15. Turning Down the Benevolence of Slavery
Harry Washington spent years toiling in appalling conditions, enveloped by heat, humidity, and clouds of mosquitoes, before he was taken to his master’s plantation, Mount Vernon. There, he was tasked with looking after Washington’s horses. In 1771, he was demoted from his skilled tasks, and was sent back to grueling manual labor. That prompted him to flee, but he was recaptured a few weeks later, and was restored to slavery.
In 1775, the Revolutionary War started, and Virginia’s governor offered slaves their freedom if they fought for the British. Mount Vernon’s manager assembled the plantation’s slaves, and urged them to trust the benevolence of slavery’s paternalism over the precarious dangers of freedom. Harry preferred the dangers of freedom over the benevolence of slavery. Risking savage penalties if caught, he fled Mount Vernon along with two other black bondsmen.