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Context:
Mary Katharine Goddard (June 16, 1738 – August 12, 1816) was an early American publisher, and the postmaster of the Baltimore Post Office from 1775 to 1789. She was the older sister of William Goddard, also a publisher and printer. She was the second printer to print the Declaration of Independence. Her copy, the Goddard Broadside, was commissioned by Congress in 1777, and was the first to include the names of the signatories.[1][2] In 1998, Goddard was inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame.[3] Goddard owned a slave named Belinda Starling. Upon her death in 1816, Goddard’s will posthumously freed Starling and bequeathed to her all of Goddard’s property.[4]
owned a slave
american moment
But she freed her… once she could no longer use her.
Yeah not so great, but better than having her younger brother inherit her, I guess. And she actually did a bit better than that (from Wikipedia):
She posthumously freed her slave, Belinda Starling, in her will, wherein she wrote that she, “give[s] and grant[s] to my female slave, Belinda Starling, aged about 26 years, her Freedom at my death; and I also give and bequeath unto said Belinda Starling all the property of which I may die possessed; all which I do to recompense the faithful performance of duties to me.”
An attempt at reparation, I guess
An attempt to buy a spot in heaven.
More like an attempt at buying forgiveness. The fact that she waited to free her slave until she was dead pretty much cancels out any attempt at making this a benevolent action.
