Dearest mother,

It is your son, James, writing to you from Paris. As you know, I have been with Master Jefferson since leaving Virginia, and just last week, Sally has joined us here in France. I have been contemplating my own station in life as of late, and how my time away from Virginia has shaped that; I now wish to share some of my thoughts with you.

I have been feeling conflicted lately, both blessed to have been able to see a different side of the world, something most of our enslaved brethren will probably never get to experience, yet pained by the knowledge that I, despite possessing far more mobility here in Paris than I ever did in Virginia, am still a man in bondage. Apparently, there are “no slaves in France,” as the Parisians like to say, but if that is true, what do they make of your son and daughter?

While here in Paris, I have also had the opportunity to meet with other blacks from places I never even knew existed. They are called gens de couleur here in Paris, and most of them work as servants for the Parisians—freed servants! A lot of them had come from islands in what are called the Caribbean Sea and the Indian Ocean, though a few had come from Africa as well. Their experiences are only further proof that a different kind of life is out there!

I am, however, a bit concerned about how Sally is doing here in Paris. I cannot imagine why Master Jefferson would have had her cross the ocean without an older man to accompany her. Had he no knowledge whatsoever of the dangers of the seas, especially for someone as vulnerable as Sally? And now, instead of allowing her to live at the convent with his daughters, he has her staying here at the Hotel de Langeac, once again amidst mostly grown men.

Nonetheless, I cannot tell you how happy I am to have Sally here with me. Although I have my own duties to attend to, I will no doubt make sure to watch over her to the best of my ability.

Your son,
James

Questions:
1. The experiences of James and Sally in Paris, though rare for their time, no doubt point to a need for adopting more transnational perspectives with regard to the scholarship on American slavery. How does James’s life echo the lives of the black sailors during the early nineteenth century? How do the interactions of black Americans with the black communities that formed in Paris (and possibly other cities in Europe) differ from the kinds of interactions that occurred in the Caribbean? With this in mind, in what ways has the concept of “diaspora” been mobilized by blacks for resistance/anti-slavery/anti-colonial/anti-racist efforts?
2. However, James’s mobility must be read in conversation with Sally’s experience in Paris. If it was rare for slaves to have achieved the kind of physical mobility that James did during their time, it was undoubtedly even rarer for a female slave like Sally to have done so. How does Sally’s experience as a woman challenge the “liberatory” aspects of diaspora (consider: the male-dominated space of the boat). Therefore, in what ways can diasporic configurations be oppressive, especially with regard to gender/sexuality and class?