George Washington's Enslaved Chef: Hercules
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- Опубликовано: 21 фев 2019
- Hercules was an enslaved worker who served as George Washington's chef at Mount Vernon and his presidential residence in Philadelphia. Hercules led a fascinating life. He served as the chef to the first president of the United States and made money from selling kitchen scraps. However, on Washington's 65th birthday, Hercules ran away from Mount Vernon. Character interpreter Brenda Parker shares with us the story of Hercules.
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Ill never understand how you fight so fiercely for your own freedom, yet deny others theirs.... Hypocrisy at it's ugliest.
You know that less than eight percent of the population owned slaves, right? Surely you also know that upwards of three hundred thousand Americans died fighting to abolish slavery, right?
Ron Froehlich hey yahoo, nice try at deflection. GW was a hypocrite, just like Thomas Jefferson and the rest of those so-called founders.
@@DeepCover757 Agreed about GW and Thomas Jefferson. Numbers don't lie, though, and you're not a victim; unless you vote Democrat in which case you've been tricked into remaining on the plantation.
Chile, America is hypocrisy at its finest, and has never stopped. It just changed its methods. I find it funny how when we point this out, or show any feelings about this subject, the first things certain people do is deflect, try to convince us that we aren't victims, deny the whole thing, get angry, and or try to state facts that don't pertain to the subject, or try and justify the sins of people's actions by saying "well it was a different time, and we cant judge others by today's standards." Or telling us to get over it. Its irritating. If certain people didn't do anything wrong then why the push back?
@@omggiiirl2077 Well then I don't see you boating to N. Korea, Africa, The North Pole, or anywhere other than the best country on the planet because of those historical founders you dislike that with their flaws, still designed the best structure to a country without ruling King, where today you would probably be in some kitchen baking biscuits defeathering todays chicken and carving the slab of bacon!
#🍳🥓☻
“Their sunsequent fates are unknown” is such a quietly haunting sentence.
A couple of people have remarked how sad it was that Hercules abandoned his children. What's really sad is that they were slaves in the first place and what that meant. He could've taken them with him, been slowed down in the escape, and then they all would've been whipped mercilessly and separated. He could've stayed with them, but then again, they would've been separated later anyway. If he stayed, he wouldn't have been able to protect them from anything because they were property that GW was free to dispose of in almost any manner he chose.
Brenda is such a wonderful and talented woman. I‘ve seen her in different videos and each time I listed to every word she said.
Cadenza - Jazz, Lounge & Chill I agree
She has a beautiful singing voice too.... I just watched her q&a video.
I cannot imagine what parents went through having their children ripped from their arms
What a tragic story. They keep separating these families. All my people working and not getting paid a dime. I am glad Hercules ran away. RIP to all my ancestors involved in this tragic era of terror and brutality. I can’t imagine what they went through.
He left his kids😒
This happen cause our African people prayed to Voodoo Voodoo is evil That's why our people are still suffering We have a evil voodoo curse
Janet o boote you idiot troll
kazeshini stfu
But God knows exactly what each one went through and and cares so much that He said, "whatever you do to the least of these, you have done to Me." We each must give an account to Him one day. How will slave owners excuse themselves and their self-indulgent lifestyle? For that matter, are we aware of today's slavery and supporting it with our unchecked consumerism? Do we care for the poor and support aid agencies trying to help? Or are we indulging ourselves and making excuses like the slave owners of old?
No matter what our ancestors went through they kept moving forward. That's what they don't teach us in school we will overcome
Precisely. In our interviews with the descendants of the enslaved community at Mount Vernon a descendent of Davy and Edy Jones said, "It is important to remember the good and bad of slavery, what's come out of it, what it did in terms of forging our mentality and our lives forward and being able to show success". You can watch the rest of the interviews here: ruclips.net/video/J5pf3-zRykU/видео.html
@African American Home Educators But Black Supremacy is ok?
@African American Home Educators They never said slavery made them strong. They meant that their ancestors stayed strong no matter how bad their situation was.
@@mountvernon i agree
This has a truly sad beginning and ending.
Absolutely love this presenter’s speaking style. The last statement brought a tear.
So glad Hercules got away and experienced freedom! But sad for his children, no mother, father gone. Then the girls separated from their brother.
I guess the slaves had to bottle up their emotions.
No, I'm not black. Just an elderly lady who misses her children and lived with oppression my whole life.
Jane Patterson they still do it to this day
Jane Patterson dear Jane: freedom of spirit and heart will rise up above mental slavery!!!!
Govern (ment=mind) free you’re mind.
Thank you for sympathising with Hercules fleeing. Many a time I forget, not all, but many other races do sympathise with people, families, including babies, disabled and the elderly that had to endure such daily atrocities and inhumane treatment? If we can't sympathise with wrongs that have happened or is happening, then we all have a greater problem? God bless and stay safe!
@@reevaelijah2102 i7 mio
Jane
Where are your children??
Thank you again for these videos, these little glimpses into the lives of people who were enslaved. I feel as though I am celebrating and mourning at the same time. What strength it took to survive daily. What bravery and courage there was in deciding that they were worth the risk and dignity of freedom. What sin we committed in daily denying that right to them.
Thank you so much for caring in that manager.
Finally real life history based on individuals. I appreciate the efforts of this history lesson
Thank you, Beth
Thank you.
He abandoned his children, and I understand he fled for freedom. Sad, though! Those young people were separated like cattle. Our Blackness is so amazing! Thank you for sharing this history. Blessings 🙏
No one knows what happened to him. He might have been killed and when they realized he belonged to the President they hid his body
It's a good thing my ancestors in India where not treated this way Asians during imperialism colonization where obviously treated badly during imperialism. But imperialism of India Asia was completely different situation from north America Canada Australia new Zealand which where settler colonies
Extrodinary circumstamces force you to make extrodinary choices. Good video, I do feel terrible for Hercules and his children and the uncertainty inherit in slavery
How sad they were separated. How sad, because of their mother, they were not released in Washington's will.
I feel the same, Janine.
Yeah, damn shame Washington didn't have ownership of the downer slaves, they'd be free just like their father.
Hercules tasted freedom before his death. Wonderful.👍
Beautiful story telling. I just discovered these, and this glimpse into the real lives of the enslaved is sad, informative and a cause for amazement. The strength, passion, and perseverance of the enslaved is awe inspiring.
Never a disappointing video. Thank you #
I'm watching Netflix's High on the Hog it mentions Hercules. Amazing man and story.
That Eliza Custis just got everything didn’t she! That’s terrible
Priscilla Saravia yeah even a full ride to hell!
Free labor = Free Wealth she certainly bequeathed it to her descendants. yes Eliza Curtis is a progenitor of the wealth gap.
Is it not amazing how people who earned nothing on their own believe themselves to be more intelligent, deserving and generally superior to those who have to fight to survive, who worked for every single thing they own?
Thank you for posting! New subscriber! I look forward to many more of your videos! 🤗
So glad to have you! Have you checked out our other biography videos yet? Here is the story of Ona Judge, an enslaved woman who escaped from the Washingtons: ruclips.net/video/O9qf6WWc6QU/видео.html
His daughter is so sweet, being happy for his freedom.
Hercules, I share in your journey 🙏! If not for you and my/our ancestors ❤️, there would be no us👍🏽!
It's so heart wrenching to see families being broken apart.
So beautifully recounted, and such a fascinating and touching story. I would never have realized how much we know about the lives of Washington's slaves if not for this series. And that his daughter said when asked if she was unhappy that her father had run away answered, I'm so glad, because now he is free. In the midst of the pandemic, in which I and everyone else have truly lost our freedom, I understand her joy that her father was free. I understand what it is to be enslaved. Thank you, Brenda Parker, for telling this story so well.
These stories have recently showed up for me. They are very interesting and provide vivid portraits of enslaved people. There was a time when historical presentations might mention slavery and slave quarters, but never talk about the lives of enslaved people.
That was a terribly sad story until Hercules ran away.
Wow! The fabulous and gorgeous Brenda the Mount Vernon story teller and actress. Hercules had good sense. Being a slave for life even at Mount Vernon would lead any man to freedom. Hercules made his move and probably lives in Canada where cooks get paid to work. Always a pleasure to see Brenda Parker.
Bitter sweet
More please.
I don't understand the "... three bottles of rum with which to bury his wife." statement?
When a member of the enslaved community died, the estate’s carpenters crafted a coffin. Close family members sometimes received a day off to mourn and prepare the body for burial. Funerals probably occurred at night, when more people could attend. The details of these celebrations were not recorded, but food, drink, song, and prayer were likely part of the rituals, hence the three bottles of rum. Read more here: www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/slavery/community-and-tradition
@@mountvernon Thank you so much.
She said possibly shared the rum with other mourners.
faulltw people still drink now at funerals !! He was trying to show respect for his wife that passed !!
@@amandakurtz7732 No need to be upset, I was just asking. I haven't attended that may funerals and those I have, attendees did not drink, but I am not saying people shouldn't.
I love these videos very educational and definitely not what we see in the textbooks in schools.
Maybe he made arrangements for someone to look after his children? Maybe he planned to come back and couldn’t? I don’t know, but I know I would suffer and die for my child.
Hercules was not the only escaped slave from Mt. Vernon. It would be interesting to see a video of all of the escapees from Washington's home.
Not to mention those that left with British Troops when they came to Mount Vernon.
Correct! There were only two successful escapes by enslaved people from Mount Vernon that we know of in depth: Hercules and Ona Judge. We have a video about Ona's story here: ruclips.net/video/O9qf6WWc6QU/видео.html
@@keithdean9149 Exactly Keith, we call this the "Savage Incident" because Captain Thomas Graves of the Savage sent a message to the enslaved community that they could gain their freedom if they fought with the British; While people escaped, they were eventually returned to Mount Vernon when the ship was captured. We will have a video on this very subject in 2020. In the meantime, read more about this incident here on our website: www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/hms-savage/
Informative
Thank you
Thank you.
Heart breaking story. A man wanted his freedom from slavery he had to escape the plantation & leave his three children. Shameful America.
You act like this was something new when it wasn't
@@idontgiveafaboutyou First of all I never said anything about GW being something new. GTFOH! I was referring to racist ass George Washington.
Ronzoni Rose calm tf down sweetie😂
@@idontgiveafaboutyou Thanks for the comment but I aint never calming down...president George Washington was disgraceful & his legacy is embarrassing.
So sad. Beautifully narrated.
While his children and family suffered. He left and alone.
AnnNC North Carolina is this why y’all hate black men? But I see how y’all act around whites. Y’all are so respectful. I wish y’all treat us like that.
And this is why we fail because we are too busy hating each other instead of hating the mfers who put our ancestors through this shit.
AnnNC North Carolina he was risking his life to get to freedom. Maybe he didn’t want that risk for his family. Since his story ends at his running away it’s unlikely that he found it. Very sad.
African American Home Educators thanks for sharing your insight.
Hercules should've poisoned that Demon Dog!!!
Same thing I was thinking
Our people are not that wicked by nature, we were taught to be wicked by the treatment we received from our oppressors.
@@elainetaylor6941 .Our people were taught to be docile and obedience for their opressors.
@@liveyourlife1777 That too, but there where some who learned to used the oppressor's technique against them, I personally think our race is very forgivable by nature. I might be wrong.
@@elainetaylor6941 . Yeah you are wrong. Some black people aren't too forgiving. Some black people have zero tolerance for the bullshit.
Thank you so much for these videos. Today people do not know history... And many times what tiny history people do know is so twisted. I too do living history and young people today need to learn history in am unbias and true way. Thank you so much again for these videos and all you do
Hercules Hercules Hercules!!!
No person who owned slaves should be on any type of money. Hypocrisy at its finest.
We see your virtue signaling. Now can we look into your life and find a charater flaw and define your entire life by that.
Beautiful Miss Brenda.
Thank you for this wonderful piece of history. Not wonderful in the sense that slavery is EVER right, but wonderful because, it is little known and very seldom taught. I would like to share just a brief piece of my family's history. My family owned slaves from the earliest days of the arrival of the Europeans on this what we call the American Continent. Then, in the very earliest part of the 1800s, my Great, Great, Great Grandfather was reading in his family bible. He came across passages that expressed how terrible slavery is. The next morning, he called the heads of all the slave families together and spoke with them privately for a period of time. He then sent for ALL the slaves and once they were assembled, he, through deep sobbing, said, that he could never offer proper regrets for generations of wrongs. However, the very least he could do was to immediately FREE ALL slaves that his and his "in-law" families held. There were several thousand acres between the two families with an untold number of slaves plus indentured servants AND hired hands.
He spent several hours signing the necessary documents and once finished with those, he again addressed the heads of each slave family. There he gave them, the houses they were living in, 50 acres each and the horses and mules plus the equipment to work with IF they so chose to accept his admittedly weak but the best he could offer gesture. He gave the heads of these families "a few days to consider" the offer.
By Supper time, EVERY single head of each family came to him as a cohesive unit and declared their desires to accept his offer with much gratitude PLUS they asked IF he would then consider allowing them to continue working the ENTIRE plantations with him and going into a "partnership" to split any profits that might be had at harvest/sell time. He literally broke down and wept like a young child at their kindness and understanding. Once he had regained his composure, he readily accepted their offer, and together they worked and shared, laughed and cried together until the terrible war. However instead of allowing reconstruction to take the lands and operations, the former slaves stood the ground and refused to capitulate and though the plantations were eventually broken up and sold, there are still large tracts of property and many businesses to this day that bear my family's name. A few years ago, I happened to be traveling through the area and stopped for gas. A large African American woman was the clerk that waited on me, had a name tag on with the same last name. After a brief conversation with this total stranger, she not only invited me to come to her home and share a meal with them but, share a "FAMILY" meal with them. She told me this bit of history, and she even had tears well up in her eyes along with mine as she said, "we will always love and respect your family, especially, Marse Patrick for his kindness and willingness to search his bible all those years ago." This is a most condensed and brief testimony that does have a happy ending for all who have been involved for two centuries now. I love history but, only TRUE history and these videos are so great to have. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for bring them to us.
This biography is incorrect. Pres. George Washington had done his slave Chef Hercules a dirty. Washington loved his chef so much he brought to Philadelphia with him ,but there was a law that if a slave was in Philadelphia for more than 6 months he became free. So President Washington would send his beloved Chef cook Hercules back to Mount Vernon to be a laborer so he would never reach that 6-month mark. Then after a certain amount of time he would bring them back to Philadelphia to start the season with cycle again. After his second term in Pres. Washington's care he disappeared but his three children were sent back to Mount Vernon as laborers, Never to see their father again, but they didn't care because they loved that he was free
Keep the history alive.
Remember a couple years ago there was some idiot who tried writing a children's book about Hercules baking Washington a birthday cake. It was soundly panned like it should have been. Horrible what these people went though.
I'm glad he tasted freedom but his freedom seem bitter sweet. He left his children behind. Tragic!!😩😩😭😭
He probably saw a brief window of opportunity and took it at a moment’s notice 😔
i feel sad to it is ok
All so very sad how families were separated. Tragic.
This is so depressing
how
they stole all of our recipes!
The children were moved like house furniture.
I love the way you narrate!! I could listen to you narrate all day. I had never heard of these stories. It's like all their lives were intertwined. I'm so mad that he abandoned his children though! Damn black daddy!! And Eliza was pure evil!!
Because we don’t have any accounts from his perspective, we don’t know exactly why Hercules made the decisions that he did. However, it was very common for those seeking freedom to minimize risk by leaving children behind. Traveling in a group, especially with children, usually meant moving more slowly and appearing more conspicuous compared to fleeing alone. Enslaved people were often forced to make a heartbreaking choice between the possibility of freedom and staying with their families. We do have evidence that Hercules’s children understood their father’s decision: in 1798, a visitor to Mount Vernon spoke with Hercules’s daughter and suggested she must be “deeply upset that she would never see her father again.” The girl replied, “Oh! sir, I am very glad, because he is free now.”
@@mountvernon it's never all ready for father to abandon their children know I can't imagine the pain that they were going through, but I would feel worse getting back to the plantation and realizing that my father was gone and I'm going to be to subjected to his punishment and more since I can't find him and he's going to freedom!! you can't freaking imagine what those children probably went through on any given day with her father not there to protect them
First this Sista has the most beautiful smile. Secondly til this day still to many Black Men are running off leaving there kid's behind
Thank you for speaking up...Love you for that...but may we sister's do better in supporting a Good Man like yourself. We all should want to do better.
Why she smiling?
Very interesting and sad
She is talented. We learned that song in Church when I was little
I'm so disgusted that we still revere Washington.
Wow
Is like to spend a week learning everything I can one day at Mount Vernon. One of these days
We are open 365 days a year! Here are our current exhibits: www.mountvernon.org/plan-your-visit/calendar/exhibitions/ And you can get more tips for planning your visit here, we would love to see you: www.mountvernon.org/visit
How can one just leave his children, and didn't come back for his children. Have to admire the love and strength of some families who choose too stuck together, even when sold, search for love ones after slavery
I'm interested. Very.
Where does this information/the stories come from?
Thank you.
Great question Rhida. This script was based on an essay from "Lives Bound Together: Slavery at George Washington's Mount Vernon" by Jessie MacLeod. A number of primary sources were used including letters to and from George Washington, Washington’s Diary, and farm reports. You can find this book and more about it here: shops.mountvernon.org/products/lives-bound-together-25395
Wow. Thank you. Is that McLeod related to Mary McLeod Bethune?
Macleod related to Mcleod?
Washington Post Article did not offer this detail. Thank you. He is free.
God pray they were all reunited again in heaven.
Hercules Ran away?........Good......
What do you think happen to the cook hurcules replaced?
Now that I think about it. Just got done fighting with the British about 30 years prior. Then the French. Remembering the the harsh treatment and unfair treatment that the British put them through and. Yet he has slaves of his self. Why did take a hundred years to free any slaves. Even though he liked to cook whatever. The guy still sold off his kids. Was slavery could have ended years prior.
Delia is a great name !!! My children’s Grandmum’s name is Odelia Chain Rivers Chase Dove Cooper from Montgomery County Maryland ! I love her so much I named my daughter Adelia !!!
I find it distasteful that the narrative casts Washington as an above-average or relatively kind slave owner, while casting his runaway slave as a lesser man who would abandon his children.
We have presented the facts, it is up to you to form an opinion. Because we don’t have any accounts from Hercules' perspective, we don’t know exactly why Hercules made the decisions that he did. However, it was very common for those seeking freedom to minimize risk by leaving children behind. Traveling in a group, especially with children, usually meant moving more slowly and appearing more conspicuous compared to fleeing alone. Enslaved people were often forced to make a heartbreaking choice between the possibility of freedom and staying with their families. We do have evidence that Hercules’s children understood their father’s decision: in 1798, a visitor to Mount Vernon spoke with Hercules’s daughter and suggested she must be “deeply upset that she would never see her father again.” The girl replied, “Oh! sir, I am very glad, because he is free now.”
He do Be Freedoming The Man
Incredible History
Amazing Effort
Sad Inefficient Waste of Comfort
I Hope He was Virtuous when He did It
Fairly Questionable Context
Fairly Harder to Respect
But He did Dress Good
Great Presentation
Good Work
George Washington also pulled out the teeth of his slaves to make his dentures. Under those horrific conditions we would all run away.
I hope the father was able to tell them that he was planning his escape. Very sad ending
my brain: *h e r c u l e s m u l l i g a n*
me: w-what no
my brain: *i t s h i m*
me: uh
It forgot to mention that Hercules was a fugitive until 1801 after that he was made free due to George Washington freeing his slave in his will
That’s why on the klumps when they eating they chant “Hercules Hercules”
there is a novel about this person. I think it is called Washingtons Chef. If you want to know more about Hercules, you should read it.
That last sentence got me. I often found myself defending people like washington for being men of their time, but imagining a family being separated with no hope of reunification, has left me disgusted. There are so many things Washington could have done, a man of his value, could've provided a means for the slaves to live independently.
i hope Hercules spat in the food
The impulse for freedom is part and parcel of humanity. In this case and throughout history, despite the various systems of slavery in just about every culture, those who are enslaved never lose their consciousness of servitude even in the best of circumstances in the society in which they live be it Rome, ancient Greece, in Africa, India, in the vast Russian empire, ancient China or elsewhere. Realizing this innate human characteristic is possessed by all of us always gives me hope and faith in humanity.
I thought they were going to say what happened to him. It's just as likely someone killed him for being proud and uppity during his walks
I swear I saw terry cruse in the thumbnail
Makin my way down town
Same here
So sad
It still kills me to hear someone speak about a human being who was bought...smh.
I was under the impression that Posey was won in a poker game not purchased. Any truth to that?
Some idiot wrote a children’s book about Hercules baking a cake for Washington. I’m sure they left out the ending of the story, what his daughter said, and the horrors of slavery.
On other words they sold us like dogs
I bet he made some delicious food
stop judging him! his mind was still a slave.
Bought clothes and not his children’s freedom?
Hercules’s children were owned by the Custis estate because they inherited the status of their mother, Alice. To purchase their freedom would have required permission from the Custis heirs, who did not share George Washington’s later anti-slavery sentiments. Even if that were not the case, it was very expensive to purchase someone’s freedom-far more than some articles of clothing
Seriously? You really think it was that simple? Stop with the harsh judgement. Can't buy slaves that aren't for sale.
He went out for cigarettes...
How could some have believed that the black man could not, cannot receive the blessings of Jesus Christ, His sacrifice, and His gospel?
The facing picture looks like Jaimie Foxx.
Shows once again what the result was when slaves were treated to good and allowed to much liberty
SO SO fu***ng SAD the suffrage my PEOPLE ENDURED.
A Presidential chef earns about $93,000 a year these days!
It seems that there were many of President Washingtons slaves that escaped slavery. Good for them!
I find it peculiar that nothing is ever said of the Iris, Scottish or Welsh indentured servants that mostly didn't survive their full time.
Many of the female indentured from GB were forced to breed with the black slaves, with most of the women dying in child birth as most of the babies would be too large, most also died.
I have looked for information about this, never found much.
How many slaves did Vernon have at the time of Washington's death?
I must say that I can see that the founding fathers would have preferred to be rid of the institution of slavery. A theory as to why they did not release all of their slaves could be that they were some of the only people to be of such an opinion at the time in question. Our founding fathers likely treated those in bondage as well as they could have, if they released all of their slaves into the world of the late 18th century, what kind of world would they be entering? None but a world which views those people as less than human. People who see fit to proclaim ownership over a person based on race. Chattel Slavery is indeed the worst form of a practice already centered around purposes of evil. If I may be permitted an analogy so as to put it into perspective: If in 200 years clothing is seen the same way that slavery is now (it won't be, this is simply to drive a point home), would you walk outside fully nude tomorrow? Again I cannot stress this enough I am in no way attempting to compare clothing rituals to the likes of slavery, rather to put such a complicated matter as to what qualifies as "care" in regards to literally owning people. What if you paid them? That's what Washington did with Hercules. He may not have had enough money to regularly pay every slave and if he did, how would the general public view it? What if he set them free? I imagine that in such a society they would be beaten and resold into slavery on a plantation with a master a thousand times more cruel than Washington. What if he helped them escape? Where to? there were no slave safe states in the late 18th century as there were leading up to the civil war, simply less slave-active ones. In fact one reason Washington may have had for trying to track down Hercules instead of letting him go could be for this very reason: He could very well have been worried about Hercules's safety. Of course, this possibility cannot be without at least some partial speculation here, I didn't know George Washington on a personal level. However I do pay close attention to the patterns in history. Patterns such as that of the phrase "all men are created equal". I notice that during the revolution the focus was "all men are created equal", fast forward half a century and the focus shifts to "ALL men created equal", fast forward another half century and the focus shifts yet again this time focusing on a fault in the phrase rather than something that we need to be reminded of, "all MEN are created equal?", fast forward a half century, civil rights movement and a second wave of feminism and we see once again "ALL men created equal" as well as "all MEN created equal?" fast forward another half century and once again in 2020, 100 years from 1920 and the giving of women the right to vote, we see "ALL men created equal". I hereby predict that in another half century, we will once again ask ourselves "all MEN created equal?" We are asking that question now as the time moves forward the issues get slowly closer together. Some day perhaps the fight for racial and gender equality will be joined into one common cause to fight for. Time will only tell.
Maybe something tragic happened to Hercules. I just don't believe he'd run and leave his children by his beloved deceased wife