Thomas Jefferson And Sally Hemings An American Controversy Deals on Sally Hemings

Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy

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Editorial Reviews

Now updated with a new author's note about the recent DNA study confirming the Jefferson-Hemings liaison

Rumors of Thomas Jefferson's sexual involvement with his slave Sally Hemings have circulated for two centuries. It remains, among all aspects of Jefferson's renowned life, perhaps the most hotly contested topic. With Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, Annette Gordon-Reed promises to intensify this ongoing debate as she identifies glaring inconsistencies in many noted scholars' evaluations of the existing evidence. She has assembled a fascinating and convincing argument: not that the alleged thirty-eight-year liaison necessarily took place but rather that the evidence for its taking place has been denied a fair hearing.

Friends of Jefferson sought to debunk the Hemings story as early as 1800, and most subsequent historians and biographers have followed suit, finding the affair unthinkable based upon their view of Jefferson's life, character, and beliefs. Gordon-Reed responds to these critics by pointing out numerous errors and prejudices in their writings, ranging from inaccurate citations, to impossible time lines, to virtual exclusions of evidence--especially evidence concerning the Hemings family. She demonstrates how these scholars may have been misguided by their own biases and may even have tailored evidence to serve and preserve their opinions of Jefferson.

Possessing both a layperson's unfettered curiosity and a lawyer's logical mind, Annette Gordon-Reed writes with a style and compassion that are irresistible. Each chapter revolves around a key figure in the Hemings drama, and the resulting portraits are engrossing and very personal. Gordon-Reed also brings a keen intuitive sense of the psychological complexities of human relationships--relationships that, in the real world, often develop regardless of status or race. The most compelling element of all, however, is her extensive and careful research, which often allows the evidence to speak for itself. Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings is a controversial new look at a centuries-old question that should fascinate general readers and historians alike. It promises to be the definitive word on the subject for years to come.

Annette Gordon-Reed, a professor of law at New York Law School, doesn't take a position for or against the proposition that Thomas Jefferson may have had a liaison of nearly 40 years with a slave named Sally Hemings, and that Hemings may have borne him several children. Instead, in this scrupulously researched book, Gordon-Reed examines the evidence both for and against Jefferson's liasion with Hemings. Among the strongest evidence in this provocative book is the fact that though Jefferson's time in Virginia was limited when he was in public life, Hemings's six children--born over 15 years--were delivered with months after each of Jefferson's stays at Monticello.

Customer Reviews

Niether thorough nor persuasive

Reviewed by Doug, 2009-12-03

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts." Senator D. Patrick Moynihan

Law professor Annette Gordon-Reed and I agree on one point: professional historians have made a mess of things. Over the last 200 years journalists and historians have modified, ignored, disputed, maximized or minimized certain facts related to the issue of whether or not Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings had issue. This book brings new interpretations to some of the facts of their story but contrary to what many reviewers (those here and professionals listed on the back of the book) this book is neither "thorough" nor "persuasive." The debate will continue for she has done no better.

Contrary to popular claims, it does not review all of the evidence. Thomas Jefferson's brother Randolph is not mentioned once, yet "Uncle Randolph" was claimed by branches of the Hemings family tree for 170 years. How can we reach an objective conclusion without reviewing all of the evidence?

My edition was written before the 1998 DNA testing so we cannot fault her for not mentioning it. However, it must be pointed out that the testing only proved that TJ and descendants of Eston Hemings share a male ancestor, not that TJ was that common male. Peter and Samuel Carr, Thomas's brother Randolph and more than two dozen other suspects must be excluded to "prove" that Thomas Jefferson was the parent of Sally's children. This book only looks at the Carrs and TJ. That testing also showed that the Woodsons do not have a President, or any other Jefferson males, in the family.

Professor Gordon-Reed does point out many flaws in many scholars' assessment. For example, Madison Hemings is a legitimate source of information that deserves serious consideration, not the out-of-hand dismissal he received from some. Many consider him an unreliable witness and AGR implies that those denials were often racially motivated. Some say he was an ignorant former slave, one who must have fed the outline of a delicious story to an anti-abolitionist newspaper editor bent on getting the goods on Thomas Jefferson. While Madison's story may be accurate, it is still relatively easy to cast reasonable doubt on him as a witness by pointing out that his story does contain several errors. Most obvious to me is Madison's claim that Jefferson enjoyed robust health until the last few weeks of his life. Yet Jefferson's health problems are thoroughly documented; he suffered from many maladies for the last 30+ years of his life. Could a man with rheumatoid arthritis, incapacitating migraine headaches, chronic dysentery, and urinary and prostate troubles have had an active sex life with a lady 30 years his junior? Maybe, but with that list of known maladies, it's hard to say that TJ enjoyed robust health. Some doctors have concluded that it may have been impossible for him to have fathered children once he reached his 40's, in the 1790s.

While there are some interesting interpretations of events, many equally plausible interpretations are not considered. Did Jefferson free Sally's children because of a deal she made with him in France? AGR attempts to use this as support for the notion that he must have felt differently toward her children, therefore they must have been his children. I agree it does look suspicious. And it may be true. But if AGR could spend so many pages pursuing this idea, why not also consider that perhaps Jefferson felt kindly toward these children because they were his nieces and nephews (the daughters and sons of his brother Randolph or his nephews Peter and/or Samuel Carr). Randolph Jefferson is not mentioned anywhere in the book even though he is a very viable suspect.

Another burr under my saddle concerns the idea that Sally was mature and forward thinking enough to negotiate with her master for her (yet unborn, and maybe not even yet conceived) children's freedom. Perhaps she did but if so, why was she unaware that in France she and all future children were already free? Why would she be willing to go home to return to a life of bondage? Of the many questions AGR raises, why didn't this obvious question occur to her? Since Sally spoke French well enough to know the French word for pregnant (a word Madison picked up) she certainly spoke French well enough to begin a new life in France.

I would like to see a book from the "pro-paternity" camp as thorough and persuasive as William Hyland's recent In Defense of Thomas Jefferson. I hope this is not the best that they can do. Historians have made a mess of things but Professor Gordon-Reed has done no better.

Thomas Jefferson & Sally Hemmings

Reviewed by Annie, 2009-11-30

Thought it would be more narrative, but overall a good book on hearing both sides of the question.

not "unbiased" by a long shot!

Reviewed by Charity Bishop, 2009-06-04

I almost never leave reviews on factual books, but felt that this one deserved it for the overwhelming number of reviewers who insist with earnest expressions that this is an "unbiased" and "fair" look at the evidence supporting and discrediting the possibility that one of our Founding Fathers may have had "relations" with his slave.

While the author and publishers claim that the author has no agenda, it is fairly apparent from the introductory chapter onward that she does. It is not an examination of the facts contrasted with what different people have said (and as such, a "fair" presentation that allows the reader to draw their own conclusions, as I was lead to believe) but a commentary on the evidence and arguments people have posed *against* the affair and her response in an effort to unravel their argument.

While I do not object to an agenda (for it seems everyone has one) I did not particularly appreciate being mislead into believing this would allow me to come to my own unprejudiced conclusion. Furthermore, I found some of her arguments rather offensive in the fact that they seem to imply that anyone who argues against the validity of a possible affair has racist or sexist reasons for doing so.

jefferson and sally

Reviewed by Delores E. Hendricks, 2009-05-29

this book discusses a lot of history and gives the world a very different view of thomas jefferson. if you are interested in him as a person and as a historical personage this is a good one to read.

wonderful reading

Reviewed by B. Lee, 2007-09-11

I bought and read this book before the DNA results. This is the most unbiased look at the Jefferson-Hemings story I have read so far. The author examines the facts pro and con. According to Madison Hemings, Sally's son, the child she had after returning to Monticello from Paris died. Why can't this be believed? This would explain why the Woodson DNA test was negative. Despite all his greatness, Thomas Jefferson was just a man, subject to all the weaknesses that we all possess. The true feelings that these two had for each other will never be known but I choose to believe that he loved her. That is the only way that I can forgive him for being a slave owner.