Oh yay, I get to address my two favorite common misconceptions about the colonial US at once.
There is an element of truth in the assertion that Ben Franklin owned slaves, but it’s mostly untrue. He participated in what he was taught to do from an early age, but seeing the effects of slavery first hand changed his mind. He spent the rest of his life as one of that era’s most outspoken critics against slavery, even purchasing a printing press to print anti-slavery brochures and pamphlets.
George Washington’s wooden teeth are a myth. Wood teeth certainly existed, but were extremely uncommon and only used by people who had nothing else. Most commonly, dentures of that era were made from ivory, animal teeth, or cadaver teeth.
In May of 1784, Washington paid several unnamed slaves 122 shillings (£6.10, equivalent to $195 in 2025) for a total of nine teeth to be implanted by a French doctor, who became a frequent guest on the plantation over the next few years.
Oh yay, I get to address my two favorite common misconceptions about the colonial US at once.
There is an element of truth in the assertion that Ben Franklin owned slaves, but it’s mostly untrue. He participated in what he was taught to do from an early age, but seeing the effects of slavery first hand changed his mind. He spent the rest of his life as one of that era’s most outspoken critics against slavery, even purchasing a printing press to print anti-slavery brochures and pamphlets.
https://benjaminfranklinhouse.org/education/benjamin-franklin-and-slavery/
George Washington’s wooden teeth are a myth. Wood teeth certainly existed, but were extremely uncommon and only used by people who had nothing else. Most commonly, dentures of that era were made from ivory, animal teeth, or cadaver teeth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington's_teeth
your list is missing a fourth category
Yeah, he didn’t have wooden teeth, he had slave’s teeth, teeth he got from slaves that he did own but because he was vewy sowy it doesn’t count.
“He wasn’t a slave owner! He just owned slaves, dumbass!”