Jefferson was a man by far removed from his own conscience. He raped his 14 year old slave, caused her to bare 6 children for him that he then enslaved, never acknowledged nor accepted, imagine what thoughts went through his "mixed kids" minds whilst they was made to serve their "white" siblings, they may have had different mothers, but he was the biological father to them all!! what a wicked man. He was shy on the surface but his ruthlessness ran deep. He made that young girl and her kids suffer, he made their lives a living misery. There is no love story here, just years of abuse to Sally and his own children...
@@m.m.5286 Many try to put "ribbons and bow clips" on this story to "pretty" things up, however there is nothing pretty about this story, they are gaslighted by Jeffersons clear cognitive dissonance because he wrote the declaration of independence! How are all men free? Whilst enslaving your own flesh and blood? We all have a conscience which tells us what is right and wrong...
"caused her to bare 6 children for him" I think you meant *bear* 6 children. Bare means: "uncover (a part of the body or other thing) and expose it to view". Admittedly, he might have demanded that too.
I know, every time I read or hear about him, I am just disgusted. I am a biracial woman, I have a black mother and a white father, it used to make me think of what would have happened to me and my siblings if we were alive then. I absolutely refuse to celebrate a statutory rapist who enslaved his own children.
I love your videos, but when a slave master has a sexual relationship with one who is enslaved it’s rape, not an affair-there’s a clear power imbalance. Lets start normalising this language instead
@Peppermint Snowdrift To be fair, we do know she was 14. 14 year olds can't consent. I can't imagine a scenario where it wouldn't be rape due to her age.
Random Username In modern standards, it would absolutely be rape. At the time, there really wasn't one defined age of consent like there is now. States could set their own ages of consent and most of the set ages were like 10-12 until the end of the 1800s, although Delaware set theirs to 7 for some ungodly reason. Legally, she could have consented because she was 14, but it's rape any way you slice it. She was his legal property and the law didn't care, unfortunately. She would have to have been a literal child for him to have been held accountable for what he did to her (if she was lucky). What he did was absolutely wrong and inexcusable, but it was technically legal, which is the worst part.
As a slave once said, you either laid down or they put you down by force. Sally Hemmings had no choice. The family left behind caught Hell if a slave took their freedom.
except the DNA evidence of Sally's first born son conceived in France was proven NOT to be of the Jefferson male line by the DNA test. Tom Woodson was not of the Jefferson line.. The two that were, were born in 1805 and 08 of the Jefferson line could have been any of 8 Jefferson males that were there. Sally born in 1773 would have been 31/32 and 33/34. Thomas Jefferson would have been 63 and 65 at the time which is possible however more unlikely. No Viagra then. More likely it was Jefferson's younger brother or nephew
In his original copy of the Declaration, Jefferson included a paragraph forbidding slavery in the new United States of America. This was removed from the declaration by the second Continental Congress because they feared that the South would not fight with them if slavery was abolished. In his will, Jefferson supported both Sally Hemings and all of her children. He hated slavery. He inherited over 600 slaves. Under Virginia law, any freed slave must be supplied with adequate funds to leave the state and never return. Jefferson was always land rich but cash poor. This law was later changed to forbid freeing slaves at all. Jefferson did manage to free all of his slaves in his will. I believe he truly loved Sally Hemings. His affair with her began after his wife died in childbirth, along with his son. By law, Jefferson could not marry Sally but he was faithful to her all of his life.
@nbenefiel, there was no affair. The weak evidence is held up above other primary sources for political reasons. The likely culprit it Thomas Jefferson brother who often socialized with the slaves
Take into account jeffersons personal feelings about slavery and the incompatibility of black and whites cohabitation. Something never expressed in depth by his eccentric brother.
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I get what you're saying but putting it in the context of history slave trader makes it sounds a million times worse which it was. Chattle slavery is not the same as human trafficking.
Honestly, Thomas Jefferson was a good husband to Martha and seemed to really love her. However, hearing Sally Hemmings' family history of the women in her family being used as enslaved concubines/bedfellows, is so sad.
@Jason Bailey I can't acknowledge anything 'good' about slavery and rape, any less than I can acknowledge the genocide committed in my own country of Indigenous people as 'good'. It's hard to be civil about something that is still causing huge social disparities and has implications to the present day because we just like to gloss over it and not properly address it.
@Jason Bailey dude obviously people remember the "good", it was literally the founding of our country. Every student from elementary to highschool is taught only the "good". Believe it not, it's the bad that gets glossed over. I took ap world history, and ap us history, and never in class did my teacher go over the reprehensible actions of our founding fathers. The only reason I know about the bad is because, I choose to research further than what the textbooks said. I get your point about remembering both the good and bad, but it's important to acknowledge that for most of history up until now, only the good has been acknowledged.
Great video, as always. I do have one critique.... I understand that you can't say the word "rape" due to RU-vid's algorithm. Perhaps you could word it as a "non-consensual relationship", something like that. Because that's exactly what it was. Slave girls had no right to resist their master's sexual advances, so she was hardly a mistress.
Thanks for pointing this out. I feel like this comment was helpful. She did say that there is no proof it was consensual, but history shows us it likely was not. Sally had no choice in the matter.
@@jackienicole7477 You're inserting modern day standard into the mindset of people back then. The relationship was certainly not consensual because she had no say in it. But that alone doesn't mean she did not want to be his mistress. People are always calculating to increase their chance of survival, that's just biology 101, and at the time the notion of romantic love is not prevalent. It's not difficult to picture Sally "consenting" to the relationship for her own survival needs.
Yes let’s stop trying to romanticize slavery he raped and abused a 14 year old girl he owned no matter what Hollywood tries to tell you he raped his slave
@Carolynska S Female slaves didn’t have the right to refuse unwanted sexual advances. In Paris, at 16, she agreed to return to enslavement to get certain privileges for herself and her children. That’s how her children got their freedom. Plus she never got any freedom. She wasn’t a lover, she was a rape victim.
@Carolynska SShe negotiated with Jefferson to return back to enslavement in America for privileges for her unborn children and some for herself. And she got pregnant in Paris, that’s the point.
@Carolynska S He came home and raped her, stop romanticizing a rapist. They were freed because Sally negotiated with Jefferson to return to enslavement years before.
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family is a good read about Sally Hemming and the history of her family. It’s a long one but an extensive history.
@@80Charper the DNA evidence of Sally's first born son conceived in France was proven NOT to be of the Jefferson male line by the DNA test. Tom Woodson was not of the Jefferson line.. this disproves some of the oral history they passed down. The two that were of the Jefferson line were born in 1805 and 08 could have been any of 8 Jefferson males that were there. Sally born in 1773 would have been 31/32 and 33/34. Thomas Jefferson would have been 63 and 65 at the time which is possible however more unlikely. No Viagra then. More likely it was Jefferson's younger brother or nephew So some of the history is not accurate
@@msvalarnett except the DNA evidence of Sally's first born son conceived in France was proven NOT to be of the Jefferson male line by the DNA test. Tom Woodson was not of the Jefferson line.. The two that were, were born in 1805 and 08 of the Jefferson line could have been any of 8 Jefferson males that were there. Sally born in 1773 would have been 31/32 and 33/34. Thomas Jefferson would have been 63 and 65 at the time which is possible however more unlikely. No Viagra then. More likely it was Jefferson's younger brother or nephew
Well, if you want to read about the descendants of Sally Hemings, you should read their books. One is by Shannon Lanier, and another is by Byron Woodson. Historians tried very hard to keep this history hidden for 150 years. The history was recovered by a black scholar, W. Edward Farrison (1954) and two white women, who were not Southerners, Pearl M. Graham (1961) and Fawn Brodie (1974, 350,000 copies)). Pearl Graham did not even have a college degree. Barbara Chase-Riboud used Brodie's research for a novel, Sally Hemings. The novel sold well over a million copies (1979). If you try to figure out what happened after Chase-Riboud's book was published, it gets very complicated. Mountains of dishonesty. It's about as complex as the last 60 years of Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Not as bloody, just as complex. Think about it. Chase-Riboud's novel sold more than a million copies; a movie Jefferson in Paris came out in 1995. Then the historians start to talk about a DNA test. Think about it. The historians never acknowledged the evidence in Brodie's book. History first. DNA next. Newsman James Callender wrote an article for a Richmond newspaper, Sept. 1, 1802. He wrote T.J. had a concubine named Sally. Sally had a son named Tom - 12 years old. Callender said that she had more children, but Callender never named them. Historians like Annette Gordon-Reed (Pulitzer Prize) say that the baby died soon after being born. Think about it. The baby was born in 1790 right after they returned from France. If the baby died, then why was Callender writing about him in 1802? Somebody has a bogus story. Also, in 1802 a man named Thomas Gibbons wrote a letter to a politician saying that T.J. and Sally gave birth to Tom, Hariot, and Beverly. If the baby died why was Gibbons writing about him in 1802? The newspapers never named the other two kids, so Gibbons had his own info. You can figure it out; Pearl Graham did. Dr. Eugene Foster promised the DNA donors that he would notify them of the results before the thing went public. He promised to keep historians away from the process until the results were published. The lab work may or may have been perfect, but the reporting was hijacked. Historian Joseph Ellis went on PBS News Hour - 11/2/1998 - and announce the reputed results. Foster did not know Ellis. DNA donors found out what was going on from the Washington Post. Put pants on Gordon-Reed and you got Clarence Thomas. Both born in the Deep South and graduated Harvard Law. So, after you figure it out, you can go over to Jerusalem and do the easy one. Don't you just love the South!
Okay, the skewed power balance of a much older master and teenage slave girl made Jefferson and Hemings' relationship gross enough. But the fact that Thomas was so grief-stricken by his wife's death and then turned to Sally, who was his wife's half-sister and "looked so much like her", takes things up to a whole other psychological level. Their whole relationship was messed up and really sad.
I've done genealogy for the last 20 years. You'd be surprised how many times I've see a widowed man marry his sister-in-law. I've even see one divorced man marry his sister-in-law. Romantic love wasn't always the priority in such relationships.
except the DNA evidence of Sally's first born son conceived in France was disproven by the DNA test. Tom Woodson was not of the Jefferson line.. The two that were born in 1805 and 08 of the Jefferson line could have been any of 8 Jefferson males that were there. Thomas Jefferson would have been 63 and 65 at the time which is possible however more unlikely. No Viagra then. More likely it was Jefferson's younger brother or nephew
These ideas may seem gross to you, however, few could afford the luxury of feelings. Their circumstances were paramount. What protection could be afforded Sally if simply freed with a newborn in a strange country? A country nearly in utter revolt.
@@lolodee3528 No, no, no, no. What we're not going to do is try to justify a grown-ass man preying on a much younger enslaved person for sex and emotional companionship. That's not okay, no matter the time period or circumstances. And trying to excuse it with, "Well, Sally couldn't have been freed because she would've suffered a more difficult life!" is really telling of you when I didn't mention anything about her being freed. Should she have been freed? Absolutely. She never should've been a slave in the first place. But if she HAD to stay, she could have remained in the household working for Jefferson without him abusing the power he had over her.
@@neilnelmar8007 She was a slave, she wasn’t out in the fields but she was still working for them in other aspects, that doesn’t mean she isn’t a slave.
I love that you don’t sugar coat our history. As with all history of mankind, there is good and bad mixed in. It does injustice to our story to deny either. We can’t change it, but we can acknowledge it for what it is, and work to prevent its repeat.
DisplacerKatSidhe she also points out that the affairs may have been consensual or forced, but we don’t know because that information was never written or spoken by the individual women involved. Some slave women knew their lives and those of their children would be easier if they gave in to their white masters. Unfortunately, this concept is something that women have had to confront for centuries. You don’t get to decide what they felt or chose to do, neither does Lindsey. But she does acknowledge that there were often two roads for women to choose, and if they didn’t leave us their thoughts, we simply don’t know.
As much as you can say that Jefferson did amazing things to promote American democracy, what happened with Sally Hemmings was vile and should not be glossed over. I'm as disappointed as anyone else, but it is the truth. He was a great (in his abilities) and yet terrible man. Also, it's like when I found out as a teenager that my historical crush, Potemkin, had sexual relationships with his own nieces, possibly having groomed them since childhood. I was absolutely devastated and I didn't want to give up my ideas of who the man was - brilliant, intelligent, funny and charming, from everything positive that had been written about him - but I realized that it is both possible that he was all of those things, and yet still capable of doing evil things like that. We're seeing that so often in the modern day with celebrities' behavior coming to light, and it's a thing we have to get our heads around and not ignore.
Ok so first, I absolutely love this channel! But if Sally Humings was 14 when she was sent to France, she did not “start a sexually relationship” with anyone. It’s sad.
Back in those days it was "Old enough to bleed = Old enough to breed" Marriage at 14 to 18 was the norm for most girls/women prior to the early 20th century in Europe/America. Child brides are very common in Muslim and other soceities in this day and age! Slavery is also common in Muslim societies. Why? Because Muhammad did it.
@here Regardless of age of consent. Sally Hemmings was an enslaved human. Being a slave you have no right to consent. So for the RU-vidr Lindsay to state that Sally Hemmings “started” a sexual relations is still a disgusting statement. Also nice little rant on the religion of Islam and Muslim. You know if you’re gonna be racist and say you hate Muslims just say it as opposed to hiding behind being “informational”.
@@andrewkwon2808 except the DNA evidence of Sally's first born son conceived in France was proven NOT to be of the Jefferson male line by the DNA test. Tom Woodson was not of the Jefferson line.. The two that were, were born in 1805 and 08 of the Jefferson line could have been any of 8 Jefferson males that were there. Sally born in 1773 would have been 31/32 and 33/34. Thomas Jefferson would have been 63 and 65 at the time which is possible however more unlikely. No Viagra then. More likely it was Jefferson's younger brother or nephew
@@here_we_go_again2571 and in most of Africa too. The DNA evidence of Sally's first born son conceived in France was proven NOT to be of the Jefferson male line by the DNA test. Tom Woodson was not of the Jefferson line.. The two that were, were born in 1805 and 08 of the Jefferson line could have been any of 8 Jefferson males that were there. Sally born in 1773 would have been 31/32 and 33/34. Thomas Jefferson would have been 63 and 65 at the time which is possible however more unlikely. No Viagra then. More likely it was Jefferson's younger brother or nephew
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These slave owners did not “have affairs”, “take concubines” or “take lovers” with the enslaved Black women on their plantations. They were seen and treated as property. They were repeatedly raped in power dynamics based on collusion, force and sacrifices for their safety and that of their enslaved children. I typically like your content but this content is SO disappointing and irresponsible. These are not romantic stories. Their history are stories of rape patriarchy and rape capitalism.
Exactly!! I always hate it when history is told this way. A human being who is owned by another person CANNOT consent. It wasn’t an affair, it was rape. This needs to be stressed. There is a great video by Renegade that covers the lives of the founding fathers and emphasizes this point and addresses the issue.
YESSSSSSSSS I was going to say the same damn thing! They did not have affairs. The would constitute consent, this was not the case with enslaved women. They had no choice!
You are right. I take back what I wrote earlier. I guess it does not matter how others try to say it , we will never be satisfied. Lol. It is a gut hit to us knowing she had no choice, and our first response is to attack. Sorry! Here’s a name. Ida B Wells.
Ive been waiting for the part two Thanks Lindsay 💗💗💗 Subscribed and notifications Im 15 and listening to you makes learning about history do much more relaxing and interesting
Since slavery was illegal in France, I wonder if any of Jefferson’s slaves ran when they had the chance. Not that likely if they didn’t speak French, but still...
Yeah Jefferson's black descendents sued to have their ancestry legally recognized so they could be buried at Monticello, so they did a DNA test and discovered that they were even more closely related than what would've been seen had they just been descended from Jefferson.
Back in the days they kept it all in the family.... And in some cultures this is still practiced so in the end we are all related as gross and weird as that may seem lol
EDIT: to clarify I think Lindsey did an excellent job on this video, especially when she explained the dynamic between Sally and Jefferson I just think in these types of situations it needs to be called out for exactly what it was. Affair would not be an appropriate term for a slave holder to be sleeping with their slave due to the obvious power dynamic ...
Right, if Lindsay didn't want to be demonitized for saying rape, she couldve said "forced relationship" or "forced himself on her" or "non consensual relationship" there were ways around it but she sugar coated it
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I’d almost argue Martha Jefferson Randolph had as much as an impact as her mother, if not more, in her father’s life and in the United States as a ‘founding mother’
I’m really disappointed to hear Lindsay using language like “lovers”, “affair”, “concubine” when describing the horrors perpetrated onto enslaved women. It’s actually pretty devastating. I understand a desire to remain impartial, but condemning the actions of slave owners, men AND women (notably a lot of these women in this series were slave owners), is a privilege that we have, living now. It’s important for us not to sweep it under the rug as “Everyone was doing it at the time”, and we confront our past head on and take accountability for perpetuating the ‘hero’ narratives of these horrible people. Because not everyone was doing it at the time, abolitionists were alive and kicking at the time of the founding of America. People knew what was right. Lindsay, it sucks that you’re putting these people on a pedestal, and it makes me question the narratives you sell in your other European content too.
Keep in mind if she used the word “rape” in this video to describe the relationship this may have been demonetized. She used certain words that pointed in that direction probably to keep that from happened. Even the word “assault” said in a video can lead to a demonetization.
Eboneye Sure, demonetisation is a huge issue and I understand why she wouldn’t have wanted to include language like rape or assault, but calling an enslaved person a “lover” or saying they “had an affair” is pointedly erasing unacceptable, non consensual behaviours of the men she’s referring to. She says “we don’t know the nature of the relationship” and she’s right, but absolutely brushes over how young Sally was, or how the law of inheriting the mothers status as a slave was purposefully crafted for these situations. I just think it’s a shame that so much important context is removed from a video that is supposed to be shining a light on these women.
What other words could Lindsay have used anyway? It would probably be better if she didn’t do a video on this topic so she would be blasted by everybody in this comment section.
@Peppa Pig Fan I noticed a lot of people making comments towards her language and I find it sad. Lindsay should be able to be to share some history without people going at her like that tbh. I understand some history is dark and just down right disgusting, but I agree with you. Also, love your pfp x3
@@creamymarshmxllow2830 she couldve used the word "force himself on her" or something like that if she did not want to use the word "rape" there were ways around demonitizing but she refused to tell the whole truth and sugar coated it
I am a young black Virginian, my mothers entire lineage goes back to the time of early settlement in Jamestown and it is sadly well known that we are descendants of Thomas Jefferson. What I did NOT know is that it was his wife’s sister and truly disgusts me! (Along with everything else lmfao)
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Our history books need to be rewritten to be truthful. Unpopular opinion here but I'm not mad at Lindsay's narration. While it's true she can't say certain words because the video will be demonetized (which to me is a form of oppression. Not everyone is a damn makeup guru), those are words that were used at the time. I doubt she in any way condones what happened & she did note that Sally had no choice. Unfortunately a lot of movies & TV shows romanticize slave & owner relationships as forbidden love affairs & I'm sure that's not the way it went.
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Just sitting here with my mind boggled at the thought of being the daughter or son of the master of the house but instead of proper food or shelter (and all the other social luxuries that should have been theirs by right) having no choice but to work for him as one of his items of inventory. It’s bizarre! “Offered as a bedfellow…” 😡 not only did they buy their slaves, they created them…🤯
There was a film done called 'Jefferson in Paris,' which showed the 'relationship' between Jefferson, played by Nick Nolte, and Sally Hemmings, played by Thandie Newton. It was an okay film, showing the disparity and horrors faced by Hemmings while in Paris with Jefferson, and how she was treated by Jefferson's daughter Martha. He may have felt love for her, but her own affections for him were likely based in power and fear. That being said, Sally Hemmings was breathtakingly beautiful, as evidenced by her portrait. My main complaint with the 'Jefferson in Paris' film was that it showed King Louis and Marie-Antoinette as being much older than they were in reality.
ironic that thomas jefferson .....was busy writing the declaration of independence , while owning slaves , who were busy building his dream home..............it has been written that betty hemings , just could not understand why sally , would come back to the u.s. from france , for any reason...............
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I suggest all visit Monticello. Next door is a beautiful Apple & Peach Orchard one can pick apples and peaches. Their Peach cider is amazing as is the apple cider donuts. A Grist Mill is also nearby on same road with gift shop and pioneer homes. Martha Washington apparently loathed Jefferson. But didn't describe why.
I love that you do this. I have literally my entire life how to track down female historical figures and when I found information it is been pretty sparse. The fact that you go into it so deeply gives me hope for the future and has made it much easier to teach my own daughter who is 9 years old about powerful strong women throughout history. I love it. Could you tackle female Artisans through history next?
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"...Sally was in no position to refuse this absurdly unbalanced arrangement..." She goes on to call it coercion. So even the narrator here knows it was rape, you all.
I’m not sure that Sally would not have wanted to be sexually involved with Thomas Jefferson. She had seen both her mother and her grandmother get special treatment and rise to the top of the slave hierarchy by becoming the mistress or concubine of the master. It was one of the few ways that a slave girl could get ahead and improve her position. If you have ever visited Monticello, you will see that Sally had a very nice brick house built right on the back porch of the main house. It is obvious that Jefferson wanted to keep her close by. She seems to have been treated better than Deborah Franklin.
@@ActuallyDoubleGuitars The way she presented was very misleading. Without context or you don't pay too much attention you can believe it was a regular consent affair. There was no love in this relationship otherwise he would have free her immediately and same for the children. He slept with her only because she was a beautiful youg girl who looked like his dearest wife!
@@donrog5035 I'm not at all saying they had a consensual relationship nor do I believe they did, all I was saying is the creator of this video didn't insinuate it either. She never once used the word consent or insuiated such in the video which the OP was putting on her.
Can you do more videos about US Presidents life stories because I’m currently studying them and developing a great interest or are royals more your thing?
There is a historical fiction novel called America's First Daughter that goes over the life of Jefferson's oldest daughter Patsy. Talks about Sally Hemmingings and Jefferson too. The same author also did a book on Eliza Hamilton
Yeah, but Tom didn't take another woman after Sally. They were together for 38 years. That says something. He loved her, according to Sally's descendants.
Honestly before I watch this for the first time I had no idea Thomas Jefferson even had a wife I thought he just never married turns out he was a widow before he even became president
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The picture shown in the Avatar of Sally Hemmings is not an actual portrait of her. She never had one done. I'm sitting on the fence as to whether is was Thomas Jefferson that fathered Sally's children. For many years I assumed it was him but recently I read the argument that that is was actually one of his brothers. Not saying yes or no. But it was convincing enough for me to question if it was really TJ. DNA testing will have to become more advanced to determine the particular father. As of right now it only shows family line which leaves 8 people.
@@aleasyah3032 The charge against me Is a connection with one James Reynolds! (James Reynolds!) For purposes of Improper speculation My real crime is an (My real crime is an) Amorous connection with his wife (Amorous connection with his wife) For a considerable time With his knowing consent
