HISTORY

President Harrison President William Henry Harrison  A native of Virginia, was born into a family that owned slaves back in 1773. His father, Benjamin Harrison V, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. During his teenage years, Harrison briefly attended an academy in Southampton County where he became involved with the antislavery Quakers and Methodists. This did not sit well with his pro-slavery father, who then had him transferred to Philadelphia to study medicine under Dr. Benjamin Rush. However, Harrison did not find an interest in medicine and did not complete his training due to his father's passing shortly after he arrived in Philadelphia in 1791, leaving him without funds for further education. Following the death of his father, 18-year-old Harrison joined the US Army as an ensign. Two years later, in 1793, his mother passed away, and Harrison inherited a portion of the family's estate, including approximately 3,000 acres of land and several slaves. ...

President James Madison President James Madison inherited over 100 slaves and Montpelier estate when his father died in 1801. As Madison moved to Washington, D.C. to become secretary of state, he relied on the labor of these enslaved individuals to run his household, as was common among the elite families of the time.   The Madisons brought enslaved people from Montpelier and hired additional labor from D.C. slave owners, paying them directly. In one instance, Madison entered into an agreement with Benjamin Orr that Plato, a slave, would serve Madison under his direction for five years. While five years was an uncommonly long term of hire, such arrangements were quite common. The flexibility of hiring out enslaved workers was particularly important in urban areas with changing labor demands like D.C. Madison, like many of his contemporaries, continued to use this system throughout his lifetime. Elizabeth Dowling Taylor Elizabeth Dowling Taylor described James Madison as a "gar...