Oney Judge: Escape from Slavery and the President's House
CHAPTER ONE
ESCAPING SLAVERY President George Washington and his wife Martha sat down for dinner in the presidential mansion The date was May 21 1796 It seemed like an ordinary day The presidential mansion was in Philadelphia Pennsylvania Washington and his family lived there part-time At the time Philadelphia was the capital of the United States Washington was the nation’s first president Soon he and his family would travel to Mount Vernon in Alexandria Virginia for the summer The Washingtons had another home there Today an exhibit stands on the site of the former presidential mansion in Philadelphia Pennsylvania where the Washingtons lived
Martha married George Washington in 1759 Like many other wealthy people in the late 1700s the Washingtons were slaveholders Enslaved people worked for the Washington family inside their home and on their farm These people were considered the Washingtons property They did everything the Washingtons told them to do They would soon be traveling to Mount Vernon with the family Ona Oney Judge was enslaved by the Washingtons While the Washingtons prepared to go to Mount Vernon Judge had other plans She was
22 years old She had been enslaved her entire life She decided she wanted a new life Today was the day she was going to run away BREAKING FREE Judge had recently overheard that the Washingtons planned to give her to a new slaveholder The new slaveholder was Martha’s granddaughter Eliza Law Eliza had just TRANSPORTATION IN THE 1790S In the late 1700s people did not have many options when they wanted to travel The first railroad in the United States was not built until 1830 Enslaved people who wanted to escape had limited transportation options They could run away on horse or on foot Sometimes enslaved people escaped by ship Until steamboats were invented in the early 1800s ships relied on sails to propel them through water Sailing ships could be slow especially when winds were not strong gotten married Judge was to be given to Eliza and her husband as a wedding gift
