| Episodes |
Crushing the Critics [AGR 19-22]
Daniel Enny
[1] Jefferson defenders have called into question the Madison Hemings memoir as evidence of a Jefferson-Hemings relationship, citing a possible ghost writer, his high-level language, his use of the French language, and his knowledge of Jefferson. In this section of her Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy (19-22), Gordon-Reed investigates and dismantles these invalidating claims.
[2] First, Gordon-Reed probes the assertion that Madison's memoirs are not to be taken factually since there is a possibility that he may not have written the memoirs by himself. In response to that assertion, Gordon-Reed states, "Notice that this argument employs a non-sequitor: if one dictates memoirs to another, one is presumptively lying" (19). Obviously that is not true because many people utilize ghost writers. Also, by the same token, if you write your own memoir, that is no guarantee that you are telling the truth. So this argument by Jefferson defenders has no force.
[3] Second, Gordon-Reed investigates the claim that the language of the memoir invalidates slave authorship. The memoir is written in normal English; it does not sound as if it was written by a slave. However, Gordon-Reed argues that what most people think of as slave language is a sort of invented dialect by those who have written about slaves. The exaggeration of a slave dialect by such authors is what makes scholars question the memoir's authenticity: "any presentation of the statement of an ex-slave that is not in exaggerated dialect -- 'Who dat? Lawd Amighty, I don't know nuthin 'bout birthin' babies' -- is suspect." Therefore, all such inspections of Madison's writing will see a slave who is not writing in the familiar dialect and is therefore not the actual author. This, of course, is a terrible fact to go by, and Gordon-Reed correctly says so.
[4] Third, Virginius Dabney claims specifically that the French word enceinte (pregnant) means that the uneducated Madison definitely could not have written the memoir. Dabney argues that if Madison had only a basic education in reading and writing, he could not have known the word. Critic John C. Miller joins in on this accusation, claiming that Madison's "attainment in life was [only] that of a small town carpenter," making use of the word unlikely. Gordon-Reed replies to that accusation by saying that Sally, who spent time in France, probably got tutoring in the French language and would be familiar with that word. After using the language around her children, some of them would probably pick it up. Further, Gordon-Reed argues that it is normal for a mother to talk to her children about her life. Would it not be possible that Sally talked to Madison about her journey to France? Yes, and in so talking she would definitely use French language. Gordon-Reed argues historians seem to forget that slaves were actual people with families, seem to believe that "the normal human processes of communication and love did not exist for this group . . . [that] slaves had no secret prides, ambitions, daydreams, or regrets to share with their families (21)." Her consistent deconstruction of these arguments make for good refutation of these critic's hollow talking points.
[5] Fourth, another assertion made specifically by Dabney is that in his memoirs, Madison portrayed Jefferson as someone who was not very interested in agriculture or plants. However, most historians know that is not true because of the meticulous logs in his Farm Book and Garden Book. While this skewed perspective would raise some speculation as to the validity of Madison's statements, Gordon-Reed looks at Jefferson's life from Madison's point of view. What would Madison know of Jefferson? Jefferson was very busy with building his university at the time in 1819 when Madison "came around," so it would be understandable for Madison to view him as preferring mechanics over agriculture. Gordon-Reed notes that "Jefferson himself stated that he liked nothing so much as putting things up and tearing them down" (22), which displayed his fascination with construction and mechanics at the time.
[6] Madison Hemings's memoir naturally came under intense scrutiny by critics denying the relationship, but Gordon-Reed's analysis provides strong support of Madison's authorship of the crucial story that his mother was Jefferson's concubine, that she became pregnant in Paris, that they had an agreement about her return to Monticello, and they had several more children during a thirty-eight year relationship that ended only with his death.
