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People Enslaved at Monticello
Information, lists, videos, and podcasts about some of the people who lived and worked in slavery at Monticello.
Introduction
Thomas Jefferson enslaved more than 610 people throughout his life. Of those, four hundred men, women, and children lived in bondage at Monticello.
Explore the world of Monticello's enslaved community and Jefferson's complicated legacy with race and slavery.
In this section
Slavery-
![Jefferson's 1810 list of enslaved people sorted by location at Monticello and then categorized in columns as domestic "house" workers, "tradesmen," and "farm" workers.]()
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![A modern-day painting by Nathaniel Gibbs depicting several enslaved workers cutting, stacking, and loading wheat onto a cart driven by two oxen.]()
PageWork on the Monticello Plantation
A look at the various kinds of work that occurred on Thomas Jefferson's Monticello plantation with links to further information about each task.
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![Bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson in front of a red wall covered in the names people enslaved at Monticello and other Jefferson plantations.]()
PageThomas Jefferson: Liberty & Slavery
Thomas Jefferson helped to create a new nation based on individual freedom and self-government and called slavery an “abominable crime." And yet he was a lifelong slaveholder
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![A family of four read an interpretive sign outside a recreated small wood building next to a large tree.]()
PageSlavery FAQs
A list of answers to selected frequently asked questions (FAQs) about slavery at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.
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![A woman's dress form stands in front of projected shadows depicting Sally Hemings coming her daughter's hair while two boys play the violin]()
PageThomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: A Brief Account
A review of the historical evidence related to Thomas Jefferson, Sally Hemings, their children, the DNA study that genetically linked them.
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![Detail from the article on the DNA study in a 1998 edition of Nature magazine.]()
PageReport of the Research Committee on Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, 2000
Read Monticello's official report on the 1998 DNA study that established a Jefferson family member was the father of at least one descendant of Sally Hemings.
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PageGetting Word African American History Department
As the African American history department at Monticello, Getting Word records and preserves the family histories of the over 610 people enslaved by Jefferson throughout his lifetime.
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Slavery at Monticello