Who Was Thomas Jefferson? by Dennis Brindell Fradin

Author:Dennis Brindell Fradin [Fradin, Dennis Brindell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781101639993
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2003-07-27T16:00:00+00:00

Sally Hemings was not only a slave. She was closely related to Jefferson’s late wife. Martha Jefferson’s parents were John and Martha Wayles. Martha’s father also had six children with one of his slave women. These children were considered black and were raised as slaves. Sally was one of them. Because they had the same father, Martha and Sally were half-sisters. After John Wayles’s death in 1773, Sally had become Martha and Thomas Jefferson’s slave at Monticello.

Sally Hemings probably looked like her half-sister. She may have reminded Thomas of Martha in other ways. Jefferson began a relationship with Sally. She had little if any choice in the matter. Because Jefferson was her master, Sally had to do what he wanted. This was just one of the many evil things about slavery. Yet over time, it appears that Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson grew very fond of each other. They would maintain their relationship for nearly forty years.

In 1789, Sally Hemings became pregnant. Thomas Jefferson was the father. By then, Jefferson had been overseas for five years. He wanted to go home. Congress said he could. But Jefferson had one problem. Under French law, Sally could become free by staying in France. She agreed to return to the U.S. only if Jefferson made her a promise. Their children had to be freed once they reached adulthood. Sally may have also asked for her own freedom one day as well.

Jefferson agreed. In the fall of 1789, he sailed for home with Sally Hemings and his two daughters. They barely made it. Off Virginia’s coast, a storm lashed their ship, ripping away some of the sails. Then another vessel nearly rammed into them. Their ship also caught fire—but fortunately, just after they had landed.

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