Life in Slavery at Monticello

Overview

In any given year, Thomas Jefferson owned about 200 slaves. Enslaved people worked in various roles around Monticello. Skilled workers built fences and barns, made nails and wove cloth. Farm workers planted, hoed, plowed and picked crops. House servants cooked meals and washed clothes. About eighty enslaved people lived and worked at Monticello. The others lived at Shadwell, Lego, Tufton and Poplar Forest, Jefferson’s farm in Bedford County.

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