Debt, Wine, and A Concubine-

A brief look into Thomas Jefferson

-Vanessa Calhoun

Why is Thomas Jefferson important?

• Declaration of Independence• 3rd President of the United States

• Louisiana Purchase• Lewis & Clark• Sally Hemings

Debt: Cash Poor & Land RichWhen Thomas Jefferson died in

1826 he owed $107,000.00 (How much $$$$$ would this be in 2008?)

WHY?Reasons for his debt:

crops failed due to droughtinherited debt from his father in law upon his death

construction of Monticellothe upkeep of his plantation

and his unwillingness to live within his means

Deep Thoughts: Discuss Amongst Yourselves and then share!1. Why didn’t he just sell his slaves or some of his land to get out of debt?2. How much did he make as the US President?3. How did the Panic of 1819 effect TJ?4. What does “Keeping up Appearances” mean in relation to TJ?

Monticello Plantation

How many slaves did Thomas Jefferson own and what were they

worth?• “Over his lifetime, Thomas Jefferson owned over six hundred slaves. When Jefferson was twenty-one, he inherited about thirty slaves from his father. Later, he inherited 135 more from John Wayles, his wife’s father. By 1796, Jefferson owned about 170 slaves.”, Jefferson and Slavery, 2007 Thomas Jefferson Foundation, http://classroom.monticello.org/teachers/resources/profile/263/Jefferson-and-Slavery/,

• At this time in history slaves were purchased for $500-600 each. • Young, healthy women were worth more. Why?• During this time period if you were an unskilled worker in an

urban setting you would earn $200-250 a year, a skilled worker in an urban setting you would earn $400-500 a year.

Receipts of sale at Thomas Jefferson’s estate sale.

Receipts of sale at Thomas Jefferson’s estate sale.

Debtor’s Poem

How Much Land to Thomas Jefferson own and what was it

worth?• Monticello- 5,000 acres• Montalto- 571 acres• Elk Hill- 669 acres• Guinea- 5,145 acres• Indian Camp- 1,200 acres• and 15 other properties

totaling over _____acres

What happened to the house and furnishings after Jefferson's death?“Because Jefferson died more than $107,000 in debt, his daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph and her son and financial manager, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, found it necessary first to sell nearly all of the contents of Monticello and then to sell the plantation itself. In 1827, the furniture, animals, farm equipment, and slaves were offered at an executor's sale. In 1831, James T. Barclay, a local apothecary, purchased the home and 552 acres for $4,500, less the value of his own home. Unsuccessful in his attempts to cultivate silk worms there, he offered Monticello for sale barely two years later.” http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Monticello_%28House%29_FAQ

Thomas Jefferson’s grandson placed this ad in the paper the year following TJ’s death.

Would Thomas have approved of this move by his grandson?

What would Suze Orman Tell TJ to do to resolve

hid debt issue?

“ Well Thomas, …..

Wine: TJ’s feelings about the topic.Thomas Jefferson named many things a "necessary of life" (including hair powder, salad oil, salt

and books), but wine was certainly one of the most famous. The actual quotation, in its original context, is as follows:

"For the present I confine myself to the physical want of some good Montepulciano; and your friendship has heretofore supplied me with that which was so good that I naturally address my want to you. In your letter of May 1.05. you mention that what you then sent me was produced on grounds formerly belonging to the orders of Jesuits and sold for the benefit of the government in 1773. at the time that that institution was abolished. I hope it has preserved it’s reputation, & the quality of it’s wines. I send this letter to my friend John Vaughan of Philadelphia and inclose with it to him 50.D. to be remitted to you and I pray you to send me it’s amount in Montepulciano, in black bottles, well corked & cemented, and in strong boxes, addressed to the Collector of any port from Boston to the Chesapeak, to which the first opportunity occurs: Norfolk & Richmond being always to be preferred, if a conveyance equally early offers. But the warm season will be so fast advancing, when you recieve this, that no time will be to be lost. Perhaps I may trouble you annually to about the same amount, this being a very favorite wine, and habit having rendered the light and high flavored wines a necessary of life with me."

• - Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Appleton, Monticello, 14 January 1816[1] Note that the phrase in question is mis-transcribed in Lipscomb and Bergh's Writings of Thomas Jefferson - it is printed as "necessity of life" instead of "necessary of life."[2] http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Wine_is_a_necessary_of_life

Wine• TJ’s drinking habits-“My measure is a

perfectly sober one of 3. or 4. glasses at dinner, & not a drop at any other time.” 1819. No single letter provides a better statement of Jefferson's drinking habits, his tasting vocabulary, and his efforts to convert his fellow Americans than one written on May 26 to Stephen Cathalan: http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Wine

Deep Thought:1.Why didn’t he just start his own vineyard at

Monticello?2.How was wine a sign of status or prestige?

Wine Advertisement from the Philadelphia Daily Paper 1809

Wine advertisement in the Norfolk Gazette in 1804.

Letter written by TJ to one of his debt collector on May 25th, 1807

Concubine: BMD starts NOW!

Sally Hemings (1773-1835)• Sally was the child of Betty Hemings who was the Concubine of John Wayles (TJ’s wife’s daddy)

• Sally was said to be a “ bright mulatto” and “might near white” and she was the half sister to her Mistress Martha Jefferson.

• In 1787 Sally ,at age 14, accompanied Polly Jefferson to Paris .“She explored the city with Mary and her older sister, Martha. She was even paid wages, about $2.50 a month. Sally hoped to stay in France where French laws granted her freedom. But after two years in Paris, she returned to Monticello.”

WHY????• When she returned from Paris she had a baby. Who was the baby’s daddy? She

left France, where slavery was not allowed, because TJ promised that he would free all her children when they reached age 21. Sally had four surviving children- Beverly, Harriet, Madison, & Eston. As promised her two daughters were allowed to “run away” without seeking capture when they were 21. They escaped to the North where they were able to PASS. Her sons were freed in TJ’s will but she was not!!!!

Newspaper’s published the news that Thomas Jefferson had a concubine.

What do you think Thomas did in response?

News spreads that TJ has a concubine and that he fathered her children.

Bibliography• The Slave Families of Thomas Jefferson A Pictorial Study Book with an

Interpretation of his Farm Book in Genealogy, Volume I, 2007, B Bernetiae Reed• Thomas Jefferson’s Scrapbooks & Personal Papers found in the UVA Archives• http://classroom.monticello.org/teachers/gallery/image/91/Jeffersons-Rough-

Draft-of-the-Declaration-of-Independence/?img=2• Lectures from Dr. Edward Balleisen• Tour Guides of the Monticello & Montalto Plantations