Thomas Jefferson

[Mojo]

http://theweek.com/speedreads/70992...hemings-quarters-thomas-jeffersons-monticello

Wasn't sure if this was the correct location for this, but wasn't sure where else to post it.

This being Independence Week, I thought a little historical post was appropriate.

Would you consider Jefferson and Hemmings' relationship to be a concubine relationship, and a success story of polygyny done completely by biblical precepts, even if Jefferson wasn't a stout believer?

*For those unfamiliar, Thomas Jefferson fathered several children with Sally Hemmings ( a Black slave) and cared for her and the children. I believe he even made provisions for her in his will. The "rumors" were known about for years, but now it's all becoming public knowledge. He seems to have really loved her and took full responsibility for her.

Comments?

 

[MissJ]

Well I would say yes. At least from what history portrays of Jefferson and Hemings. It would be nice to have a full account. But from what we know of history at that point in time, Heming was quite loved by Jefferson.

 

[FollowingHim]

Hadn't heard this one before. Looks like biblical concubinage to me. I don't know about polygyny though, what I read (briefly) had no suggestion that the relationship began before his wife passed away, the consensus seemed to be that he simply turned to her after his wife died.

Saying "this is biblical" could be misinterpreted by some readers as an endorsement of Jefferson keeping her as a slave. Some readers could interpret this as Jefferson holding a woman captive and having sex with her against her will, and then looking at it from that angle find the entire thing despicable. However this is looking at it with modern prejudices and assumptions, without understanding the culture of the day. At that time even "free" wives often married the person their father told them to, and then had no real options for divorce - yet such arranged marriages can even today be more loving than romantic ones. If you remove the label "slave" and just think of her as a woman who was bound to Jefferson for life in a relationship that became loving and resulted in many children, then I think we get a clearer view. Removing the terminology it just becomes marriage by another name.

 

[Mojo]

Hadn't heard this one before. Looks like biblical concubinage to me. I don't know about polygyny though, what I read (briefly) had no suggestion that the relationship began before his wife passed away, the consensus seemed to be that he simply turned to her after his wife died.

Saying "this is biblical" could be misinterpreted by some readers as an endorsement of Jefferson keeping her as a slave. Some readers could interpret this as Jefferson holding a woman captive and having sex with her against her will, and then looking at it from that angle find the entire thing despicable. However this is looking at it with modern prejudices and assumptions, without understanding the culture of the day. At that time even "free" wives often married the person their father told them to, and then had no real options for divorce - yet such arranged marriages can even today be more loving than romantic ones. If you remove the label "slave" and just think of her as a woman who was bound to Jefferson for life in a relationship that became loving and resulted in many children, then I think we get a clearer view. Removing the terminology it just becomes marriage by another name.

Yes, marriage by all accounts, but still a slave, so concubinage is probably best used (yes, the children seem to have been born AFTER his first wife died). But here's an interesting wrinkle...some historians believe Sally may have been his wife's half sister!

"According to Madison Hemings, Sally's mother Elizabeth Hemings (1735-1807) was the daughter of an African woman and an English sea captain. By Madison Hemings's and other accounts, Sally Hemings and some of her siblings were the children of John Wayles, Thomas Jefferson's father-in-law, making her the half-sister of Jefferson's wife, Martha Wayles Jefferson (1748-1782). Elizabeth Hemings and her children lived at John Wayles' plantation during his lifetime."

https://www.monticello.org/site/pla...mas-jefferson-and-sally-hemings-brief-account