Among the first five presidents of the U.S., George Washington enslaved the most people. By the end of the American Revolution, Washington and his wife Martha owned 317 Africans. Harry, one of those enslaved, carved his name into history by defying Washington.
Harry escaped from Washington’s Mount Vernon plantation several times. His first attempt was on July 29, 1771, but Washington’s newspaper ads calling for his capture soon thwarted those plans. Harry was determined though, and the political climate of the American Revolution created a new opportunity for him.
In November 1775, Virginia’s last royal governor, the Fourth Earl of Dunmore, issued a proclamation freeing any enslaved person willing to fight for Great Britain. The overseer at Mount Vernon told Washington that “there is not a man of them but would leave us if they believed they could make their escape. Liberty is sweet.”
Harry escaped and joined the British military in 1776, adopting the last name of his enslaver but taking up arms against Washington. After the war, Harry Washington lived in Nova Scotia and then in Sierra Leone, finally grasping the freedom that Washington denied him.
Harry understood the irony of his infamous enslaver fighting for freedom from tyranny so that he could continue the oppressive system of slavery. He reminds us that our best interests serve us first and foremost.