George Washington, the first President of the United States, was a slave owner for practically all of his life. Washington was the only major slave holder among the seven Founding Fathers to emancipate his slaves. His will provided for freeing his slaves upon the death of his widow Martha Washington, but she emancipated them about 12 months after his death. At various times in his life, Washington privately expressed strong support for the gradual abolition of slavery.Although Washington personally opposed the institution of slavery after the American Revolutionary War, he had no tolerance for slave revolts and in 1791 as President he authorized emergency financial and military relief to French slave owners in Haiti to suppress a slave rebellion.[1] In 1789 Congress passed and President Washington signed a law that reaffirmed the previous ban on slavery in the Northwest Territory; it did not free slaves already in the territory. The 1790 Naturalization Act provided a means to incorporate foreigners as United States citizens, but was available only to "free white persons" of "good moral character." Washington signed the 1793 Fugitive Slave Law, the first to provide for the right of slaveholders to recapture slaves even in free states that had abolished slavery. The Slave Trade Act of 1794, adopted during his administration, limited the slave trade to foreign ships by regulation of U.S. ports.乔治·华盛顿（George Washington，1732年2月22日－1799年12月14日），1775年至1783年美国独立战争时殖民地军的总司令，1789年成为美国第一任总统（其同时也成为全世界第一位以“总统”为称号的国家元首），在接连两次选举中都获得了全体选举团无异议支持，一直担任总统直到1797年。华盛顿早年在法国印第安人战争中曾担任支持大英帝国一方的殖民军军官。之后在美国独立战争中率领大陆军团赢得美国独立，他拒绝了一些同僚怂恿他领导军事政权的提议，在1783年回到了他在维农山的庄园回复平民生活。1787年，华盛顿主持了制宪会议。会议制定了现在的美国宪法。1789年，他经过全体选举团无异议的支持而成为美国第一任总统。他在两届的任期中设立了许多持续到今天的政策和传统。在两届任期结束后，他自愿放弃权力不再谋求续任。由于他扮演了美国独立战争和建国中最重要的角色，华盛顿通常被称为美国国父[1]。学者们则将他和亚伯拉罕·林肯并列为美国历史上最伟大的总统。在美国在线于2005年举办的票选活动《最伟大的美国人》中，华盛顿被选为美国最伟大的人物第四位[2]。
ly的天空
