(CW: dot gov link lol) From George Washington to Anthony Whitting, 16 December 1792
1792 is 16 years after 1776, I assume he’s not president at this time. That’s what George Washington seceded from Britain for, so he could obsess over measuring wheat and telling his underlings to kill all but 1 or 2 of the Africans’ dogs—shit he probably coulda done either way. But now he answers to nobody
But anyway, I really saw this pbs article which tells similar dog stories about founding father slavers, but incredibly refers to the enslaved Africans as “African Americans”.
In what sense were Africans held captive in the US in 1792 “Americans”? I understand it’s a common way to refer to people in the contemporary US, but it’s fucking crazy to project that term into the past like that IMO. Extremely powerful ideology
It was actually in the middle of his presidency (1789-1797). Washington was first president under the constitution but there were others under the Articles of Confederation
Thank you! Despite living here, I’ve internalized roughly 0% of US history .
I forgot it was all fucked up and weirdly timed. That makes the letter way funnier imo
It takes a while to build a government.
1776 was just the formal start of the American Revolution, 1783 was when they secured control over their territory through Britain's surrender and the recognition of the new country by the European powers.
The Constitutional Convention was in 1787, and Washington didn't take office til 1789 (same year as the French Revolution).
It's almost funny how early American history is so thoroughly mythologized that even Americans very well versed in history seem to blank on the details
14 even.