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Proponents of the Jefferson-Hemings Affair
This controversy is in many ways disagreeable because it offers no positive contribution to the progress and advancement of humankind, but rather only capitalizes on the attempted destruction of the reputation of a great man. Nevertheless, it does offer an interesting exercise in examining the arguments and analyzing the evidence that is presented. Most of the time, readers feel they are being fed bait in order to induce them to buy a book. The way this is done is to offer conclusions or promises, without providing any evidence or reasoned argument in support of those conclusions. But the intelligent reader needs to acquire skill in recognizing what are essentially empty, unsupported conclusions and the absence of reasoning. Such readers also need to be able to look at evidence that is offered and determine for themselves, Are these the only conclusions that can be drawn from this evidence? Are there other possible explanations that the author is overlooking or deliberately ignoring? Is the author stating mere conclusions without offering sufficient evidence, or even ANY evidence, to support them?
A careful reader must constantly ask these kinds of questions, otherwise he runs the risk of being taken in, of being fed propaganda, even of being brain-washed by an onslaught of information that is presented in such rapid succession that there is no time to stop and question the flood of data that he is receiving. This is the usual way that cults capture their victims: they present a series of connected ideas, each built on the acceptance of the previous ideas, without allowing the victim time to consider their validity. There is a tendency, when a person moves quickly from one idea to the next one in a logical succession, to accept the early ideas without adequate questioning. Therefore, the careful thinker must refuse to go along with such a process. He must look for weak points, and stop and question any assumptions.
One website that requires this kind of guarded analysis is the one promoting the book, The Slave Children of Thomas Jefferson, by Samuel H. Sloan. The purpose is to promote the book, of course, so one could hardly expect to find the kinds of information that would obviate the need to buy the book. Thus, the descriptive text on the webpage merely makes charges and assertions that are not backed-up by evidence or reasoning.
In a discussion with the author of the book, he criticized my mentioning the difficulty of Jefferson carrying on an affair with Sally Hemings without others in the household knowing about it, writing to me as follows:
"As to how Thomas Jefferson maintained his relationship with Sally and perhaps other female slaves in secret, I suggest you go to Monticello. At the foot of his bed is a stairwell which leads to a cubbyhole above the bed, just the right size for a sexual liaison. It was obviously constructed for that purpose, as it could serve no other purpose."
The first purpose any ordinary person would think of for such a "cubbyhole" would be for storage. But when a person is looking only for evidence to support a theory, there is a tendency to see only that, and even to overlook evidence that may contradict the theory. All researchers know that when a person wants a particular result badly enough, that result has a way of slipping into the data. This is the kind of thing that a reader must be on guard for.
On another page associated with the above website, is an article by Annette Gordon-Reed (who also has a book to sell), on "Why Jefferson Scholars Were the Last to Know," purporting to explain why scholars ignored the "undeniable" evidence before the DNA evidence came in. But this article is another example of strings of unsupported conclusions, totally bare of any reasoning or evidence. Assertions are made, such as the following:
"The scientific evidence [i.e., the DNA findings] squares perfectly with overwhelming circumstantial evidence that has been available for well over a century."
and
"The trouble is that the scholars who fashioned Jefferson's image were either unwilling or unable to weigh the matter objectively."
One might think that I selected these assertions, and failed to include the back-up evidence or examples to support those statements that should immediately follow them. But this is not so. There was no evidence to follow, nor any reasoning to substantiate the conclusions. And the whole article consists of statements of unsupported opinion like these, one after the other.
When these kinds of materials are carefully analyzed, it becomes apparent that we are dealing with unsupported conclusions, empty assertions, and slanted observations. When subjected to careful scrutiny, they just don't stand up as evidence that is sufficient to support the claims that are made.
More on the Jefferson-Hemings Controversy
- ALL MEN = ALL MANKIND
An outstanding review of Jefferson and his attitude toward slaves and slavery, with an eye toward what we should be focusing on, even if the allegations concerning Sally Hemings are true.
- The Jefferson-Hemings Circumstantial Evidence
NOW IN PREPARATION. A review of the book, Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy, by Annette Gordon-Reed, with special consideration of how the circumstantial evidence relates to the new DNA evidence.
- Jefferson's DNA and Sally Hemings
An examination of the significance of the recent DNA findings suggesting that Jefferson fathered the sons of Sally Hemings.
E-mail the Editor.
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