George Washington was born into a world where slavery was an accepted part of life. When his father died in 1743, Washington- at the age of 11- inherited ten slaves. When the nation’s first president died in 1799, more than 300 slaves lived in quarters on his Mount Vernon estate. This year, those slave quarters, first opened to the public in 1962, went through an extensive archaeological analysis and restoration. These refurbished quarters shed new light on the story of the slaves who lived and worked at Mount Vernon.