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Al-Hasan Ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi/Leo Africanus
Sally Hemings was one of the dozens of enslaved people held in captivity on Thomas Jefferson’s plantation, Monticello. When Hemings was 14, Jefferson began raping her; she had several children by him. At 16, she attempted to secure her freedom in Paris and avoid returning to America. However, after striking a deal with Jefferson wherein he promised to free all their children, she agreed to go back to Virginia.
Sally Hemings Quotes in Stamped from the Beginning
The Stamped from the Beginning quotes below are all either spoken by Sally Hemings or refer to Sally Hemings. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 12: Colonization
Quotes
On July 2, 1826, Jefferson seemed to be fighting to stay alive. The eighty-three-year-old awoke before dawn on July 4 and beckoned his enslaved house servants. The Black faces gathered around his bed. They were probably his final sight, and he gave them his final words. He had come full circle. In his earliest childhood memory and in his final lucid moment, Jefferson rested in the comfort of slavery.
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Sally Hemings Character Timeline in Stamped from the Beginning
The timeline below shows where the character Sally Hemings appears in Stamped from the Beginning. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 9: Created Equal
In the summer of 1787, Jefferson’s daughter Polly and her enslaved maid, 14-year-old Sally Hemings , arrive in Paris. Jefferson, now 44, begins having sex with Hemings, who cannot have...
(full context)
Chapter 10: Uplift Suasion
...he is elected, it is revealed that Jefferson is the father of several children with Sally Hemings . However, the rape of Black women by white men is so common at the...
(full context)
Chapter 12: Colonization
Aside from Sally Hemings and the children he had with her, Jefferson does not free any of the enslaved...
(full context)
