Once the euphoria that the slave studies academics are now experiencing has
passed away, so will any hope that this book offers insight into the claim
that Thomas Jefferson fathered slave children. This is not a work of
history and Edmund Morgan lost control of himself when he pronounced
Gordon-Reed “one of the most astute, insightful, and forthright historians
of this generation.” We have argued this paternity issue in this forum on
many occasions and it is unlikely that any minds will be changed by further
debate. But since we are invited by several posters to read the reviews of
this book, it seems fair to pose the question whether Gordon-Reed revealed
any historical facts to buttress her 30-year love affair between Jefferson
and Sally Hemings. For a relationship to produce seven children (seven?)
within the confines of Monticello, someone other than Jefferson and Hemings
must have known about it. Contrary to all the information which is
available to us from those around Jefferson, Gordon-Reed claims they all
knew it but kept it to themselves as sort of a little family secret. Most
of the details on a Jefferson-Hemings relationship come from a newspaper
interview with Madison Hemings, conducted a half a century after he left
Monticello. This interview has been challenged in many details, including
the family story of their genealogy and who fathered Sally Hemings. But
this interview is the foundation of the Jefferson paternity myth and
Gordon-Reed must embrace it with unquestioning devotion. She has the affair
begin in Paris (per Madison’s story) in the presence of Jefferson’s
daughters, but cannot provide a single witness or document reference to
support such an implausible supposition. Gordon-Reed has imagined the
relationship that the paternity believers want to believe happened.
Actually, this had been done before in the speculations by Fawn Brodie in
“An Intimate History,” and by Barbara Chase-Riboud who gave us the more
intimate details of the love affair in “Sally Hemings.”


Richard E. Dixon
Editor, Jefferson Notes
Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society
4122 Leonard Drive
Fairfax, Va 22030
703-691-0770 fax 703-691-0978

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