Deea ’27 recounts how the group split up to visit different parts of the Mount Vernon property including the main mansion, the enslaved people’s working areas, the stables, and the tomb of George and Martha Washington.
On our third full and freezing day in Washington DC, our first stop was Mount Vernon in Virginia, the former residence and plantation of George Washington. When we arrived on our bus after a drive of about half an hour from our hotel, we were impressed just by the size of the territory, reaching about 8,000 acres, on which you can also find gardens, a greenhouse, houses for each of the jobs of the workers and the enslaved people, his stables and, of course, the main mansion where the Washington family lived. We were offered two different tours, taking place at around the same time, because unfortunately neither one of them had enough spots for all 11 of us. We were therefore required to make a decision among ourselves, to all fall into an agreement regarding what we would actually be able to visit. The first one, on which only the 5 people who were first ready got to go, alongside Mr. Dollhopf, encompassed an overall tour of the whole residence.
Our other option, the one that I got to go on, stopped only by a few of the houses, including the mansion, and offered a more in depth description on the lives of enslaved people. While waiting for our tour to start, which was about 20 minutes later, we saw the tomb of George and Martha Washington, guided by Mr. Hamilton.
I found it very insightful to hear about how slavery was viewed there. While it was said that they were offered slightly better conditions in comparison to other plantations, it couldn’t change the fact that they were still viewed as property. We got the chance to learn about them as individuals and hear memories and stories about the families who got separated and were forced to work, starting as young as 10 years old. The rooms in which they lived were small. They each had about 10 beds, but on average people lived as many as 20 together. They also displayed the toys of the children, making us reflect on the short childhoods and the struggles that they had to endure.
Next, we went to the mansion and saw the various spaces, all decorated in unique ways, such as all the bedrooms with walls full of portraits, the rooms where they welcomed other visitors, George Washington’s personal office, and the kitchen, which was built in a separate building. Our tour guide explained who lived on the property: the Washington family encompassed 5 people, they had about 10 workers and around 300 enslaved people. This abrupt disparity, especially considering everything we learned about earlier, made us think about how slavery was a standard at that point in history and the deep impact of the mistreatment of Black people in American society.
Our guide also shared with us the fact that this tour actually first started being offered in the 1990s, but it had a very different focus. Over time though, as historians learned more about all the individuals who lived on that territory, they continued shifting the story more towards the enslaved people. Changes are still being made today, and it is in constant improvement for a better telling of history.
When we all got back together, we started a discussion first sharing the different things that each one of us got to see and learn about. Then, we came back to one of our main questions of the trip: what does the American identity mean to us when considering the dark history of its foundation? Living in a country built on slavery, it’s essential that we understand how that influenced all past and current events and acknowledge its harmful effects.
