I find it comprehensible that Jefferson specialists have bent over backward to discredit and avoid the implications of the evidence for this situation, since I grew up about an hour and a half from Charlottesville in the 1950s. Reading these testimonies and hearing the voices of the witnesses goes a long way to enlivening Gordon-Reed's discussion of the available facts. There are also the memoirs of Isaac Jefferson, another house slave at Monticello, written down in 1842 by the historian Charles Campbell, and the statement of Israel Jefferson, also a house slave, born in 1800 and thus a contemporary of Madison Hemings, made to the Pike County (Ohio) Republican. I'm glad I went to the appendices to read the memoirs of Madison Hemings, Sally's son, born in 1805 and freed by the terms of Jefferson's will in 1826. And the evidence available, now that it has been examined fairly and in detail by Annette Gordon-Reed, makes clear that she was very likely the loved mistress of Thomas Jefferson. Since this was written in 1997, DNA testing has confirmed that Sally Hemings was NOT the mistress of any of the men in the Carr family. Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy is the definitive look at a centuries-old question that should fascinate general readers and historians alike.Ī masterful book. The most compelling element of all, however, is her extensive and careful research, which often allows the evidence to speak for itself. 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. Each chapter revolves around a key figure in the Hemings drama, and the resulting portraits are engrossing and very personal. 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. This updated edition of the book also includes an afterword in which the author comments on the DNA study that provided further evidence of a Jefferson and Hemings liaison. 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. 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. In this study, Gordon-Reed assembles 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.įriends of Jefferson sought to debunk the Hemings story as early as 1800, and most subsequent historians and biographers followed suit, finding the affair unthinkable based upon their view of Jefferson's life, character, and beliefs. The publication of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings intensified this debate by identifying glaring inconsistencies in many noted scholars' evaluations of the existing evidence. Among all aspects of Jefferson's renowned life, it was perhaps the most hotly contested topic. When Annette Gordon-Reed's groundbreaking study was first published, rumors of Thomas Jefferson's sexual involvement with his slave Sally Hemings had circulated for two centuries.
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