All the presidents men…

In our travels we really wanted to see history, no, we wanted immersion. We went to two Presedential estates particularly recommended, Thomas Jeffersons Monticello, and Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington.

We went there with great expections, to see first hand how these great men, Fathers of our country, lived and became inspired. We saw the grand houses, the beautiful gardens, and all the trappings of a totally self sufficient property. These were great men with ideas very new to the time, building a new society based on freedoms and equality that the world would envy, and in time would attempt to emulate. The great experiment.

We came away with something entirely different. Another affirmation of how our great country was born and grew on the backs of the enslaved. Ok, we knew about slavery, it was in our history books in school…or was it.

George Washington went through 650 slaves in his lifetime. We saw where they lived and what they did. They were the field workers, the domestic help, the blacksmiths, the cooks, the bakers. They tended the horses, drove the carriages, took care of the livestock. They literally built these great houses, including the greatest of those, The White House.

Thomas Jefferson went through about 360 slaves in his lifetime. He had great plantations and one hellava house. When he went to Paris to be a diplomat he took slaves. One was just 16 years old and she accompied his 16 year old daughter. His wife died the year before so I suppose he got a bit randy and he impregnated (raped)his slave girl by the name of Sally Hemings. I’m sure she didn’t have much of a choice. There was no slavery in France and as the story goes she could stay in France as a free woman but chose to go back as long as any future children she had would be free when they became adults. She had five other children, and 4 lived to reach adulthood. The promise that was made didn’t exactly happen. When Jefferson went broke later in his life he sold off his slaves to pay his debt, and in the process separated families, and spouses, and brothers and sisters. Sallys four remaining children were not freed, but allowed to leave after he died.

To the credit of our park service and the foundations that maintain these Houses there seems to be a lot of naked truth told. They don’t seem to pull many punches and by the time we were done I felt sick, and Cindi was beyond that. She was reliving it in her mind in the first person… no fun.

8 of our Presidents were slave holders.