9. He Owned Slaves
Washington owned a number of slaves; this is typical of the Founding Fathers, yet in the continuing struggle for Americans to come to terms with some of the atrocious human rights abuses that they have committed the Founding Fathers have become synonymous with Abolitionist and liberal political thought. Washington was atypical of the Founding Fathers as he stipulated that following the death of his widow the slaved would be emancipated, a feat which was accomplished within a year of her death. In the context of his era ownership of slaves was not deemed evil, but with our present views does his perfect image begin to crackle when put under a spotlight?