The Jefferson - Hemings Controversy

Episodes

Bill Clinton--"I did not have sexual relations with that woman": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBe_guezGGc; The charge against Jefferson inevitably now invites comparison with the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal.
Brodie, Fawn. "Callender." Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History. New York: Norton, 1974. 315-28.: Brodie's revisionist history -- the first history not only to accept the Jefferson-Hemings relationship but to see it not as "scandalous debauchery," as did Callender, but as a "serious passion" that brought both of them "much private happiness," as well as "suffering, shame, and even political paralysis" in regard to Jefferson's views on slavery -- recognizes that Callender got the basic facts right if not the feelings.
Coogan, Jacob Katz. "The Reynolds Affair and the Politics of Character." Journal of the Early Republic 16.3 (1996): 389-417.: Callender's role in the Alexander Hamilton scandal involving Mrs. Reynolds is described, of course, but the focus here is on how Hamilton responded to the scandal and the wider cultural implications of his defensive strategies and the public perception -- implications that included expectations of feminine virtue and male corruption and the tension between public virtue and private vice.
Day, John Kyle. "The Federalist Press and Slavery in the Age of Jefferson." Historian 65.6 (2003): 1303-29.: The Federalist press were not necessary interested in forwarding Federalist movements but more so in hindering Republican ones. They did so by attacking prominent republican figures such as Jefferson. Suggests that Callender's attacks on Jefferson's relationship with Hemings was sparked by political motives not personal ones. However, the over-the-top tone of Callender's attacks undermined anything he was writing, so much so that the Federalists he was writing for could not even take him seriously.
Dowling, William C. Literary Federalism in the Age of Jefferson: Joseph Dennie and The Port Folio, 1801-1812. Charleston: U of South Carolina P, 1999.: The Port-Folio, as the leading Federalist journal of its day, was in general in constant conflict with Jefferson and the political ideology that he represented, and its most noteworthy specific contribution to the controversy was a series of satirical poems lambasting and mocking Jefferson and Hemings.
Durey, Michael. "With the Hammer of Truth": James Thomson Callender and America's Early National Heroes. Charlottesville: UP of Virginia, 1990.: This is still the standard analysis of Callender's life and works, the place to start in understanding where he came from, what he stood for, and in assessing his role in the controversy. Unlike the majority of previous (and even later) commentators, Durey presents an objective and sometimes even appreciative portrayal.
Ellis, Joseph J. "A Note on the Sally Hemings Scandal." American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997. 303-7.: In the edition of this award-winning book before the DNA results in 1998, Ellis declares that "on the basis of what we know now, we can never know" if there was a relationship between Jefferson and Hemings, but that "after five years mulling" over whether it did happen (via lust and rape on one hand and tragic romance on the other) or did not happen (those who hold the "Virginia gentleman ethos"), "I have concluded that the likelihood of a liaison [of Jefferson] with Sally Hemings is remote." He changed his mind after the DNA results.
Ellis, Joseph J. "Intimate Enemies." American Heritage 51.5 (September 2000): 80-88.
Gordon-Reed, Annette. "James Thomson Calender." Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy. Charlottesville: UP of Virginia, 1997. 59-77.: Gordon-Reed acknowledges Callender's reputation as an alcoholic, racist, and generally unsavory gentleman, but she argues this is not enough grounds to discredit his reporting altogether. The rumor mill was buzzing around Jefferson and Hemings before Callender published his story in The Recorder. In order to discredit Callender's reports, one would have to not only discredit him as the reporter but the sources who were spreading the story before him. Also, the story did not die with Callender. If he had been the only source, it would not have surpassed the tests of time.
Hill, Frederick Trevor. "The United States vs. Callender: A Fight for Freedom of the Press." Decisive Battles of the Law: Narrative Studies of Eight Legal Contests affecting the History of the United States between the Years 1800 and 1886. New York: Harper & brothers, 1907. 1-26.: http://books.google.com/books?id=f7pGAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1
"James Callender." John And Abigail Adams. American Experience. PBS, 2006.: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/adams/peopleevents/p_callender.html; Succinct encyclopedia-type article on Callender in the context of his attacks on Adams.
James Callenderâ€™s The Prospect Before Us (excerpts from the indictment). The Sedition Act Trials â€” Historical Background and Documents. History of the Federal Judiciary. Federal Judicial Center.: http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/tu_sedition_hd_jc_indictment.html; "James Callender was the author of some of the most extreme and provocative language penned by any of the Republican newspaper writers during the Adams administration. After gaining notoriety for newspaper editorials in Philadelphia and Richmond, Callender was indicted in the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Virginia for writing a lengthy pamphlet in favor of Thomas Jeffersonâ€™s election as President. The Prospect Before Us took the form of a political history of the 1790s, with special emphasis on the supposed corruption and monarchical principles of John Adams and his administration. Jefferson reviewed a draft of the pamphlet and predicted, in an intentionally unsigned letter to Callender, that 'such papers cannot fail to produce the best effect.' Callender made sure that his pamphlet was reprinted in several cities, and he brazenly sent a copy to President Adams."
Jellison, Charles A. "James Thomson Callender: 'Human Nature in a hideous form.'" Virginia Cavalcade 29 (1979): 63-69.
Jellison, Charles A. "That Scoundrel Callender." Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 67.3 (1959): 295-306.: Callender's life in America was spent destroying the political careers of anyone he set his target on. He began by exposing Alexander Hamilton for using public money for personal reasons. He tried to take down the Federalist party in The Prospect Before Us, but the work only ended him in jail under the Sedition Act of 1798. This is the point when he lost the alliance of longtime supporter Jefferson. When Jefferson became president, he released all journalists jailed under the Sedition Act and promised to reimburse any fees. He took too long for Callender's liking and also ceased to respond to correspondences from Callender. Callender sought his revenge by denouncing Jefferson as "an evil corrupt betrayer of public office." Callender's efforts left one of the most lasting stains on Jefferson's reputation.
Kelly, James C., and B. S. Lovell. "Thomas Jefferson: His Friends and Foes." Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 101.1 (1993): 133-57.: Material on James Akin's famous "Philosophic Cock" image of Jefferson and Hemings.
Knudson, Jerry W. Jefferson and the Press: Crucible of Liberty. Columbia: U of South Carolina P, 2006.
Kukla, John. Mr. Jefferson's Women. New York: Knopf, 2007.: Among Kukla's chapters on specific women of especial interest here in regard to the scandal are the ones on Sally Hemings and Mrs. Walker, but the chapters on Rebecca Burwell, Martha Jefferson, and Maria Cosway all speak to our curiosity in and the relevance of his other relationships.
Lemire, Elise. "Race and the Idea of Preference in the New Republic: The Port-Folio poems about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings." "Miscegenation": Making Race in America. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 2002.: Takes a close look at several of the satirical poems that mark the unique contribution of this leading Federalist journal to firing up and responding to the scandal.
Levy, Leonard W. Jefferson and Civil Liberties: The Darker Side. 1963. Chicago: Dee, 1989.: "Historians and biographers have fixed a libertarian halo around the brow of Thomas Jefferson as if he were a plaster saint, a seraph, or a demigod. That halo is, in part, the target of this book."
Malone, Dumas. Jefferson and the Ordeal of Liberty. Boston: Little, Brown, 1962. 332-33,466-72.
Malone, Dumas. "The Miscegenation Legend." Jefferson the President, First Term 1801-1805. Boston: Little, Brown, 1970. 494-98.
Malone, Dumas. "The Torrent of Slander." Jefferson the President, First Term 1801-1805. Boston: Little, Brown, 1970. 206-23.
Malone, Dumas. Thomas Jefferson as Political Leader. Berkeley: U of California P, 1963. 56-60.
Martin, Benjamin. "The Transition Period of the American Press." Magazine of American History 17 (1887): 273-94.: http://books.google.com/books?id=EnNIAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA273; James Thompson Callender is a name of note during these times, "notorious rather than famous. He, too, was a political refugee, forced to flee from punishment in Scotland for his radical utterances, and appearing in this country in a role new then to our manners," a soldier of fortune, wielding well a trenchant blade, under no concern on which side or for what cause he should draw it, but bargaining with the best bidder.
McDonald, Robert M. S. â€œRace, Sex, and Reputation: Thomas Jefferson and the Sally Hemings Story.â€ Southern Cultures 4 (1998): 46-63.
Mott, Frank L. Jefferson and the Press. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 1943. 32-37.
Peterson, Merrill. The Jefferson Image in the American Mind. New York: Oxford UP, 1960.
Quimby, Maureen O'Brien. "The Political Art of James Akin." Winterthur Portfolio 7.1 (1972): 59-112.: Akin is the creator of the famous "Philosophic Cock" image of Jefferson and Hemings.
Ragsdale, Bruce. "The Sedition Act Trials." Federal Judicial Center: Federal Judicial History Office, 2005.: http://www.fjc.gov/history/docs/seditionacts.pdf
Rothman, Joshua D. "James Callender and Social Knowledge of Interracial Sex in Antebellum Virginia." Sally Hemings & Thomas Jefferson: History, Memory, and Civic Culture. Ed. Jan Ellen Lewis and Peter S. Onuf. Charlottesville: UP of Virginia, 1999. 87-113.: Despite Callender's reputation for being a mudslinging journalist, he was a talented journalist nonetheless. He began his career in the U.S. as an asset to Jefferson and the Republican party, but after Jefferson was elected president and no longer had a use for Callender's questionable style, he abandoned him. Callender's rage and financial debt led him to expose the affair between Jefferson and Hemings. What Callender failed to realize was the culture of the South would sooner accept an interracial affair than Callender's unethical and dirty tactics.
Rothman, Joshua D. "Hardly Sallygate: Thomas Jefferson, Sally Hemings, and the Sex Scandal That Wasn't." Public Affairs: Politics in the Age of Sex Scandals. Durham: Duke UP, 2004. 101-29.
Rothman, Joshua D. "Hardly Sallygate: Thomas Jefferson, Sally Hemings, and the Sex Scandal That Wasn't." Public Affairs: Politics in the Age of Sex Scandals. Durham: Duke UP, 2004. 101-29.
Safire, William. Scandalmonger: A Novel. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2000.: In his post-DNA New York Times "Sallygate" article, Safire drew attention to the connection between Jefferson/Hemings and Clinton/Lewinski: "if Jefferson impregnated a young slave and refused to comment on Callender's story, what's the big deal about Clinton dallying with young women and lying under oath about it?" Here, shortly after, Safire makes Callender the protagonist of an historical novel (with a great deal of scholarly apparatus and explanation) in which, among other things, he becomes the lover of Mrs. Reynolds (yes, the one who had the affair with Alexander Hamilton that Callender exposed) and is murdered by Jefferson supporters for the Sally business.
Smith, James Morton. "Sedition in the Old Dominion: James T. Callender and The Prospect Before Us." Journal of Southern History 20.2 (1954): 157-82.: A complete account of Callender's trial for sedition and its context, noteworthy for pointing out that in sedition trials, the accused is guilty till proven innocent; that the most significant aspect of the trial was Judge Chase's rulings against the defense; that Chase's summation pronounced a difference between liberty of the press and licentiousness of the press; and that, though found guilty, Callender's trial immediately became an article of campaign propaganda.
Wharton, Francis, ed. "The Trial of James Thomason Callender, for a Seditious Libel." State Trials of the United States during the Administrations of Washington and Adams. Philadelphia, 1849. 688-721.: http://books.google.com/books?id=m3oDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR3; An account of Callender's trial based on the record of a David Robertson begins with excerpts from Callender's The Prospect before Us on which the libel was based.
Woodfin, Maude Howlett. "Contemporary Opinion in Virginia of Thomas Jefferson." Essays in Honor of William E. Dodd. Ed. Avery Craven. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1935.
Wyatt-Brown, Bertram. Southern Honor: Ethics and Behavior in the Old South. New York: Oxford UP, 1982. 307-10.