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How should we remember George Washington’s entanglement in slavery? Americans have argued over that question for nearly 250 years. More than any other Founding Father, Washington’s ties to slavery have vexed us. He enslaved more people than any of his fellow founders, yet he was the only one of them to emancipate the people he held in bondage. Since his death, Americans have grappled with this contradiction, shaping and reshaping our collective memory of Washington and slavery—along with our understanding of the nation.

In Thy Will Be Done, I tell the story of Americans’ long, fraught struggle to come to terms with Washington’s legacy of slavery.

  • "Thy Will Be Done is an exceptional book. This is how George Washington should be taught. This is how history should be done.”

    —Clint Smith, New York Times bestselling author of How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

  • “John Garrison Marks has written an unsparing audit of our inherited memory—proving that the real revolution is in who gets to tell the story. "

    —Alexis Coe, American history columnist at the New York Times and New York Times bestselling author of You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington

  • "Thy Will Be Done is a vital contribution to understanding our national history and memory.”

    —Cassandra A. Good, author of First Family: George Washington’s Heirs and the Making of America

  • "Marks...has delivered a book of compassion, courage, and meticulous detail."

    - The Progressive Magazine

Media & Interviews for Thy Will Be Done

Podcast/Video Interviews

Media

Book Tour

Want me to come speak about my book? Get in touch.

August 19: Riversdale House Museum (Riverdale Park, MD)

August 27: Filson Historical Society (Louisville, KY)

September 24: Virginia Museum of History and Culture (Richmond, VA)

October 3: Decatur Book Festival (Decatur, GA)

October 8: Rice University (Houston, TX)

October 17–18: Southern Festival of Books (Nashville, TN)

October 20: W&M Washington Center (Washington, DC)

October 23: Keynote, Pennsylvania Historical Association Annual Meeting (Bethlehem, PA)

October 28: Washington & Lee University (Lexington, VA)

November 5: WashU in St. Louis (St. Louis, MO)

December 3: Washington College (Chestertown, MD)