George Washington: America’s Founding Farmer - Dr. Bruce Ragsdale

When George Washington was asked to describe himself, one of the first words he used was farmer. Farming was central to Washington’s identity, and enslaved people were central to Washington's farms. Isaac Loftus and Dr. Lynn Price Robbins welcome Dr. Bruce Ragsdale to discuss one of the most important, and underexplored, aspects of the life of our first president.
Relevant Links:

Washington at the Plow: The Founding Farmer and the Question of Slavery by Dr. Bruce Ragsdale - https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674246386

Eighteenth-Century Farming - https://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate-gardens/farm/18th-century-farming/

George Washington, the Farmer - https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/farming/

Thomas Jefferson, the Farmer - https://www.monticello.org/thomas-jefferson/a-day-in-the-life-of-jefferson/attending-to-my-farm/

Tobacco in Colonial Virginia - https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/tobacco-in-colonial-virginia/

George Washington’s Farm Reports - https://crowd-media.loc.gov/cm-uploads/resources/GW_Farm_Reports_Essay_Miller_Mitchell.pdf

George Washington and Slavery - https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/washington-george-and-slavery/

George Washington’s Last Will and Testament - https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-04-02-0404-0001

Slave Counterpoint: Black Culture in the Eighteenth-Century Chesapeake and Lowcountry by Philip D. Morgan - https://uncpress.org/book/9780807847176/slave-counterpoint/ 

George Washington to James Anderson, 13 December 1799 - https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-04-02-0403-0001

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