Jefferson's Sons

What does it mean when the man who wrote
the Declaration of Independence is your father
and also your slave master?
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Beverly, Harriet, Madison, and Eston are Thomas Jefferson's children, but their mother is a slave, so they must keep their father's identity secret. They get special treatment-better work, better shoes, even violin lessons-but they are still slaves. Their father has promised to set them all free when each turns twenty-one. Some of them are light-skinned enough that they will b...