Thomas Jefferson and sally hemings

1. Thomas Jefferson and sally hemings Our Founding Fathers Were Great …but Far From Perfect

2. By all accounts, Thomas Jefferson was devoted to his wife, Martha Wayles Jefferson. • They had six children, but only two daughters lived to adulthood. • She died after only ten years of marriage making Thomas a young widower with two little daughters. http://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/thomas-jefferson-and-sally-hemings-brief-account

3. Thomas Jefferson’s legitimate descendents.

4. Sally Hemings Sometime after the death of his wife, Thomas Jefferson may have taken a slave mistress named Sally Hemings.

5. To make this even weirder, the young slave woman was a much younger half-sister to his deceased wife. • Sally had been part of an inheritance from his wife’s estate.

6. At one point Jefferson took the teenaged Sally and her brother with him to France. • Slavery was not allowed in France, so both Sally and her brother could have stayed in France as free. • They returned to Virginia….we have no record of why they made the choice to remain slaves.  "Sally Hemings Biography." Full Issue. 14 Sept. 2011. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www.fullissue.com/index.php/sally-hemings-biography-1773-1835.html>.

7. Reports of Jefferson’s “slave family” began to emerge during his presidency • Jefferson said nothing • Later his daughter, Martha Washington Jefferson denied it. Well, of course she denied it, and may have even believed her father was innocent.  "Sally Hemings Biography." Full Issue. 14 Sept. 2011. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www.fullissue.com/index.php/sally-hemings-biography-1773-1835.html>.

8. There are no pictures of any sort of Sally Hemings from her own time, though later artists have tried to imagine how she looked. She was ¼ black and ¾ white. Sarah (Sally) was born in 1773 on the farm of John Wayles. It is accepted that Wayles was her father. So Martha Jefferson was her half-sister  "Sally Hemings Biography." Full Issue. 14 Sept. 2011. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www.fullissue.com/index.php/sally-hemings-biography-1773-1835.html>.

9. Sally Hemings Her fellow slave Isaac Jefferson remembered her as “mighty near white…very handsome, long straight hair down her back,” while Thomas Jefferson’s grandson recalled her “light colored and decidedly good looking.”  "Sally Hemings Biography." Full Issue. 14 Sept. 2011. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www.fullissue.com/index.php/sally-hemings-biography-1773-1835.html>.

10. At his death, Thomas Jefferson freed only the slaves which are suspected to be his children. • Sally was never actually freed. Jefferson’s daughter, gave her a special “writ” which guaranteed her safety and independence. • This was done because Sally didn’t want to leave her home in Virginia. Getting Word." Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www2.monticello.org/gettingword/elizabethhemings3b.html>.

11. A freed slave was required to leave Virginia in a year. • Sally’s freed children scattered to other states; two living as whites and two others as blacks. Sally’s children were 7/8 white. "Getting Word." Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www2.monticello.org/gettingword/ancestors.html>.

12. EstonHemings Jefferson Eston Jefferson was the youngest of Sally’s children and he always claimed that Thomas Jefferson was his father. There are no known pictures of Eston, but the elderly gentleman on the left is his son, Beverly. "Getting Word." Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www2.monticello.org/gettingword/ancestors.html>.

13. The Jefferson Family claimed that the children were the offspring of some Jefferson male relatives and not Thomas Jefferson. This family are descendents of Madison Hemings Jefferson, the youngest daughter of Sally. "Sally Hemings « Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello." Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/sally-hemings>.

14. These two gentlemen are grandsons of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. On the left is Beverly Jefferson and on the right is John Wayles Jefferson. John served as a colonel in the union army during the Civil War. "Getting Word." Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www2.monticello.org/gettingword/ancestors.html>.

15. Although the Jefferson family denied the Hemings children for many years; today all sides of the family acknowledge each other and have grand reunions. "Getting Word." Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www2.monticello.org/gettingword/ancestors.html>.

16. Has it been proven? DNA tests were run on descendents in the late 1990’s and in 1998 a committee declared it highly likely that Thomas Jefferson was the father of Sally’s children. "Getting Word." Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www2.monticello.org/gettingword/ancestors.html>.

17. from the DNA study, original documents, written and oral historical accounts, and statistical data - indicated a high probability that Thomas Jefferson was the father of EstonHemings, and that he was perhaps the father of all six of Sally Hemings' children listed in Monticello records - Harriet (born 1795; died in infancy); Beverly (born 1798); an unnamed daughter (born 1799; died in infancy); Harriet (born 1801); Madison (born 1805); and Eston (born 1808).  "Is It True? | Jefferson's Blood | FRONTLINE | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/true/>.

18. The Jefferson Family So what was once a scandal, denied by the legitimate family; is now a family story accepted by all of the family. "Mixed Race America | Jefferson's Blood | FRONTLINE | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/