The Jefferson - Hemings Controversy

Episodes

Alien and Sedition Acts (July 1798): http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/alsedact.asp; Callender was tried and found guilty of sedition under the infamous Sedition Act and sentenced to nine months in prison and fined $200 for political writings against President Adams and the Federalist Party, writings that he thought met the approval of Thomas Jefferson, were done with his support, and deserved a reward.
Bryant, William Cullen. The Embargo, Or Sketches of the Times: A Satire. Boston, 1808. 7. [Ed. Thomas O. Mabbott. Gainesville: Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints, 1955. 23.] [William Cullen Bryant: Representative Selections. New York: American Book Co., 1935. 344.]: http://books.google.com/books?id=d4crnXTQfD8C&pg=PA8; Even precocious teen-ager Bryant's poem on Jefferson's unpopular and disastrous embargo acts contains a few lines that show his knowledge of the scandal: "Go scan, Philosophist; thy ****** charms, / And sink supinely in her sable arms."
Callender, James Thomson. The Conduct of Meriwether Jones in a Series of Letters, Addressed to the Public by James T. Callender. Richmond, 1802.: Jones was the editor of the Richmond Examiner, the local pro-Jefferson newspaper rival to Callender's Richmond Recorder. These letters are not specifically related to the Jefferson-Hemings matter but give a sense of the argumentative climate.
Callender, James Thomson. The History of the United States for 1796; including a Variety of Interesting Particulars relative to the Federal Government previous to That Period. Philadelphia, 1797. Chap VI, 204-28; Chap VII, 228-33.: http://books.google.com/books?id=KnxbAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR1; Callender successfully charges Alexander Hamilton with involvement in an extra-marital affair with a Mrs. Reynolds that lead to blackmail by Mr. Reynolds and suspicion that he used government money in his position as Secretary of the Treasury to meet the blackmailer's demands.
Callender, James Thomson. The Political Progress of Britain, or, An Impartial History of Abuses in the Government of the British Empire, in Europe, Asia, and America: from the Revolution in 1688, to the present time: the whole tending to prove the ruinous consequences of the popular system of taxation, war, and conquest.. London, 1792.: http://books.google.com/books?id=wvJbAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA1; The title says it all. An example of Callender's savage attacks on tyrannical government in Britain before he came to America, for which, as he describes in the "Advertisement" for his 1794 Philadelphia edition, he was "apprehended, and with some difficulty made his escape." In that Advertisement, Callender notes also with pride that Jefferson "spoke of [this book], on different occasions, in respectful terms" as containing "the most astonishing concentration of abuses that he had ever heard of in any government." This is the work, then, that brings Callender to Jefferson's attention as an effective political writer and opens the door to their connection in America.
Callender, James Thomson. The Prospect before Us. Richmond, 1800. Reprinted as History of the Administration of John Adams.: "The design of this book," writes Callender in the preface, "is to exhibit the multiplied corruptions of the Federal Government, and more especially the misconduct of the President, Mr. Adams," which purpose runs him straightaway afoul of the Sedition Act and leads to his imprisonment. As Joseph Ellis says, Callender describes John Adams as vain, dangerously unbalanced, covertly monarchical, and an instrument of Federalist corruption.
Callender, James Thomson. Letters to Alexander Hamilton, King of the Feds, ci-devant secretary of the Treasury of the United States of America, inspector-general of the standing armies thereof, counsellor at law, &c. &c. being intended as a reply to a scandalous pamphlet lately published under the sanction, as it is presumed, of Mr. Hamilton, and signed with the signature of Junius PhilÃ¦nus by Tom Callender.. New York, 1802. Reprinted New York: Hamilton Club, 1866.: http://books.google.com/books?id=agxLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT8
Callender, James Thomson. [Richmond] Recorder. September 1, 1802 to June 18, 1803 passim.: http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/trial/jefferson/resources/recorder/; In nearly twenty articles during this time period, Callender wages rhetorical war against Jefferson, fans the fire of scandal, gathers the responses of others, and reports on the progress of his campaign. The September 1, 1802, issue contains the incendiary lines, "It is well known that the man, whom it delighteth the people to honor, keeps and for many years has kept as his concubine one of his own slaves. Her name is SALLY. The name of her eldest son is TOM. His features are said to bear a striking resemblance to the President himself." Callender, once a Jefferson ally, soldier, and even martyr, now is sworn foe.
[Callender, James Thomson.] Trial of James Thompson Callender, for sedition on Tuesday, the third day of June, 1800, in the middle circuit court at Richmond, in the District of Virginia. United States: s.n., 1804?: An account of Callender's trial apparently prepared by a David Robertson and "Copy taken from the Virginia Gazette from July 18 to August 19, 1800," according to the head-note.
Cato [Thomas Jefferson?]. "No. 1." [Washington] National Intelligencer 8 October 1802. Reprinted McMurry and McMurry 59.: "This initial letter of 'Cato 1' [assumed to be Thomas Jefferson] emphatically denies the truth of the scurrilous stories circulating in the 1802 press [without specifically mentioning the Callender story]. As such, it likely constitutes the first semipublic denial by Jefferson of the Callender libels. It was Jefferson's contention that to publicly debate or discuss each item thrown out by Callender, or any other slanderous newspaper writer, would demean the office, himself, and the public. He had no time for accusations of bad character among the leaders of the young nation. His response was quick, but impersonal, appealing to the better instincts of his fellow citizens."
Chase, Samuel. Trial of Samuel Chase, an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, impeached by the House of Representatives for high crimes and misdemeanors before the Senate of the United States. 1805. New York: Da Capo Press, 1970.: Chase is the Federalist judge who presided over the Callender trial for sedition and was later impeached (and acquitted) for playing politics in that capacity.
Cobbett, William. A Bone to Gnaw, for the Democrats; or, Observations on a Pamphlet, entitled, "The Political Progress of Great Britain". Philadelphia, 1795.: http://books.google.com/books?id=fk4JAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA1; Cobbett, an Englishman and hence leaning heavily Federalist in the rhetorical war with the Jeffersonian Republicans, blasts Callender and the Callender book that got him run out of Britain and, so Callender says, brought him into the contact with Jefferson that would begin the association finally ruptured when Callender published the revelations about Black Sally. Cobbett, described as a "vindictive journalist," here pays Callender back in kind for his anti-English vitriol.
Columbian Minerva [Dedham, MA] 26 October 1802. Reprinted McMurry and McMurry 76-77.: A representative defense of Jefferson against Callender's attacks includes what has come to be called the character defense. That is, Jefferson lost his wife, his "greatest love," early and has since devoted himself to his "two lovely daughters," and "for the sake of them alone, of whom he is passionately fond, he would have preserved his own chastity, both of mind and of behavior."
Duane, William. [Philadelphia] Aurora. 1802-1803 passim. Selected issues in McMurry and McMurry.: Duane (1706-1835) was editor of one of the leading newspapers of the time and a strong supporter of Jefferson, who credited the paper for helping him win the presidential election of 1800. As a leading voice for Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party, Duane's criticisms of the Federalists brought him into head-to-head conflict with Callender.
Ford, Worthington Chauncey. Thomas Jefferson and James Thomson Callender, 1798-1802. Brooklyn: Historical Printing Club, 1897.: Contains about fifty letters exchanged among Callender, Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Abigail Adams, and others. Ford's introduction is uncomplimentary to the quality of journalism of the day and to Callender -- "scandal-monger and partisan scribbler" -- in particular. This collection reads like an interesting epistolary novel about a relationship gone bad.
Hamilton, Alexander. Observations on Certain Documents Contained in no. V & VI of "The History of the United States for the Year 1796," in which the Charge of Speculation against Alexander Hamilton, Late Secretary of the Treasury, Is Fully Refuted. Philadelphia, 1797. 9, 16-20, 33.: Hamilton's reply to Callender's attacks, in which he admits adultery and succumbing to blackmail but refutes the charge of "improper pecuniary speculation." Hamilton's public admission of immorality and public defense of impropriety show the power of Callender's scandal-mongering tactics.
Jefferson, Thomas, and Edwin M. Betts. Thomas Jefferson's Farm Book: With Commentary and Relevant Extracts from Other Writings. Princeton: Published for the American Philosophical Society by Princeton University Press, 1953. 19. Print.
Jefferson, Thomas. Letter to Robert Smith, July 1, 1805. Malone, Dumas Jefferson the Virginian 447-451.: In reference to the Young and Minns sedition debate in the Massachusetts legislature, Jefferson admits guilt in regard to Mrs. Walker -- "that when young and single [I] offered love to a handsome lady" -- which he maintains is "the only [charge] founded in truth among all their allegations against me." The letter references an enclosed letter, now lost, to Attorney General Levi Lincoln that fully responded to the charges.
Jefferson, Thomas. Letter to James Monroe, July 15, 1802.: http://books.google.com/books?id=Gr6-pUJipLQC&pg=PA330; Jefferson declares himself "really mortified at the base ingratitude of Callendar" -- whom he considered a "man of science fled from persecution" and worthy of charity and benevolence -- for taking "mortal offence" at Jefferson denying him a patronage position for which he was unfit, because such a response "presents human nature in a hideous form."
Jefferson, Thomas. Letter to James Monroe, July 17, 1802.: http://books.google.com/books?id=Gr6-pUJipLQC&pg=PA333; Jefferson sees his political enemies using his charity toward Callender to impute to him all Callender's "scurrilities . . . against General Washington, Mr. Adams, and others."
Jefferson, Thomas. Letter to James Monroe, May 29, 1801. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series. Vol. 34. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2004. 205.: Jefferson explains that seeing Callender "in distress," he gave him money, which, however, Callender took "not as a charity" but "as hush money." Jefferson responds that "He knows nothing of me which I am not willing to declare to the world myself," declares his connection with Callender over, a man he befriended "as a man of genius suffering under persecution, and not as a writer in our politics," but who is now "doing more harm than good."
Jefferson, Thomas. Letter to Robert Livingston, October 10, 1802.: http://books.google.com/books?id=qDhLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA447; "You will have seen by our newspapers," says Jefferson, shortly after Callender first published his charges, that "with the aid of [this] lying renegado from republicanism, the federalists have opened all their sluices of calumny," but "Every decent man among them revolts at his filth."
Jefferson, Thomas.Â Letter to George Logan, June 20, 1816.: http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php?title=807&chapter=88160&layout=html&Itemid=27#chapter_88160; Answering a question about the "federal slanders" (which would have included more than just the Callender attacks), Jefferson answered in a way that has been used to describe his strategy in dealing with Callender: "the man who fears no truths has nothing to fear from lies. I should have fancied myself half guilty had I condescended to put pen to paper in refutation of their falsehoods, or drawn to them respect by any notice from myself."
Jones, Meriwether.Â [Richmond] Examiner.Â 1802-1803 passim.Â Selected issues in McMurry and McMurry.: Jones was the editor of the local pro-Jefferson newspaper rival to Callender's Richmond Recorder and engaged him over the scandal.Â The July 27, 1803, issue contains a Callender epitaph.
McMurry, Rebecca L., and James F. McMurry, Jr.Â Jefferson, Callender and the Sally Story: The Scandalmonger and the Newspaper War of 1802.Â Toms Brook: Old Virginia Books, 2002.: Handy anthology-like selection and compilation of articles from Callender's Recorder, the Aurora, the Examiner, and other newspapers enable us to follow the newspaper "war" through Callender's death in 1803.Â This is the only print source as of 2011 for full text of some of these key vehicles for the controversy.
The Port-Folio.Â 1802-1803 passim.Â: Leading Federalist journal of the period in sustained conflict with Jefferson and his political principles.Â Of particular interest in regard to the sex scandal is a series of satirical poems ridiculing Jefferson and slandering Hemings.Â In one, for instance, Jefferson is a love poet rhapsodizing over the flat nose, sable skin, kinky hair, and thick lips of his "sooty bride," and, in another, the author of the racist descriptions in the Notes on the State of Virginia celebrates "Monticellian Sally's" perfumed sweat "between a pair of sheets."
Turner, Thomas.Â [Boston] Repertory 31 May 1805. (also Washington Federalist 19 June 1805.) Reprinted McMurry and McMurry 107-11.: Well after Callender's death in 1803, recollection of the scandal flared up again as part of the criticism of President Jefferson in an article entitled "The Monarchy of Federalism" by Young and Mims in the New England Palladium.Â Turner corroborated all the major charges, including that "the affair of black (or rather mulatto) Sally is unquestionably true -- They have cohabited for many years and the fruit of the connexion abundantly exists as proof of the fact."Â Beverly is named as the oldest son, a fact not mentioned before in any of the writings about the relationship.
Young and Minns.Â The Defence of Young and Minns, Printers to the State, Before the Committee of the House of Representatives.Â Boston, 1805.: Young and Minns, contracted printers for the state of Massachusetts, published "The Monarchy of Federalism," a satirical piece critical of President Jefferson in the January 18, 1805, New England Palladium. Among the charges were Jefferson's hiring of the "base calumniator" Callender and taking "to his bosom a sable damsel, who secreted more by the glands than the kidneys." For such comments they were subjected in the Massachusetts House of Representatives to charges of seditious libel and threats to withdraw their contract. Young and Minns responded with a spirited defense of free speech and demonstrated the truth of the various charges that their article levied against Jefferson.