Mount Vernon
I had planned to write this long, sweeping manifesto of sorts related to my visit this weekend to the home/plantation of George Wa.shington. However, my thoughts can be relayed briefly.
My aunt came to visit from New York City and she wanted to go here. I live in Northern VA (DC metro area) and only 10 minutes away from Mt. Vernon. I have never really considered going here before. Driving along the GW Pakrway is breathtaking as you are driving parallel to the Potomac River. I live very near the river. Anyway, it never interested me because …well, it just never did.
I must say, Mt. Vernon is beautiful. Washington was definitely a visionary, a planner, shrewd businessman and all the rest. Mt. Vernon is captivating…this place is what comes to mind whenever I’ve envisioned a plantation in my mind. The mansion (big house) overlooking the river, the stables, forests, outbuildings, etc. The sheer beauty of the land….over 4 thousand acres is by far the most beautiful land I’ve ever seen. I took the tour of the whole place. There are still areas under the houses that I wasn’t privvy to. They had houses specifically for salting meat, one for smoking meat, one for shoe repair. Mt. Vernon was conceptualized by Washington and realized by the people who were under his “employ”. There was so much history there. Some of it I knew already-a lot I did not.
I would encourage everyone to visit this place if you ever have the opportunity. From a purely historical perspective, it is a must-see. Washington was ahead of his time in agricultural and horticultural practices.
I visited the slave memorial and slave quarters, overseer’s house etc. I was brought to tears. So much work went into building Mt. Vernon. As I walked along this magnificent land, marveling at it’s beauty and scope, something kept tugging at me. I mean, I was happy to be seeing this splendor - grateful even. I kicked myself for never having come before this. As the guides talked about the greatness that was Washington, I could see the truth of it around me. The guides at Mt. Vernon do not ignore the fact that he had slaves. In fact, many of the plaques state at the time of his death he owned 316 slaves. However, it is downplayed on the tour. You can take a separate slave tour….I may the next time I visit.
I can say a lot more about my experience while at Mt. Vernon, but you should go yourself. As I walked off the plantation, one thought came to mind and escaped my lips, “I want my 40 acres and a mule”. Seeing this place gives a whole new meaning to the idea of reparations.
Ooh, take the slave tour if you can next time. It’s amazing. Amazingly heartbreaking, but amazing nonetheless.
We’ve been watching the John Adams series on HBO and Laura Linney (playing Abigail Adams) says upon entering the new White House while it’s under construction, “To think that our nation’s capitol is being built by slaves.” Her point was about freedom and how they’d fought so hard for it, but not for everyone and that was wrong. Pretty awesome to hear that coming from a historical figure when so much of the country was slave-owning.
Comment by Melissa — April 21, 2008 @ 3:44p
I too have been watching John Adams and remember that scene. My husband and I just looked at each other…the pain evident on both our faces. I also watched the Sally Hemmings tv movie and was struck by the role of Jefferson’s slaves…
Founding Fathers indeed….
Comment by DJ Diva — April 24, 2008 @ 6:35p
You have sparked an interest… I LOVE history!! I will definitely look into doing this, insha Allah. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
Tru3
Comment by Tru3 — April 26, 2008 @ 3:02p
Have you returned from the plantation yet? You haven’t on or perhaps your too busy actually having a life to blog
Comment by browgurl — April 29, 2008 @ 3:47p
I was just reading in the Gulf News paper that UAE is building a plantation. The way they exploit the foreign worker it will be slavery in this century!!!
Comment by UmmAhmed — June 19, 2008 @ 10:15p