In Washington, Paul saw free black people and hoped that one day he would also be free. When James Madison entered the political arena, Paul’s life changed drastically. House servants were always under the thumb of the master and mistress and had to wait on them hand and foot and travel with them whether they wanted to go or not. Some thought this was a privileged life compared to the field servants but, not always. Most of the time, mixed-race slaves were house servants: ladies’ maids, gentleman’s valets and minders for the children. Paul was born on James Madison’s family plantation in Virginia to a mother of African and Indian ancestors and his father, an Englishman. This is Paul Jennings story written by Elizabeth Dowling Taylor. But, at his death, he was a free man with a family. As you might have guessed he was the son of slaves. It was written by Paul Jennings, who was born on James Madison’s plantation, in Montpelier, Virginia, in the year 1799. In the year 1865, a small book entitled A Colored Man’s Reminiscences of James Madison was published. A Slave in the White House: Paul Jennings and the Madisons
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