Twelve U.S. presidents owned slaves at some point in their lives; of these, eight owned slaves while in office. Ten of the first twelve American presidents owned slaves, the only exceptions being John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams, neither of whom approved of slavery. George Washington was the first president who owned slaves, including while he was president. Zachary Taylor was the last one who owned slaves during his presidency, and Ulysses S. Grant was the last president to have owned slaves at some point in his life. Of these presidents who owned slaves, Thomas Jefferson owned the most, with 600+ slaves, followed closely by George Washington.
Woodrow Wilson was the last president born into a household with slave labor, though the Civil War concluded during his childhood.[1]
Washington was a major slaveholder before, during, and after his presidency. His willfreed his slaves pending the death of his widow, though she freed them within a year of her husband's death. As President, Washington oversaw the implementation of the 1787 Northwest Ordinance, which banned slavery north of the Ohio River. This was the first major restriction on the domestic expansion of slavery by the federal government in US history.
Jefferson fathered multiple enslaved children with the enslaved woman Sally Hemings, the likely half-sister of his late wife Martha Wayles Skelton.[5][6] Despite being a lifelong slave owner, Jefferson routinely condemned the institution of slavery, attempted to restrict its expansion, and advocated gradual emancipation. As President, he oversaw the abolition of the international slave trade.
Madison occasionally condemned the institution of slavery and opposed the international slave trade, but he also vehemently opposed any attempts to restrict its domestic expansion. Madison did not free his slaves during his lifetime or in his will.[7]Paul Jennings, one of Madison's slaves, served him during his presidency and later published the first memoir of life in the White House.
Like Thomas Jefferson, Monroe condemned the institution of slavery as evil and advocated its gradual end, but still owned many slaves throughout his entire adult life, freeing only one of them in his final days.[8] As President, he oversaw the Missouri Compromise, which admitted Missouri to the Union as a slave state in exchange for admitting Maine as a free state and banning slavery above the parallel 36°30′ north. Monroe supported sending freed slaves to the new country of Liberia; its capital, Monrovia, is named after him.
Van Buren's father owned six slaves.[10] The only slave Van Buren personally owned, Tom, escaped in 1814, and Van Buren made no effort to find him.[11] In December 1824, A. G. Hammond of Berlin, New York, located Tom in Worcester, Massachusetts.[10] Van Buren tentatively agreed to sell him to Hammond for $50, provided Hammond could capture him without violence.[10][11] Hammond could not make the guarantee,[11] and was disinclined to pay because New York's gradual emancipation law guaranteed that if he was re-enslaved, Tom would be freed in 1827.[10] Tom remained free, as Van Buren probably intended.[11][a] Later in life, Van Buren belonged to the Free Soil Party, which opposed the expansion of slavery into the Western territories, but not immediate abolition.[12]
Tyler never freed any of his slaves and consistently supported the slaveholder's rights and the expansion of slavery during his time in political office.
Polk became the Democratic nominee for president in 1844 partially because of his tolerance of slavery, in contrast to Van Buren. As president, he generally supported the rights of slave owners. His will provided for the freeing of his slaves after the death of his wife, though the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ended up freeing them long before her death in 1891.
Although Taylor owned slaves throughout his life, he generally resisted attempts to expand slavery in the territories. Taylor opposed the Compromise of 1850, which admitted California into the Union as a free state and banned the slave trade in Washington, DC, in exchange for allowing most of the remaining territory captured from Mexico to decide the issue of slavery locally and passing a federal fugitive slave law requiring state authorities to assist federal marshals in capturing and detaining escaped slaves. However, Taylor died in office before he could veto the bill, leading to its successful passage under his successor Millard Fillmore. After his death, there were rumors that slavery advocates had poisoned him; tests of his body over 100 years later have been inconclusive. Taylor did not free any of his slaves in his will.
Johnson owned a few slaves and was supportive of James K. Polk's slavery policies. As military governor of Tennessee, he convinced Abraham Lincoln to exempt that area from the Emancipation Proclamation. Johnson went on to free all his personal slaves on August 8, 1863.[17] On October 24, 1864, Johnson officially freed all slaves in Tennessee.[18]
Although he later served as a general in the Union Army, his wife Julia had control of four slaves during the American Civil War, given to her by her father. It is unclear if she actually was granted legal ownership of them or merely temporary custody.[20] All would be freed by the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 (she chose to free them at that time even though the proclamation did not apply to her state of Missouri).[20] Grant personally owned one slave, William Jones, given to him by his father-in-law and freed by Grant shortly after being given title on March 29, 1859.[21]
Miscaptioned c. 1937 photo of William Andrew Johnson, who had been enslaved by Andrew Johnson, and was believed to be the last surviving person enslaved by a U.S. president.[22] Andrew Johnson bid $500 for William A. Johnson's mother Dolly Johnson[23]
In 1875, the St. Louis Globe published this interview with Moses Key, a former slave of James Monroe
Anna Judge, "nearly a hundred years old" and formerly enslaved by William Henry Harrison, died in a kitchen-fire accident in 1899
In 1862, Zachary Taylor's daughter requested financial compensation from the U.S. government for the value of Jane Webb, a formerly enslaved woman who had accompanied her father to the White House during his presidency[24]
Henry Hawkins (1819–1917) accompanied Zachary Taylor on his Mexican-American War campaigns, and was to be interred at the mausoleum of Dick Taylor in Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans (Natchez Democrat, July 6, 1917)
Madison's brother and fellow slave of Thomas Jefferson Eston Hemings moved to Wisconsin and changed his name to Jefferson; Eston's son John Wayles Jefferson (pictured) was a U.S. Army officer during the Civil War
Paul Jennings wrote A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison and helped plan what became known as the Pearl incident
^If Van Buren re-enslaved Tom, he risked alienating northern political supporters who opposed slavery. If he publicly refused to return Tom to slavery, he risked alienating pro-slavery supporters in the southern states. By taking no action, Van Buren eliminated the possibility of losing supporters from either side.
^ abcdefgWhitney, Gleaves. "Slaveholding Presidents". Ask Gleaves. Grand Valley State University. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
^Irwin, James. "George Washington's Tangled Relationship With Slavery". GWToday. George Washington University. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
^"Thomas Jefferson: Liberty & Slavery". Monticello. Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
^"Monticello Affirms Thomas Jefferson Fathered Children with Sally Hemings". Monticello.org. Charlottesville, VA: Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
^"The Life of Sally Hemings". Monticello.org. Charlottesville, VA: Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
^"Madison, James and Slavery – Encyclopedia Virginia".
^Adamack, Joe (2008). "Politics versus Convictions: Martin Van Buren, Roger Sherman Baldwin, and the Trials of Mutinous Slaves". Retrieved October 14, 2020.
^ abcd"Martin Van Buren and the Politics of Slavery". NPS.gov. Washington, DC: National Park Service. November 30, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
^ abcdNavarro, Bob (2006). The Era of Change: Executives and Events in a Period of Rapid Expansion. Bloomington, IN: Xlibris. p. 78-79. ISBN978-1-4628-2150-1 – via Google Books.
^"The Election of 1848: Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men". NPS.gov. Washington, DC: National Park Service. December 9, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
^Leahy, Christopher Joseph. "John Tyler Before the Presidency: Principles and Politics of a Southern Planter". Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College: 193. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
^Ownby, Ted. "James K. Polk". Mississippi Encyclopedia. Center for Study of Southern Culture. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
^"Zachary Taylor". 64 Parishes. Tulane University. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
^Fling, Sarah. "The Formerly Enslaved Households of President Andrew Johnson". The White House Historical Association. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
^"Andrew Johnson and Emancipation in Tennessee – Andrew Johnson National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)".
^""The Moses of the Colored Men" Speech – Andrew Johnson National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)".
^"Slavery at White Haven". Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site. National Park Service. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
^"Slavery at White Haven – Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)". nps.gov. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
^"William Andrew on Air from New York Tonight". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. December 30, 1937. p. 2. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
^"The Roving Reporter by Ernie Pyle". Daily News. October 18, 1938. p. 15. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
^Fling, Sarah. "The Enslaved Households of President Zachary Taylor". White House Historical Association. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
December 15, 2023
list, presidents, united, states, owned, slaves, slavery, legal, united, states, from, beginning, nation, having, been, practiced, north, america, from, early, colonial, days, thirteenth, amendment, united, states, constitution, formally, abolished, slavery, 1. Slavery was legal in the United States from its beginning as a nation having been practiced in North America from early colonial days The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution formally abolished slavery in 1865 immediately after the end of the American Civil War Hannah Jackson was enslaved by Andrew Jackson at The Hermitage in Middle TennesseeTwelve U S presidents owned slaves at some point in their lives of these eight owned slaves while in office Ten of the first twelve American presidents owned slaves the only exceptions being John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams neither of whom approved of slavery George Washington was the first president who owned slaves including while he was president Zachary Taylor was the last one who owned slaves during his presidency and Ulysses S Grant was the last president to have owned slaves at some point in his life Of these presidents who owned slaves Thomas Jefferson owned the most with 600 slaves followed closely by George Washington Woodrow Wilson was the last president born into a household with slave labor though the Civil War concluded during his childhood 1 Contents 1 Presidents who owned slaves 2 Additional images 3 See also 4 Notes 5 ReferencesPresidents who owned slaves editNo President Approximate numberof slaves held While in office Notes1st George Washington Main article George Washington and slavery 250 2 600 3 Yes 1789 1797 Washington was a major slaveholder before during and after his presidency His will freed his slaves pending the death of his widow though she freed them within a year of her husband s death As President Washington oversaw the implementation of the 1787 Northwest Ordinance which banned slavery north of the Ohio River This was the first major restriction on the domestic expansion of slavery by the federal government in US history See George Washington and slavery for more details3rd Thomas Jefferson Main article Thomas Jefferson and slavery 200 2 600 4 Yes 1801 1809 Jefferson fathered multiple enslaved children with the enslaved woman Sally Hemings the likely half sister of his late wife Martha Wayles Skelton 5 6 Despite being a lifelong slave owner Jefferson routinely condemned the institution of slavery attempted to restrict its expansion and advocated gradual emancipation As President he oversaw the abolition of the international slave trade See Thomas Jefferson and slavery for more details4th James Madison Main article James Madison and slavery 100 2 Yes 1809 1817 Madison occasionally condemned the institution of slavery and opposed the international slave trade but he also vehemently opposed any attempts to restrict its domestic expansion Madison did not free his slaves during his lifetime or in his will 7 Paul Jennings one of Madison s slaves served him during his presidency and later published the first memoir of life in the White House See James Madison and slavery for more details5th James Monroe 75 2 Yes 1817 1825 Like Thomas Jefferson Monroe condemned the institution of slavery as evil and advocated its gradual end but still owned many slaves throughout his entire adult life freeing only one of them in his final days 8 As President he oversaw the Missouri Compromise which admitted Missouri to the Union as a slave state in exchange for admitting Maine as a free state and banning slavery above the parallel 36 30 north Monroe supported sending freed slaves to the new country of Liberia its capital Monrovia is named after him See James Monroe and slavery for more details7th Andrew Jackson 200 2 Yes 1829 1837 Jackson owned many slaves One controversy during his presidency was his reaction to anti slavery tracts During his campaign for the presidency he faced criticism for being a slave trader He did not free his slaves in his will See Andrew Jackson and slavery for more details8th Martin Van Buren 1 2 9 No 1837 1841 Van Buren s father owned six slaves 10 The only slave Van Buren personally owned Tom escaped in 1814 and Van Buren made no effort to find him 11 In December 1824 A G Hammond of Berlin New York located Tom in Worcester Massachusetts 10 Van Buren tentatively agreed to sell him to Hammond for 50 provided Hammond could capture him without violence 10 11 Hammond could not make the guarantee 11 and was disinclined to pay because New York s gradual emancipation law guaranteed that if he was re enslaved Tom would be freed in 1827 10 Tom remained free as Van Buren probably intended 11 a Later in life Van Buren belonged to the Free Soil Party which opposed the expansion of slavery into the Western territories but not immediate abolition 12 See Martin Van Buren and slavery for more details9th William Henry Harrison 11 2 No 1841 Harrison inherited several slaves As the first governor of the Indiana Territory he unsuccessfully lobbied Congress to legalize slavery in Indiana See William Henry Harrison and slavery for more details10th John Tyler Main article John Tyler and slavery 29 13 Yes 1841 1845 Tyler never freed any of his slaves and consistently supported the slaveholder s rights and the expansion of slavery during his time in political office See John Tyler and slavery for more details11th James K Polk 56 14 Yes 1845 1849 Polk became the Democratic nominee for president in 1844 partially because of his tolerance of slavery in contrast to Van Buren As president he generally supported the rights of slave owners His will provided for the freeing of his slaves after the death of his wife though the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ended up freeing them long before her death in 1891 See James K Polk and slavery for more details12th Zachary Taylor Main article Zachary Taylor and slavery 300 15 Yes 1849 50 Although Taylor owned slaves throughout his life he generally resisted attempts to expand slavery in the territories Taylor opposed the Compromise of 1850 which admitted California into the Union as a free state and banned the slave trade in Washington DC in exchange for allowing most of the remaining territory captured from Mexico to decide the issue of slavery locally and passing a federal fugitive slave law requiring state authorities to assist federal marshals in capturing and detaining escaped slaves However Taylor died in office before he could veto the bill leading to its successful passage under his successor Millard Fillmore After his death there were rumors that slavery advocates had poisoned him tests of his body over 100 years later have been inconclusive Taylor did not free any of his slaves in his will See Zachary Taylor and slavery for more details17th Andrew Johnson Main article Andrew Johnson and slavery 9 16 No 1865 1869 Johnson owned a few slaves and was supportive of James K Polk s slavery policies As military governor of Tennessee he convinced Abraham Lincoln to exempt that area from the Emancipation Proclamation Johnson went on to free all his personal slaves on August 8 1863 17 On October 24 1864 Johnson officially freed all slaves in Tennessee 18 See Andrew Johnson and slavery for more details18th Ulysses S Grant 1 19 No 1869 1877 Although he later served as a general in the Union Army his wife Julia had control of four slaves during the American Civil War given to her by her father It is unclear if she actually was granted legal ownership of them or merely temporary custody 20 All would be freed by the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 she chose to free them at that time even though the proclamation did not apply to her state of Missouri 20 Grant personally owned one slave William Jones given to him by his father in law and freed by Grant shortly after being given title on March 29 1859 21 See Ulysses S Grant and slavery for more detailsAdditional images editAmerican slavery and the Presidents nbsp John Trumbull s 1780 portrait George Washington also depicts a man believed to be Washington s enslaved valet William Lee Metropolitan Museum of Art 24 109 88 nbsp Miscaptioned c 1937 photo of William Andrew Johnson who had been enslaved by Andrew Johnson and was believed to be the last surviving person enslaved by a U S president 22 Andrew Johnson bid 500 for William A Johnson s mother Dolly Johnson 23 nbsp Elias Polk was enslaved by James K Polk at his farm in Maury County Tennessee nbsp In 1875 the St Louis Globe published this interview with Moses Key a former slave of James Monroe nbsp Anna Judge nearly a hundred years old and formerly enslaved by William Henry Harrison died in a kitchen fire accident in 1899 nbsp In 1862 Zachary Taylor s daughter requested financial compensation from the U S government for the value of Jane Webb a formerly enslaved woman who had accompanied her father to the White House during his presidency 24 nbsp Alfred Jackson 1812 1901 lived at Hermitage longer than any other person nbsp Henry Hawkins 1819 1917 accompanied Zachary Taylor on his Mexican American War campaigns and was to be interred at the mausoleum of Dick Taylor in Metairie Cemetery New Orleans Natchez Democrat July 6 1917 nbsp 1870 federal census of Ross County Ohio the enumerator broke protocol to note of Madison Hemings This man is the son of Thomas Jefferson nbsp Madison s brother and fellow slave of Thomas Jefferson Eston Hemings moved to Wisconsin and changed his name to Jefferson Eston s son John Wayles Jefferson pictured was a U S Army officer during the Civil War nbsp Paul Jennings wrote A Colored Man s Reminiscences of James Madison and helped plan what became known as the Pearl incidentSee also editAbolitionism in the United States District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act 1862 which ended slavery in Washington D C John Quincy Adams and abolitionism Lists of United States public officials who owned slaves Slavery in the District of Columbia Treatment of slaves in the United States Polk Taylor reportedly owned by Zachary Taylor s daughter Eva Bates reportedly employed by both John Adams and James Monroe Category People who were enslaved by Presidents of the United StatesNotes edit If Van Buren re enslaved Tom he risked alienating northern political supporters who opposed slavery If he publicly refused to return Tom to slavery he risked alienating pro slavery supporters in the southern states By taking no action Van Buren eliminated the possibility of losing supporters from either side References edit Ewen Lara January February 2021 Tarnished legacies Presidential libraries grapple with the histories of their subjects American Libraries Chicago American Library Association a b c d e f g Whitney Gleaves Slaveholding Presidents Ask Gleaves Grand Valley State University Retrieved October 14 2020 Irwin James George Washington s Tangled Relationship With Slavery GWToday George Washington University Retrieved October 15 2020 Thomas Jefferson Liberty amp Slavery Monticello Thomas Jefferson Foundation Retrieved October 15 2020 Monticello Affirms Thomas Jefferson Fathered Children with Sally Hemings Monticello org Charlottesville VA Thomas Jefferson Foundation Retrieved February 10 2022 The Life of Sally Hemings Monticello org Charlottesville VA Thomas Jefferson Foundation Retrieved February 10 2022 Madison James and Slavery Encyclopedia Virginia Highland and Slavery Adamack Joe 2008 Politics versus Convictions Martin Van Buren Roger Sherman Baldwin and the Trials of Mutinous Slaves Retrieved October 14 2020 a b c d Martin Van Buren and the Politics of Slavery NPS gov Washington DC National Park Service November 30 2021 Retrieved February 2 2022 a b c d Navarro Bob 2006 The Era of Change Executives and Events in a Period of Rapid Expansion Bloomington IN Xlibris p 78 79 ISBN 978 1 4628 2150 1 via Google Books The Election of 1848 Free Soil Free Labor Free Men NPS gov Washington DC National Park Service December 9 2020 Retrieved February 10 2022 Leahy Christopher Joseph John Tyler Before the Presidency Principles and Politics of a Southern Planter Louisiana State University and Agricultural amp Mechanical College 193 Retrieved October 14 2020 Ownby Ted James K Polk Mississippi Encyclopedia Center for Study of Southern Culture Retrieved October 14 2020 Zachary Taylor 64 Parishes Tulane University Retrieved October 14 2020 Fling Sarah The Formerly Enslaved Households of President Andrew Johnson The White House Historical Association Retrieved October 14 2020 Andrew Johnson and Emancipation in Tennessee Andrew Johnson National Historic Site U S National Park Service The Moses of the Colored Men Speech Andrew Johnson National Historic Site U S National Park Service Slavery at White Haven Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site National Park Service Retrieved October 14 2020 a b The Two Julias February 14 2013 Slavery at White Haven Ulysses S Grant National Historic Site U S National Park Service nps gov Retrieved June 20 2020 William Andrew on Air from New York Tonight The Knoxville News Sentinel December 30 1937 p 2 Retrieved April 29 2023 The Roving Reporter by Ernie Pyle Daily News October 18 1938 p 15 Retrieved April 29 2023 Fling Sarah The Enslaved Households of President Zachary Taylor White House Historical Association Retrieved September 9 2023 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title List of presidents of the United States who owned slaves amp oldid 1189904667, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
