Of the nine presidents who were slaveholders, only George Washington freed all his own slaves upon his death. Washington gradually came to realize that slavery was immoral and contrary to the Revolutionary ideals of liberty and equality. In 1774 he endorsed a document, known as the Fairfax Resolves, which condemned the slave trade as “unnatural” and recommended that no more slaves be imported into the British colonies. Five years later, he approved a plan to grant slaves their freedom in exchange for service in the Continental Army.
|