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Ona Judge: Preferred suffering in freedom than plenty in US presidency, By Owei Lakemfa
🇳🇬 Nigeria /Culture & Society

Ona Judge: Preferred suffering in freedom than plenty in US presidency, By Owei Lakemfa

From Premium Times · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Ona Judge, a slave owned by US President George Washington, fled the presidential mansion at age 22.
  • She chose freedom despite the "good life" and comfort offered, highlighting the hypocrisy of the US establishment's claims to human rights.
  • Washington, despite publicly advocating for abolition, held onto his slaves, viewing them as "property" and fearing the "idea of freedom" among them.

The story of Ona Judge, a slave owned by U.S. President George Washington, offers a stark counterpoint to the nation's founding ideals of liberty and equality. At 22, Judge fled the presidential mansion, choosing the uncertainty of freedom over the comfort and "good life" she experienced as a personal attendant to Martha Washington.

We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable; that all men are created equal and independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent and inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

— Declaration of IndependenceHighlighting the proclaimed ideals of equality and liberty that were not applied to enslaved people.

This act of defiance exposed the deep hypocrisy within the American establishment. While the 1776 Declaration of Independence proclaimed that "all men are created equal" and possess inherent rights, including liberty, these principles were not extended to Black individuals. Washington himself, despite publicly stating his desire for abolition and foreseeing that "nothing but the rooting out of slavery can perpetuate the existence of our union," continued to own slaves.

Not only do I pray for it, on the score of human dignity, but I can clearly forsee that nothing but the rooting out of slavery can perpetuate the existence of our union, by consolidating it in a common bond of principle.

— George WashingtonExpressing a public sentiment about the necessity of abolishing slavery, contrasting with his actions as a slave owner.

Judge, the daughter of a slave seamstress, began working for Martha Washington at age twelve. When Washington became president, she was among seven slaves selected to serve the First Family. She moved with them from New York to Philadelphia, the then-capital. However, Washington's administration circumvented Pennsylvania's 1780 law, which granted freedom to slaves staying in the state for over six months, by moving his slaves out of state periodically.

a Species of Property

— George WashingtonReferring to slaves, indicating his view of them as possessions rather than people.

Washington's fear of his slaves seeking freedom was palpable. He wrote in 1791 that "the idea of freedom might be too great a temptation for them to resist." Judge's escape, therefore, was not just a personal bid for liberty but a profound challenge to the slave-owning foundation of the nation's leadership, revealing the vast chasm between proclaimed ideals and lived reality.

The idea of freedom might be too great a temptation for them to resist.

— George WashingtonExplaining his rationale for moving slaves out of Pennsylvania to prevent them from gaining freedom.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Premium Times. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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