to understanding how racism succeeded in becoming an integral and official part of the national fabric during its formative stages.

Relying primarily on Washington's own words - his correspondence, diaries, and other written records - supplemented by letters, comments, and eyewitness reports of family members, friends, employees, aides, correspondents, colleagues, and visitors to Mount Vernon, together with contemporary newspaper clippings and official documents pertaining to Washington's relationships with African Americans, Fritz Hirschfeld traces Washington's transition from a conventional slaveholder to a lukewarm abolitionist.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-248) and index.