George Mason of Gunston Hall distinguished himself as a planter, revolutionary patriot, author the Virginia Declaration of Rights, and slave owner.
Over his lifetime he freed none of them..
He wrote "that all men are by nature equally free and...have certain inherent rights..." and argued simultaneously that Slavery was "that slow Poison, which is daily contamination to] the Minds & Morals of our People." Yet Mason owned more than a hundred slave men, women, and children himself.
George Mason of Gunston Hall distinguished himself as a planter, revolutionary patriot, author the Virginia Declaration of Rights, and slave owner