A Deeper Understanding
The stories told on Monticello museum tours, on the other hand, have significantly changed in order to provide a more accurate account of the property’s history. One of the manor’s guides, Tom Nash, spoke openly about the manor’s history. “This is a spectacular view from this mountaintop,” he shared with the visitors. “But not for the enslaved people who worked these fields. This was a tough job, and some of them — even young boys 10 to 16 years old —felt the whip.” He’s not afraid to tell it like it was.
A Deeper Understanding
The Visitors Were Intrigued
The curious visitors had several questions for him after he told them this. They inquired, among other things, “Why did some slaves want to pass for white when they were freed?” and “Why did Jefferson own slaves and write that all men are created equal?” In response to these, he replied, “Working in the fields was not a happy time. There were long days on the plantation.” He went on, “Enslaved people worked from sunup to sundown six days a week. There was no such thing as a good slave owner.”
The Visitors Were Intrigued