He also ordered that the "Negros...are...to be taught to read and write; and to be brought up to some useful occupation..." And they are to be "comfortably clothed and fed by my heirs while they live..."

Washington also wrote in his will that he "...expressly forbid the Sale, or transportation out of the said Commonwealth, of any Slave I may die possessed of." He did order the immediate freedom of "my Mulatto man William...for his faithful services during the Revolutionary War."

Another article from the Papers of George Washington found in the University of Virginia digital materials indicates that while Washington managed his own plantations (when he was not at war or serving as president) "...and was well acquainted with the strengths and weaknesses of individual slaves. He was not impressed with them as a labor force," fretting in some of his correspondence about their "irresponsibility and indolence" (Twohig, 1994)....
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