Abstract
Who was George Washington? How has he been remembered? Two senior presidential scholars, Matthew R. Costello and Mary V. Thompson, provide answers in two carefully crafted books. Washington, says Costello, was an aristocratic, affluent Virginian who found the concept of democracy “worrisome” (1). Fearing that demands for democratic expansion would destabilize the nation, he worked for a republic grounded in social and political hierarchy. But soon after his death in 1799, Washington’s reputation metamorphosed into that of a champion of democracy, an image that still holds. Thompson depicts Washington as a slaveholder whose military experience informed his style of plantation management but who “changed into someone who saw that slavery was wrong” (329) and made an end-of-life decision to free the people he enslaved at Mount Vernon, who endured the deprivation and brutality common to Virginia’s large eighteenth-century plantations. Thompson hopes her honest rendering of Washington’s slaveholding will “give readers...
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.