Judge Napolitano on George Washington
George Washington . . . was a Southern planter who owned and relied on slaves. Washington punished his slaves by whipping or selling them, divided their families so they would work more efficiently, and provided them with as little means as tolerable. He also raffled off the slaves of those bankrupt slaveholders who owed him money. Washington’s most gruesome act as a slave owner came in 1784, five years before he became President of the United States. In that year, Washington hired a dentist to extract nine teeth from the mouths of his slaves, and implant them into his own mouth.