| Episodes |
To Free or Not to Free [AGR 206-9]
Sabrina Vasquez
with comment by Emma Rabinowitz
[1] In her Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy, Annette Gordon-Reed analyzes in detail the significance of Sally Hemings's absence from the will of Thomas Jefferson. Not only does she share her point of view, but she also notes the counter-argument. Many people believe that Sally's exclusion from the will is solid proof that there was no relationship between the two. But Gordon-Reed thinks the absolute opposite. She sees Sally's exclusion as proof and delves into both sides of the argument. Gordon-Reed examines why the will could disprove the relationship, how it does prove that there was a relationship, the wise legal moves Jefferson took and, unlike the common assumption, explains why Sally might not have wanted to be freed.
[2] First, we see why Sally being excluded from the will may disprove her relationship with Jefferson. Critics believe that since no promise was made to Sally and since she was not in the will, she was not Jefferson's mistress. Gordon-Reed wisely oversimplifies this argument in saying that "modern-day historians see Jefferson's failure to put Hemings in his will as a litmus test" (207). By this she means that they simply view this fact as black and white, a yes or no answer: since he did not free her, he must not have loved her. This "litmus test" would say that if "he had enjoyed decades of idyllic bliss" with her and "risked the presidency and the good opinion of posterity" for her, he would have freed her, and she would have wanted him to do so (207).
[3] But Gordon-Reed explains that this argument is far too simple for the third president of the United States, writer of the Declaration of Independence, and a man who had a secret thirty-eight year relationship with one of his slaves. She criticizes the skeptics in saying that they are missing the bigger picture and are once again failing to "think seriously about the context in which these events were unfolding" (206). Thomas Jefferson could have never openly freed Sally Hemings and her children in his will at this time. He would have ruined the future of Sally and her children. They could never live peacefully if he freed their family in the will. Those who use Jefferson's will as solid proof to disprove the rumor of their relationship are looking too literally at the situation. Gordon-Reed takes exactly the opposite position and explains why Jefferson not freeing Sally is further proof of their relationship.
[4] If, in fact, Thomas Jefferson did have a somewhat secretive thirty-eight-year relationship with Sally Hemings, his failure to include her in his will seems very characteristic of him and the relationship as a whole. Everything that went on between Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson had to be discrete. The first argument we saw above disproving the relationship initially seems straightforward and obvious, but Gordon-Reed steps in to denounce it and make it seem almost idiotic and completely illogical. Gordon-Reed states that it is "by no means obvious that Jefferson, if he had wanted Sally Hemings to be free, would have sought to accomplish this by putting her in his will" and that by freeing her in his will, he would only be offering "even more certain admission of their relationship" (207). Sally was, however, freed upon Jefferson's death by his daughter, Martha. This was much more efficient and discrete for Jefferson. I personally believe that this makes sense when we look at the history of the relationship. If their relationship had spent nearly four decades under the radar, why expose it now?
[5] Not only does Gordon-Reed's argument make sense in terms of the relationship, but legally it was the only way for Jefferson to get what he wanted. If Jefferson had freed her in his will, it "would become public record and petitioning the legislature to allow her to remain in the state would have been the very opposite of discretion" (208). I believe with Gordon-Reed that Jefferson was well aware of this and also took into account "the possibility that the legislature would have turned down [his] request that Hemings and her children be allowed to stay in Virginia" (208). Gordon-Reed explains how easily, and quietly, Jefferson could have gone about getting permission for Sally to stay in Virginia by noting how easily Jefferson was able to hold the lottery for his estate: "Jefferson made no formal application to hold the lottery, as was required by law. Instead, his grandson and he contacted friends in the assembly and asked them to help matters proceed."
[6] If an application to hold a lottery for the sale of an estate could be handled in this informal fashion, the freedom of one aged female slave and permission for her to remain in the state could be handled quietly, and with no paperwork, as well: "Members of the legislature might have even appreciated the fact that Jefferson did not embarrass them by making a formal, written request" (208). Jefferson simply made his way around the "angry bull in the middle of the road." He knew there was a better way than "confronting and attempting to best the angry bull of publicity and scandal that would have arisen had he placed Sally Hemings' name in his will" (207).
[7] Towards the end of this climactic section, Gordon-Reed touches on something that has not yet been mentioned when examining the Jefferson-Hemings relationship: maybe Sally would not have even wanted Jefferson to free her. Sally was intelligent enough to realize how difficult her life would have been if she was in the will with her children. She did not need "some symbolic and potentially dangerous gesture on Jefferson's part" to prove his love to her (209). We assume that if a master loved or had a relationship with his slaves, he would free them after his death as proof. This situation seems to be more thought-out and complex. Life would have become much more difficult for Sally and her children if Jefferson had formally freed her, and her freedom would have "drawn unfavorable attention to the three vulnerable ex-slaves" (207). Instead, Jefferson's way, Sally could "live out the rest of her life in obscurity and peace" (209). Gordon-Reed touches upon something different here. She strays from the normal assumption that Sally would want to be freed as a sign of Jefferson's love and looks at the situation with a little bit more attention.
[8] So, although at first glance, it seems that Jefferson would have freed Sally if they had been in a relationship, upon further thought, quite the opposite seems true. It would have been too obvious if he had freed her. That was what people would have been expecting him to do, and he knew better than to free her this way. Sally was finally freed, but not in a public manner, and it was done by Jefferson's daughter, Martha. Every element of the Jefferson-Hemings relationship had to remain unseen. Therefore it is only natural that he would not include her in a formal, written document with her children. This would have been almost admitting to the relationship and showing them as a "family," and Jefferson had to have been well aware of this when writing his will. (see comment by Emma Rabinowitz)
Comment
Vasquez and Gordon-Reed seem to be one-sided in their analyses. For instance, allowing Martha to free Sally could lead to the exact same implications as adding her to the will. And, second, Sally was known to be a valued slave, going to Paris with Polly and acting as Jefferson's personal maid for many, many years. Couldn't it be said that being in the will showed that Jefferson was grateful for her service, that he had feelings for her that were not necessarily of a sexual nature? Thus, the fact that Sally was not freed in a public manner by Jefferson can neither confirm nor deny a relationship between the slave and her master.
