Helen F.M. Leary: Thomas Jefferson & Sally Hemings Research

[@svha76]

From what I've read, Sally Hemings mother, Elizabeth, was half white. Then she had children with Martha's father, which would make the children, i.e. Sally, 3/4 white.

[@matoakatutoring]

Sally mother was Betty Heminges not Elizabeth

[@Odo55]

@@matoakatutoring Betty is a nickname for Elizabeth

[@melvawages7143]

@@Odo55 She was called Elizabeth because she had a daughter they called Betty, Sally's sister. Now was Elizabeth called Betty when she was young, maybe. but when she was older they were known as Elizabeth an Betty.

[@melvawages7143]

@@matoakatutoring Do your research. You are splitting hairs. She was Elizabeth Hemmings. One of her daughters was named for her, she was called Betty. Betty is a nickname for Elizabeth. BTW, I had an Aunt Betty who was named Elizbeth. I also had an uncle Joe whose name was actually Joseph. Many are called a nickname, a shortened form of their given name. Especially when several in the family have the same given name.

[@bunnybird9342]

@@Odo55 yeah and I've even seen some people say that Sally was most likely technically named Sarah because Sally was a common diminutive of Sarah

[@jazzyfayy1983]

sally hemmings was the aunt to Martha Jefferson children.

[@kevinchambers4848]

And also Thomas Jefferson's.

[@bunnybird9342]

@@kevinchambers4848Sally Hemings wasn't Thomas Jefferson's aunt she was his sister-in-law (or technically would have been if John Wayles was married to Betty Hemings)

[@RedRose07091966]

Mistress? Since when is a slave a mistress? Rape victims is a more accurate term! Stop trying to soften it!!

[@davidmcmannis2013]

RedRose07091966 exactly

[@electricmastro]

@DonkeyLips McGee Yep. I can't make one decision in regards to my opinion as to what kind of relationship it was since I haven't seen any evidence. This isn't me being an ever-defending defender of Jefferson, but me not wanting to believe an observation one way or the other without evidence.

[@blackkeysmatter9944]

​@DonkeyLips McGee you have good reason to be obsessed with America's third First Lady Sally Hemings. She was bright, beautiful, highly protective of her younger nieces (the daughters of her half-sister Martha Jefferson) and knew how to get what she wanted. Sally aka Sarah was not the little idiot, black slave child that the fools who believe Thomas raped her make her out to be. There were two original US feminists working together there in those scary days of revolutionary 1787 France... Sarah Hemings along with her niece Martha the junior Jefferson. The evidence of the loving relationship between Sarah and Thomas is actually overwhelming but the pieces locked within that enigmatic puzzle are scattered about, with one still little known or understood key. That key being that the great polymath Thomas Jefferson derived "all men are created equal" from the game we now call Checkers. And as my bad luck would have it, I am the mathematician with the earliest known proof of that simple fact.

[@blackkeysmatter9944]

​@@electricmastro the polymath Thomas Jefferson is one of my fellow Euclideans (rhymes with Floridians) and as a Euclidean mathematican I am an ever-defending defender of Jefferson, his second wife Sally aka Sarah Hemings and his daughter, her niece Martha the junior Jefferson. The best way to prove the nature of the Sally-Thomas relationship is to treat it like it's a criminal case in court because ignorant fools are accusing Jefferson of the crime of rape. And everyone has the right to have their day in Court. And since I'm the math-dude with the earliest known proof that Jefferson derived the phrase "all men are created equal" from the game we now call Checkers it means I am currently the best and most qualified defense counsel for Jefferson on the planet.

[@blackkeysmatter9944]

Rape victim isn't even close to accurate, ya dope. Sally was Jefferson's second wife and former sister-in-law. They got hitched up in Europe. Hemings was a free woman in France where she 're-enslaved' herself as part of their marriage deal.

[@megenberg8]

hold the mustard! it might be of some help to know that sally was in fact the daughter of jefferson's father- in- law. that is to say, miss hemmings was half-sister to jefferson's wife. the resemblance to his departed wife must've been remarkable.

[@imani9518]

I wonder if her father gave him both daughters.

[@aocplusme5676]

Lady Tate - yes, the more I think about the situation, I conclude that Thomas was simply holding on to a piece of his beloved Wife Martha. What a psychological puzzle that must have been at the time.

[@megenberg8]

@@aocplusme5676 she was his wife's sister in the sanguine sense, not a slave per se.

[@stevemccarty6384]

That is what they say. She lived either with or close by Thomas until he died in 1826. She ended up have four children who survived. Sallie was probably treated like a queen around the plantation. I'll bet she led a happy life and was loved by her family including Thomas Jefferson.

[@mizzdejavu]

I don't think they were madly in love with each other either. I think he loved her and she was his minor slave and didn't have a choice. So nice to call the slave women being raped mistresses like they choice and agreed freely without conscience.

[@dennis771]

dia vu she jst being politically correct

[@sharpaycutie2]

Her said CLEARLY said his mother had a choice. And chose to stay with him and be with him. Her ancestors tell the same story. So.....

[@stevemccarty6384]

Sallie was a free women when she was living in France. She and her brother confronted T.J. stating that they were free. He helped James to attend the Culinary Academy in Paris which he did. He also asked James and Sallie to accompany him back to Monticello which they decided to do. He told Sallie that he'd free any of her children when they became 21 and he did. Sallie and James decided to return to the US and slavery on their own. They agreed to the arrangement that they made with T.J.. Moreover their lives in the US and therefore slavery must not have been so bad because they decided to do it.

[@shannonhendricks-welch7225]

before our g mother passed she said we were decedents of Jefferson and sally...i was too young to do anything about it!! What can we do know?

[@ccaammiinniiito2]

@Shannon, you weren't "decedents" of Jefferson and Sally, since obviously you're very much alive. But you might be a descendant of both. You might allow the Mormon Church to do a genealogy on your family history, though.

[@strawberryseason]

Shannon, perhaps get in touch with some of your cousins through Monticello.

[@divaofco]

I am a descendant of Mary Hemings, the sister to Sally Hemings.

[@larapalma3744]

DNA testing

[@SweetTeaTvTeaSippers]

Keep living that's all

[@myema5694]

With DNA to substantiate the ancestry of Sally's children all doubts should be laid to rest. I enjoyed Ms Leary's articulate synopsis of her research.

[@balboro2854]

Do you realize that the 1998 DNA tests actually showed the that the oldest child of Sally Hemings, Thomas Woodson, who they said was conceived in Paris, was proven NOT to be related to Thomas Jefferson?

[@mailjamesthomas]

The DNA used for testing wasn't from Thomas. That's why the researcher disagreed with all the news articles that came out in November of 1998. Six weeks later they retracted because the tests only proved it was a Jefferson. Why not use Thomas' DNA (they could dig up the body if they can't find any) and prove it was him rather than one of his relatives.

[@TerryInUSA]

@@mailjamesthomas The foundation at Monticello will not allow Jefferson's tomb to be opened. I agree that they should just go in there and clip a fingernail or something and get the truth figured out. I don't like that you either have to be a liar or a racist with this issue - you can't just say that the facts are not all there.

[@Nyet-Zdyes]

The DNA which links Sally's ONE child to Jefferson... could have have come from any of Thomas Jefferson's 5th cousins... or 10th cousins... and direct male descendant of, for example, Jefferson's paternal great-great-great-great-grandfather... or even further back.

[@stevemccarty6384]

The DNA evidence says that one of Sallie's children's paternity was from a Jefferson male. Which one of the three who were there is unknown. There is evidence that it might have been Thomas, but it is not a sure thing.

[@1968dogg]

The Founding Fathers are gods to most white people. A slave could not give consent. By definition. If Sally's children are suspect, then so are Thomas' white wife. No history book I read in public school even hinted at this rapists' actions. America was founded by geniuses---that is indisputable. They were also men of low moral character. Of that there is no doubt. The human condition?

[@balboro2854]

They'd be gods to black people too if black people read any history. Only Tupac is a god to black people now. And Biggie Smalls I guess. And Jay-Z. Congratulations. Jefferson cared so much that your people would thrive and prosper. He would be so disappointed in what so many of you have become.

[@larapalma3744]

Things were extraordinary extremely different hundreds of years ago Duh.

[@bealoved6550]

Who are you to judge African- Americans, and our lifestyles, with your small insignificant little brain? How dare you say "we don't read history", or that we only look up to Hip Hop artist( The only ones whose names you've heard of)! Judge your own people, or better yet your own self worth! What do you people have against Afro-Americans? So much hate for people who have been so poorly treated in the past, the PRESENT, and most likely in the future if people won't try to change! You've probably raised your children with these thoughts if you have any! The time for change is now!!! Pray on it, if you have any religion!

[@garyknighting4319]

@@bealoved6550 Well if you did read history you would know that calling Tomas Jefferson a rapist is slander. I often wonder why one of his real descendants doesn't take some of these "learned historians" to court to make them admit publicly that they have no proof that *Thomas* Jefferson and Sally Hemings ever had a relationship.

[@LC-lb5jf]

@@garyknighting4319he is a rapist

[@SilverGram]

My question is related the context of comments. My thoughts on this is more that with Sally being his wife's half sister he may have fallen into this in his grief and I have never heard anyone speak of that possibility. I just look at it with a more compassionate take. She could have easily stayed in France. That she chose to come back suggests something of a real relationship rather than just master/slave. I believe the Hemings side should be treated with respect and welcomed into the line of descendants of one of our greatest founding fathers and then let it be. Jefferson was not a racist demonstrated by his actions as a whole.

[@omtosin7331]

Easily stayed in France? 13 or 14 yr old female, no friends, family, money, skills except as a maid servant and "mistress" to her 43 yr old owner, no mention that she spoke French. Easy for you to say EASY. She made the most of a terrible situation, that does not make it good or easy.

[@blackkeysmatter9944]

@@omtosin7331 nothing terrible 'cuz Sally was older and a lot whiter than you give her credit for.

[@blackkeysmatter9944]

Sally should be treated with the proper respect as America's third First Lady. She was brilliant in her capture of Thomas Jefferson's heart. Also note: I'm the math-dude with the only known proof that the phrase "all men are created equal" came from the game we now call Checkers. So I know more about the Thomas Jefferson line of thinking than most folks do. The Hemings-Jefferson love story is still yet to be properly told and understood.

[@andreabrown4541]

OK. So he was a white supremacist.

[@SilverGram]

@@andreabrown4541 the amount you don't know about history is stunning.

[@stratocaster1greg]

How can anyone know what happened if you were not there.

[@lolajoselin7134]

Stratocaster it dosent take a rocket scientist to figure it out!

[@stevemccarty6384]

Guessing.

[@mblom819]

i think they were in love with each other, unlike what this lady states. jefferson went through a lot to make sally happy within the constraints of his position.

[@patriciamitchell9365]

Lady, he was a pedophile. She was 15/he was 45.

[@patriciamitchell9365]

Lady, he was a pedophile. She was 15/he was 45.

[@megenberg8]

p.s. if madison claimed that sally and jefferson had an agreement, then one can rest assured that it was the case!

[@frankmc5112]

She is referring to Madison Hemmings the child of Sally Hemings and not James Madison. You got hit with the deception.www.monticello.org/getting-word/people/sally-hemings

[@frankmc5112]

wallbuilders.com/thomas-jefferson-sally-hemings-search-truth/

[@deborahshatzer7408]

The agreement maybe have been just to let any children Sally had ever the course of her life to let them "run". Jefferson would NEVER have had children born into slavery. PERIOD

[@bunnybird9342]

He also said that after Thomas Jefferson died, Sally Hemings took some of his belongings and gave them to her children as mementos. So obviously this means she didn't actively hate him. (I don't know what she truly thought, however.)

[@yoshschmenge1916]

I'm 3/4 of the wat thought the Scholar's Commission Report, and although I believe Helen Leary has done an honest investigation, 12 out of 13 scholars on the commission disagreed with her conclusion.

[@Nyet-Zdyes]

And the one who "disagreed" said there wasn't enough evidence EITHER way.

[@MPam1619]

Incredible! Humph! That's some American History for you-- the part they forgot to include in your history textbook! There's a whole lot more where that came from.

[@ccaammiinniiito2]

@Pam...True of South Africa, too. It might be true since more than likely European women didn't accompany sailors into the "New World." And Professor Ron Chernow, in "Alexandre Hamilton," points out that once in the West Indies, the sailors really let their hair down, so much so that clergy wrote back to the home office complaining of these lubricious carryings-on!

[@stevemccarty6384]

The practice of slavery is a very real part of our history and a very real part of our past. It no longer exists and hasn't for generations. I suggest that African Americans get over it. They need to become productive and peace-loving citizens of our country. So far they have largely failed to achieve that goal.

[@stevemccarty6384]

There is no question that Thomas Jefferson and George Washington too owned slaves, both men owned about 600 each.

[@douglascadman8841]

I really enjoyed this narrative based on original documents; it sheds a lot of light on a controversial subject. Jefferson is like us, imperfect, but a great President and human being.

[@johnnyrebel1115]

Doug cadman imperfect for fucking a black person is that what your trying to say?

[@WPBruce]

And so the slander of James T Callender lives on and all because President Jefferson had the good sense not to appoint Callender Postmaster of Virginia!

[@bdm1000]

That doesn't mean Callender was wrong.

[@deborahshatzer7408]

I whole heartedly agree with you; what a prolonged, salatious story this has perpetuated. Some people have become quite wealthy and seemingly 'highly accepted' for their fictitious books. There are, thank God, many of us who will never believe this story of revenge by James Callender and all the writers to follow.

[@deborahshatzer7408]

W. C. Bruce. I agree with your opinion!

[@ninedaysqueen301]

TJ was the father of Sally Hemings’ children whether you like it or not. TJ’s friends (ex: John Hartwell Cocke) and neighbors admitted the story was true on numerous occasions (this is where James Callender and other prior journalists almost certainly received their information about the paternity of Hemings’ children) between 1800 and 1811. Madison Hemings himself said TJ was his father on at least two occasions: in 1870 to a census taker and in his 1873 memoir-that same paternity presented in his memoir was also corroborated by another former Monticello slave, Israel Jefferson. The white side of TJ’s family could never get their story straight: two of Jefferson’s white grandchildren, Ellen Randolph Coolidge and TJ Randolph, said the Carr brothers (Samuel or Peter, they didn’t agree on which one) were the father. Ellen was the grandchild who stated one of the Carr brothers was the father of ALL of Sally’s children-this is obviously false with the knowledge that Eston Hemings had the Y-Chromosome and Paternal Haplogroup (k2) found in other Jefferson men. This discredits Ellen as a source for the paternity of Sally’s children. To add salt to the wound, Ellen claimed she learned of the paternity of Sally’s children from her brother, TJ Randolph. This also discredits TJ Randolph, who already was a questionable source after telling an almost certainly fictional account of how the Carr brothers disgracefully admitted to being the fathers of her children. Furthermore, TJ was the only male Jefferson present every time Sally conceived: she never conceived when he was away from home at Monticello. The denial of TJ’s paternity has only come as a result of traditionalism, racism, and upset among TJ’s white descendants. After the 1998 DNA study discredited the family lie of the brothers Carr, they placed the blame on Randolph Jefferson, TJ’s brother, who essentially is now their fall guy. They’ve also said and sent some VERY racist things to the Hemings family and white relatives who defended the Hemingses (such as John Works Jr who sent a VERY racist image to Lucian Truscott of an African-American as a “joke”). That’s the only reason doubt her persisted: the fight of a very vocal, majority-white minority which has refused to believe TJ could’ve possibly fathered an enslaved woman’s children. People can preach one thing, but believe another: that’s what TJ did. He was a lonely widow who needed companionship: that’s what he found in Sally Hemings. Many plantation owners in Virginia did it, TJ is no exception. Don’t deny the paternity because you don’t want to believe TJ was the father.

[@stevemccarty6384]

Most certainly Abagail Adams would have approved of T.J. not furthering Mr Callender's career.

[@JayeEntertainmentS]

That's my family line.

[@matoakatutoring]

No you're not😑

[@ccaammiinniiito2]

I disagree with the historian. Hemings was a looker, and Jefferson was a older and hetero. It's not likely that his was a casual sexual relationship. On the contrary, he shared as much of himself as possible given the times. Professor Ron Chernow, "Alexandre Hamilton," chronicles that Hemings, even in that plantation culture, was known as "dashing Sally." Why on earth is it beyond the pale that Jefferson was in love with Hemings with whom he was probably much freer in private than he would've been with a "proper" Caucasian wife brought up with all those social constraints of the time?

[@maggiebridget126]

What makes you think that caucasian women were any less passionate than black women back then? People were actually pretty loose in this country till men brought home STDs they caught in Europe during WWI. Historically, there's nothing like an STD epidemic to get people to be monogamous.

[@ccaammiinniiito2]

Read me carefully. I don't see any branch of humankind as being more than the other. On the contrary, we are more similar than dissimilar. But there were constraints against this fiction of the "white woman" that kept her in check. For example, and just one barometer of many, a "black woman" could bear a child by a "white man." But the opposite is not likely. And her passion moments had to be carefully orchestrated for fear of causing a "scandal," a social trait still intact among uppercrust America. It was as late as the 50s you couldn't say a woman (white) was preggers. No, no! She was also said to be "in the family way." Just ask brilliant satirist Elaine May.

[@maggiebridget126]

Jay Young Where do you think free people of color came from? Their mothers were free white women. Their fathers were black. Sometimes, the fathers were slaves. Sometimes, they were not. You are erroneously using the 1950s as your barometer of intimate relations between men and women throughout the entirety of history. And even if it was like the 1950s throughout the history of mankind, you have no idea what white women were like in their own beds and with their own husbands back then. You are only repeating the the limited present day view of women. Don't tell me what it was like to be a single pregnant woman. I know all too well. As a 15-year-old, I was incarcerated by my parents, not society, in an unwed mother's home in Scranton, PA in August of 1982. I have been have been a genealogist for over 20 years, working professionally and donating my services to historical and genealogical societies all over the US as well as other countries. It' s a matter of simple math. There were shotgun weddings and out-of-wedlock births among all women. Actually, the out-of-wedlock birthrate for white women was higher than that of black women until the 1950s. In the late 1940s/early 1950s, the male head of household in black families was replaced with social welfare. The trend for out-of-wedlock births among black women began to increase after social welfare was basically forced on black women. That is an historical fact!! The US Censuses and state vital statistics prove this. This was no accident. It was a deliberate calculated move designed to destroy the the black race.

[@ccaammiinniiito2]

maggie bridget Thank you. When I go to the library next time, what can I look for in your name? Apparently, historians are not capturing the entire historical picture from what I gather in your post. Thank you again, though. I'm always open to fresh but accurate historical perspectives. Meanwhile, get a load of this: www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/residents-of-pr-george%e2%80%99s-have-seen-the-housing-crisis-erode-their-wealth/ar-AA8yy8w?ocid=HPCDHP If it's not one thing, it's two.

[@twain103]

Has it ever been proven that Jefferson's wife, who was Sally's half sister knew about them?

[@stevemccarty6384]

We don't know what transpired between Sallie and Thomas, but we do know that Sallie decided to accompany him when they returned to Monticello. It seems obvious that Sallie would never agree to stay in an uncomfortable relationship. Same goes for her brother, James who also returned to the plantation.

[@HORSEYANIME2024]

More new videos on sally hemmings and her children pls

[@dukegraham8310]

I don't understand why people are so up in arms over this. So what! Why deny it if the DNA says it's true. Over maybe some of us what to think that are forefathers were angels. Most of us that study history would tell you this is common. GET OVER IT!

[@kentexican5844]

Good call Duke. Men of great deed, and accomplishment in their finest hour/s are quite capable of being men of inconsistency/hypocrisy and deeds that they would not wish to be entered into the record upon their deaths.

[@lgoffigan]

"Not passionate love" yet six children were produced?

[@tiathompson6674]

Linda Goffigan....it is called surrender your body to me or I will have you beaten with a whip or possible sold away from your other relatives.

[@beatricesmith3496]

ANY THING TO REDUCE A BLACK WOMAN TO SHAME ,HE LOVED HER IF HE DIDNT HE COULD HAVE HAD ANY SLAVE HE WANTED HE OWNED OVER SIX HUNDRED SLAVES.

[@KevinNolanRealEstate]

Thomas was a shrewd manipulator indeed. Every time Sally had one of his kids, the 21 year freedom clock would start all over again. Thereby continuing her ordeal.

[@mamalor13]

The video states it was illegal to be black and free in VA. 21 years or not.

[@das6708]

@@mamalor13 Yes, and many states had the same laws.

[@cindychristian1700]

@@das6708 All her children being 1/8 black would have meant they probably could pass for white so they simply just lived as white or were legally white so no one questioned their race therefore no one questioned their freedom!

[@kittygirlc4120]

Keen observation and I agree! Thomas Jefferson was indeed a shrewd manipulator. His sixth-great-grandson, Lucian Trescott said that Jefferson basically spoke out of both sides of his mouth.

[@dijaworldworld3895]

Indeed

[@dominiqueechevarriaechevar77]

HOORAY FOR HELEN LEARY!!!!

[@bdm1000]

She starts out well but starts to lose credibility when you realize she's bringing up correspondence without making any solid points about it other than this illusive feeling about whether Randolph might have been the father or the specific relationship between Jefferson and Hemings. I am not one of those people in denial about their relationship, but I do not like vague answers either.

[@stevemccarty6384]

Sallie may or may not have had a sexual relationship with T.J., but if she did it was her decision to do so. She had six children, if T.J. (two died in childhood). If she did their relationship carried on into Monicello after they returned to the US. Their children were freed and prospered. Some living as white people and by all accounts were happy and successful.

[@stevemccarty6384]

There is no evidence that Sallie could either read or write, but she could speak French.

[@kathyk479]

Sally and Martha were half sisters . As she went to France with him and could have stayed in france as a free person . But without Thomus. So she came back to the states with him. I think he would have married her if it had been legal. Under the law at the time it was not legal. That must have been hard . Not being able to married your love. She's a prude women why couldn't they be in love! He wouldn't have put anything like that in a letter. He would have protected his family! And she never married . Thats a clue there that tells us. That Sally was in love with Thomas . How many women do we know of when there spouse dies they never marry again? Or date. .? Because they love there spouse.

[@andreabrown4541]

And yet, white women were allowed to wed enslaved black men! You guys will do anything to uphold white supremacy.

[@stevemccarty6384]

Whatever the relationship between Thomas and Sallie was they must have been confortable with their arrangement whatever it was. Sallie ended up having six childtren, four survived and she stayed with Thomas until his death in 1826. She passed in 1835, a free women. We do not know, however who the father of Sallie's children was. The DNA tells us that one of her chilidren was fathered by a Jefferson male, which one is a mystery. It was likely Thomas, however.

[@queenhiphop1002]

he loved her she loved him, they had kids she was his wife regardless of laws. she was related to his wife actually. he cared for her deeply. he was in love and would have done anything for her.

[@angelatorcolini4841]

@camille3083I mean, you’re the first person in all of the internet to ever dispute this so

[@bunnybird9342]

@camille3083yes. Both of them had the same dad. This is why I personally believe Thomas Jefferson only Sally her because Martha's death absolutely destroyed him. I'm betting they looked very similar.

[@stevemccarty6384]

We don't know for sure what Thomas' relationship with Sallie was. We hope of course that they were deeply in love and dedicated to eachother. We know that Sallie was Thomas' first wife's half sister, whom he adored. The two women must have looked alike and probably shared their behavior. Moreover Sallie looked white. So if she looked and acted like Thomas' first wife and was very attractive as she is described as being it is very likely that they would fall for oneanother. Moreover they were living in a foreign country with few people to talk to. Sallie they say learned French and Thomas probably did to, at least some. They they were thrown together and of course Sallie was Thomas' daughter's servant.

[@peggygraham6129]

He didn't free her so he wouldn't do "anything for her." It's impossible to know how Sally felt so please don't make this a love story

[@kisha1682]

Jefferson loved Sally, no doubt. He grieved for his wife greatly after she died. So, when Sally comes to Paris TJ sees the resemblance of his wife in Sally, his wife's half sister. He begins to buy her gowns and starts to see her beauty even more so. It was only a matter of time before he decided to take Sally for himself. He had his wife back 25 five years younger! In France, they could be together and not worry about racism ( not that blacks were wanted in France) Sally, being only 14 or 15 at the time had all sorts of feelings running through her, but let's step back and see the real picture here...Sally is now wearing lace and silks, things no slave in America wears. She gets to go to balls and theater, meet important people over the time. Her world has greatly changed. She knows that TJ is eyeing her for something much more than being a lady's maid to his daughters, so what is she to do. How does TJ make her feel comfortable with all of this? Yes, he owned her and could have taken her at any time, but why try to improve upon her clothing and introduction into Parisian society if he only saw her as a slave? In my theory, being that he was an experienced politician, he told Sally how he wanted things to be between them, perhaps even heard how she felt about his attention. Perhaps he promised to be kind to her, protect her from any scandal they would face when they returned home. Their relationship progresses over time, and now Sally is 16. She is not the naive 14 any more. She is a woman, dresses in the fashion of a proper lady's maid. She has learned over time that she is free in France, and now she is pregnant. TJ is ready to go to home, but Sally refuses to go with him. She has not forgotten the bonds of slavery and will not give birth to a slave. Not wanting to lose his dear Sally, TJ makes promises and privileges for any children they have. They all will be freed at 21. Sally believes him and she returns to America. Now, why did TJ keep his promise, and why did Sally believe him? Could it be that the physical nature of their relationship prompted TJ to keep his word, or, could it be that TJ had come to love Sally and didn't want to lose her? TO me, that speaks of love and honor. Yes, he owned her, yes she came back how with him, and yes he never officially freed her. However, when he died he make provisions for Sally and their children to stay in Virginia despite the law saying they had to leave within one years after being freed. Why do all of that if love is not involved? Even is own daughter, Martha Randolph, reinstated into her will that Sally was to remain free, and this was years after the death of TJ. Some visitors at Monticello caught a glimpses of TJ with Sally, and from their perceptive their was a display of affection between them. I call it respect, honor, and love. A great love the had for each others, despite the times they lived in.

[@andreabrown4541]

You do realize that's a pro-slavery argument?

[@NightowlProductionsGroup]

@@andreabrown4541 Sally Hemings was never acknowledged as a slave - anywhere - in any Jefferson document.

[@NightowlProductionsGroup]

Pretty close assessment of what actually happened. You forgot however to mention that Sally Hemings couldn't really stay in France for several reasons: She was pregnant with Jefferson's child, the French Revolution of 1789 was about to explode in their faces, and her older brother James Hemings was there as well, and was going back with Jefferson after being trained in French cuisine, and she wasn't going back to Virginia as a "slave." Sally was NEVER a slave. No mystery then.

[@andreabrown4541]

@@NightowlProductionsGroup So pro-slavery it is then! I guess black ppl will have to continue talking about slavery until white ppl understand slavery.

[@NightowlProductionsGroup]

@@andreabrown4541 Slavery is never "in" nor will it ever be. Sally Hemings was not a slave - but some "ppl" will never give that up. That makes it about them - not Hemings.

[@lgoffigan]

"strange relationship"

[@jinuferbanu7628]

👍

[@stevemccarty6384]

Not a strange relationship at all. T.J. and Sallie probably lived as man and wife both in Paris and at Monicello.

[@laman8914]

"... and this slave of his". Apart from the derogatory way Sally Hemings has been portrayed in this sentence, people including scholars, don't understand that one cannot use the word 'slave". Sally Hemings is an enslaved because she was held involuntarily against her will

[@stevemccarty6384]

In my readings Thomas Jefferson never used the word "slave". Rather he pens "servant". I'm not saying that he never uttered the word slave, but I haven't seen it. We do know however that Thomas employed up to 600 slaves at one time or another on his plantation. We therefore can conclude that he supported the institution of slavery at least to some degree. So did most planters of the era including George Washington.

[@TheAzmountaineer]

The DNA only narrows it down to about 24 people. So not necessarily Thomas, not even close. It's more likely Randolph was the one involved, but that's only circumstantial.

[@maggiepatsypowhaten7757]

Good job Helen There are more pieces to their story Your decent view is American by Revolutionary Insight PEACEMONY !!!

[@mblom819]

this lady is speaking through a modern day lens and making up things, she needs to be careful in her interpretations, she needs to interpret things as they were in the 18th century. Her words are odd, ie "honorable, both of 'em"

[@呀你可]

mblom819 honor for example if Sally had children with other males… that's loyal

[@dianamorris5327]

Hay, she said she went to Monticello and did her research based on Jefferson notes in his own handwriting. How dare you call her information incorrect. When did you go to Monticello and do your research and get your facts.

[@calql8er]

If she looks half as beautiful as her painting, then, yeah, Jefferson is the father of her kids.

[@lolajoselin7134]

What the heck does what she looked like have to do with it?

[@deborahshatzer7408]

Absolutely NO painting of Sally Hemings exists! NONE!

[@stevemccarty6384]

There are no renderings of Sallie Hemmings. We have only descriptions of her as being attractive and "nearly white". We do not know what she actually looked like. If there are paintings of Jefferson's first wife then it is likely that Sallie looked like her, since they were half sisters.

[@metroutica3349]

Sally was half white believe to be very beautiful. Yes she could have free in France, be a mistress to another, man who may or may not be as good as Jefferson, Women are not naive as people, make them she took the devil she knew, was he good to her children who knows but she stay with him a lifetime.

[@uniquesongstress]

She wasn't half white, she was 3/4 white, her mother was half white

[@lolajoselin7134]

Yeah and when Jefferson died Sally was left on the property a lonely old woman who was priced less than the old milk cow!!!

[@stevemccarty6384]

Thomas never allowed any of his children, who were technically his slaves, to ever do menial jobs. One of them said upon interview in the 1870s that all they did around the plantation was to "run errands".

[@stevemccarty6384]

I understand, Kitty, your thought that "slavery is always bad", but was it? You, I think, are looking at what was going on then thru our modern eyes. Sallie had to assess her life and what it would be like if she was well treated by Thomas if she returned to Monticello. Apparently she had been well treated. She would never volunteer to return to a life in hell. She rather returned to a life living in a wonderful plantation situated in a beautiful hilltop forrest. Her children were never worked at degrading tasks, rather one of her sons when interview reported that all he did was "run errands". Moreover we must consider the quality of the man that Jefferson was. He was one of the greatest humanists of his era. I don't think he was a great fan of slavery, but it was the system and people were accustomed to it.

[@jewellsmith9499]

Black people know your history! These are the type of people that are teaching our kids.. Tell the children the truth!!!!

[@supernatural2130]

Sally was a 14 year old girl. Notice how they leave that part out.

[@noevoe978]

And you missed the part about Randolph not being at Monticello when Sally conceived.

[@balboro2854]

Randolph was almost certainly visiting Monticello during the conception period of Eston Hemings as we know from letters that he was invited and expected. His twin sister, Anna Marks, was already there.

[@bunnybird9342]

Thomas Jefferson was absent most of the time but whenever he came back to visit Monticello, Sally Hemings would always give birth nine months later. Cope harder.

[@alfamail2016]

@ZhugeNaut she was freed upon his death by his daughter

[@bdm1000]

I take issue with the very last point she made because she leaves no room for any other possibilities. For example, it makes sense that Monticello would have the highest frequency of Jefferson family members visiting when Thomas Jefferson at home. Right? Isn't she overlooking the obvious? The only way to settle this is to get direct DNA evidence in my opinion.

[@blackkeysmatter9944]

She left no room because there's no other possibility. The only Jefferson-male always present at the time of Sally conceiving her children was Thomas. DNA evidence would only confirm the obvious.

[@gracemartin8490]

@@blackkeysmatter9944 not true. Randolph Jefferson was indeed at Monticello during the time of Eston Hemings conception. He was there on a visit to see his twin sister Anna Scott Jefferson Marks who resided at Monticello.

[@gwendolynsmith284]

@@gracemartin8490 Let's just stop trying to wedge other scenarios into this story.... We all know that what happened with Thomas and Sally was true! History speaks for it's self. I think people are so set on the fact that Thomas Jefferson was such a prestigious man that he could not have stooped so low as to father children with a slave. Well, in my opinion, it happened! Let's say that Randolph was the father of Sally's children, would that make this story any less important. As an African American person, my ancestry is full of stories like this as my gg/grandfather is white but that was a secret in my family until I conducted a DNA test and my suspicions were laid to rest.

[@TerryInUSA]

@@gwendolynsmith284 We don't all know it's true and the choice shouldn't be to assume it's true or else you are one of those people who won't admit the founding fathers were imperfect. What if a person just wants all the facts to line up? Does that make them blind and refusing to see the truth?

[@stevemccarty6384]

The DNA evidence tell us that one of Sallie Hemming's children was fathered by a male Jefferson. There were three living on Monticello, Randold, T.J.'s brother, Thomas' uncle and himself. The evidence leans tword Thomas being the father, but the evidence is not conclusive.

[@mblom819]

"its the date of conception that counts" oh really i didnt know that *rolls eyes

[@NightowlProductionsGroup]

Historian: Spot on, Ms. Leary! The only nuance here would be the more likely scenario that the Hemings/Jefferson relationship only grew more emotionally dependent over the 37 years. They were definitely NOT coexisting as slave and Master. If a modern word is needed for context "surrogate" would be closer than any. There is evidence that it was not just a relationship of secret agreement - there is very strong evidence that the Hemings/Jefferson relationship was not only exclusive but also emotionally dependent. It's well recorded that Jefferson's love for his wife Patsy (Martha) was so great that he collapsed on her deathbed and was unconsolable for weeks. Sarah (Sally) Hemings was Pasty's half-sister - 75% White. The elephant in the room is this question: "Why would Thomas Jefferson disrespect the deep love he had for Martha and the love they shared together by willfully denigrating her sister Sally for 37 years?" He couldn't - and he didn't. And that my friends is closer to the truth than anything else you will read or hear about the Hemings/Jefferson story.

[@gloria7876]

I read that Thomas Jefferson carried his wife’s last letter until the day he died. Jefferson also had 2 daughters to look after.

[@bunnybird9342]

@@gloria7876he destroyed much of his correspondence with Martha after he died, as well as pictures of her. The only surviving picture of her is a silhouette. Also fun fact: he kept a locket with her hair in it and literally nobody knew about it until after he died, when he was discovered having wearing it regularly after her death until his death (he was wearing it when he died).

[@stevemccarty6384]

How do you know if Sallie and Thomas did not "coexist as slave and master"? We know, for instance that Sallie threatened T.J. that she would remain in France as live as a free person as she was free while living in France. Thomas pleaded with her and her brother James to return to the plantation with him. He negociated with the two syblings and they decided to return and of course, reenter their lives as slaves. Thomas must have threated Sallie and James as freed people or they would not have agreed to return with him.

[@stewb887]

The Paris ladies were to wild for him

[@sararodriguez1299]

Stew B too**

[@tannenbaum7594]

Makes sense ! Very interesting !

[@carol-leelane721]

FYI I’m white, female and elderly as well. And heartily sick of hypocrisy and callous indifference to suffering and injustice. I pledge allegiance to liberty and justice for all in my own lifetime.

[@reginaford7415]

And what are you saying mind me asking

[@juliaguerra662]

These are not “mistresses” these are people forced into relationships

[@elieelis1234]

Sally could have stayed in Paris.

[@andreabrown4541]

@@elieelis1234 It's almost 2023, white people. Black people are not animals. They actually loved their families. In large plantations such as this, it was not unusual for enslaved families to be split up. Her family was not, so let's not start with the white supremacist argument right out of the gate.

[@elieelis1234]

Slaves have always been people. Throughout history....suffering

[@andreabrown4541]

@@elieelis1234 Well, the enslaved realized they were people, jtheir oppressors didn't thinlk similarly And many white people held these same notions about black people even after slavery.

[@elieelis1234]

@@andreabrown4541 my family was the first in 1619 to import african slaves Andrea Sir George Yeardly..i am well aware of the history.

[@conniehasty2291]

i think sally was in love with jefferson women dont have sex with the same man over a period of time unless they are emotionally attached whether jefferson was in love with her is questionable he could of been but didnt want anybody to know😮

[@olublazer2722]

Can't believe she's actually trying to explain this madness in this fashion as if it was completely normal the behavior of this rapist also known Thomas Jefferson.

[@melvawages7143]

She is being factual. A good historian is factual but does not "take sides" because if they do they become suspect in not giving true facts.

[@rashida7777]

Not every fact has to be emotionally displayed. More often than it's better. ~SS Cohentown.

[@stevemccarty6384]

Thomas Jefferson is one of the greatest Americans to ever live. Read his letters. Moreover slavery while abhorant to our modern eyes was perfectly natural and legal in those days. If we cannot judge them threw our eyes. Moreover the evils of slavery are long gone today that change paid for by 600,000 American lives lost in our Civil War. We should know about slavery, but it is never going to come back and we need to understand that. It is over and everybody here is free!

[@MsSongbird32]

This is some mess.

[@stephanieharbin7989]

A true historian would never use justifications such as "I believe", "I think" and "I read a lot". Randolph Jefferson, Thomas's brother, was known to not only visit Monticello often but also to spend an excessive amount of time with the slaves. He was 13 years younger than Thomas. When Eston Hemmings was conceived, Thomas was 65 years old and in deteriorating health where as his brother was 52 and out partying with the slaves. I would encourage this woman to conduct actual objective research which obviously she has not.

[@jasone4263]

Stephanie Harbin Actually, your "research" is false. You're just repeating misinformation told by the TJHS!

[@jeansmith8969]

It is not uncommon for an older man to have children by a younger woman. So, are you implying that she had children by both men or just one? That means Randolph only came around and impregnated her when Thomas Jefferson was home. I'm pretty sure that would not have happened. I am also curious about slaves partying. If they had been allowed to party, I'm wondering when would they have time. This lady made more sense than your rationalizations.

[@stevemccarty6384]

@@jasone4263 Where is Stephan wrong? Thomas may have fathered children when in his 40s when he lived in Paris, but when he was in his mid 60s? Not likely.

[@jasone4263]

@@stevemccarty6384 How is that not likely? Men can go on having children for the rest of their lives. And that’s a fact! Men in their 60s (and beyond) have fathered children. Look at Robert De Niro! 🤷🏽‍♂️. And Thomas Jefferson was NOT in “deteriorating health” at 65. By ALL first hand accounts, he was an active man until his last years! His son, Madison Hemings wrote in his memoir that Thomas was active until his very last years.

[@jasone4263]

@@stevemccarty6384 plus, in ALL OF THE YEARS of that debate, nobody had never heard of Thomas’s brother! At all! And there’s no evidence whatsoever tying him to Sally Hemings and her children. NONE!! But there’s loads of evidence tying her and her children to Thomas! Read Madison Hemings’ memoir and Annette Gordan Reed’s book. They shed light on the situation.

[@aomidori62]

Jefferson married Martha, and she had half siblings who her dad fathered with an enslaved African woman, and Jefferson fathered children with the half sister to Martha, which is 1/2 white, that would have been 1/4, not 1/8.

[@rachelleadkinson-barringto3137]

Tam SK Not true . Sally had a biracial mother. She was quadroon not half white since her mom was half white and her dad was white. The children with Jefferson would be octaroon or 1/8th black.

[@allanbaker456]

She is presenting herself as a professional, but she is stating as fact, what is a guess. 8 Jeffersons could have been the father of Sally Hemming's children. In a court, today, if dna came back with a possibility of 8 people it would be worthless. I think it is unfair to stain a man's reputation on worthless evidence. Yes, he had slaves, but the speaker said that by law to free your slave they would have to move outside of the state. Thomas had compassion and did not want her homeless in another state. The sickest part is the motives behind this false accusation. If you tear down Thomas Jefferson you tear down his declaration, of which he inserted an anti-slavery segment, but was taken out by other founding fathers. If you make him a hypocrite, then you make the founding of America a lie. Thus, communism can reign. God forbid!

[@jasone4263]

Allan Baker But Thomas Jefferson was a hypocrite! He willingly perpetuated the horror of slavery! As far as his relationship with Sally Hemings, he was the ONLY Jefferson male who had access to her. I mean, it was her job at Monticello to take care of his room & wardrobe (she was his chambermaid). Plus you have statements from Sally's son Madison, as well as other Monticello slaves that confirm their relationship.

[@commonsense5125]

Notice how all her statements start with I believe. No proof given for any of this.

[@zhugenaut4150]

He "freed" her children or he couldnt enslave them? You are reading this enough to convince yourself? If he would have freed her she would have had to leave?What happens when you get sold? Do you think she still got to stay at home? lol. "let the records speak" indeed.

[@stevemccarty6384]

A freed slave could do whatever they wanted to do. They could leave or remain on the plantation, I guess. If, however; another person bought a slave then that slave would have to accompany its new master to his/her home. Thomas freed four slaves (as I recall). Some ran off and he did not chase them down. Some established a nail making business and they prospered by it. They eventually bought their freedom. Thomas was flat broke when he died. He could not afford to free his slaves. That task was left up to his heir, his daughter.

[@MsSongbird32]

sorry didnt mean to hit the down button..it totally agree with you , they are making up excuses and lies!!!

[@DETROIT1948]

Excellent.

[@kwesimannabintenya8448]

Was she Sally Jefferson instead of Sally Hemming since she had six (6) of Thomas Jefferson children and knew him since she was 12 years old.

[@terrionsmith1389]

Nothing is honorable about what him or his wife did. Period

[@garyknighting4319]

What exactly did they do that you can prove, as the law puts it, beyond a shadow of a doubt? Please recall that no matter how many people repeat a rumor that doesn't make it true.

[@stevemccarty6384]

Thomas Jefferson is one of the three or four greatest Americans to ever to draw breath.

[@kittygirlc4120]

It seems odd that "historians" have such difficulty admitting that Sally Hemmings had no choice as to whether or not there would be a relationship with Thomas Jefferson. Sally was a child and perhaps she found Jefferson as a much older slaveowner repulsive, but that would not have mattered as she was considered his personal property. Sadly, I believe that this author is not placing the relationship with Jefferson into the proper context!

[@garyknighting4319]

What this author has not done is to prove that there was, in fact, any relationship at all. Every contemporary account of Jefferson by anyone who actually knew him asserts that he was an honorable and moral man. The rumor that he was fathering children by his slaves was started by a notorious scandalmonger of the time, James Callender, who was furious with Jefferson for not giving him a lucrative sinecure as a postmaster after Jefferson was elected to his first term as President. Jefferson's political enemies spread the story around because it pleased them to do so. During his "career" Callender published vicious attacks on George Washington, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and other leading political figures of the time, none of which was ever proven to be true.

[@kittygirlc4120]

@@garyknighting4319, I'm sorry, but your accusations are incorrect. A considerable body of evidence stretching from 1802 to 1873 (and beyond) describes Thomas Jefferson as the father of Sally Heming's children regardless of "his morals." It was corroborated by the findings of the Y-chromosome haplotye DNA study conducted by Dr. Eugene Foster and published in the scientific journal Nature in November 1998. The DNA study did prove paternity of a Jefferson family member and corroborated the more than ample documentary and oral history evidence. Other evidence supports Thomas Jefferson's paternity as well, including his presence at Monticello during Sally Hemings's window of conception, the name of Hemings's surviving children, and the fact that all of her children were granted freedom. They were either allowed to leave the plantation, or legally emancipated in Jefferson's will which was a rare and unique occurrence among Monticello's enslaved families. In 1998, Lucian Trescott who is white and also Thomas Jefferson's sixth-great-grandson met his Hemings cousins and since that time they have united as family. You should not feel the need to defend the actions and behavior of Thomas Jefferson. What Jefferon did with an enslaved teenage girl that he owned was not uncommon at all for the era. It does not matter what you say or how you feel, you cannot usurp history. No words will remove the DNA that the Hemings descendants carry in their veins. The Hemings descendant have never sought a dime from anyone and they most certainly did not ask to be descendants of the "honorable and moral" Thomas Jefferson. In the end, Monticello now affirms that Thomas Jefferson fathered children with Sally Hemings. YOU, are not responsible for Jefferson's conduct----

[@garyknighting4319]

@@kittygirlc4120 I suppose you could argue (which is what was done here) that there is inferential evidence, even that there is circumstantial evidence, but there is no proof, and proof is what is required. Without it you're merely slandering one of the greatest men America has ever known.

[@kittygirlc4120]

@@garyknighting4319, I see that you removed one of your comments. Nevertheless, I don't bother with slandering historical figures as it is a waste of energy. If you care about history, you should care about the truth and not participate in whitewashing the facts. You are acting as if what Thomas Jefferson did was unusual. This horrible practice of white male slave owners fathering children with enslaved young women was an accepted practice. Please stop pretending as if this is all somehow a big newsflash.

[@garyknighting4319]

@@kittygirlc4120 You speak of "what Thomas Jefferson did" when you do not and cannot *know* that he did anything. You may believe what you like, and you may thank Thomas Jefferson, among others, for your freedom to do so. I am free, for example, to believe that you are a serial killer, but I have no more *proof* of that than you have that Thomas Jefferson fathered any of Sally Hemings' children. Yelling, "He did it! I know he did it!" Is both mendacious and puerile.

[@deborahwelch7110]

this man negotiated with his slave? what does that say? he was in love with his slave...

[@omtosin7331]

He negotiated with his 13 or 14 yr old slave to stay with him and in his bed. If she did he would set his own children free after 21 yrs of enslavement. In love ....you can call it that and he might have too.

[@stevemccarty6384]

No, it shows that he at some level at least respected her (and her brother).

[@supernatural2130]

She was a 14 year old girl when he made that “promise” in France. Tell that part.

[@sheilapalmer6822]

I'm a psychic medium, and agree with everything she says .except that the fact that they were truly in love. They did not show it in public. Nor did they show it on paper. They kept it privet. They are here in this day and age together. They did not meet until they where in there 30 and 40. They are very happy and in love. Sally is going to school to be a doctor . Tomas has a disability and works at home. That is all that I am allowed to give out for now. They wont there privacy.

[@karenhutton3384]

Sheila Palmer

[@karenhutton3384]

Sheila Palmer l

[@angelnafeesa5332]

what

[@thefreeman8791]

Lol. Yeah right. 😂🤣😂🤣

[@dennis771]

Very smart woman

[@missymason2377]

It survival...its reciprocal..its with consent or ? Other

[@Chatty_Cats]

Jefferson passed laws prohibiting slavery, his slaves were family, he educated them, they had jobs like by today's standards, he saved them from brutal slave traders. and further advocated against slavery. I'm the great granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson I, who is the Grandfather of President Jefferson. Jefferson I owned all of the lands that were inherited. From what I've read on the DNA results are that it proved they are Jeffersons, but it did not prove it was President Jefferson's line, it could be his Brother. Martha Jefferson Goode and Colonel Bennett Goode are my Grandparents. We welcome all cousins in this lineage and so glad that we have them all.

[@andreabrown4541]

So he prohibited slavery, yet owned 600 slaves! Make it make sense.

[@stevemccarty6384]

When they did archeological digs on the slave quarters at Monticello they uncovered pieces of musical instruments and wine glasses. We can conclude therefore, the lives of his slaves may not have been all that bad.

[@TheGreg131313]

She is so cute! Awe I just want to pinch this old lady's cheeks!

[@dianamorris5327]

Wow, that was condesending

[@TheGreg131313]

@@dianamorris5327 Why so?! She is so cute! I am not trying to insult her.She is just so cute!

[@786humaira1]

Sally Jefferson Hemmings.

[@SYAgencies0379]

I say, we stop assuming or telling her dead story. Let it be ,soon as their do i would stop defending the truth.

[@wotan237]

She makes a lot out of very little....

[@strawberryseason]

She has done consider able research and she is an acclaimed genealogist.

[@frankmc5112]

@@strawberryseason You mean a liar. I like when she says "if Madson says it" then she believes it. She's referring to Madison Hemings. Not James Madison.www.monticello.org/getting-word/people/sally-hemings

[@frankmc5112]

@@strawberryseason wallbuilders.com/thomas-jefferson-sally-hemings-search-truth/

[@patti734]

I don't believe this from what I have read. Why trash Jefferson?

[@beatricesmith3496]

BELEIVE IT ,IT HAPPENED MASTERS ALWAYS TOOK A SLAVE AS HIS MISTRESS

[@deborahhoffman7394]

If Sally consented to sexual relations with Jefferson, it was not rape. Although she was technically a slave, people make a big assumption that Sally had no choice. That may have not been true. Consider the times. And it looks likes Sally was Jefferson’s only mistress, almost common law wife. Six children and decades together reveal a kind of commitment to this relationship. The relationship is typical of many other marriages throughout history right up to the present day.

[@blackkeysmatter9944]

Legally speaking Sally aka Sarah Hemings is America's third First Lady, more than just the common law wife of Thomas Jefferson. The big Hemings-Jefferson conspiracy was between Sally and her niece Martha 'the junior' Jefferson. Both Sally and young Martha knew that Thomas never promised his dying first wife Martha the Senior Jefferson that he'd never wed again. The deathbed promise was Jefferson would never again ask for the hand of another woman, not that he'd never wed again. And it was young Martha who the dying Martha gave the job of looking after Thomas him. That left the door open for a Martha the junior arranged second marriage for Thomas. The very first Sadie Hawkins day occurred for America in France when Sally and her niece Martha agreed on the hitching up of Sally and Thomas. FYI The names Sarah, Sally and Sadie are all variations of the same name.

[@786humaira1]

Sally Hemmings must be an immensely intelligent lady and compassionate lady who stole the heart of President Jefferson. Nowadays women have difficulty in winning the heart of an ordinary Joe, and if they do half of them get to have the knot untied, and cannot keep them. In this Mr. Jefferson was a great man too, having the compassion to love anyone he wanted to, beyond color and creed barriers. ( I am sure he could have had any women of his creed if he so desired) and they both Jefferson and Sally loved each other, there is no need for a paper to love more or less. People honored their words in those days. These days they have it on paper but still do not honor it. Either the man is pecking around or woman is or both are. What use is that paper then? More important is to honor your words and commitments. that is an honorable man, and that is an honorable woman who is loyal to her man. These days sometimes unless until a DNA test is done, neither the mother or anyone else knows what and who is the lineage of the offspring is from.!!!!!!! Mr. Jefferson has had the Qur'an. And he had read it thoroughly. ( looks like he practiced to some extent too). Some even labelled him that he is a Muslim. ( when Mr. Obama visited a Mosque /Masjid, in Baltimore, he said: they even told Mr. Jefferson that he is a Muslim, so when people tell me that, I think I am in good company.) He was a strong believer in ONE God. He was a UNITARIAN. and there are at least 5 other Presidents who are UNITARIANS, if not more. The beauty of Islam is ONE God and ONE universal brotherhood. In fact all other religions, Christianity also teaches the same thing, but few follow it. Otherwise, there would not be the dehumanization of the Afro-American Men and Women in this Country.

[@Lynn-dr7rs]

I think they were in love and she was taking care of we really don't know to be true my ggg grandma was from slavery and she wrote and the family has said that she did fall in love with the master of the house but he never married and waited for her courted her in her diary which was a beautiful expensive diary stitched nicely bk in those days she would't have had that they had 6 children all have his name a beautiful love story .

[@omtosin7331]

13 or year old girls 43 year old man her owner/boss. Even if she thought she was in love, it is not a love story and nothing beautiful. She even had to "negotiate" for the freedom of "Their" children.

[@kevinchambers1101]

Sally had been the property of Martha, Jeffersons wife. At her death, Sally became the property of Martha's daughter, not Jefferson. Jefferson didn't have the power to manumit Sally. That is why it was Jeffersons daughter that manumitted Sally.

[@stevemccarty6384]

That's interesting. So Sallie Hemmings was never Thomas Jefferson's slave? I knew she was Jefferson's daughter's (Martha's) servant, but she was actually her mother's slave? Indeed, if that was the case then T.J. didn't have the authority to free Sallie! Seems like he'd have inherited his wife's belongings when she died. Did he? Anyway, thanks for the input.

[@kevinchambers1101]

@stevemccarty6384 Sally was also Martha's half-sister. That's why the Hemmings family was treated so well. That's where the discussion should be. How slave owners lived with slaves that were, in fact, blood relatives.

[@whenders83]

It bothers me that she keeps calling Hemings and Hemings mother "mistress".........NO THEY WERENT. They were oppressed. They could not by the nature of the setup EVER be a mistress.

[@stevemccarty6384]

Sallie was not "oppressed". She and her brother were free when they lived in Paris. They decided to accompany Jefferson when he returned to Monticello. They did this at his request. So they reentered slavery on their own and therefore must not have been "oppressed". Apparently slavery, at least to some people wasn't as bad as most people today think it was.

[@missymason2377]

Amazing lady. Truth.honor.

[@stevemccarty6384]

Yes, Sallie was a great woman and Thomas Jefferson was a very great man. Read his letters...

[@Steakout-jy1jj]

He did all this with a 14 year old dang straight it wasn’t love.

[@finnjones6912]

She was a minor ......and they may have come to an agreement....but he owned her. So he was not that honorable

[@markfrank5937]

How was he a good person, but started messing with her as a child?....Oh, and why wouldn't she come back to the US? He (or other family) owned her family members. 🤔

[@stevemccarty6384]

He was a great person! Sallie looked and acted like they young and beautiful women that she was! Moreover she decided on her own to accompany Thomas back to Monicello. She had learned to speak French and must have been popular in Paris. She and her brother, James confronted Thomas saying that they were free and wanted to remain in France. Thomas had to plead and negociate with them in order to convince them to return to the US with him.

[@markfrank5937]

@@stevemccarty6384so it's ok for a middle aged man to have a sexual relationship with a teenage girl?

[@stevemccarty6384]

The fact is Sallie was in Paris with her brother James. James had become a educated French chief, he and Sallie had learned French. Both were popular and they could have easily have remained in France and they confronted T.J. with the fact that they were free while living in France. He pleaded with them to return with them, promising to treat them well, and he did. They considered their options, thinking of what their lives would be like back in Monticello and they decided to return with him.

[@stevemccarty6384]

@@markfrank5937 My great grandmother who lived to be 97 was born in 1887 in Kansas. She was married at age 14. He daughter at 16. Both woman lived long and happy, productive lives.

[@markfrank5937]

@@stevemccarty6384 was her husband a middle aged man who owned her and had ownership of her family back home? 🤔

[@TheDwfreaky]

How they wasn’t in love when Sally’s bedroom was rite by his tho ... he loved her and ThatBlack PooPoo 🤷🏽‍♀️

[@kj.3755]

stop being ignorant and stupid! he only made her bedroom close to his so he can have access to her without causing problems within the household, and kept it a secret.

[@dianamorris5327]

Thats disgusting,

[@WorldPreSchool]

He’s my hero! Speak to me sir.

[@timothylines3867]

[when in the sloth]

[@stankakol5195]

The evidence shows that Randolph was the father. He was seen countless times leaving Sally's place at very early morning hours.

[@deborahshatzer7408]

People gloss over this fact. They love the salacious fictional version.

[@ninedaysqueen301]

The evidence doesn’t show Randolph was the dad. TJ’s own friends and neighbors said he was the father, he was always present when Sally conceived, the white relatives of TJ blamed the Carr brothers instead of him (which makes no sense because both were unknown relatives), and the Y-Chromosome evidence disproves the lie that Eston Hemings was fathered by a Carr, ultimately discrediting the whites family on Sally’s children’s’ paternity.

[@ninedaysqueen301]

@@deborahshatzer7408 The evidence doesn’t show Randolph was the dad. TJ’s own friends and neighbors said he was the father, he was always present when Sally conceived, the white relatives of TJ blamed the Carr brothers instead of him (which makes no sense because both were unknown relatives), and the Y-Chromosome evidence disproves the lie that Eston Hemings was fathered by a Carr, ultimately discrediting the whites family on Sally’s children’s’ paternity.

[@deborahshatzer7408]

@@ninedaysqueen301 you stated 'friends/neighbors claim TJ fathered Sally's children, but just as many people who actually lived on Monticello stated he was never seen coming from Sally's cabin, but others were seen. I believe Sally's children were fathered by several different men including irish itinerant builders. Just because Eston had Jefferson lineage does mean they all did. Thomas Jefferson would NEVER have put any of his children into a enslaved situation. Period.

[@ninedaysqueen301]

@@deborahshatzer7408 TJ’s close friend, John Hartwell Cocke, admitted the story was true twice in his private diary-one that was almost certainly not intended to be read publicly centuries later. Additionally, Elijah Fletcher visited Monticello in 1811: the neighbors did not hold back on talking about Sally and Thomas. There are problems with many of the deniers though. Edmund Bacon, who said he saw Harriet’s biological father leave Sally’s room didn’t come to Monticello until the winter of 1800-Harriet was conceived in the summer of 1800. Additionally, he was speaking to a reverend and was proud of his connection to TJ: he would have every motive to lie. TJ’s white grandkids, Ellen Randolph Coolidge and TJ Randolph, had a very inconsistent story: they didn’t agree on who was the dad (they blamed two of the Carr brothers, TJ’s nephews) and they said he fathered all of Sally’s kids-this is not true because of the DNA evidence that Eston was sired by a male Jefferson. This discredits the white grandchildren as a source of information about Sally’s children’s’ paternity. To add salt to the wound, TJ’s daughter, Patsy, took the stories about Sally in the newspaper to heart and made her children promise that after she died they would uphold his honor: they did so and lied about the paternity of TJ’s children with Sally. TJ did free his kids with Sally. When she made her conditions to return to VA with him in 1789, she made him promise to free their children born enslaved at Monticello when they turned 21-and that’s exactly what he did. It’s worth noting that Sally only conceived when TJ was at home as well. There are just too many things pointing to the relationship for any serious doubt.

[@dominicscott8984]

DNA doesn’t lie. That’s all.

[@stevemccarty6384]

The DNA proves that one of Sallie's children has a Jefferson male parentage. There were three living on Monticello, Randolf, Thomas' younger brother, an uncle and Thomas. Which was the father is unknown, but indeed the evidence leads historians to conclude the father was most likely Thomas Jefferson, but it is not and never will be a sure thing.

[@morissetruh]

that is true, Sally was mulatress or quatroon

[@stevemccarty6384]

People who later on made statements about Sallie's appearance said she looked "white". Some of her brother's lived as white people. Some didn't however, but maybe they could have if they had wanted to.

[@heatherwashington5661]

I can not say that he (Thomas Jefferson) did or did not love Sally Hemings because they did have children together DNA proves it and that was just the way things was at the time for both of them now because this was a arrangement agreed by both of them so in conclusion she did have his children and if you ask me she was very beautiful and he knew it so I am gonna say he was in love with her for all we know he may very well had told her so without public knowledge to be clear people have said many things in private that no one knew except the two of them in spite of having the arrangement when you do not know something cause you are afraid of the truth in your own right bare in mind every little detail of their relationship was never known by the world but by the two of them

[@blackkeysmatter9944]

Thomas Jefferson fell victim to Sally's brilliant mind, charm and beauty. He couldn't help but fall in love with Sally or she with him. That's the thing Helen Leary got wrong, in such relationships the love builds over time. However their relationship and love was an exceptionally dangerous thing to engage in back in those days. Had Sally, Thomas or his daughter Martha (Sally's niece) been at all open about the Sally-Thomas relationship then none of Sally's children would have lived to adulthood. Each would have become a murder victim. Secrecy was the name of the game.

[@kathleencalhoun2225]

I still am not convinced that Thomas Jefferson fathered Sally's children and not his brother and others as well. A male descendant of Sally's was the only one whose DNA was identified as belonging to the Jefferson family male lineage through Eston, but that narrows it down to either Thomas or his brother as having fathered only one of Sally's children. What about the rest of the children, and why couldn't Jefferson's brother have been there on the occasion that Eston was conceived, especially since it was reported that hid brother loved to drink and go out having a good time dancing with the slaves at Monticello? On one of those occasions, he may have found his way over to Sally's residence. There were other men who also could have fathered Sally's children who also were there the times Thomas was there. The very fact that 14-year-old Sally went inside the ship captain's cabin while she was en route to France could explain why she ended up pregnant for the very first time. When Jefferson approached Sally about this famous proposition of his in which he extended extraordinary privileges in order to convince her to accompany him back to Monticello, it may have been taken out of context. His feelings toward her may have been as a father toward a wayward daughter, not as a lover, as his reasons and intentions may have had paternal feelings toward her since he knew of the family connection to his late wife and wanted to keep his late wife's family together. I think Sally was the amorous one, and so were Thomas' male relatives, the Carrs, and were the ones frequenting Sally at night time. The overseer managing Thomas Jefferson's plantation at the time witnessed a male going inside Sally's room at night, and it wasn't Thomas.John Callender slandered Thomas in order to exact revenge for being cheated out of a post master's job, and that is why he created that rumor, which no one believed at the time allowing him to win the presidential election. Sally never received anything special from Jefferson other than the promise of having her children freed at age 21. If she had actually been Thomas' concubine, he certainly was stingy for being the generous man he was known to be, because she didn't get much else out of him. Sally never told any of those children in a deathbed confession that Thomas fathered any of her kids. If I had been mother to those kids, I would have let them know that. They always referred to Thomas as their uncle because that's what he was -- Thomas Jefferson's brother fathered Eston and possibly others as well, but not all.That was what was said at the time when they were around, and I think they would have been aware more about it than we are today, 200+ years later. I have heard both sides of the controversy and am of the conclusion that Thomas Jefferson did not horse around with Sally based on what I heard and read. There is very little written about Sally, and everyone is using their imagination in concocting a hidden romantic liaison when all the evidence tells me something to the contrary Although he never expressed his opinion publicly about the concubine relationship allegation by John Callender, privately he told his friends and confidantes that his his conduct would prove that wrong, which everyone who knew him accepted. He probably never there would be a big debate surrounding this issue 200 years later. I basing my conclusion on having researched this subject thoroughly myself.

[@blissfulbymonet9222]

He fathered her children end of story

[@wotan237]

So there is a "Jefferson chromosome" haha what rot.

[@omtosin7331]

DNA ever heard of it?

[@katrinawilliams2101]

This woman sound bitter he loved her more than his wife had many children with her and probably with other slaves let's not get it twisted he is no hero

[@TheBatugan77]

Randy was the Daddy-o? Guess claiming Tommy had more cache. Maybe they were both tapping her? WHO dat!

[@ninedaysqueen301]

Randolph Jefferson was not the dad-he is a fall guy for the people in denial.

[@laman8914]

Typical a white Christian reasoning; either denying their own evils or talking it right. Thomas Jefferson, irrespective of how special he was, was a slave driver and took advantage of a young girl who he 'owned' and enslaved. Sally Hemings had to pressure him into agreeing about freeing the children he would have with her before she allowed him to have sex with her. She was fortunate enough to have seen how people of color were treated more fairly in France than in the US and that's what she wanted for her children. If not, Jefferson would have done the same to her children as he had done to her. Remember, Sally was above the 1/8 rule and still, he did not free her. So, it had nothing to with "mutual understanding". Given the reality of slavery at the time, she had no choice but she made sure she made the right choice for her children.

[@billwilliams699]

3/4 is greater than 1/8

[@coachfuzz524]

Thomas Jefferson Epstein

[@matoakatutoring]

She can't even pronounce Aunt Sally's name correctly she's not Sandra it's SALLY! Get the name straight lady she said it wrong then said it right 😑 video was cut obviously they corrected her on it

[@heatherwashington5661]

No one wants to be raped but back then they were and no I am not changing what I said prior because during that time was a hard time for women and yes they was raped and if they did not go along with it they were beaten even killed right after it happened so now having said that I still say over time things between the two of them did change so it happens the children came now that is it and I will say he did love her maybe not at first but who is to say over time that they were lovers

[@juliaguerra662]

There’s no honorable anything in this. It’s a power relationship where slaves are forced. Why does this person insist on painting this as a dating thing? Crazy nonsense

[@blackkeysmatter9944]

From the Rape Trial of Thomas Jefferson: dc: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury in this, our highest Court of public opinion. My client President Jefferson stands here accused of many things, including the crime of rape... oops... My apologies your honor... as defending counsel I got a bit ahead of myself. If it please the Court, I wish to submit this report on my client’s current condition into evidence. yh: Any objections Ms. prosecuting person. pp: No objections your honor. yh: You may proceed Mr. dc. dc: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. A group of experts issued this report on my client’s current condition. These are the findings of a highly respected team of intellectually diverse and renowned organizations including: The American Medical Association, the American Dental Association and the Professional Bowlers’ Tour. They wrote and I quote: “It is our unanimous opinion that President Thomas Jefferson has been six feet under the weather for an extended period of time. And save for a well-timed zombie apocalypse, it is our considered opinion that Mr. Jefferson will be unable to stand in Court accused, or even attend his own trial to face any charges filed against him.” Given this irrefutable evidence your honor, I ask you please to instruct the jury in regards to my client’s non-appearance. yh: The jury will disregard Mr. Jefferson’s absence during this trial. No just verdict can be reached or in any way influenced based upon the defendant’s non-appearance in this Court. His guilt or innocence must be based on the facts presented. Obviously, in the event of President Jefferson’s sudden appearance here we’d have bigger issues to deal with given the whole zombie apocalypse thing. dc: Thank you your honor. yh: This Court is hereby adjourned. We will reconvene at a later date. Noting that the late, late Mr. Jefferson isn’t going anywhere until then.

[@davidhammond1475]

how the hell is anyone who enslaves another honorable??? GTFOH

[@farmerconnie9131]

She was a child, just sayin...

[@donnamorrow5556]

When I was 16, I was not a child!