When Liberty Had Boundaries
Ona Judge and the contradiction at the heart of the Revolution
What does it mean that an enslaved woman had to flee the “Father of His Country” to experience freedom?
We often tell the story of America’s founding through the men who drafted its documents. But inside George Washington’s Philadelphia household, liberty had limits…and Ona Judge saw them clearly. While the Founders debated ideals, she turned them into reality.
If the Founding Fathers were the architects of American freedom, Ona Judge was living evidence that even those they enslaved could claim it for themselves.
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