An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves and the Creation of America

by HenryWiencek (Author)

• Used

  Unabridged
  2004

  $4.25

  An Imperfect God is a unique biography of one of the most famous statesmen of all time. Wiencek looks beyond the established view of Washington as general, commander in chief and first President of the United States, to show the other side of his life as an aristocratic slave holder; the general of an army that was comprised of ten to twenty-five per cent black slaves and as a man who struggled with the curse of slavery his entire until, shortly before his death, freeing all his slaves.

  This other, less documented life, is dazzlingly brought to life with verve and brilliant research. Combining both journalism and historical detection, Wiencek takes the reader on a modern-day journey through the places that made up Washington's world, talks to archaeologists, historians, keepers of Washington shrines and Washington's own descendants, along the way revealing a convincing, and unusual, portrait of this complex man.

  At the centre of this reappraisal is the figure of West Ford, a Washington slave, whose family claim a familial connection with George Washington. An Imperfect God is a fascinating and thought-provoking piece of historical writing and a masterpiece of biography.

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $7.87

  `Wiencek is a fine writer, a careful historian and an accomplished genealogist who engagingly invites readers into his researches' Raymond Seitz, Daily Telegraph

  George Washington's will decreed that all his slaves were to be freed; an action that has fuelled controversy, speculation and intrigue ever since. In this groundbreaking work, Henry Wiencek explores the founding father's engagement with slavery at every stage of his life - as a soldier, politician, president and statesman.

  Based on a meticulous examination of private papers, court records and the voluminous Washington archives, Wiencek recounts the moral transformation that culminated in the emancipation of his slaves. Was this perhaps because - as the oral history of Mount Vernon's slave descendants has long asserted - he'd had a son by a slave called Venus? Using newly discovered evidence, Wiencek argues that this could indeed have been true. . .

  An Imperfect God is a fascinating and thought-provoking piece of historical detection and a masterpiece of biography.