Actually, isn't the assumption that Betty Hemings (Sally's mother) was
half white;

Richard Dixon wrote:

>The assumption that Sally Hemings was the child of a black women and a
>white man seems accepted. Her children are also assumed to have been the
>children of a white man. Under the Virginia law at that time, they were
>white.Why then did Jefferson seek permission (also a requirement of
>statute) for Madison and Eston Hemings, freed under the terms of his will,
>to remain in Virginia. It was also provided by statute that the child of a
>slave women was born a slave, If the child were white and freed when an
>adult, why did he not become a "white man" and automatically divested of
>those requirements that control black freed slaves, i.e., leave the
>Commonwealth unless granted permission to stay by the General Assembly?
>
>
>Richard E. Dixon
>Clifton, VA 20124-2115
>703-830-8177
>fax 703-691-0978
>
>To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
>at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
>
>
>

--
Paul Finkelman
Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law
University of Tulsa College of Law
3120 East 4th Place
Tulsa, OK   74104-3189

918-631-3706 (office)
918-631-2194 (fax)

[log in to unmask]

To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions
at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html