The Jefferson - Hemings Controversy

Episodes

Adair, Douglass. "Review: The New Jefferson." William and Mary Quarterly 3.1 (1946): 123-33.: A review of the history of Jefferson's reputation up to the point in the 1950s at which the Jefferson-Hemings relationship will be revived: "The new Jefferson who appears in these books looms larger as a hero and as a symbol of Americanism than the Jefferson whom earlier generations of scholars discussed. It was only during the last decade that Thomas Jefferson's fame came to full flower. Today for the first time since his death he has achieved symbolic status as a national hero of the highest order, ranking next to the myth-encrusted figures of Washington and Lincoln. Since this apotheosis is of so recent a date, and since it will inevitably condition all future consideration of Jefferson's career, it is pertinent to review the history of his reputation in some detail."
"Critical Notices: James Parton's Life of Thomas Jefferson." North American Review April 1874: 405-16.: http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=nora;cc=nora;g=moagrp;xc=1;q1=James%20Parton%20s%20Life%20of%20Thomas%20Jefferson;rgn=full%20text;view=image;seq=0409;idno=nora0118-2;node=nora0118-2%3A10; This negative review highlights the patronizing tone that Parton assumes to create the vision of the "godlike Jefferson" (406). Jefferson has been idolized in Parton's book, and the writer of this article is quick to contradict such glorification with his own inferences. While Parton claimed that Jefferson was a "man of feeling" (407), this writer is assured that Jefferson has a much different nature: "His sanguine disposition and his vanity made him feel sure that he was right. . . . His first impulse was to object to any measure which did not originate with himself. . . . Contradiction he could not bear" (408). Jefferson is also referred to as a philosopher, an aristocrat, and a "clever party manager [but] not a great statesman" (410). The writer uses words such as frivolous and foolish to describe Jefferson in such matter and claims that he was non-progressive. To conclude, the writer states, "Mr. Parton has certainly not found the key to those interesting times. He shows no grasp of his subject" (415).
Curtis, W. E. "The True Thomas Jefferson." American Historical Review 7 (April 1902): 572-73.
Dorsheimer, William. "Thomas Jefferson." Atlantic Monthly 2 (November, December 1858): 706-17, 789-803.: http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=atla;cc=atla;rgn=full%20text;idno=atla0002-6;didno=atla0002-6;view=image;seq=0712;node=atla0002-6%3A7; Review of Randall's Life of Jefferson: "There is much conflict of opinion as to the character of Jefferson, and the value of his services. We doubt whether there is another person in our history, as to whom there still exists so strong a feeling of dislike on the one hand, and of admiration on the other. By some he is regarded as a theorist and a demagogue, who, for selfish purposes, opposed the purest patriots, and disseminated doctrines which will pervert our institutions and destroy our social fabric; by others he is revered as the philosopher who first asserted the rights of man, and the statesman who first defined the functions of our government and demonstrated the principles upon which it should be administered."
Dunning, E. O. "Private Character of Thomas Jefferson." New Englander 19 (July 1861): 648-73.: http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=nwng;g=moagrp;xc=1;q1=Private%20Character%20of%20Thomas%20Jefferson;rgn=full%20text;view=image;cc=nwng;seq=0666;idno=nwng0019-3;node=nwng0019-3%3A4; Dunning understands the desire for "canonization" and is not surprised that Randall would recall Jefferson's positive characteristics in order to paint him in a better light, but he derides the one-sided approach to presenting his character and especially the attempt to render Jefferson pious and not a free-thinker in terms of religion. Also, he does not seem to believe that all the old scandalous stories can be blamed on political enemies, "for the palace of Sardanapalus could not have contained more incentives to unlawful gratifications than the dwelling which fancy has built for the voluptuary of Monticello." Dunning's review, then, laments the misrepresentations and pious frauds that undermine the teaching value of biography and history. (An answer to the North American Review's "Jefferson's Private Character.")
Ellis, Joseph J. American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997.
Ethel, Gale. Review of The Life of Thomas Jefferson by James Parton . Penn Monthly 5 (1874): 612-18 (1874).
Everett, Edward. "Character of Jefferson." North American Review 40 (January 1835): 170-232.: http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=nora;cc=nora;rgn=full%20text;idno=nora0040-1;didno=nora0040-1;view=image;seq=0176;node=nora0040-1%3A11; Review of Rayner's biography.
Fowler, Samuel. "Political Opinions of Jefferson." North American Review October 1865: 313-35.: http://dlxs2.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=nora&cc=nora&idno=nora0101-2&node=nora0101-2%3A1&frm=frameset&view=image&seq=317; Review of Randall's biography.
Gordon-Reed, Annette. Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy. Charlottesville: UP of Virginia, 1997.
Gordon-Reed, Annette. "Jefferson and Biography." A Companion to Thomas Jefferson. Ed. Francis D. Cogliano. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. 3-15.
Guernsey, A. H. "Thomas Jefferson and His Family." Harper's Magazine 48 (1871): 366-380.: http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=harp;cc=harp;rgn=full%20text;idno=harp0043-3;didno=harp0043-3;view=image;seq=0376;node=harp0043-3%3A5; Review of Randolph's The Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson.
"Jefferson and His Times." National Magazine 90 (1858): 30-32.: Review of Randall's biography.
"Jefferson's Private Character." North American Review 91 (July 1860): 107-18.: http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=nora;cc=nora;g=moagrp;xc=1;q1=Jefferson%20s%20private%20character;rgn=full%20text;view=image;seq=0113;idno=nora0091-1;node=nora0091-1%3A7; Party literature and the tendency to judge one on the basis of opinions have taken a negative toll on Jefferson's character, but the estimation of those who lived close to him tell a different story, and we now have "the testimony of those who saw the man most closely and for the longest time . . . spread before us in this book" by Randall's "direct questioning of Mr. Jefferson's descendants." Two new laudatory letters not included in Randall's book are printed as examples of the positive view of Jefferson's private character, a view directly countered by E. O. Dunning in the New Englander.
Lyne, C. M. "The Romance of Monticello." National Republic 19 (October 1931): 24-25.
"A National Monument to Thomas Jefferson." Independent and The Weekly Review 12 January 1914): 60-63.: Surveys the history of Monticello ownership after Jefferson's death and the efforts of Mrs. Martin Littleton to turn it in to a museum.
Peterson, Merrill. The Jefferson Image in the American Mind. New York: Oxford UP, 1962.: Provides a thorough and detailed chronological survey of the various changes in Jefferson's image and reputation over time, stopping along the way for more in-depth analyses of such important figures in the forging of that image and reputation as Henry Randall and James Parton.
Sheldon, Edward. Review of The Life of Thomas Jefferson by James Parton. Nation 30 April 1874.
Smith C. C. Review of The Life of Thomas Jefferson by James Parton . Old and New 9 (1874): 740-52.
True, K. M. "The Romantic Voyage of Polly Jefferson." Harper's Magazine 129 (September 1914): 489-97.
Wecter, Dixon. The Hero in America: A Chronicle of Hero-Worship. New York: Scribners, 1941.: "The great Jefferson Memorial now being completed in Washington, the reawakened cult at Monticello, the three-cent stamp, the new Jefferson nickel, and the massive face which Gutzon Borglum has carved upon Mount Rushmore -- all proclaim that he is our newest Federal god in the highest degree."