Working the Land for Themselves

Primary Document

In 1798, Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, a Polish politician and poet, visited George Washington at his home, Mount Vernon, and recorded observations about the dwellings of the enslaved people on the plantation.

“We entered one of the huts of the [enslaved people], for one cannot call them by the name of houses. They are more miserable than the most miserable of the cottages of our peasants…. A very small garden planted with vegetables was close by, with 5 or 6 hens, each one leading ten to fifteen chickens. It is the only comfort that is permitted them [the enslaved population at Mount Vernon], for they may not keep either ducks, geese or pigs. They sell the poultry in Alexandria and procure for themselves a few amenities. They allot them each one [peck] of maize per week; this makes one quart a day, and half as much for the children, with 20 herrings each month… Most of these [enslavers] give to their [enslaved people] only bread, water and blows.”