12. Mount Vernon Saw a Huge Slave Population
Not only did George Washington become a slave owner at the age of 11, but the slave population for Mount Vernon grew considerable when Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis. Martha was the widow of a wealthy land and slave owner. When he passed away, he didn’t have a will. Therefore, at least half of his estate and slaves were handed down to Martha.
When Martha married Washington, she not only brought another estate for them to manage but she also brought about 84 slaves to Mount Vernon. Because Washington didn’t have a large number of slaves for the type of plantation he owned, this dramatically increased the slave population. When Washington died 40 years later, there were about 317 slaves who worked between Mount Vernon and the Custis estate. However, Washington actually owned 123 out of the 317 slaves because the other slaves were a part of the Custis plantation.