Thy Will Be Done: George Washington's Legacy of Slavery and the Fight for American Memory - Couverture rigide

Marks, John Garrison

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1469693526 ISBN 13 : 9781469693521

Editeur : The University of North Carolina Press, 2026

Synopsis

How should we remember George Washington’s entanglement in slavery? Americans have argued over that question for nearly 250 years. More than any other Founding Father, Washington’s 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 slavery—along 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 Washington’s legacy of slavery. He traces how politicians, abolitionists, educators, activists, Washington’s former slaves and their descendants, and others have remembered, forgotten, and manipulated slavery’s place in Washington’s 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 Washington’s conflicted legacy. By truly grappling with Washington’s role as enslaver and emancipator we may come to better understand the nation and ourselves.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

John Garrison Marks is a historian, writer, and author of Black Freedom in the Age of Slavery.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: The University of North Carolina Press
• Date d'édition: 2026
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1469693526
• ISBN 13: 9781469693521
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 304
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible