Fair enough--thank you for clarifying the points you wish to advance.  I
think if you will review carefully the comments I have made, you will see
that my argument stands regardless of whether or not Jefferson had sex with
one of his slaves--a point I have consistently and carefully made at every
opportunity.

I want here to take you to task again for your repeated efforts to lump all
academic opinion and judgement into the same monolithic category.  It is
simply not the case that academics, any more than lawyers or accountants or
other professionals, arrive at the same conclusions in lock step with each
other.  I do not show up to work every day wearing Jack Boots and a Brown
Shirt, nor do I carry a Little Red Book in my breast pocket.  I would
appreciate it very much if you would stop lumping me, and my other academic
colleagues, into the same category of opinion.  I would much prefer that
you dealt with my arguments as I actually make them.  I cannot speak for
the other academics on the list, but I rather suspect that they will echo
the sentiment.

The evidence that Jefferson had sex with Hemings is still circumstantial,
although it is quite clear that someone in the lineage of Jefferson's
grandfather *was* having sex with Sally Hemings.  The circumstantial
evidence is quite powerful, and, as I mentioned to you in a private email,
in the opinion of several contemporary county prosecutors from Maryland and
Virginia, certainly strong enough to meet in practice the legal standard
"beyond a reasonable doubt."  That is, several active practicing and
successful county prosecutors, on reviewing the Gordon-Reed brief against
Jefferson, opined that it is a powerful circumstantial case and that they
all had successfully prosecuted cases with less compelling evidence
available.  There are people serving jail time right now who were convicted
on less evidence than we have on this matter.  Thus, I take it from their
comments that the available evidence is compelling enough from a purely
legal perspective.  However, like any argument warranted solely by
circumstantial evidence, it is not conclusive.  Given the state of the
evidence, we will never know with scientific certainty who fathered
Heming's children.

Thus, taking me to task for asserting that Jefferson did in fact have sex
with one of his slaves reflects, I hope you will agree, at best an overly
hasty reading of my arguments.  Since I in fact make no such argument, you
are in essence arguing only with yourself.

Now I do in fact assert that slavery is central to understanding the
Founding.  I will refer you here to John P. Kaminski, ed., A NECESSARY
EVIL?  SLAVERY AND THE DEBATE OVER THE CONSTITUTION, for the relevant
documentary proof.

Best,
Kevin

--On Saturday, March 30, 2002 1:37 PM +0000 "Richard E. Dixon"
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> In a message dated 3/29/2002 5:25:59 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
>> Why are you directing this comment to me?
>>
> Professor Hardwick:
> Perhaps the thread has been lost. My focus was intended to be the
> assumptions, possibilities and the maybes that have, to my amazement,
> constituted the "proof" of the paternity claim against Jefferson, accepted
> and argued by the academic community in the same way they might the
> winter at Valley Forge, or Jackson's victory at New Orleans. Slavery is
> the inevitable backdrop of any discussion of Jefferson, and my comment
> was to deny the inclusion of slavery as part of the evolutionary thought
> that culminated in the concepts of the Founding Fathers. Obviously,
> slavery was a part of the culture of America, and a critical issue at the
> Convention in 1787. However, a study of constitutional thought in England
> as it translated to the colonies does not include slavery of Africans as
> a consideration in the relationship of the people to the monarchy, nor
> was it necessary to include them in the "people" that entered into the
> contract to form the United States.
> ____________________________________________________________________
> Richard E. Dixon
> Attorney at Law
> 4122 Leonard Drive
> Fairfax, VA 22030
> 703-691-0770 fax 703-691-0978
> ____________________________________________________________________
>
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
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--
Kevin R. Hardwick, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of History, MSC 2001
James Madison University
Harrisonburg VA 22807
Phone:  540/568-6306
Email:  [log in to unmask]

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