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Exhibition The Two Georges: Parallel Lives in an Age of Revolution

The Two Georges: Parallel Lives in an Age of Revolution

An Inheritance

A handwritten document beginning with the words “In the Name of God Amen.”
Augustine Washington. Will, April 11, 1743. George Washington Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (001.00.00)
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An Inheritance

George Washington was born into a society and an economy grounded in slavery. Augustine Washington left his son George some land and an unspecified number of “Nigro slaves” in his 1743 will. When George turned eighteen, he came into possession of eleven enslaved people: Fortune, George, Long Joe, Winna, Bellindar, Jenny, Adam, Natt, London, Milla, and Frank.