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A Slave In The White House: Paul Jennings And The Madisons (2012)

by Elizabeth Dowling Taylor(Favorite Author)

3.44 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0230108938 (ISBN13: 9780230108936)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Palgrave Macmillan Trade

review 1: Interesting history of the founding fathers, notably Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, and their participation in slavery, told through historical records and the book written by Paul Jennings, the slave who served as James Madison's valet for more than 20 years until the death of the former legislator, Secretary of State and President of the United States. Madison promised Jennings his freedom following his death, but this was ignored by widow Dolley Madison, from whom Jennings ultimately purchased his liberation. Interestingly, Jennings was able to capitalize on networks established during the time he was a slave to help him purchase his emancipation and find jobs. Maps, notes, and contemporary family tree. The prose is somewhat academic, and attempts to tell it as a s... moretory are less than successful.
review 2: Paul Jennings was a slave for President James Madison from the time he was a young child and Madison took over his father's estate when he passed. Madison had been strongly anti-slavery even though his father was a slave owner but relented in taking over his father's estate on the same day he signed the Constitution. His wife, Dolly Madison was the daughter of a Quaker who had released his own slaves but suffered financial problems afterward. She didn't seem to have been bothered with her husband owning slaves. Paul Jennings was Madison's man servant during the White House years and followed him back to Montpelier in Virginia later. He married a woman on another plantation named Fanny and had several children. When Madison died, Paul moved back to Washington City with Dolly Madison and took care of her along with several other slaves. Dolly has a son from a first husband who had alcohol addiction and gambling problems. He spent much of the money Dolly had and she sold slaves to cover her costs. She didn't sell Paul luckily and at some point, Paul approached Daniel Webster who was known to buy slaves their freedom. Webster paid for Paul Jennings and Jennings became a servant for Webster to pay off the debt. Later he was able to bring his children and wife to freedom. Paul Jennings could read and write from a young age and wrote a short article about his reminiscences about James Madison which is included in the book. There are many details and great research that goes into this book. I really enjoyed it. less

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