Thomas Jefferson and Haitian Emigration - Monticello Slave Life

Monticello Slave Life

Jefferson ran every facet of the four Monticello farms and left specific instructions to his overseers when away or traveling. Slaves in the mansion, mill, and nailery reported to one general overseer appointed by Jefferson, and he hired many overseers, some of whom were considered cruel at the time. Jefferson made meticulous periodical records on his slaves, plants and animals, and weather. Jefferson, in his Farm Book journal, visually described in detail both the quality and quantity of purchased slave clothing and the name of each slave who received the clothing. In a letter written in 1811, Jefferson described his stress and apprehension in regard to difficulties in what he felt was his "duty" to procure specific desirable blankets for "those poor creatures" - his slaves.

Some historians have noted that Jefferson maintained many slave families together on his plantations; the historian Bruce Fehn says this was consistent with other slave owners at the time. There were often more than one generation of family at the plantation and families were stable. Jefferson and other slaveholders shifted the "cost of reproducing the workforce to the workers' themselves." He could increase the value of his property without having to buy additional slaves. He tried to reduce infant mortality, and wrote, " woman who brings a child every two years is more profitable than the best man on the farm."

Jefferson encouraged slaves to marry at Monticello, and would occasionally buy and sell slaves to keep families together. In 1815, he said that his slaves were "worth a great deal more" due to their marriages. Married slaves, however, had no legal protection or recognition by the law; masters could separate slave husbands and wives any time desired.

Jefferson sometimes gave incentives in money or clothes to slaves for work in important positions. Jefferson's slaves probably worked from dawn to dusk. Although no record exists that Jefferson organized formal instruction of slaves, several enslaved men at Monticello could read and write.

Jefferson worked slave boys ages 10 to 16 in his nail factory on Mulberry Row. After it opened in 1794, for the first three years, Jefferson recorded the productivity of each child. He selected those who were most productive to be trained as artisans: blacksmiths, carpenters, and coopers. Those who performed the worst were assigned as field laborers.

According to the historian Lucia Stanton, Jefferson authorized his overseers to use physical violence against the slaves, though probably not as much as some of his neighbors. Jame Hubbard was a slave in the nailery who ran away on two occasions. The first time Jefferson did not have him whipped, but on the second Jefferson reportedly ordered him severely flogged. Hubbard was likely sold after spending time in jail. Stanton says children suffered physical violence. When a 17-year-old James was sick, one overseer reportedly whipped him "three times in one day." Violence was commonplace on plantations, including Jefferson's. According to Marguerite Hughes, Jefferson used "a severe punishment" like whippings when runaways were captured, and he sometimes sold them to "discourage other men and women from attempting to gain their freedom."

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation quotes Jefferson's instructions to his overseers not to whip his slaves, but noted that they often ignored his wishes during his frequent absences from home. According to Stanton, no reliable document portrays Jefferson as directly using physical correction. During Jefferson's time, some other slaveholders also disagreed with the practices of flogging and jailing slaves.

Slaves had a variety of tasks: Davy Bowles was the carriage driver, including trips to take Jefferson to and from Washington D.C. or the Virginia capital. Betty Hemings, a mixed-race slave inherited from his father-in-law with her family, was the matriarch and head of the house slaves at Monticello, who were allowed limited freedom when Jefferson was away. Four of her daughters served as house slaves: Betty Brown; Nance, Critta and Sally Hemings. The latter two were half-sisters to Jefferson's wife. Another house slave was Ursula, whom he had purchased separately. The general maintenance of the mansion was under the care of Hemings family members as well: the master carpenter was Betty's son John Hemings. His nephews Joe Fossett, as blacksmith, and Burwell Colbert, as Jefferson's butler and painter, also had important roles. Memoirs of life at Monticcello, include those of Isaac Jefferson (published, 1843), Madison Hemings, and Israel Jefferson (both published, 1873).

Two major exhibitions in 2012 address slavery at Monticello: the Smithsonian collaborated with Monticello in Slavery at Jefferson's Monticello: The Paradox of Liberty, held in Washington, D.C. It addresses Jefferson as slaveholder and traces the lives of six major slave families and their descendants who worked in the household. At Monticello, an outdoor exhibit has been installed to represent slave life and is called Landscape of Slavery: Mulberry Row at Monticello. It makes use of archeological and other research to establish the outlines of cabins for domestic slaves and other outbuildings near the mansion. Field slaves were held elsewhere. (See each online at http://www.slaveryatmonticello.org)