Thomas Jefferson’s sex life was in the newspapers again last week. The New York Times ran a piece in which Mr. Jefferson’s stalwarts said they had reviewed the recent DNA evidence and had profound doubts as to whether Mr. J did indeed have a sexual relationship and children with Sally Hemings, whom he owned. History, revised last autumn, is being revised again.
This hardly qualifies as “news;” the debate is a very old one and does not seem likely to be settled soon. The accusation about Ms. Hemings was familiar to Mr. Jefferson; it was originally levied in the midst of a political campaign. In that respect, at least, nothing has changed in 200 years. We still can’t seem to find clean candidates.
What is more interesting to me is Thomas Jefferson’s apparent inconsistency on the issue of slavery in general. The man who wrote “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,” was in fact the owner of up to 150 human beings. Well, say those stalwarts who were in the Times last week, Jefferson was an 18th century Virginia planter; he should be judged in the context of his society, not ours. Fair enough, but let’s remember Mr. Jefferson was much more than a planter from the Piedmont. Many years of his life passed without his stepping a foot down on the farm. The man from Monticello was well-read, well-traveled and worldly.
If we are to judge Thomas Jefferson in his context, perhaps we should consider the context of late-Bourbon France, where he lived from 1784 to 1789. He was attended there by slaves, including Sally Hemings, but in France slavery was illegal and in Paris Jefferson’s slaves were as free as he was. Was the author of American liberty so bold as to share this information with his slaves? We’ll never know, but when he returned to America – and legal slavery – they returned with him.
Jefferson the legislator was a foe of slavery; he extended self-evident liberty to blacks in the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, the rest of the committee took it out; he wrote the 1778 Virginia statute banning the importation of slaves; he sponsored a bill which would free slaves born after a certain date, but it failed. His writings describe slavery as an evil and he predicts its demise.
In his personal life, Thomas Jefferson began freeing a few of his slaves in the 1790s. This was difficult, as Virginia law, which Jefferson opposed, required former salves to be exiled from the state a year after their emancipation. Jefferson intended to free all his slaves upon his death, as George Washington had done, but we all know what happens to good intentions.
Mr. Jefferson was deep in debt when he died, his home and his slaves were taken to satisfy his creditors. Much of Jefferson’s debt was honorable – he assumed his father-in-law’s debts when that man died; for many years Jefferson earned less than he might because he was tending America’s fortunes rather than his own. But much of Jefferson’s debt was the result of his inability to control his spending – for books and music, for fruit trees and wine, for grand additions to Monticello and gadgets of all sorts.
Many of the people Jefferson owned were sold into continued lives as chattel, not because Jefferson was an evil and conniving ogre, but because he was a thoughtless rich man, the most destructive species on the planet. That, unfortunately, is a context that has not changed, from Jefferson’s time to our own.
I think about it whenever I try to buy a pair of sneakers.
Presidential Sex Lives
Thomas Jefferson’s sex life was in the newspapers again last week. The New York Times ran a piece in which Mr. Jefferson’s stalwarts said they had reviewed the recent DNA evidence and had profound doubts as to whether Mr. J did indeed have a sexual relationship and children with Sally Hemings, whom he owned. History, revised last autumn, is being revised again.
This hardly qualifies as “news;” the debate is a very old one and does not seem likely to be settled soon. The accusation about Ms. Hemings was familiar to Mr. Jefferson; it was originally levied in the midst of a political campaign. In that respect, at least, nothing has changed in 200 years. We still can’t seem to find clean candidates.
What is more interesting to me is Thomas Jefferson’s apparent inconsistency on the issue of slavery in general. The man who wrote “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,” was in fact the owner of up to 150 human beings. Well, say those stalwarts who were in the Times last week, Jefferson was an 18th century Virginia planter; he should be judged in the context of his society, not ours. Fair enough, but let’s remember Mr. Jefferson was much more than a planter from the Piedmont. Many years of his life passed without his stepping a foot down on the farm. The man from Monticello was well-read, well-traveled and worldly.
If we are to judge Thomas Jefferson in his context, perhaps we should consider the context of late-Bourbon France, where he lived from 1784 to 1789. He was attended there by slaves, including Sally Hemings, but in France slavery was illegal and in Paris Jefferson’s slaves were as free as he was. Was the author of American liberty so bold as to share this information with his slaves? We’ll never know, but when he returned to America – and legal slavery – they returned with him.
Jefferson the legislator was a foe of slavery; he extended self-evident liberty to blacks in the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, the rest of the committee took it out; he wrote the 1778 Virginia statute banning the importation of slaves; he sponsored a bill which would free slaves born after a certain date, but it failed. His writings describe slavery as an evil and he predicts its demise.
In his personal life, Thomas Jefferson began freeing a few of his slaves in the 1790s. This was difficult, as Virginia law, which Jefferson opposed, required former salves to be exiled from the state a year after their emancipation. Jefferson intended to free all his slaves upon his death, as George Washington had done, but we all know what happens to good intentions.
Mr. Jefferson was deep in debt when he died, his home and his slaves were taken to satisfy his creditors. Much of Jefferson’s debt was honorable – he assumed his father-in-law’s debts when that man died; for many years Jefferson earned less than he might because he was tending America’s fortunes rather than his own. But much of Jefferson’s debt was the result of his inability to control his spending – for books and music, for fruit trees and wine, for grand additions to Monticello and gadgets of all sorts.
Many of the people Jefferson owned were sold into continued lives as chattel, not because Jefferson was an evil and conniving ogre, but because he was a thoughtless rich man, the most destructive species on the planet. That, unfortunately, is a context that has not changed, from Jefferson’s time to our own.
I think about it whenever I try to buy a pair of sneakers.