I was determined to show what "George Washington freed his slaves" meant in YOU NEVER FORGET YOUR FIRST. 1) Only one man, William Lee, was freed outright. 2) Many who were freed NEVER SAW THEIR FAMILIES AGAIN. I've explained the first pt often, so I'll focus on the second here. https://twitter.com/CassAGood/status/1276961120025182208

Meet Isaac, who was enslaved by George Washington. GW's will said he and the rest of his enslaved community would be freed when Martha died (so she could keep making $$$ off them) or at her discretion. She feared for her life, so she signed the necessary papers a year later.

But Kitty, Isaac's wife, was owned by the Custis estate—Martha's first husband. When she died, her property was divided among the Custis heirs.

Isaac & Kitty & their families were ripped apart. There's no evidence that they ever saw each other again. Linger on what that meant

And to those of you who rush to Martha Washington's defense and claim we don't know what was in her heart, I say okay buddy, let's take a peek at her letters: "Blacks are so bad in their nature..."

https://bookshop.org/books/you-never-forget-your-first-a-biography-of-george-washington/9780735224100

In conclusion, DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE BONNET. And get your history from books, which have a lot of paragraphs, whereas monuments usually have less than one.

Here's a NYT bestselling one I'm partial to right here https://bookshop.org/books/you-never-forget-your-first-a-biography-of-george-washington/9780735224100