| Contents |
A short-lived childhood: sidebar, Frank Lee -- Building a plantation: sidebar, Davy -- Private lives: sidebar, Hercules -- Resistance and control: sidebar, Charlotte -- A gradual change of heart: sidebar, William Lee -- Liberty at last: sidebar, Christopher Sheels -- Epilogue. |
| Abstract |
As the first President of the United States of America and the Commander in Chief who led a rebel army to victory in the Revolutionary War, George Washington was a legendary leader of men. He had high expectations of his soldiers, employees, and associates. At his Virginia plantation, Mount Vernon, his expectations of his workers were no different: "I expect such labor as they ought to render" he wrote. Except there was a big difference. The workers who kept Mount Vernon operating were enslaved. And although Washington called them "my people," by law they were his property. But the people of Mount Vernon were so much more, and they each have compelling stories to tell. These are fascinating portraits of cooks, overseers, valets, farm hands, and more- essential people nearly lost in the shadows of the past- interwoven with an extraordinary examination of the conscience of the Father of Our Country. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 58-60) and index. |
| LCCN | 2012024295 |
| ISBN | 9781426307591 (hardcover : alk. paper) |
| ISBN | 1426307594 (hardcover : alk. paper) |
| ISBN | 9781426307607 (library binding : alk. paper) |
| ISBN | 1426307608 (library binding : alk. paper) |
