| Episodes |
Gordon-Reed blasts Adair [AGR 185-91]
Watson Sweat
[1] One of the main problems hindering the probability of the controversial relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings begins with a question: is it even remotely possible that Jefferson would be attracted to a woman like Sally Hemings? There are many arguments for and against this point, with some historians aiming to discredit Hemings and support Jefferson by claiming that Jefferson would never be attracted to, in the words of Douglass Adair, "A markedly immature, semi-educated, teen-age virgin, who stood in a peculiarly dependent personal relationship to him, both as slave, and as half-sister to his dead wife, and as the companion and almost sister to his young daughters" (186).
[2] On the other hand, there are people who argue that this sort of viewpoint is a "poster-child" for those unconcerned with details of the controversy unrelated to Jefferson's defense. Evidence points to Jefferson being a "typical man of the era. He neither wanted women to be, nor believed that they could be, the intellectual equals of men" (188). This quote, based on Jefferson's involvement with Maria Cosway, and the above stated row, are focal points of a section of Annette Gordon-Reed's Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy (185-91). These examples aim to raise questions directed towards the historians who intend to shame the Hemings legacy by degrading Sally Hemings and keeping her status in the dungeons of history. Gordon-Reed presents several counter-arguments that aspire to change this centuries-old norm.
[3] Many historians still believe and argue for the innocence of Thomas Jefferson in the accusations of his sleeping with and fathering children with his slave, Sally Hemings. If a leading argument had to be taken to represent all the views of this contingent, it would most likely be an essay written in 1960 by Douglass Adair entitled "The Jefferson Scandals." Although Adair's entire essay is essentially an attack on Sally Hemings, he nonetheless begins his essay with a bold assertion: he believes that Madison Hemings was indeed telling the truth in his memoirs, as he knew it. Therefore, Madison cannot be accused of lying; instead, his mother should. Adair claims that Sally had many motives for lying to Madison and planting the seeds of this damaging and eternal controversy. The main reason being that she was furious at her lover, Peter Carr, for getting married, and decided to take out this anger through familial ties at the person whom it would damage the most, Jefferson. While this may not seem as irrefutable evidence, Adair presents yet another argument pointing to the foolish nature of the Jefferson-Hemings controversy, that argument being the "artistic, musically inclined, and sophisticated Maria Cosway" (187).
[4] Gordon-Reed's assessment of the portion of Adair's essay concerning Maria Cosway as "a dogged determination to make Sally Hemings seem as low as possible and Maria Cosway as high" is accurate considering the palpably one-sided nature of Adair's rationale (186). There are several flaws with the reasoning of Adair and others regarding the altar upon which Cosway seems to sit. The first of these is the very simple and basic fact that by engaging in a relationship with Jefferson, she was committing adultery. Jefferson supporters will argue that she was unhappy with her marriage, which led her into Jefferson's open arms; but Gordon-Reed makes a case against by countering, "While it is true that Cosway was unhappy in her marriage, this has never generally been thought a valid excuse for this type of behavior" (187). Far from being a high-class woman in contrast to the low-class Sally, Cosway was, in fact, immoral.
[5] Second, Gordon-Reed goes on to note another noticeable hole in Adair's biased portrayal of Cosway, her supposed maturity: "Moreover, in contrast to Adair's description of Hemings's extreme immaturity, he failed to note that [Dumas] Malone's description of Cosway and some of her actions--one woman who knew her said Cosway showed friends the love letters Jefferson wrote to her--demonstrate no great maturity on Cosway's part. In fact, Malone wrote that Jefferson saw her as a ‘lovely, talented, capricious creature--half woman and half child' and this was part of her appeal" (187).
[6] Third, Jefferson's thoughts and plans on the education of men and women varied to the highest degree. Gordon-Reed dives into this dilemma by coming forth and discrediting the notion that men of the era "judged the women whom they seek as mates on the basis of their intellectual capabilities rather than their other attributes" (188). She also argues that there is no evidence to the contrary that Jefferson adhered to this notion but, rather, was a typical man of the era, believing that women "could not be the intellectual equals of men" (188). This issue is one of the few found in this section of Gordon-Reed's legal style dismantling of the history books where it is hard to find a fault in her argument. In more supporting evidence of Jefferson's sexist views on education, she states that Jefferson himself stood by the concept that men should pursue a normal course of studies, such as science, literature, and law. But women's educations, not surprisingly, "should be geared towards making them amiable companions for men" (189). Jefferson never stopped at one form of bigotry with his views on African American slaves in Notes on the State of Virginia, but he moved on to another group of people -- women -- whom he never thought should be equal to white men: "a plan of female education has never been a subject of systematic contemplation with me" (188).
[7] Fourth, one of the last fundamental topics Gordon-Reed touches on to question the probability of a Jefferson-Hemings relationship is Sally's purported lack of education. Adair describes her as "semi-educated and immature" (186). But Gordon-Reed goes on to contradict this by stating a very imposing theory, one that seems all too plausible: "Not only was Hemings linked to Paris and his memories of it, Jefferson could turn to her and speak in French, and she would understand him. She could do the same to him. Who is to say these aspects of Hemings--when added to her appearance and reported good nature--would not have been good enough to overcome the fact that she did not share polite education of most women in Virginia" (190). Not only does this demonstrate that Sally was educated in a very high manner, considering that she was indeed a slave at this time, but that there is no apparent reason as to why Jefferson would not be attracted to a woman who seemed to be so charismatic in all aspects. Even Thomas Gibbons, who was an ardent supporter and attacker of Sally, noted that she indeed "had the benefits of a French education" (190).
[8] A fifth crucial element of this debate trumpeted by Adair is that Jefferson was not interested in "teen-age virgins," but instead in women who were still married and/or sexually experienced, as cited by his "attempted seduction of Mrs. John Walker, and his relationship with Mrs. Richard Cosway" (190). But this is a very feeble accusation, if only for the fact that its converse provides a very strong line of reasoning. Gordon-Reed goes on to extrapolate, stating that: "He [Jefferson] had no intention of marrying again. Jefferson was attracted to married women because they were safe. He would not let himself get seriously involved with a woman whom he might have to marry. This would not have been a concern in a relationship with Sally Hemings because he never could have married her" (191).
[9] Sixth and last, while this theory in itself is a very compelling one, and among the strongest presented on either side of the argument, Gordon-Reed waits until the end of her section of Adair to drop the biggest literary bombshell of the debate: "Finally, there may also have been things about Sally Hemings that were reminiscent of Martha Jefferson. The southern slave system was strong but not strong enough to obliterate the laws of biology. Sisters often resemble each other in many ways--physical appearance, mannerisms, and timbre and tone of voice. Jefferson, despite his affair with Maria Cosway, may not have let go of his dead wife and could have been moved by similarities between the two women to take an action that he might not otherwise have taken" (191). Reading this could be described as akin to witnessing a gasoline tanker explode. It is by far the most factually based statement of the entire section, as its roots are planted in the accepted fact that sisters, including half-sisters, share many physical and personality traits given to them by a shared family member.
[10] Gordon-Reed's focus in this section stems from her aim to discredit Cosway as "high society" and Hemings's status as a stereotypical slave. From the basin of arguments for and against the different theories surrounding the Jefferson-Hemings controversy, there are several facts that emerge: it is undisputed that Sally Hemings was recognized as nearly white, and beautiful at that. Second, she was indeed educated in a sense by her experiences in France, and could speak and write French fluently. And last, she was indeed Martha Jefferson's half-sister. Annette Gordon-Reed has a done a blisteringly splendid job of blending facts with increasingly compelling theories in order to prove the reality that could have existed between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings.
