Stirrings of abolition had already started in New York City, Philadelphia, and beyond. From tailoring and laundering the First Lady’s clothing to caring for their two grandchildren to preparing their home for the daily social events and much more, Ona went above and beyond for Martha Washington.īut life in the North was different from that on the plantation in Virginia. In New York, Ona sealed her position as Martha’s top servant, a role which loaded her with even more work and responsibility. Both her and her half-brother Austin were separated from their mother Betty, a common and cruel practice that fractured an innumerable amount of families during slavery. When George Washington was elected president, Ona was one of the handful of slaves taken to New York City, the new capital. She became one of Martha’s prized bondwomen. Once she became of working age at ten years old, Ona began working tirelessly for Martha Washington. She would work for the Washingtons at the plantation Mount Vernon in Virginia. Enslavement Under the Washingtonsīecause she was born to an enslaved woman, Ona’s fate was sealed. “What we do know,” historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar writes, “is that their union, whether brief or extended, consensual or unwanted, resulted in the birth of a daughter.” That daughter was Ona Judge. Andrew Judge had power over enslaved Betty as a white man with the potential to use his “power to command or force a sexual relationship.” That being said, though they both belonged to the Washingtons either through enslavement or indentured servitude, the power dynamic between Andrew and Betty was imbalanced. Their relationship may have even been romantic. After four years of servitude, he would become a freedman with the ability to buy back Betty and their children. Because their relationship is not well documented, Erica Armstrong Dunbar speculates about its depth, nature, and whether it was consensual. Ona’s Origin Storyīorn in 1773 to Betty, one of George and Martha Washington’s slaves, and a white indentured servant, the tailor Andrew Judge (who made Washington’s iconic military uniform). This is the story of how Ona escaped enslavement by the most powerful family in the country and found liberation. How did one woman run away from the most powerful man in the nation? And how did she manage to remain free for the rest of her life, despite his endless efforts to return her to slavery? And how did Philadelphia play a key role in Ona’s escape?Įrica Armstrong Dunbar, an incredible historian out of Rutgers who devoted years to researching writing to reveal the story of Ona to the public, writes in her book Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave Ona Judge that even though Ona lived as a fugitive for the rest of her life, she wanted her story to be shared. We rarely, if ever, read of Ona Judge’s name in our history textbooks, even though her story is far more interesting than the myths of Washington (some that are just too good to be true). Imagine instead a more truthful telling of our nations first president by learning the truth of our Founding Father’s slave ownership alongside a captivating tale of one woman’s escape from slavery and her lifelong pursuit of freedom. The paradox of our first presidents owning slaves is one that embodies the paradoxes of American freedom in the time of our founding fathers. In all you might hear about our nations first president, you will rarely hear about his status as a slave owning man. Or maybe you recall the story of how as a child he chopped down a cherry tree and when questioned about his misdeed, he declared “I cannot tell a lie.”īut what we’ve been taught about this historic man was skewed, an oversimplified, patriotic portrait. What are the images or stories you associate with the first president of the United States? You might imagine him bravely crossing the Delaware River, an emblem of American patriotism. Schools throughout the nation teach our Founding Fathers with glowing admiration.
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