Monticello and Slavery

Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello, just outside of Charlottesville, Virginia is an icon of architecture and innovation. While the house itself is fascinating and the focal point of the tour, I was intrigued with the slave tour offered as part of my entrance fee. Slavery and its prominence among America’s founding fathers has long since been an interesting paradox to explore. The tour took us down Mulberry Row, explaining Thomas Jefferson’s relationship with slavery and different aspects of slave life. 

Jefferson's home

Mulberry Row

Initially the tourguide began with an overview of slavery in the early years of America. He discussed the seeming disconnect between Thomas Jefferson’s egalitarian and democratic beliefs and his practice of slavery. Like many of the other founding fathers, Jefferson was a man of his time, holding over 600 slaves in his lifetime. During this period in history, slavery was the most productive method of business and an integral part of the culture in which he lived.

Mulberry Row was the commercial center of Jefferson’s plantation. Many slaves lived and worked along this road. Our first stop was the remains of a slave dwelling. Here the guide described the life of a slave, from a day’s work to family interactions. The guide discussed the role that each person in the slave home played on the plantation. The men, women, and children old enough to work, spent long days working and producing on the plantation. The guide also discussed the value placed on different slaves, particularly females. While they worked on the plantation doing whatever job assigned to them, their most important task was to reproduce. The guide mentioned how some said that a woman who gave birth every 2 years was worth more than any able-bodied man on the plantation was.

Remains of a Slave Dwelling on Mulberry Row

I was very interested to hear how the guide presented slave life. The tour guide did an excellent job of highlighting and emphasizing the autonomy and agency that slaves maintained within their bondage. While the daytime was their master’s time, the night was their own. When slaves came home from a long day of work, they engaged in a society or community of their own. Their family was their support system. Often elderly grandparents stayed at home during the day to take care of the children too young to work, the house and prepared dinner for when the workers came home. Within this slave community, slaves maintained a sense of autonomy and agency. This was particularly interesting after discussing John Blassingame’s Slave Community in my American Readings class.

As we moved down Mulberry Row, our guide presented us with interesting anecdotes of slaves and workers who lived on Jefferson’s plantation. We stopped along the road at the “joiner’s shop” where the chimney and foundation remain. John Hemmings and William Fosset, two, among many, mentioned who worked at the Joiner’s shop. We also stopped at the remains of the blacksmith shop where nail making and other ironwork took place. John Fosset, William Fosset’s son, was one of the most productive nail makers in the shop. He became one of only a handful of slaves Jefferson set free at his death.

Joiner's Shop

Through out the tour the guide told stories of what slaves did to rebel, everything from being less productive at work to running away and even made some references to different “types” of slaves as Blassingame describes in his book. While the guide did not use the same terms Blassingame used, he described each of the “personality types” discussed in Blassingame, Sambo, Nat, and Jack. “Sambo” was the epitome of a good slave: loyal and submissive. “Nat” at the other end of the spectrum was highly rebellious and discontent with his lot in life. “Jack” was the moderate slave, unhappy with his lot in life, but did his work with little rebellion. In closing, the guide asked the group how we would have responded to a life of slavery. Would we have rebelled or quietly gone about our business?

Overall, I thought the guide did a great job of presenting slavery and life on a plantation to a general audience. While he emphasized the agency and autonomy the slaves had among themselves, there could have been more attention given to the harsh realities of slavery and the interactions that took place between the overseers and the slaves. The guide mentioned some instances of overseers abusing slaves for unproductivity, however it was not an integral part of the tour. Additionally, the guide briefly discussed the interaction between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings and the family that resulted, however I would have liked to hear more about this relationship. On a tour at Monticello about slavery, I thought this would have been discussed more than was briefly mentioned. When discussing slavery, there needs to be a balance between acknowledging the harsh realities and presenting slave’s agency. The tour was engaging and interesting. I would highly recommend going on the slave tour at Monticello. The guide effectively dealt with the paradox of Jefferson owning slaves, the life that slaves engaged in outside of their daily duties and told fascinating stories of some of the slaves that lived in at Monticello.