Martha Washington and Slavery Research Paper

In the aftermath of the American Revolution, stood a country: America. The growing cities such as Philadelphia and New York City in the north, and the plantations reliant on slave labor in the south divided America. George Washington was at the forefront of this newly-formed nation. Elected president on April 14th, 1989, his presidency had a large role in his changing attitudes about slavery. Martha Washington, however, had no such change in her attitudes. Despite George Washington’s changing attitudes about slavery, Martha Washington’s attitudes about slavery never changed and she continually benefitted from slave labor in numerous ways. 

The institution of slavery was influential in Martha Washington’s marriage to George Washington. George Washington lacked financial stability throughout his life. Erica Armstrong Dunbar says of his financial situation, “Just like the new nation, Washington was cash-strapped… He would need to borrow money (at 6 percent interest) to keep Mount Vernon afloat and to finance his trip to New York.” Despite his position at the forefront of the developing nation, George Washington never experienced wealth or the comfort that came with it. However, Martha Washington was the owner of six plantations and close to three hundred slaves. She was “...one of the wealthiest widows in the colony of Virginia, if not throughout the entire Chesapeake.” Her wealth was influential in George Washington’s decision to marry her, with his marriage offering him “...instant wealth and the stability of a wife and family that had eluded him.” Martha Washington, at least financially, had a lot of control over George Washington in the way that most wives did not in the late 1700s. The enslaved people she owned were exclusively hers, and in the event that anything happened to them, George Washington would be the one who paid the price. Martha Washington, with her financial status and ownership of numerous enslaved people, was able to exert power in situations she previously would not have been able to. When George Washington accepted his appointment to be president, Martha Washington did not follow him immediately. Instead of “...immediately traveling to New York, she remained at Mount Vernon...”. Tobias Lear, the president’s secretary, tasked with enticing Martha Washington into moving to New York, sent a variety of letters to Martha Washington, attempting to convince her to move. Her investment in slave labor allowed her agency. 

Her wealth, rooted in slave labor, was able to support her family in numerous ways. When Eliza Custis, Martha Washington’s granddaughter, married Thomas Law Martha Washington gifted her with Ona Judge. “In an effort to help Eliza ease into her new matrimony, Martha Washington stepped in, offered Eliza the support she needed: she would bequeath Judge to Eliza Law as a wedding gift.” Because of her ownership of enslaved people, she was able to accumulate wealth despite being a woman. When her enslaved people gave birth, their “...body would be counted among the human property that would produce great profit for Martha Washington and the Custis children and grandchildren.” She was able to offer her grandchildren relative financial security even after her death, dividing her estate between all of her grandchildren, with much of that wealth coming from her enslaved people. Eliza Custis’s ability to begin “...a nomadic life,” and purchase a small home in Alexandria was in part because of her grandmother’s wealth. Her wealth also allowed her “...to secure a surrogate father to help her raise her two living children.” Because of the dower enslaved people owned by her first husband, Daniel Parke Custis, she was able to support her grandchildren in both her life and after her death, and have two parental figures in her children’s lives. 

Martha Washington was not only reliant on slave labor; she actively supported the institution of slavery. Forced to join her husband in New York, she not only relied on Ona Judge, her personal bondswoman, to pack for her but also to deal with her emotional distress. Martha Washington expected Ona Judge to be responsible for “...tending to her mistress’s needs, both emotional and physical, had to balance the first lady’s deep sadness, resentment, and frustration…”. Not only did she subject her enslaved people to care for all of her needs, she also made sure they had no chance of freedom. After shuffling Austin, Ona Judge’s brother, back to Mount Vernon to make sure he has no chance of emancipating himself, she refocused her attention on “...preparing for the family’s trip back to Mount Vernon, an excursion that would bring the rest of the slaves on High Street back to Virginia.” Martha Washington was just as complicit in keeping her enslaved people away from freedom as her husband. Martha Washington’s anger towards Ona’s Judge’s escape from the Washington’s was evident in her husband’s letter to Oliver Wolcott, “The ingratitude of the girl, who was brought up & treated more like a child than a Servant (& Mrs. Washington’s desire to recover her)...”. Even on her deathbed, she stayed committed to slavery. Martha Washington was able to emancipate an enslaved person, Elish, who wasn’t a part of her dower inheritance but “...she chose not to. Instead, Elish was willed to her grandson George Washington Parke Custis.” Martha Washington was not just complicit to the institution of slavery but loyal to it.

Martha Washington was not complacent. She stayed committed to slave labor. Unlike her husband, who decided to emancipate his enslaved people in his will, her loyalty to slavery never wavered. Her loyalty to the institution would help her secure her grandchildren’s success and financial stability long after she was gone. Martha Washington’s wealth and relative success as the first lady of the United States trace back to her roots in slave labor. Her husband’s estate left her hundreds of enslaved people that allowed her to marry George Washington. That estate allowed her to live her life in comfort, with personal bondswomen tasked to fulfill her every need. Despite this, her life was still controlled by her husband. Martha Washington never wanted to be first lady or move to Virginia. Despite her wealth, she was not in control of her life or her circumstances. However, in slavery, Martha Washington was able to find power, however little it was.