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The Daily Dose/April 10, 2010
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
Notes from around the Human Experience...
CAPSULE BOOK REVIEW: The Hemingses of Monticello, An American Family, by Annette Gordon-Reed: For those accustomed to reading about Jefferson the patriot, the author of Declaration of Independence and third President of the United States this book offers an interesting, perhaps even disturbing contrast. Since the Hemingses were a slave family largely owned by Jefferson, the reader is treated to seeing one of this country's most revered figures as a slave owner, an owner of human beings who bought, sold and leased these human beings in the same way he bought, sold or leased any other commodity on his estate.
This Is Not A Bulletin: Anyone who stayed awake through history class knows that Jefferson owned slaves. He really had no choice; it's what whites did in Virginia in those days. Jefferson inherited slaves when his dad died and he obtained more slaves, including the Hemingses, when he married Martha Wayles.
Like Founding Father, Like Son: Like Jefferson did though, we Americans reconcile ourselves to this tasty little contradiction by taking comfort in the fact Jefferson was a product of his times and could not avoid owning slaves and that he was, more or less, a benevolent slave owner, as if any human being who owns another human being can be considered benevolent.
Showing that the human animal was and is an evolving species, Jefferson, for all his brilliance, really believed that blacks were inferior to whites and was able to sell himself the bill of goods that by keeping the Hemingses out of the fields and not whipping them he was giving them as a good a life as they had any right to expect, a life which had the added bonus of keeping Jefferson comfortable and his estate attended to.
Dry, Technical Matter: Gordon-Reed doesn't spend any time fretting over who the father of Sally Hemings children were: it's Jefferson. Though impossible to establish for certain since Jefferson and Hemings are dead and no longer able to comment on the matter, even the most casual research shows it certainly is a reasonable assumption. Jefferson's at Monticello, Sally has a kid. Jefferson runs off to be Secretary of State or vice president, Sally doesn't have kids.
Planting The Tree: The Hemings broke into the slavery racket in 1735 when a white British ship captain named Hemings spent some hard-earned shore leave banging an enslaved black women whose name History has long forgotten. Their issue was Elizabeth Hemings and since Hemings did not have a legal right to his own daughter's custody Elizabeth became the property of the Wayles family. A member of that family, John Wayles, whose wives kept dying on him, found he liked brown sugar and made frequent trips to the slave's quarters and, among others, the pair had a daughter named Sarah, who generally was known as Sally.
Hubba Hubba: Wayles was also the father of Jefferson's wife Martha, meaning Jefferson's mistress, Sally Hemings, was the half-sister of his late wife.
Sleazy European Hookup: Jefferson and Sally first hooked up in Paris, where Jefferson was the US Minister to France and Sally was a member of his household staff. Sally got pregnant and was faced with a decision. She was free in France and could stay there, or she could return to slavery or she could return to slavery.
Tough Call: Nobody knows what the Sally was thinking. Hell, she was 17 at the time and may not have known herself. Having witnessed the opening salvos of the French Revolution she may well have not liked her prospects as a black single mom in France and she may have had genuine affection for the man who owned her.
You Go Girl: More likely though is that she cut herself a deal to get herself the best possible life she could. And Jefferson, a widower who might have had no desire to remarry may not have been averse to dealing for his companionship.
Till Death Do Us Part: Jefferson was 30 years older than Sally and Sally was probably surprised, and maybe disappointed, that Jefferson lived to be 83, well older than most men lived in that time. On Jefferson's death their chidren were freed, but the rest of the Hemings family was broken up, sold, like his other property, to pay off Jefferson's enormous debts.
This led to the most poignant line in the book. Jefferson freed slave Joseph Fosset, a nephew of Sally, in his will. His wife and their children were not freed, however and were sold at auction to pay Jefferson's debts.
A Good. A Positive Good: Fosset tries to purchase his family but can't, with Gordon-Reed sadly and poignantly noting that Fosset:
…did not have the money to purchase them…Instead, he made arrangements with as many members of the white community as he could to purchase his children and hold them until he could buy them himself.
Standard Internet Disclaimer: Though Gaylon is fairly well read he is not Einstein for Pete's sake and is not a professional book reviewer. Reviews are based on his own personal tastes, are completely subjective and not measured against established literary standards. He has a habit of re-reading selected favorites and books that were published as early as the 20th century.
We Interrupt This Program For A Word From The Ratings Department: Following Is The Official Writer's Shack Capsule Review Rating scale:
EX - Excellent; as good as the medium can produce in every respect.
VG - Very Good. Well worth your time.
GD - Good. More or less worth your time.
AR - All Right. Not completely without merit.
SP - Nothing of substance; a steaming pile, utterly without merit.
Final Rating: EX. We do not throw EX's out there too often, even if this is our second one this week, but Gordon-Reid has produced a seminal work - on the Hemingses, on slavery and on Jefferson. There are very few thinking citizens that would not find this worth their time so go read it. Now. Thank you in advance.
BON VOYAGE: The RMS Titanic, the largest passenger ship in the world at the time, leaves Southampton, England on its only voyage, en route to New York City. It will remain the largest passenger ship in the world until it hits an iceberg and sink four days later.
On This Date continues its season-long trek through the major league record book:
Play Ball: On this date, in 1977, the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox tie the major league record for most runs in an inning by both teams, combining for 19 runs in the eighth inning of a 19-9 Cleveland victory. The Indians scored 13 runs in the top of the eighth, with the Red Sox scoring six.
Dry, Technical FunFact: The 19 runs tied the all-time major league mark set in 1891 when Washington and Baltimore of the American Association combined for 19 runs.
Thought For The Day: Let everyone mind his own business, and endeavor to be what he was made. - Henry David Thoreau, Walden; or Life in the Woods.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: Akon is a R&B and hip-hop singer. He was born in St. Louis of Senegalese parents.
Answer To The Lasst Trivia Question II: Babe Ruth broke Roger Connor's all-time major league home run record of 138. Ruth's 139th career home run comes on July 18, 1921 in a 10-1 victory over the Tigers in Detroit. The historic homer came of Howard Ehmke.
FunFact: Connor had held the record since 1895.
Today's Stumper: Connor also retired as the all-time major league leader in what other offensive category? - Answer next time!
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