Kullanıcı:Doğu/George Washington ve kölelik
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George Washington ve kölelik tarihi, Washington'un köleleştirme konusundaki değişen tutumunu yansıtır.
Amerika Birleşik Devletleri'nin kurucu babalarından ve köle sahibi olan Washington, zamanla kölelik kurumundan rahatsız olmaya başladı ve sahip olduğu kölelere vasiyetinde özgürlüklerini bağışladı.
Amerika Birleşik Devletleri koloni döneminde kölelik, (Washington'ın) eyaleti olan Virginia da dahil olmak üzere, kolonilerin ekonomik ve sosyal düzende yerleşmiş bir kurum haline gelmişti. Daha 11 yaşındayken Washington, 1743'te babasının ölümü üzerine 10 kölenin mirasçısı oldu. Yaşamı boyunca Washington'ın hizmetindeki köle sayısı miras, satın alım ve hizmetindeki kölelerin çocuklarının köleliğe doğması yüzünden büyüdü. 1759'de de Martha D. Curtis ile evlenmesiyle Curtis estate (?Aile mülkü)'indeki köleler, çeyiz yoluyla Washington'ın hizmetine girdi. Washington'ın kölelik hakkındaki tutumu, döneminin Virginia plantasyon sahiplerinin (burada biraz ambiguity var) görüşlerini yansıtıyordu – yani, Washington, başlangıçta kölelikten rahatsızlık duymuyordu. Amerikan Bağımsızlık Savaşı'ndan önce 1760'larda Virginia ekonomisinin tütün ekiminden tahıl ekimine geçmesiyle işgücü gereksiniminde görülen azılım sebebiyle Washington'ın kölelerinin bazıları işsiz kalmışlardı. Bu iş yapmayan köleler, yine de Washington için çok maliyetli olması Washington'da kölelik kurumunun ekonomik etkinliği konusunda şüphe uyandırdı. 1774'te Washington, Fairfax Resolves Virginia'da köle ticaretini ahlaki gerekçelerle dayandırarak kınadı. Savaştan sonra, yasama süreciyle köleliğin kademeli olarak kaldırılmasını destekledi. Ancak, Washington bu görüşü sadece özel hayatında paylaştı. Washington 1799'da öldüğü zaman, Mount Vernon malikanesinde 124'ü Washington'a ait olmak üzere 317 köle bulunmaktaydı. (Diğer köleler başkasının mülkü olmasına rağmen Washington tarafından işletiliyordu)
Washington güçlü bir çalışma etiğine sahipti ve aynı tavrı hem işe alınmış işçilerden hem de emrinde çalışmaya zorlanan kölelerden de beklerdi. He provided his enslaved population with basic food, clothing and accommodation comparable to general practice at the time, which was not always adequate, and with medical care. In return, he expected them to work diligently from sunrise to sunset over the six-day working week that was standard at the time. Some three-quarters of his enslaved workers labored in the fields, while the remainder worked at the main residence as domestic servants and artisans. They supplemented their diet by hunting, trapping, and growing vegetables in their free time, and bought extra rations, clothing and housewares with income from the sale of game and produce. They built their own community around marriage and family, though because Washington allocated the enslaved to farms according to the demands of the business generally without regard for their relationships, many husbands lived separately from their wives and children during the work week. Washington used both reward and punishment to manage his enslaved population, but was constantly disappointed when they failed to meet his exacting standards. A significant proportion of the enslaved population at Mount Vernon resisted their enslavement by various means, such as theft to supplement food and clothing and to provide income, feigning illness, and escaping.
As commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in 1775, he initially refused to accept African-Americans, free or enslaved, into the ranks, but bowed to the demands of war, and thereafter led a racially integrated army. Moral doubt about the institution first appeared in 1778 when Washington expressed reluctance to sell some of his enslaved workers at a public venue or split their families. At war’s end, Washington demanded without success that the British respect the preliminary peace treaty which he said required return of escaped slaves without exception. His public statement on resigning his commission, addressing challenges facing the new confederation, made no explicit mention of slavery. Politically, Washington felt that the divisive issue of American slavery threatened national cohesion, and he never spoke publicly about it. Privately, Washington considered plans in the mid 1790s to free his enslaved population. Those plans failed because of his inability to raise the finances necessary, the refusal of his family to approve emancipation of the dower slaves, and his own aversion to separating enslaved families. His will was widely published upon his death in 1799, and provided for the emancipation of the enslaved population he owned, one of the few slave-owning founders to set them free. Because many of his slaves were married to the dower slaves, whom he could not legally free, the will stipulated that, except for his valet William Lee who was freed immediately, his enslaved workers be emancipated on the death of his wife Martha. She freed them in 1801, a year before her own death, but she had no option to free the dower slaves, who were inherited by her grandchildren.