sentences:  He expressed support in private for the abolition of slavery by a gradual legislative process after the war, and communicated those abolitionist views widely, but abolition only happened in northern states, and he remained dependent on slave labor.By the time of his death in 1799 there were 317 slaves at his Mount Vernon estate, 124 owned by Washington and the remainder managed by him as his own property but belonging to other people.Washington had a strong work ethic and demanded the same from both enslaved and hired workers.