7. Enslaved workers produced cloth at Monticello
Following the invention of the cotton gin in 1793, production of cotton boomed in the American south. Although Virginia never became a major cotton state, several plantations did grow it in relatively small quantities. Jefferson also husbanded sheep, and grew industrial hemp. All three allowed for him to produce cloth, which he used to produce clothing for his enslaved people. In the first decade of the 19th century, Jefferson converted a building formerly used as a residence for his house slaves into a textile shop. Enslaved workers spun, wove, carded, and quilled hemp fibers, cotton, and wool into cloth on machines Jefferson purchased and installed for the purpose. The cloth was then used by seamstresses to make clothing, primarily work shirts and dresses, for the plantation’s enslaved population.
Jefferson’s textile shop was never intended to be a cash-generating enterprise. Rather it was a cash-saving operation. Clothes made from fibers produced by the plantation, and manufactured by the enslaved peoples who wore them, freed him from having to purchase them. According to his records, Jefferson hired a White weaver named William McLure in 1812, to evaluate the necessary machinery, construct models for use at Monticello, and train the slaves in its operation. McLure remained at Monticello until 1814, after which the textile shop operated under the six women, all enslaved, whom he had trained. The textile shop was sited near several other of Jefferson’s workshops in an area of Monticello he called Mulberry Row. In all of his shops, enslaved workers labored alongside free Whites to produce the items his plantations required.