George Washington

1732 – 1799

George Washington was the commanding general of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and the first President of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. He held more than 577 enslaved people over the course of his life, with 123 documented at Mount Vernon at his death, pursued runaway enslaved person Ona Judge across state lines for years, and used his authority as president to sign the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. As commander he ordered the 1779 Sullivan Expedition against the Iroquois Confederacy, instructing General John Sullivan that Iroquois settlements were "not merely to be overrun but destroyed," a campaign that burned at least forty Haudenosaunee towns and earned him the lasting Iroquois name Conotocaurious, or "Town Destroyer."

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM