Thomas Jefferson Scandal
Matt Hill
Gossip, Rumor, Scandal
Thomas Jefferson is known today for being a key author of the Declaration of Independence, and the founder of the modern Democratic Party. No one argues that Jefferson is a Founding Father of this country and continues to be remembered for his great accomplishments. What many people don’t know is that he probably had an affair with one of his slaves named Sally Hemings for over 30 years, and rumors about this relationship runnel into one of the countries first political scandals. Throughout this paper I will cover what actually happened and what appears to have happened between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, some of the evidence that went into finding this scandal out, and also how Jefferson’s legacy has been affected by this scandal. This scandal does and should have an effect on Jefferson’s legacy as a Founding Father, first it is important to know some history of the scandal and what actually took place.
Jefferson’s wife Martha died at an early age in 1781. After this Jefferson decided to become a Minister in France. In 1784 Jefferson and his daughter Mary went to France and arrived in Paris accompanied with a slave they owned named Sally Hemings. Jefferson was particularly fond of the Hemings and her children and they were with him for almost his whole life. Thomas and his daughters Mary and Martha along, with Hemings stayed in Paris for twenty-six months until returning to their Monticello estate in Virginia in 1789. The whole scandal is believed to have begun in Paris in when Thomas and Sally started their 38-year relationship, and Thomas Jefferson fathered 6 or 7 of Sally’s children.
There is another scandal or rumor involved with Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson’s late wife Martha. According to Madison Hemings Sally and some of her siblings was the daughter of John Wayles, and English sea captain and an African Woman. If this were true Sally Hemings would have been the half-sister of Thomas...
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