"Those Who Labor for My Happiness": Slavery at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello

by Lucia C. Stanton, J. Jefferson Looney (Editor)

Overview

Our perception of life at Monticello has changed dramatically over the past quarter century. The image of an estate presided over by a benevolent Thomas Jefferson has given way to a more complex view of Monticello as a working plantation, the success of which was made possible by the work of slaves. At the center of this transition has been the work of Lucia "Cinder" Stanton, recognized as the leading interpreter of Jefferson’s life as a planter and master and of the lives of his slaves and their descendants. This volume represents the first attempt to pull together Stanton’s most important writings on slavery at Monticello and beyond.

Stanton’s pioneering work deepened our understanding of Jefferson without demonizing him. But perhaps even more important is the light her writings have shed on the lives of the slaves at Monticello. Her detailed reconstruction for modern readers of slaves’ lives vividly reveals their active roles in the creation of Monticello and a dynamic community previously unimagined. The essays collected here address a rich variety of topics, from family histories (including the Hemingses) to the temporary slave community at Jefferson’s White House to stories of former slaves’ lives after Monticello. Each piece is characterized by Stanton’s deep knowledge of her subject and by her determination to do justice to both Jefferson and his slaves.

Published in association with the Thomas Jefferson Foundation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813932231
Publisher:	University of Virginia Press
Publication date:	02/02/2012
Series:	Jeffersonian America
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	819,976
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Lucia Stanton is Shannon Senior Historian at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello.

Table of Contents

Introduction Peter S. Onuf Annette Gordon-Reed vii

Author's Note xiii

I Jefferson and Slavery

"Those Who Labor for My Happiness": Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves 3

Looking for Liberty: Thomas Jefferson and the British Lions 27

"A Well-Ordered Household": Domestic Servants in Jefferson's White House 41

Jefferson's People: Slavery at Monticello 56

Perfecting Slavery: Rational Plantation Management at Monticello 71

II Families in Slavery

The Other End of the Telescope: Jefferson through the Eyes of His Slaves 93

Free Some Day: The African American Families of Monticello 215

III Families in Freedom

Monticello to Main Street: The Hemings Family and Charlottesville 215

Bonds of Memory: Identity and the Hemings Family Lucia Stanton Dianne Swann-Wright 232

"We Will Prove Ourselves Men": Hemings Descendants in the Civil War 251

Fulfilling the Declaration: Descendants of Monticello's African American Families 281

Notes 303

Index 355

Editorial Reviews

I have great admiration for these varied pieces, and the title essay is simply magisterial. I doubt it will ever be bettered. It is a remarkably empathetic piece, recovering the inner world of slaves and their myriad connections to their owner.

Philip D. Morgan

Invaluable

New York Times

"I have great admiration for these varied pieces, and the title essay is simply magisterial. I doubt it will ever be bettered. It is a remarkably empathetic piece, recovering the inner world of slaves and their myriad connections to their owner. "—Philip D. Morgan, Johns Hopkins University, author of African American Life in the Georgia Lowcountry: The Atlantic World and the Gullah Geechee

"Invaluable "—author of New York Times

From the Publisher