A Founding Contradiction

Jefferson & Hemings

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed explores the complex relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, highlighting societal perceptions and the nuances that set it apart from typical master-slave dynamics. She explains that while Jefferson never formally freed Hemings, she was treated as a free person by the community, reflecting the gap between legal status and social reality 1. Annette also discusses the intimate nature of their relationship, noting that Jefferson's critics rebuked him for his attachment to a woman who wasn't white 2.

I think there were different types of connections. And Jefferson, to me, shows signs of having been attached to Sally Hemings.

--- Annette Gordon-Reed

This relationship, she argues, was more complex than a mere master-slave dynamic, suggesting a deeper personal connection between them.

   

Family Dynamics

The dual family dynamics at Monticello reveal the dichotomy in Jefferson's domestic life. Annette Gordon-Reed describes how Jefferson fathered six children with Sally Hemings while maintaining a separate white family, navigating these relationships as the patriarch of Monticello 3. Despite the societal norms of the time, Jefferson's arrangement was not unusual, as many widowed or bachelor slave owners took enslaved women as companions 4.

It's hard for us to wrap our minds around about slavery in general. But mixed children, these kinds of connections from rape to sort of long term liaisons, however you want to call them, were a part of slave societies.

--- Annette Gordon-Reed

Annette also highlights the importance of family ties for Sally Hemings, who chose to return to Virginia with Jefferson despite having the opportunity for freedom in France 5.