George Washington was a slaveowner and Founding Father who became uneasy
with the institution of slavery but provided for the emancipation of his
slaves only after his death. Most of his slaves worked on his Mount
Vernon estate. They built their own community around marriage and
family, and resisted the system by various means, from feigning illness
to absconding. As a young planter, Washington demonstrated no qualms
about slavery. His first doubts about the institution were economic,
prompted when the transition from tobacco to grain crops in the 1760s
left him with a costly surplus of slaves. After the American Revolution,
he privately expressed support for the abolition of slavery by a gradual
legislative process but never spoke publicly on the issue. In the mid-
1790s, he considered plans to free his slaves, but his business remained
dependent on slave labor. He stipulated in his will that his slaves were
to be freed on the death of his wife.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_and_slavery>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1867:
Second French intervention in Mexico: Emperor Maximilian I of
Mexico was executed by firing squad in Querétaro City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_I_of_Mexico>
1970:
The international Patent Cooperation Treaty was signed,
providing a unified procedure for filing patent applications to protect
inventions in each of its contracting states.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_Cooperation_Treaty>
1978:
Garfield, created by Jim Davis, debuted in American newspapers
nationwide, eventually becoming one of the world's most widely
syndicated comic strips.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garfield>
2010:
The royal wedding of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, and
Daniel Westling took place in Stockholm Cathedral.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_of_Victoria,_Crown_Princess_of_Sweden,_and_Daniel_Westling>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
Juneteenth:
(US) Also more fully as Juneteenth Day: a holiday celebrated in many
states of the United States of America on June 19, commemorating the end
of slavery.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Juneteenth>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Hope remains even in the most difficult of times … I hope today
serves as a reminder that however hard things get, we will meet again.
--Vera Lynn
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Vera_Lynn>
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