JEFFERSON NOTES Jefferson Notes is a publication of the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society Richard Dixon Editor jeffersonnotes@verizon.net Spring 2012 No. 11
Uncertain MEMOIRS
An
interview of Madison Hemings by
was a national myth in 18th century Paris and it has a newspaper editor S. F. Wetpulled Thomas Jefferson within its vortex. It is the more, was printed in the Pike County Republicornerstone of the paternity belief that a pregnant seventeenyear-old Sally Hemings forged a "treaty" with Jefferson based on her freedom under French law.
Imagination is necessary to fill in the details of this unlikely standoff, but many historians have accepted the premise that Hemings could have stayed in France. It is even likely that Jefferson may have believed that the "freedom principle," then a pervasive concept in French society, might act to free his two slaves, Hemings and her brother James. However, James never expressed an intent to remain in France, and it is not logical that an impecunious and pregnant Sally Hemings would think freedom in France was an option. When a Norman slave merchant attempted to land in Bordeaux, the Parlement of Guyene (parlements were It is even likely that Jefferson judicial/legislative bodies may have believed the under the ancien régime "freedom principle” and were located throughout the country ) ruled that "France, the mother of liberty, doesn't permit any slaves." Almost 100 years later, in 1685 during the reign of Louis XIV, the Code Noir was adopted. This was intended to regulate the status of slaves in the French colonies. In 1691, a emancipation decree declared that "Negroes brought into France would be free upon their arrival." Because planters from the West Indies wanted to bring their domestic servants with them into France, the Royal Council of State issued the Edict of October 1716. Under the French system, the Edict was to be registered in the parlements located throughout the country. The status of the slave was to be registered in the parlement where the slave was situated. The slave was also to be registered in the Parlement of Paris and in the Admiralty Court of France. The Edict permitted slaves to be brought in for religious instruction or for learning a trade. The slaves were to be registered within eight days of arrival. Owners would be subject to a fine and loss of the slaves if the declaration were not made. The slave would be freed and allowed to remain in France. However, the Edict was not registered in the Parlement of Paris, which has raised Cont’d on page 5
can in 1873, about 45 years after Hemings left Monticello. We have no independent source of what Hemings told Wetmore, nor can we determine if Wetmore actually wrote what he was told by Hemings. There were two statements attributed to Hemings which weigh heavily in the current debate whether Thomas Jefferson fathered children by Sally Hemings. First, Hemings is recorded as stating that while in France, “my mother became Mr. Jefferson’s concubine, and when he was called back home she was enceinte by him.” How he got this story is not revealed, but the available evidence indicates it is not true. There is no independent source she was pregnant. Second, in what has become known as the famous “treaty legend,” Wetmore has Hemings recount that his mother refused to return to Virginia with Jefferson because, “in France she was free.” To induce her to return, Jefferson promised her “extraordinary privileges, and made a solemn pledge that her children should be freed at the age of 21 years.” There is no contemporaneous evidence of “extraordinary privileges,“ or that Jefferson had an intimate relationship with her at Monticello. The only basis for this “treaty legend” lies in this single newspaper interview. Although historical research does not require the cross examination that the law provides to test the veracity of a witness, there must be some contemporaneous proof. Those who maintain that the treaty story is true claim Jefferson did free the four Hemings children. But at the time they were “freed,” no one knew of the treaty. One cannot take an event and claim it fulfills an earlier, unknown prophesy.
BOOK NOTES The Jefferson Hemings Controversy: Report of the Scholars Commission Edited by Robert F. Turner Publisher: Carolina Academic Press
O
ne of the oddities of the Jefferson paternity scandal proves once again that history does repeat itself. The rumor that Thomas Jefferson fathered slave children started with a false accusation in a newspaper in 1802. More than 200 years later, it was revived by a false headline in the journal Nature, “Jefferson fathered slave’s last child.” A committee of Monticello staff then produced a Report which concluded that the DNA results, along with other circumstances, long known to historians, were enough to pronounce that Jefferson “most likely was the father” of Sally Hemings’ children. The Monticello Report lists a number of “research findings” that might circumstantially indicate paternity, but it fails to provide any analysis, or to consider any evidence that is contrary to paternity. Over the 35 years that Hemings lived at Monticello, no personal relationship with Jefferson is ever described. The lack of any contemporaneous first person witness is ignored. One of Sally Hemings’ sons does state to a reporter, S. F. Wetmore, in an interview about 45 years after he left Monticello that Jefferson fathered him and his siblings, but there is no information given how he would know that. There is unwarranted reliance on those “close to Jefferson” who actually provide no direct proof, but “believed” the rumor. There is a vague and anecdotal claim of a “striking resemblance” of Jefferson to “Sally Hemings’s children.” The reaction to this mauling of Jefferson generated a new organization, the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society, which sponsored a group of independent scholars to study all the evidence connected with Jefferson’s possible paternity of slave children. The results of that study are now contained in The Jefferson Hemings Controversy: Report of the Scholars Commission. It concludes with the “unanimous view that the allegation is by no means proven; and we find it regrettable that public confusion about the 1998 DNA testing and other evidence has misled many people into believing that the issue is closed.” It is an exhaustive review “..public confusion about the 1998 and seeks an impartial tone. Controversy tries to leave no allegation untouched in this more than 200-year-old indictment in which DNA testing and other evidence all the evidence is circumstantial. This paternity claim has hovered has misled many people into be- over Jefferson’s reputation since a series of articles in the Richmond lieving that the issue is closed.” Recorder by James Callender in the latter part of 1802 claimed Jefferson had a son “Tom” by a slave Sally Hemings. The Sally story actually began when she was about 14 years old and accompanied Jefferson’s youngest daughter to join him in Paris. There is little known about Hemings’ activities there, although the paternity-believers claim this is where the cultured 44-year-old Jefferson started the affair. Hemings gave birth over 13 years to four children who reached adulthood. She had her last child Eston in 1808 when Jefferson was 65, and Eston is destined to become the DNA link two hundred years later. Madison Hemings is also the source of the “treaty legend,” that his mother agreed to return from France -where she supposedly could have stayed, free under French law- to Monticello with Jefferson, on the condition that her future children would be free when they were 21. This was revealed by Hemings in the Wetmore interview and is unsupported by other evidence. But it is the sine qua non of the paternitybelievers’ case, and Controversy subjects it to a needed test of reasonableness. Part of Hemings’ story is that his mother was pregnant when she returned from France, but in his version the baby dies. In a competing version, the ”Tom” of the Callender article did exist and is the ancestor of the Woodson family. However, the DNA tests ruled out the Woodsons as descendants of Jefferson, but did connect Eston to the Jefferson male line. There are no DNA tests for the other three Hemings children, and there is no evidence presented in the Monticello Report to conclude that Jefferson was their father. The scholars who served on the Commission make an impressive group. Their study took more than a year and was first released on-line in 2001, but within several years that was removed. It’s unfortunate that the print version has taken nine years to reach the public. Much of academia has accepted the paternity story because of the influence of Monticello. This unique research will undoubtTO ORDER THE SCHOLARS edly become a required source for all who are interested in one of the most perCOMMISSION REPORT SEE P. 6 sistent myths in American history. Jefferson Notes page 2
Members of the Scholars Commission
I
n November 1998, the journal Nature published an article headlined, “Jefferson Fathered Slave’s Last Child.” Although Nature later admitted that the headline was not true, it stirred a renewed interest in the relationship of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. The Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society sponsored the creation of a Scholars Commission to look at all the evidence on this controversial issue. Chaired by Robert Turner, of the University of Virginia, this group of thirteen distinguished scholars, independent and unpaid, spent a year studying all the available evidence relating to whether Jefferson could have been the father of a child by Sally Hemings. It was their “unanimous view that the allegation is by no means proven; and we find it regrettable that public confusion about the 1998 DNA testing and other evidence has misled many people into believing that the issue is closed.” Lance Banning Former Professor of History University of Kentucky. Author of The Jeffersonian Persuasion: Evolution of a Party Ideology (1978); Jefferson and Madison: Three Conversations from the Founding (1995); and The Sacred Fire of Liberty: James Madison and the Founding of the Federal Republic (l998) which brought a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize and won the Merle Curti Award in Intellectual History. Prof. Banning died in 2006. James Ceaser Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs University of Virginia Author of Reconstructing America (2000). Taught at Harvard, the University of Montesquieu, the University of Basel, and Marquette. http://www.publicaffairs.virginia.edu/drupal/politics/James_W._Ceaser
Robert H. Ferrell Distinguished Professor of History, Emeritus Indiana University Has written, co-authored and edited numerous books on U.S. diplomatic history and U.S. presidents, including two books on Harry S Truman, one on Warren G. Harding and one on the U.S. Civil War. Editor of the papers and diaries of presidents Harry S Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Charles R. Kesler Professor of Government Claremont McKenna College Director of the Henry Salvatori Center at Claremont McKenna College and former chairman of its Department of Government. Has written extensively on the American founding and American political thought, and is co-editor of a widely-used edition of the Federalist Papers. Editor of the Claremont Review of Books. http://www.claremont.org/scholars/id.196/scholar.asp
Alf J. Mapp, Jr. Former Eminent Scholar, Emeritus and Louis I. Jaffe Professor of History, Old Dominion University Awarded Commonwealth of Virginia Cultural Laureate Author of Thomas Jefferson: A Strange Case of Mistaken Identity (2000); and Thomas Jefferson: Passionate Pilgrim (1991). Professor Mapp died in 2011. Harvey C. Mansfield William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Government Harvard University Author or editor of a dozen books, several of which address the era of the Founding Fathers. Served as President of the New England Political Science Association and on the Council of the American Political Science Association. http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~hmansf/
Jefferson Notes page 3
David N. Mayer Professor of Law and History Capital University Holds both a law degree (University of Michigan) and a Ph.D. in History (University of Virginia). Author of The Constitutional Thought of Thomas Jefferson (1994) and Liberty of Contract: Rediscovering a Lost Constitutional Right, 2011). http://users.law.capital.edu/dmayer/
Forrest McDonald Distinguished University Research Professor Emeritus University of Alabama Author of 15 books, which include The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson (1976); E Pluribus Unum: The Formation of the American Republic 1776-1790 (1979); Novus Ordo Seclorum: The Intellectual Origins of the Constitution (1985); Selected in 1987 for the Jefferson Lecture with the National Endowment for the Humanities. http://www.as.ua.edu/history/html/faculty/mcdonald.html
Thomas Traut Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics School of Medicine University of North Carolina Author or coauthor of more than seventy publications. Director of Graduate Studies and a former Ford Foundation and National Institute of Health Fellow. Shares his interest in Jefferson with his playwright wife, Karyn, who researched the Jefferson-Hemings relationship for seven years. http://www.med.unc.edu/biochem/traut
Robert F. Turner (Chairman) University of Virginia. Holds both professional and academic doctorates from the University of Virginia School of Law. Former Charles H. Stockton Professor of International Law at the U.S. Naval War College and a Distinguished Lecturer at West Point. Taught in University of Virginia Department of Government and Foreign Affairs and the Law School. A former president of the congressionally-established U.S. Institute of Peace. http://www.law.virginia.edu/lawweb/faculty.nsf/PrFMPbW/rft3m
Walter E. Williams Eminent Scholar Professor of Economics George Mason University. Chairman of the Department of Economics at George Mason University. A nationally syndicated columnist and author of ten books, which includes Race and Economics: How Much Can Be Blamed on Discrimination?(2011) and Do the Right Thing: The People's Economist Speaks (1995). http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/wew/vita.html
Jean Yarbrough Professor of Government and Gary M. Pendy, Sr. Professor of Social Sciences Bowdoin College. Author of American Virtues: Thomas Jefferson on the Character of a Free People (1998) and Editor of The Essential Jefferson (2006). Has lectured at the International Center for Jefferson Studies, Served as a consultant to the Jefferson Papers project. http://www.bowdoin.edu/faculty/j/jyarbrou/
Paul Rahe (author of the Minority Report) Charles O. Lee and Louise K. Lee Chair in Western Heritage and Professor of History Hillsdale College. Author of Montesquieu and the Logic of Liberty (2010) ;Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift (2010); Republics Ancient & Modern (in 3 vol. 1994); http://www.hillsdalesites.org/personal/prahe/author.html
Jefferson Notes page 4
early 1770s in the Paris Admiralty court.
There are no slaves in France
Cont’d from page 1
In an effort to avoid the slavery suits, Louis XVI the question whether the Parlement of Paris chose to issued the Police des Noirs in 1777, which changed ignore that there were slaves in Paris. the issue from status to race. All blacks were to be registered and those not already freed would be reAs the number of slaves increased, there was less turned to the colonies. No further blacks would be support for their presence in France. This resulted in allowed to immigrate. Those brought by owners from the Declaration of December 1738 to modify the the colonies would not be allowed in France, but Edict of 1716. Registration was still required with the would be placed in depots and then returned. The law Admiralty court, and if this were not accomplished, was registered both by the Parlement of Paris and by the slaves would be confiscated and returned to their the Admiralty Court of France. Although the Admicolonies. When the slave was registered, the owner ralty Court continued to hear petitions for freedom had to deposit 1000 livres to guarantee the slave’s through the 1780s, the official position of France was return. The slave was only permitted to stay in France to rid itself of the black population. for three years. However, neither the Parlement of Paris nor the Admiralty court registered the DeclaraIt is not possible to construct exactly how Sally tion of December 1738, perhaps indicating a reluc- Hemings would have obtained freedom in France. She tance to recognize slavery. Petitions for freedom were did not know the language, she had no independent handled by the Minister of the Marine, under the ad- funds, and if she were pregnant as her son claims, ministration of the King. her chances for employment would be limited. She would have to obtain a lawyer and once she started Cases continued to be brought in the Admiralty this process, she would have to find a place to live. It Court which recognized the freedom principle that is not certain she would be allowed to remain in slaves who enter France were free. But presenting a France. The country was slowly sinking into chaos freedom petition was an uncertain undertaking and and revolution. The Bastille was stormed three the decisions of the court were made on the facts of months before Jefferson departed. We do not know that case alone and carried no precedential weight. At whether the courts were processing freedom petieffort to determine the number of blacks in Paris led tions during this period. to an ordinance in 1762 requiring a one-time registration. It appears that many slaves were brought to These are the uncertain social and legal conditions France to be servants, so the Minister of the Marine that faced Sally Hemings. There is no basis for a issued a directive that all black slaves were to be retreaty legend. There is nothing beyond the imaginaturned to their colony by October 15, 1763. This does tion of someone else’s memory, passed on as a family not seem to have been successful, but it may explain story by Madison Hemings. the dramatic increase in suits for freedom filed in the
THOMAS JEFFERSON’S BIRTHDAY AT THE VIRGINIA STATE CAPITOL The Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society held its annual birthday celebration for Thomas Jefferson in the Jefferson Room of the Virginia State Capitol on April 13. Dr. Ken Wallenborn, president of TJHS read a welcome letter from Gov. Bob McDonnell, acknowledging the contributions of the Society to the legacy of Thomas Jefferson. The slate of speakers was headed by Mark Maison Carrée Nîmes, France Greenough, a capitol historian and director of Capitol Tours. He related the contribution of Jefferson in selecting a Roman temple, the Maison Carrée in Nîmes, France as the model for the Virginia capitol. This was the first capitol designed and built after the Revolution and influenced the spread of the classical form to public buildings throughout the new American country. Meriwether German, a descendent of Meriwether Lewis, spoke of his ancestor’s close relationship with Jefferson and the years in which he served as his secretary prior to leading the Corps of Discovery in the exploration of the Louisiana Territory. Robert F. Turner, editor of the Jefferson Hemings Controversy: Report of the Scholars Commission, gave an overview of the findings of the Commission that the paternity claim “is almost certainly false.” He cautioned that all we know today about Sally Hemings can be put on a 3 X 5 index card, as demonstrated in the Report. John H. Hager, former Lt. Gov. of Virginia, in closing the program, remarked on Jefferson’s “last letter,” that the eyes of the world were opening to the “rights of man.” Everyone then adjourned to the Meriwether Café for vanilla ice cream and German chocolate cake… Mr. Jefferson’s favorites. Jefferson Notes page 5
THOMAS JEFFERSON HERITAGE SOCIETY
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE
12106 Beaver Creek Road Clifton, Virginia 20124
PAID MERRIFIELD VA NO. 206
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
We welcome your support for the work of the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society. Please make donations to TJHS and forward to Box 4482, Charlottesville, VA 22905 Little Mountain $ 25.00 Rotunda 100.00 Memorial 250.00 All contributors will receive a copy of The Jefferson-Hemings Myth: An American Travesty. Rotunda and Memorial contributors will also receive Jefferson Vindicated. Visit our website at www.tjheritage.org
SEARCHING FOR THOMAS JEFFERSON ONLINE There are a number of “ANSWER� sites on the internet where questions can be posed and answers are volunteered by whoever wishes to respond. These sites should be avoided as a source of reliable history about Thomas Jefferson. Wikipedia also receives unreliable information from its contributors, so this information should always be verified. Reliable sources for Jefferson research include: Massachusetts Historical Society www.masshist.org/thomasjeffersonpapers/ Thomas Jefferson Papers memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/ jefferson_papers/
Order Your Copies Now Go to the Thomas Jeffersbuton Heritage Society website TJHeritage.org. An icon will direct you to Books of Interest where you can order The Jefferson Hemings Controvery: Report of the Scholars Commisssion, and take advantage of a 20% discount code. Also consider ordering Jefferson Vindicated by Cynthia Burton and In Defense of Jefferson by William Hyland. Both are reviewed on the Books of Interest site and both are available from Amazon. com
UVA Library guides.lib.virginia.edu/TJ Jefferson Exhibit www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/ Avalon Project avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/jeffpap.asp The Thomas Jefferson Encylopedia www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/ tje
Visit the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society at www.TJHeritage.org for other articles on Thomas Jefferson and discussions on the Hemings paternity claim and exactly what the DNA tests proved. Jefferson Notes page 6