George Washington’s Slaveholding Wasn’t Hypocrisy. It Was a Legal Trap.
George Washington’s reliance on slavery wasn’t just personal hypocrisy; it was a structural trap. Entangled in his wife’s ‘Dower’ legal rights, Washington chose to exploit legal loopholes rather than pay for freedom. This is the story of the system that trapped a president, and the enslaved people like Ona Judge who outsmarted him.