Thomas Jefferson's Monticello

You are going to see pictures of spaces where enslaved families live. Look carefully at each of the pictures. Answer the questions below each picture. Answer can be recorded on the Enslaved Family Dwellings worksheet. 

Once the slideshow is completed, use the links in additional resources to learn more about each space. 

Guiding Questions: 

1. What was life like for members of the enslaved community at Monticello?
2. What kind of work did members of the enslaved community do?


Enslaved Family Dwellings

This is a map of the Monticello plantation during Thomas Jefferson's lifetime. Jefferson owned about 5,000 acres of land at Monticello. Approximately 607 enslaved men, women, and children lived on the plantation. 

The Monticello Plantation

Learn about nail-making at Monticello. Use the additional resources to further explore the work of enslaved boys in the nailery. Guiding Questions:   1. What was life like for members of the enslaved community at Monticello? 2. What kind of work did members of the enslaved community do?

The Nailery

In 1812, Thomas Jefferson started a textile workshop in a building along Mulberry Row. In this building, a dozen enslaved women and girls wove coarse fabric to help clothe Monticello slaves. Girls began spinning and weaving around age 12 – the same time that boys learned nail-making.  The textile workshop featured two 18th-century inventions – the loom with a "flying shuttle" (1733) and the "spinning jenny" (1770) – that greatly increased the amount of cloth the enslaved spinners and weavers could make. Click around the image to learn more about the textile workshop. You can record your responses in the Mulberry Row handout. Guiding Questions:   1. What was life like for members of the enslaved community at Monticello? 2. What kind of work did members of the enslaved community do?

The Textile Workshop

This image shows one week of food supplied by Thomas Jefferson to each enslaved adult. Click the picture to learn more. Guiding Questions:   1. What was life like for members of the enslaved community at Monticello? 2. What kind of work did members of the enslaved community do?

Weekly Enslaved Rations 

As you explore the resource kit, record your knowledge on this worksheet. 

Record your Knowledge

Use this worksheet to record your observations about the Cook's Room. 

The Cook's Room Worksheet

You can complete your observations about the Hemmings Family Cabin here. 

The Hemmings Family Cabin Worksheet

Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, enslaved approximately 607 men, women, and children throughout the course of his life. About 400 people were enslaved at his plantation and home Monticello; the other 200 people were held in bondage on Jefferson’s other properties. At any given time, around 130 people were enslaved at Monticello.

Using the resources below, explore enslaved life at Monticello.  The entire resource kit takes between 45 - 60 minutes to complete. Additional resources are included in some activities for further investigation.

For more information or to offer feedback, please email digital.learning@monticello.org. 

Please take a moment to share your thoughts on this resource kit: https://forms.gle/aW8qqtq5GJTnj6H26. 


Please take a moment to share your thoughts on this resource kit: 

Educator Overview_ Exploring Enslaved Life at Monticello.pdf

https://create.kahoot.it/profiles/e18b7391-4860-4383-9dec-4d9633174be2

https://edpuzzle.com/playlist/663bb2afd513e5aa8cadc2e7

Exploring Enslaved Life at Monticello

Economics

Social Studies

U.S. History

Explore the South Wing at Monticello 

Learn more about John and Priscilla Hemmings

Members of the Hemings/Hemmings family lived in a one-room cabin like this one near their workplaces along Mulberry Row and in the Main House.

The Hemings family was one of the largest enslaved families at Monticello. Some members of the family spelled their name with one M. Other members of the family spelled their name with two Ms. 

Other members of the enslaved community may have lived in similar structures along Mulberry Row and throughout the Monticello plantation. 

The original Hemmings family cabin no longer exists. Using Thomas Jefferson's notes and archaeological research, the cabin in the picture was rebuilt in the 2010s. 

This cabin represents the home of John and Priscilla Hemmings, a married couple who were enslaved by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. 

Look closely at this picture, and then answer the questions below. 

 How many people do you think could live comfortably in a space like this?  

What kind of objects do you see in this space?  

How do you think this space would be used?  

What can we learn about the people who lived in this room from this picture?  

Some members of the enslaved community lived in rooms in the South Wing. The South Wing is part of Monticello. Rooms run runs under the main house and con­tain the post-1809 kitchen, cook’s room, smokehouse, living quarters for enslaved workers and the dairy. The enslaved workers who lived here were still close to the places where they worked every day. 

This cabin represents the home of Edith Hern Fossett, an enslaved chef at Monticello. She lived in this space with her husband Joseph, and their children. 

Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

Exploring Enslaved Life at Monticello

Enslaved Family Dwellings

Background Knowledge

The outside of the Hemmings Family Cabin.