The Scandal Between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings - Report Example

Dusky Sally and the Seeds of Scandal Teacher Speculation and scandal are the fodder of both entertainment and politics, theexact difference of which remains uncertain. What is certain is that reputations can be ruined and the truth can get muddled and murky and the facts laid waste. This is certainly the case in the scandal regarding the purported relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. What we are left with is over a century of conjecture, recent debatable scientific evidence, and certainly no admission of responsibility from the primary parties. So what does a jury do with a mostly circumstantial case? Each member relies on what each knows of human nature, using common sense and the ability to reason If the assumptions seem ridiculous, throw them out, if the reasons make sense, convict. Here Jefferson will be convicted, but free from scandal. Jefferson was a man of passion and conviction, like many a good leader, and it is just these characteristics upon which he will be judged as well as the elemental conditions of the evidence available. Presumption of Innocence? As with any fair trial we must first presume that Thomas Jefferson is innocent before we can bring evidence against him. This presumption will lie in the testimony of his statements and those of his contemporaries. Thomas Jefferson himself never commented publicly on the issue, though some of his remarks have been interpreted as indirect denials. For example, he publicly stated his opposition to miscegenation (a word not yet coined at the time): "Their [blacks] amalgamation with the other color," he wrote, "produces a degradation to which no lover of his country, no lover of excellence in the human character, can innocently consent."1 Why would a man with these opinions ever think to "consent" to relationships outside his own race? The Jefferson Family also vehemently denies any possible impropriety on Jefferson’s part equally sighting his high moral character and his veracity. The family also states as fact that Mr. Jefferson was never geographically present at the times in which Ms. Hemings would have conceived any of her children. “Thomas Jefferson Randolph [grandson of Thomas Jefferson], holds basically that Jefferson was not at Monticello when Sally Hemings children were conceived, and that they were fathered instead by one of his nephews, either Peter or Samuel Carr.”3 However, careful studies of Jefferson Farm Book and the detailed chronology of his public life record tend to reveal otherwise (see Timeline on page ten). Also the Author of Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History reveals that her detailed exploration of the entire family member’s personal communications, diaries, etc. also point out the contrary: Moreover, it takes very little research in the enormous file of family letters at the University of Virginia to demonstrate that both Peter Carr and his brother Samuel were elsewhere, managing plantations with slaves of their own, during most of the years that Sally Hemings was bearing children at Monticello. 2 Some modern day theorist also support Jefferson and his familys claims to innocence and have associated theories for the reason that such a accusation might be put forward: In his 1995 book The Inner Jefferson: Portrait of a Grieving Optimist, historian Andrew Burstein wrote in regards to Madison Hemings that it was "possible that his claim was contrived—by his mother or himself—to provide an otherwise undistinguished biracial carpenter a measure of social respect... Would not his life have been made more charmed by being known as the son of Thomas Jefferson than the more obscure Peter or Samuel Carr?" 3 The defendant, Mr. Jefferson, has never confessed or admitted to any responsibility, nor has he ever publicly denied any transgressions on his part regarding Ms. Hemings. However, the prosecution will provide ample evidence that any jury possessing one wit of common sense would see as compelling. Circumstantial Evidence It is granted that this entire case is based almost completely on circumstantial evidence, but it is overwhelming. It begins, publicly in 1802 when James Callender puts into print a story accusing Jefferson of fathering several children with Hemings, citing their resemblance to the president, etc. This story is picked up by newspapers across the country and is grist for both political and personal scandal mill Mr. Callendar, however, has ulterior motives. He threatened Jefferson two years earlier, just prior to Jefferson taking office as president. Callendar said he would expose him if he were not given the position of Postmaster General of Richmond Virginia. Jefferson ignored the threat and did not appoint him. Subsequently Jefferson made no public denials after the 1802 article was released. Professor David Meyer of Capital University in Columbus, Ohio speculates that the much of original 1873 interview with Madison Hemings was based on Callenders original claims, which both include the same misspelling of the name of Martha Jeffersons father, John Wayles. He also notes that there is no evidence of any oral tradition predating these stories regarding the alleged affair, by other descendants of Monticello slaves or within the Hemings family.4 Therefore we must grant that these original allegations may be motivated by reasons other than the truth. However, in 1781 Jefferson wrote, Notes on the State of Virginia, and while the greater part of the book was devoted to the topography of the land and its bounty, one small section addressed the concerns of the politicians and the people of the state for its black community. It is interesting to note that at that time slavery was so accepted that that particular word, slavery, is no where to be found in this short section, it is merely taken as a fact, no need to mention it. This section is mostly a biological treatise talking about sweat glands and adrenal functions (Jefferson did have quite a period knowledge of biology) and on the difference, or rather the lower status, intelligence and emotional depth of blacks. However, in some sections there are psychological and social comments by Jefferson, presumably from personal observations: Their griefs are transient. Those numberless afflictions, which render it doubtful whether heaven has given life to us in mercy or in wrath, are less felt, and sooner forgotten with them. In general, their existence appears to participate more of sensation than reflection. 5 Furthermore: I advance it therefore as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind... This unfortunate difference of colour, and perhaps of faculty, is a powerful obstacle to the emancipation of these people. 6 Here we see the prevailing attitude throughout most of the south and much of the United States at the time, which held that this race is really sub-human and not deemed to have the same rights that most whites take for granted. Jefferson views them as chattel, but black women are spoken of more particularly and with the following observation: "Add to these, flowing hair, a more elegant symmetry of form, their own judgment in favour of the whites, declared by their preference of them...."7 Here we are perhaps beginning to get a glimpse of the man and possibly his innermost feelings. And then finally we are presented with a section that certainly can be viewed in two different ways: "Among the blacks is misery enough, God knows, but no poetry. Love is the peculiar district of the poet. Their [blacks] love is ardent, but it kindles the senses only, not the imagination."8 Kindles the senses? Is Jefferson here speaking of the senses of these people or of his own? Certainly this statement is open to the latter interpretation. Means, Motive & Opportunity In any trial certain elements must be established for a person to be found responsible, even though the evidence is largely circumstantial, there is precedence. Certainly detailed above the possible motive. Carnal desire is a universally understandable drive for any man or woman and is most often at the center of many crimes. Given Jeffersons propensity of admiration and ego nature he would certainly have been drawn to Sally Hemings for both her beauty and his power over her. There are numerous examples throughout the history of slavery where interracial sexual relations were quite common and in some ways even condoned, albeit quietly. Jefferson is no different for his time. The only difference is that he was president and also carried views that would be considered antithetical should his relationship with Hemings be revealed. If he were just a plantation owner this tale would have been relegated to simply one of many similar footnotes in the saga of slavery and taken on its face as true by everyone concerned. Motive has certainly been established and means is also quite easily put together. Jefferson had many children by his wives; certainly he had ample means to father children by another, which brings us to the next element: Opportunity Viewing the timeline it is clear that Jefferson was present at Monticello each and every time Sally Hemming became pregnant, as well as in Paris for the conception of her first child. While his family would protest this, the records, often in Jeffersons own hand and dated in his farm book, indicate otherwise. The farm book places him at Monticello as does his itinerary as President, his breaks between terms, etc. He is also certainly squarely in Paris when Hemings first child is conceived, there is no doubt about these facts. So, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the prosecution has established means, motive and opportunity. But there is also expert testimony that must be entered into evidence. Namely the DNA testing that was preformed in 1998: There is a long-standing historical controversy over the question of US President Thomas Jefferson’s paternity of the children of Sally Hemings, one of his slaves1–4. To throw some scientific light on the dispute, we have compared Y-chromosomal DNA haplotypes from male-line descendants of Field Jefferson, a paternal uncle of Thomas Jefferson, with those of male-line descendants of Thomas Woodson, Sally Hemings’ putative first son, and of Eston Hemings Jefferson, her last son. The molecular findings fail to support the belief that Thomas Jefferson was Thomas Woodson’s father, but provide evidence that he was the biological father of Eston Hemings Jefferson.9 The findings, while admitted by the authors as possibly inconclusive, certainly bears enough evidence to suggest that the Jefferson "family" and genetic lineage has become intertwined with the Hemings genotype at some point in history. This evidence alone creates a certain amount of responsibility upon the descendants of Jefferson to at least acknowledge the fact that the descendants of Hemings are most certainly related to them. 10 Given this preponderance of the evidence the jury must certainly conclude that Thomas Jefferson is without question the father of Sally Hemings children. The Verdict From the Author of, Sally Hemings from the Perspective of Womens History , the author has the following sobering remarks: "Womens history" says that the story of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings is incomplete without the story of Sally Hemings. Yet, because women were part of the private sphere, legally and publicly less powerful than men -- and because, as a slave, Sally had even less legitimacy as a public figure -- the evidence is simply not likely to be complete enough to tell the whole story. For womens history to do its job, its important to reconstruct as much of the second half of the story as is possible -- yet far more often the evidence for that second half is hidden or lost. 11 It is already apparent that Mr. Jefferson had never come out publicly to deny or affirm these charges. So is all that is left conjecture and hearsay? No. There is ample factual evidence that gives Mr. Jefferson the opportunity by placing him at the scene (see timeline) along with abundant motive in his own words and a proven means as the admitted progenitor of many children with his wives. In the eyes of this writer, there is no doubt as to the real lineage of Sally Hemings children. The facts may never truly be known but the truth is clear. There would be no doubt, nor would any have been raised if Thomas Jefferson were not so important a political figure with obvious pro-slavery inclinations and anti-miscegenation attitudes. But then as today many politicians and others in public authority who rise up vehemently against certain actions or propensities, such as gay marriage or homosexual lifestyles, are often quite publicly found to be denying that tendency in themselves. However for the last word call to the stand the author of Politics and the Misadventures of Thomas Jeffersons Modern Reputation: A Review Essay who has the following to add: Winthrop D. Jordans widely read 1968 study "White over Black" situated Jeffersons racial ideas within the context of a seemingly ineffable but continually metastasizing racism deeply embedded in Anglo-American culture. Jordan also noticed (for the first time, Bernstein claims) that all of the known children of Sally Hemings, the enslaved maid of Jeffersons daughter, were born nine months after the master of Monticello was at home. This observation was probably the single most damning piece of evidence that Jefferson fathered the children of his slave that anyone adduced before DNA testings Bernstein cites a recent statistical study that "concluded that the odds against anyone but Jefferson being the father were ten thousand to one" (Bernstein, 196). 12 Obviously this is not the first time that these facts were all brought together to prove this case, nor will it be the last. There may never be a definitive answer lest someone pull out a letter in Jeffersons own hand from behind a fifty-cent painting bought at a Virginia yard sale claiming his responsibility in this matter. However, given to a jury in the present, un-maligned (hopefully) by prejudice or coercion and that uses common sense and reasoning abilities to evaluate the evidence, only one verdict can be given: Paternity. Notes 1. David N. Mayer, "The Thomas Jefferson - Sally Hemings Myth and the Politicization of American History Individual Views of, Concurring with the Majority Report of the Scholars Commission on the Jefferson-Hemings," Ashbrook Center, (April 9, 2001) .http://www.ashbrook.org/articles/mayer-hemings.html (Accessed October 8,2007) 2.Fawn M. Brodie, "Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History," (New York: W. W. Norton, 1974), 493. 3. Brodie, 497. 4. Mayer. 5. Thomas Jefferson, "Notes on the State of Virginia" (1781), http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3h490.html (Accessed on October 8, 2007). 6. Jefferson. 7. Jefferson. 8. Jefferson. 9. Eugene A. Foster, M. A. Jobling,P. G. Taylor, P. Donnelly, P. de Knijff, Rene Mieremet, T. Zerjal, &C. Tyler-Smith Jefferson Fathered Slaves Last Child. Nature 396 no. 5 (November 5, 1998), http://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/Jeffersons.pdf (November 5, 1998). www.nature.com (Accesed on October 8, 2007), 27. 10. Foster, et. al., 28. 11. Jone Johnson Lewis, "Sally Hemings from the Perspective of Womens History," http://womenshistory.about.com/od/hemingssally/a/sally_hemings_w_4.htm, (Accessed of October 8, 2007), 4. 12. Jeffrey L. Pasley, "Politics and the Misadventures of Thomas Jeffersons Modern Reputation: A Review Essay," Journal of Southern History 72, no. 4 (2006), http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5018186725, (Accessed on October 8, 2007) Bibliography Brodie, Fawn M., Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History. (New York: W. W. Norton, 1974), 493-498 Foster, Eugene A., Jobling, M. A, Taylor,P. G,. Donnelly, P. de Knijff, P. Mieremet, , Rene, Zerjal, T. & Tyler-Smith, C. Jefferson Fathered Slaves Last Child. Nature 396 no. 5 (November 5, 1998), http://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/Jeffersons.pdf (Accessed on October 8, 2007), 27-28 Jefferson, Thomas. Notes on the State of Virginia. (1781). http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3h490.html. (Accessed on October 8, 2007). Lewis, Jone Johnson, Sally Hemings from the Perspective of Womens History. http://womenshistory.about.com/od/hemingssally/a/sally_hemings_w_4.htm, (Accessed on October 8, 2007). 1-4 Mayer, David N. The Thomas Jefferson - Sally Hemings Myth and the Politicization of American History Individual Views of, Concurring with the Majority Report of the Scholars Commission on the Jefferson-Hemings. Ashbrook Center. (April 9, 2001). .http://www.ashbrook.org/articles/mayer-hemings.html (Accessed October 8,2007). Pasley, Jeffrey L. Politics and the Misadventures of Thomas Jeffersons Modern Reputation: A Review Essay. Journal of Southern History 72, no. 4 (2006): 871+. Read More