How should we remember George Washingtons entanglement in slavery? Americans have argued over that question for nearly 250 years. More than any other Founding Father, Washingtons ties to slavery have vexed us. He enslaved more people than any of his fellow founders, yet he was the only one of them to emancipate the people he held in bondage. Since his death, Americans have grappled with this contradiction, shaping and reshaping our collective memory of Washington and slaveryalong with our understanding of the nation.In Thy Will Be Done, historian John Garrison Marks tells the story of Americans long, fraught struggle to come to terms with Washingtons legacy of slavery. He traces how politicians, abolitionists, educators, activists, Washingtons former slaves and their descendants, and others have remembered, forgotten, and manipulated slaverys place in Washingtons story, and how they have wielded versions of that story in the political and cultural fights of their time. Marks shows how generational struggles over our collective memory of Washington and slavery have always been part of a bigger conversation about defining the United States and its people. As debates about the founders participation in the system of slavery continue to roil public discourse, Marks shows with new clarity that Americans have never collectively reconciled Washingtons conflicted legacy. By truly grappling with Washingtons role as enslaver and emancipator, we may come to better understand the nation and ourselves.
