Jefferson In Paris Trivia Quiz

Answer: Shoe buckle

Madison Hemings, played by James Earl Jones, is at home with his wife and they are speaking to a journalist. Madison is explaining that his father is Thomas Jefferson and his mother is Sally Hemings, who was Jefferson's slave. He explained that he had two brothers named Beverly and Eston and a sister named Harriet. They were all Jefferson's children and worked around the plantation called Monticello.

Madison then showed the journalist some mementos that were given to Sally by Jefferson and then passed on to Madison. They consisted of an inkwell, a pair of reading glasses, and a shoe buckle. When the journalist asked if this was all they received, Madison stated that the greatest legacy was freedom as all of Sally's children were freed when they reached the age of twenty-one.

Answer: Harpsichord

Patsy is played by Gwyneth Paltrow in the film. Patsy and Jefferson have a very close relationship since her mother died. They like to play music together throughout the movie. Patsy is very talented at the harpsichord and Jefferson often joins her on the violin to perform a duet. They performed right before Patsy was to go to a convent for furthering her education.

As an interesting side note, while learning about the "behind the scenes" of the movie, I learned that the film's historical music director ensured that an authentic 1786 Kirkman harpsichord was used for the scenes to maintain accuracy.

Answer: Chef

James is in Paris with Jefferson. Although enslaved, he is learning about French cuisine so he can increase his skills as the household chef. One day he overhears kitchen servants in the house talking about the salary they are receiving.

James gets his courage up and asks Jefferson for a salary for the work he is doing. He requests 24 francs per month. Jefferson immediately agrees to the sum but makes sure to point out that the payment is only temporary. When they are all back in Virginia things will revert to James working for no cash as he is a slave.

Answer: Moose

At a party at Jefferson's residence, one of the guests named Buffon was talking about various animals. Jefferson told him that an American moose is so tall that a reindeer can walk with ease underneath its belly. Buffon sneered and laughed and said he would like to see that specimen. Jefferson then had a Native American roll out a giant moose skeleton!

The crowd was amazed. The moose's antlers got caught up in a fancy chandelier as it was being rolled which symbolized the size and power of the animal.

Answer: Heart

Jefferson had met a woman who was the wife of a famous artist. She and her husband were visiting France from London. Her name was Maria Cosway and she originally hailed from Italy. Jefferson was immediately smitten with her and they flirted rather openly (even for French society).

In one scene, the Cosways were with Jefferson and many other guests at an outdoor picnic. The people sided into two groups: the Head (who argued for reason) and the Heart (who argued for emotion). Jefferson was in the Head group and spoke teasingly to Maria that intellectual pleasure is supreme. Maria, in the Heart group, hinted that love would always triumph.

Answer: Bread

The French queen has extremely expensive taste and spends outrageous sums of money. As an example, in one scene she is watching her ladies-in-waiting play on a stage. They are pretending to be poor shepherdesses. Jefferson, narrating the scene, says that these 'pastoral' plays cost over one million livres per year.

Meanwhile, the French people are literally starving. Jefferson narrates that the crops had failed again. The scene then shows crowds of people fighting for loaves of bread as there is a short supply of that food. The mob, now very angry, begins to light effigies of the royal family on fire in the streets. It is a portent of the French Revolution yet to come.

Answer: Death of youngest daughter Lucy

Thomas Jefferson received a letter that his youngest daughter, Lucy, had died after an illness. He and Patsy were distraught and immediately sent for the surviving daughter, Polly, to come join them in Paris. Her caretakers were to send her over with her enslaved nurse. This was Sally Hemings.

The movie then switched to Madison Hemings talking to the journalist. He explained that his lineage started with a sea captain named Hemings who had children with an enslaved woman. One of their children was Betty Hemings. Betty was a slave at the Wayles estate and had a daughter, Sally, by Wayles. She was transferred to Thomas Jefferson when he married the Wayles' daughter. Madison pointed out the irony that his lineage made Thomas Jefferson's wife and Sally Hemings half-sisters as they shared the same father (Wayles).

Answer: Guillotine

Thomas Jefferson attended a fancy dinner party. The people were all talking about the possibility of the country going democratic like the United States. Most of them thought it was a preposterous idea. They continued to chat over very expensive culinary courses.

At one point, a man named Guillotin got out a miniature version of his latest invention. It was the guillotine which he claimed is more humane than hangings or drawing and quartering. The crowd was fascinated and proceeded to laugh and cut the heads of their asparagus spears with it. They had no idea that would be the implement that many of them would find themselves facing.

Answer: Vegetable garden

Jefferson's daughter Patsy had discovered that her father and Sally were having sexual relations. She secretly told this to Maria Cosway, who was shocked. Maria went to look for Sally and found her in the vegetable garden picking corn. Sally told her the best way to eat it.

When Jefferson came to the garden, Maria watched as Sally flirted with him and physically touched him in passing. After Sally went back into the house, Maria told Jefferson that she was going back to London to be with her husband and he should probably plan on going back to Virginia. She did not tell him she knew his secret.

Answer: Their freedom

Sally informs her brother that she is now pregnant with Jefferson's baby. James has learned of France's anti-slavery laws and wants them to stay in Paris but is not sure how to make a living. So they decide to broach the subject with Jefferson.

Jefferson says that James and Sally should go back to Virginia with him. Once there, James can work off the wages that equate to the French cuisine training he's had and then he can be free. Sally and her child will stay at Monticello until Jefferson dies and then she can be free. And any child born to Sally (and with Jefferson) will be free when they turn the age twenty-one. He then swears to this on a Bible.