CONVERSATIONS ON JEFFERSON AND JEFFERSONIAN POLITICS
A Racial Profile of the Hemingses
From the H-SHEAR, subject: "Jefferson-Hemings Redux":Robert McColley:
For readers of the list who have not specialized in the life of Thomas Jefferson, it may be useful to review some facts which, so far as I know, are not seriously disputed.Sally Hemings was half-sister of Thomas Jefferson's wife.
She was herself more Euro- than Afro (3/4 Euro) and her children were essentially Euro- (7/8). Whether we can know with certainty the identity of the father of her children, all the plausible candidates brought forth were "family." Virginia law presumed 7/8 Euros to be white, but Virginia law also prescribed that the condition of the child followed that of the mother.
One way or another all of Sally's children became free during her lifetime. But Jefferson's daughter Martha freed Sally herself only after TJ's death. I am indebted to Douglas Egerton for distilling the essentials of this fascinating (to many) story.
It seems to me that everything that ought to be known from a cultural and moral perspective is already remarkably clear. The present generation has sometimes been criticized for paying too much attention to issues of race, class, and gender. In the case of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings however, it is difficult to avoid those interesting dimensions of study and reflection.
Originally posted on H-SHEAR, April 17, 2001.
Eyler Coates
The evidence suggesting that Sally Hemings was fathered by John Wayles, father of Jefferson's wife, is very thin and little more than a rumor. Some researches are working on this question, but to date, no one has proposed any other possible father for Sally Hemings.
July 28, 2001