From a man who mailed himself to freedom to a husband and wife team of impostors, learn the true stories behind five of american history’s most audacious escapes from slavery. After jefferson’s death in 1826, sally hemings lived in charlottesville with her sons madison and eston hemings Hemings was born enslaved in 1773 and belonged to john wayles, a lawyer and planter originally from england. Sally hemings (born 1773, charles city county, virginia [u.s.]—died 1835, charlottesville, virginia, u.s.) was an american slave who was owned by u.s Thomas jefferson and is widely believed to have had a relationship with him that resulted in several children. Explore the life of sally hemings, an enslaved woman linked to thomas jefferson, her children, and the controversies surrounding her legacy.
Teach sally hemings’s life story in conjunction with lessons about thomas jefferson’s career and presidency, and ask students to reflect on how this story changes their perceptions. The name of sally hemings has followed thomas jefferson down through the years, but little is known about the person behind the name Perhaps because of the death of his wife, jefferson accepted an appointment as a minister plenipotentiary to france in 1784. Born into slavery in 1773, her achievement was remarkable She died in 1835 in modest security and relative freedom— given her time, in the language of the day—comforted by the fact that all her children had escaped the hopeless bonds of enslavement for lives of promise as free americans.
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