14. Washington’s Views on Slavery Changed
George Washington’s views on the treatment of slaves changed over time. When he first became a slave owner at the age of 11, Washington often followed the rules and realities of how to treat slaves. He felt that if harsh punishments had to happen to get the work done, then that was how the overseers should treat the slaves. After all, during Washington’s time, this was just all part of slave life. Slaves weren’t treated as human beings because most people felt they weren’t human beings.
While Washington never changed his view on slaves, he did start to change his perspective on the treatment of slaves. Near the end of his life, Washington began to feel that if slaves had to handle harsh punishments, they would not be able to perform the work they needed to do. In fact, at one point, Washington told his overseers to use a system of rewards instead of harsh punishments. However, this didn’t work for all the slaves, so Washington had to agree to tell the overseers to do as they saw fit.