But they also had direct transactional conversations with their enslavers and overseers, where they negotiated to carve out precious moments of liberty with the hopes of eventually becoming free. When she couldn't negotiate with her enslaver, Harriet Jacobs went to extensive lengths to avoid his sexual advances. Later, as a free woman and abolitionist, she became one of the first people to publicly raise the topic of sexual violence against enslaved women.
Stevenson, a professor of history at University of California, Los Angeles. In North Carolina, Harriet Jacobs became one white man's concubine, hid in a tiny attic garret for seven years and fled to the north, all to avoid being sexually exploited by her enslaver and to keep her children out of slavery. She later published a book called Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl , becoming a prominent abolitionist and one of the first people to publicly broach the topic of sexual harassment of enslaved women.
We cannot know whether or not these exchanges were consensual, but we do know that enslaved women were usually the property of the men who exploited them, and this fact alone complicates our interpretation of this history. But despite the inherent power imbalance, some enslaved women used these forced interactions to find a better space for themselves, or secure freedom for their offspring.
Did they have a choice? If they did, could they exercise it? What was their negotiation angle? Foremost was their capacity to bring new lives—and laborers—into the world. In an economy where black bodies were commodities, childbearing women were crucial economic multipliers. And concubines who bore children to their white enslavers could sometimes leverage those deeper familial connections to secure better situations for themselves and their offspring, such as relief from certain work assignments, the chance to be educated and eventually set free.
However, enslaved women who tried to leverage this power, and these interactions, had varying degrees of success. And these strategies were not always premeditated, as many enslaved women dreaded the idea of motherhood and preferred not to bring children into a world of captivity.
Lisa Picquet haggled for months with an enslaver, trying to purchase her mother's freedom. Elizabeth, owned by the Randolph family of South Carolina, found her negotiating powers superseded by the financial and personal challenges of the white families she served. Elizabeth and Louisa were quickly sold. Elizabeth, about 20 years old, then became concubine to her new owner, David Cook of Georgia, even though he too was married and had a family. Together, they produced three children. But after Cook incurred debts and lost his property, he sent his wife and children to live with relatives while he fled to Alabama with his concubine and her daughter.
In the latter half of the 19th century, contradictory evidence surfaced: In a memoir published in an Ohio newspaper in , Madison Hemings claimed to be Jefferson's child.
Just a year later, an account was published claiming that Jefferson's nephew, Peter Carr, had confessed to Jefferson's daughter Martha that he had been the father of all or most of Sally's children. The Jefferson-Hemings debate was renewed in the s with the publication of historian Fawn McKay Brodie's biography of Jefferson, which assumed her alleged relationship with Jefferson to be true, as well as a best-selling fictionalized account of Hemings's life written by novelist Barbara Chase-Riboud.
In , another historian, Annette Gordon-Reed, published Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy , which stated that historians had underestimated the amount of evidence supporting the truth of the relationship. After comparing the Y-chromosome component of the DNA of five descendants of Jefferson's paternal uncle, Field Jefferson, with that of a descendant of another of Hemings' sons, Eston born , Dr.
According to DNA researchers, the odds of a perfect match in a random sample are less than one in a thousand. In response to Foster's DNA evidence, in January , the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation stated its belief that Jefferson and Hemings had in fact been sexual partners, and that Jefferson was the father of Hemings' six children — including Beverly, Harriet, Madison and Eston — born between and In , the historical drama film, Jefferson in Paris , told the tale of Jefferson during his time as an Ambassador of the United States to France and his burgeoning relationship with Hemings.
We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. Nat Turner was the leader of a violent enslaved people rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, in The fourth U.
In , Richard Loving and his wife Mildred successfully fought and defeated Virginia's ban on interracial marriage via a historic Supreme Court ruling. Madison Hemings used the word to describe the long-standing sexual encounters between his mother and father, as well as those of his grandmother, Elizabeth Hemings, and his grandfather, John Wayles.
Jefferson was on the most intimate terms with her; that, in fact, she was his concubine. Included in any Day Pass to Monticello. Plan Your Visit. Feel the power of place at Monticello. Learn about Thomas Jefferson, the ideas of freedom, and the realities of slavery that made the United States.
Learn More. This 1-hour, minute, small-group interactive tour explores Monticello using the stories of several members of the Hemings Family. The Behind-the-Scenes tour provides a fuller picture of life at Monticello, and a better understanding of the complex world surrounding the man who authored the Declaration of Independence.
These guided outdoor tours focus on the experiences of the enslaved people who lived and labored on the Monticello plantation. Included in the price of admission. From to , Sally Hemings is believed to have lived in this building, which later was likely converted to a Textile Workshop where her daughter, Harriet, learned to spin and weave fabric.
I have no idea what kind of affection or love was involved. But he made a promise that he would free her children when they turned And he did so. When it comes to the specific dynamic between Jefferson and Hemings, descendants and historians have a range of opinions. Some believe that Hemings had more agency than might be imagined. Others consider any connection of this type a form of assault or rape. And there are many opinions in between. Similarly, in his visit to Charlottesville, Elijah Fletcher heard about Thomas Jefferson, Sally Hemings, and their children from people he met.
There are no known images of Sally Hemings from her lifetime, and her appearance was described by only two individuals who knew her:. Sally was very handsome, long straight hair down her back. Although evocative, these descriptions leave out nearly every detail—height, frame, eye color, hair color, and the shape of her face and its features—needed to construct an adequate representation of her looks.
Randolph through Henry S. Randall, who wrote one of the first major biographies of Thomas Jefferson and was in contact with many members of the Jefferson family. Randolph did not specifically point out the exact room, but the description related through Randall suggests that Sally Hemings and her children occupied one of two rooms in the South Wing.
Sally Hemings was never officially freed. No, and yes. They received the same provisions of food, clothing and housing as other enslaved individuals at Monticello. All of their children learned skills that could support them in freedom. Harriet Hemings spun yarn and wove cloth, an occupation that was not solely associated with slavery. Plenty of white women spun and wove. Possible Responses:. Developmental Activity: 50 minutes:. For the primary learning activity, the students will work cooperatively to complete a Jig Saw activity.
The class will be evenly divided into the four 4 groups and the students will read their particular Life Stage Information Sheet. After the students have had roughly ten minutes to read and discuss their stage of life, then set-up the sharing portion of the activity. They should be relaying the particulars of their stage to their classmates along with the difficult choices that confronted her or her family at that moment. At the end of ten minutes, half the members of each group will remain at their designated table while the other group members will move one-at-a-time to meet with the other groups.
Allow 5 minutes for each table discussion session. Rotate every five minutes until every student has heard the content and discussed the issues facing Sally Hemings at all the stages of her life.
Move the students in a clockwise or counterclockwise pattern to prevent confusion. Also, do not allow students to move groups before the timer runs out to prevent congestion. Bring the students together for a whole group discussion. To mark the centennial of the 19th Amendment in , the National Women's History Museum NWHM has created connective, thought provoking and essential themes to take students beyond studying women in history to analyzing and discussing how women have impacted history.
Discuss with your students that as an oppressed group, women have had to work to expand their role and rights throughout history. As a class, discuss the four essential themes and identify key characteristics the students believe define each theme: what it means to expand roles, defy expectations, break barriers, or create momentum, or push for, change.
Through class discussion, students will explore the concepts and determine how the actions and achievements of women, especially enslaved women like Sally Hemings define or exemplify each of the key themes. After the class has come to a consensus, divide the students into four groups.
Next, bring the class together and invite each group to define their theme and describe how enslaved women in general or Sally Hemings in particular fit that theme. The groups may choose one spokesperson or assign each group member a topic or idea. Final Discussion Question:. As a closing assignment, every student will attempt to put themselves into the shoes of women who endured the horrors of slavery and fought to create a better life for them and their families. This assignment can be done at the end of class or for homework.
For an extension activity, the teacher could assign the students to research the lives of other members of the Hemings family and other enslaved persons who lived at Monticello. Follow the link through Monticello. The link below is from the Monticello website under the People Enslaved at Monticello tab.
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