Self-Emancipated - George Washington's Relentless Hunt for Martha's Personal Servant Ona Maria Judge

George Washington, like many fellow founding fathers, is a polarizing figure in United States history. In many ways he was the right man for the moment, just the leader to oppose the might of the British Empire of King George the III. However, as he fought tooth and nail to preserve the nation he had helped create alongside the men of the Continental Army, he also denied freedom to hundreds of the African Americans he kept in a state of bondage on his plantation at Mount Vernon, Virginia. He became conflicted as he grew older over the immoral system of slavery he profited from so much. One individual more than the others he enslaved best represents our first president's drive to claim "his "property" despite the ethical dilemma of slavery in the United States. This is the story of Martha Washington's personal servant Ona Maria Judge and her bid for freedom in 1796. Knowing she would never be freed by the Washington's, she fled bondage never to return.