What Were the Founding Father's Attitudes Towards Slavery?

What were the founding father's attitudes towards Slavery?

Who were the Founding Fathers, who were they and how many of them were there? Looking at most probably the most significant, there was Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. They became the Founding Fathers because they found America. Doing so they lead Americans to fight against the British and to declare their independence, seeking their freedom against the British and achieved it successfully. In the declaration of independence, they declared all men to be equal, but what about slaves? Were they to be equal like the rest of white Americans? How did the Founding Fathers react to this problem that was against the will of the testament and what were their attitudes? Looking at two sources; one of which comes from George Washington's last will and testament in 1799 and the other is an extract from "Notes of the State of Virginia" by Thomas Jefferson in 1784

Looking at the last will and testament, George Washington seems to have an extreme desire to - after his death - free his slaves of which he possessed at the time he wrote this document. It is his choice to make those are unable to fend for themselves, like infants, old age or body infirmities as it says in his will, that they should be properly clothed and that they also shall be fed by his heirs for as long as they live and to learn to read and write. Saying this, George Washington clearly longed for the emancipation of his slaves. However, he does agree that they will attend 'insuperable difficulties on account of their intermixture by Marriages with the Dower Negroes'. This means that they will face problems and struggles impossible to overcome once they are released into freedom because of the colour of their skin and the way people recognised them in that period. At the end of the will, he clearly states that he wants his slaves to not be exported out of Virginia and not to be sold off. These few lines clearly exchange the attitude of George Washington towards slavery and he wishes them to have a life of which comes equality and he forbids that 'any slave he may have died possessed of, under any pretence whatsoever'. According to this document of which he wrote himself, we clearly view his attitude and opinion for his approach to equality and his desire for each of his slave that he possesses to regard a life like no other and to be respected like no other. This document is reliable, though it is difficult to know if he wrote it from his heart, or it was to put on a show as he knew, being a historical man, that in the future, many people would read this as a source.

Moving onto the source of which Thomas Jefferson had wrote himself, "Notes of the State of Virginia". Being a book, I do believe that many of the Founding Father's