Dave Says I Think Too Much
- Joan Steinman
- Aug 27, 2022
- 4 min read

We visited Mount Vernon yesterday. I highly recommend a trip to Mt. Vernon if you get a chance. The whole estate has been restored to as close to the original as possible. It is beautiful and it speaks so much to the character of George Washington, the relationship between he and Martha, and the gaping inconsistencies in how fundamental principles were applied at the time of the founding of our country, and the debt America owes to those who were in no way free. I was struck by so many different thoughts ...
The grounds are gorgeous and the lay-out is an ingenious combination of practicality and beauty. Washington designed much of the landscape. Flowers ring the perimeter of the garden beds near the house with rows of veggies in the middle. The veranda takes in an expansive view of the Potomac. All of the outbuildings housing the functions that kept the house running are arranged in a very logical manner. Walking the grounds gives one a glimpse of the meticulous forethought with which the Washington's must have approached their lives as well as their appreciation for aesthetics.

The house itself consists of bedrooms, dining/reception rooms, and George Washington's office space. Compared to the grandeur of European aristocracy at the time, the house was modest. However, in comparison to the average colonial house, it was very impressive with rich paint colors, fine furnishings, beautiful paintings, guest rooms, a formal dinning room used only for special occasions and important visitors.


The Washington's shared a bedroom, which also served as Martha's office/center of operations for the house. After George died, Martha closed the room, and moved to the third floor of the house. She never reopened the room and she died a couple of years later. Martha ran the estate and its assorted enterprises while George was leading armies and the new country. During the revolutionary war, Martha would join George in the winter and help tend to the wounded soldiers. Martha burned their personal correspondence after George's death in order to preserve their privacy. They were a power couple with a sincere commitment to service. I got the impression that they shared a deep love and had a strong partnership.
This is one of the thoughts prompting the comment of thinking too much... the contrast between the grandeur of European upper class/royalty and the much less ornate, much more practical, much more self-sufficient Washington Estate illustrates two important aspects of the Revolutionary War. First, the overwhelming power and wealth of the British Empire and how much of an underdog/upstart the colonists were. Second, the colonials' ingenuity and resourcefulness that propelled them to victory. The other truth (often unstated) is that the resources and self-sufficiency that allowed the colonists to endure against such a formidable enemy was only possible because of labors of enslaved people and women of all colors and stations. While George and his fellow rebels were out politicking and fighting for freedom, the crops were planted and harvested, the wares needed for life and war were made, the injured, the young, the old were tended by those with no autonomy: the enslaved, the indentured, and the women.
I was very struck by the slave cemetery which would not have been known to exist if not for it being noted by woman visiting Washington's tomb who observed burial mounds. By the time it was determined that preservation of the slave cemetery was a worthy cause (the 1920's), the burial mounds were no longer evident and the forest had encroached on the area. There were no markers, no names, no list of persons who were buried in the cemetery in any of the estate records. Subsequent archeological studies have shown that there was an organization to the burial plots and the enslaved people were buried with their feet pointing to the east. Records of who lived, worked, died making George and Martha's service to our fledgling nation possible were not kept. The Washington's had to have been close to some of these folks, they interacted with them daily. Yet, these individuals were not afforded the acknowledgment of their lives that a gravestone would have provided.
George Washington was aware of the hypocrisy evident when a country that allows the enslavement of follow human beings cites freedom as a founding principle. He included a provision in his will to free his slaves upon his and Martha's deaths and provided money for them to start their free lives. Martha freed George's slaves upon his death and hers upon her death. So, here is another "think too much" thought: it is definitely great that the enslaved workers were freed and also provided some kind of severance for their years of service. But, by granting freedom upon their deaths, they did not have to figure out how to reconfigure life without slave labor. Upon Martha's death, the estate was inherited by George's nephews who brought their own slaves. Mt. Vernon did not become an example of freedom for all as the estate still functioned with the labor of enslaved persons. For the individuals who were freed by George and Martha, what a wonderful gesture. However, for the cause of freedom and righting the wrong of slavery, the act fell far short of an impactful measure.
And the final "think too much” thought: imagine how different this country would have been without enslaved labor. The south could not have produced the wealth it had and the raw materials the north benefited from without a large (and inexpensive) labor force. There would not have been a large enough population in the colonies for plantations to be viable if not for forcibly imported, and enslaved, people. Had the colonies not been successful economically and had there not been a class of people with both the time and the means for engaging in the thought and dialogue required to draft the Declaration of Independence, would there have been a Revolutionary War? Would we have our freedoms if not for those who had none?
I can’t wait until Don and I travel there, he would love all this history!! And probably think the same way you are. ❤️