Sally hemings real photo
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Sally Hemings
Exploring extraordinary Black lives of the Founding Era, such as that of Sally Hemings, can transform our understanding of American history. Born in Virginia in 1773, Sally Hemings was an enslaved woman in the household of Thomas Jefferson. In 1787, at the age of 14, she accompanied Jefferson’s daughter Polly to London and then to Paris, where Jefferson was serving as the US Minister to France.
Since Hemings was considered free under French law, she initially refused to return to Jefferson’s estate of Monticello in Virginia, and only did so upon securing a promise of freedom for herself and her unborn children. In 1802, allegations of Jefferson’s sexual relationship with Hemings surfaced, resulting in an explosion of political satire in the press. Genetic analysis has determined that Hemings’s six children likely were fathered by Jefferson. Her four surviving children—Beverly, Harriet, Madison, and Eston Hemings—were freed in the 1820s.
Upon Jefferson’s death, Hemings lived the last nine years of her life as a free woman. She died in Charlottesville in 1835. W
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Sally Hemings
Slave of Thomas Jefferson (c. 1773–1835)
Sally Hemings | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sarah Hemings c. 1773 Charles City County, Virginia, British America |
| Died | 1835 (aged 61–62) Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S. |
| Known for | Slave owned by Thomas Jefferson, mother to his shadow family |
| Children | 6, including Beverly, Harriet, Madison, and Eston |
| Parent(s) | Betty Hemings John Wayles |
| Relatives | Hemings family |
Sarah "Sally" Hemings (c. 1773 – 1835) was a woman enslaved to third President of the United StatesThomas Jefferson, inherited among many others from his father-in-law, John Wayles.
Hemings' mother was Betty Hemings,[1] the daughter of an enslaved woman and an English captain, John Hemings. Sally's father, the owner of Betty, John Wayles, was also the father of Jefferson's wife, Martha. Therefore, Sally was half-sister to Jefferson's wife and was of (at least) three quarters English descent, making her a quadroon according to then-contemporary racial classification. Martha died during her marriage in 1782. In 1787, when she
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The Life of
Sally Hemings
What was the nature of the connection between Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson?
Lucia Stanton, Historian“Certainly a relationship between a master and his slave is one that’s incredibly unbalanced in terms of power. 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 21. 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. The reality is, we just don’t know.
Look Closer: Sex, Power, Slavery
How do we know that Jefferson was the father of Sally Hemings’s children?
The historical evidence points to the truth of Madison Hemings’s words about “my father, Thomas Jefferson.” Although the dominant narrative long denied his paternity, since 1802, oral histories, pub
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