thomas jefferson and sally hemings an american controversy

And Gayle Jessup White, a descendant of Thomas JeffersonĪnd Sally Hemings and author of the book, Reclamation: Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson, and a Descendant’s Search for her Family’s Lasting Legacy. The JeffersonHemings controversy is a historical debate over whether there was a sexual relationship between the widowed U.S. Special thanks to our guests: Professor Annette Gordon-Reed, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family as well as the book, Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: an American Controversy. Thomas Jefferson did not free Sally Hemings.

Why was this story denied for so long, and what does that say about whose version of history is believed? And how did it revise our understanding of America’s third president? Using DNA evidence, the scientific journal Nature publishes findings that put to rest a centuries-old mystery: Was Sally Hemings, an enslaved woman at Monticello, the mother of six of Thomas Jefferson’s children? Until then, the historical consensus had been this: “The Jefferson-Hemings relationship can be neither refuted nor substantiated.” Jefferson’s white descendants were more categorical: they flatly denied it. Thomas Jeffersons biography got significantly more complicated when, 11 years ago, DNA evidence linked him to the descendants of Sally Hemings, a slave on his estate.

Thomas jefferson and sally hemings an american controversy