In Defense of Thomas Jefferson: The Sally Hemings Sex Scandal

Mr. Hyland's book provides a well-written, logical, and technically supported review of an issue which has been abused by the politically-correct crowd and those intent on rewriting history...namely, his alleged paternity of his slave's children as initially published in 1802 by a political muckraker. The issue grew legs after a highly controversial and misleading publication of the dna test and the possibility of Jefferson's paternity and spawned several books and articles denigrating Jefferson's character, motivations, and value to our country, all the while using a misleading application of said dna test, hear-say, innuendo and imagination as the mainstay of their assumptions. Hyland brings witnesses for and against the defendant, and discusses their significance to the case; their testimony being their written statements (or books) on the subject of Jefferson's character and actions. Most interesting and surprising are those allied against Jefferson. There is an apparent concerted effort and collusion between an eminent Jeffersonian history scholar at the university Jefferson founded, together with individuals at the foundation responsible for the maintenance of Jefferson's home and other noted history and law professors, all intent on denigrating Jefferson's legacy and his effect on our nation for reasons not quite clear. There is some allusion to an effort at moral equivalency with the timing of the Jefferson/Hemings dna release coinciding with the Clinton impeachment. Then there are those who are apparently intent on making Jefferson the posterboy for racial inequality, mysogeny, and miscegenation and making up history, or dismissing documented history, to effect their ends. Throughout the book the underlying idea is that Jefferson is being assaulted by loosely termed (and in some cases discredited) "historians" with the idea of "presentism"; or a manner of reviewing and judging the subject through the glasses of our present social myopia instead of basing the history on known facts from another place in time. It is one thing to assume that because one child of Hemings carried a Jefferson paternal haplotype (along with about 24 other sexually mature male Jeffersons) that he was related to a Jefferson; it is another thing entirely to base one's credibilty on the available facts and decree that Jefferson fathered any or all Hemings' children. This book is a refreshing new look at this issue without the emotional, racial, and political foment that has been wrought by those with an axe to grind.

The last 40 years in American historiography have seen the rise of the "revisionist" historian. These historians take a political stance and ramrod all history through this prism. The larger issues of race and gender as well as the "hot potato" of slavery has clouded the judgment of many people when considering the EVIDENCE of the Jefferson-Hemmings "affair". They want to take down the heroic image of a "rich, white, man" and elevate the stature of a poor slave woman. This is all well and good IF and ONLY IF the evidence bears this out. Unfortunately for many paternity believers, the historical evidence points toward another Jefferson as the father of Eston Hemmings (the DNA match). We can see the same brand of revisionism at work in communist theory "popular histories", feminist theory histories, and queer theory histories that manipulate the evidence to prove Jefferson raped a 14 year old slave, or Michelangelo was homosexual, or Julius Caesar was attempting to overthrow Rome's bourgeoisie and thus was murdered. Believe it or not, books have been written attempting to prove all this. As someone who reads a lot of history, I can give the reader of this review an easy way to tell if you are reading good, solid history, or revisionist BS -- if the author is "psychoanalyzing" the person in question it's bunk. Ask any psychologist if they would feel comfortable offering authoritative statements about a person they have never had "on their couch." Historians can't use Freudian approaches to come to new conclusions about people who lived centuries ago. If you think Jefferson had a sexual relationship with Sally Hemmings, read this book. Then read a pro-paternity book. Ask yourself who uses more evidence and who is relying on psychological interpretations and modern ideas to establish historical FACT.

I found it amazing that everything about the alleged Sally Hemmings affair with Mr. Jefferson was open to serious question. I could not believe that so-called historians had failed to present all the evidence and the meaning of the evidence. It appears that most present day historians are writing to cash in and are on the level of the tabloids. I am so glad this book was written. It gives the full picture and then you can make up your own mind.

In Defense of Thomas Jefferson chronicles the alleged sexual relationship between Thomas Jefferson and his slave, Sally Hemings. Author William H. Hyland, Jr. has done an exhaustive amount of research and covers a great deal of ground left unexamined by other offerings dedicated to this controversial aspect of American history. It is my belief that Mr. Hyland has presented us with a very important and thought provoking work. I found Mr. Hyland's approach to writing, In Defense, quite novel and interesting. As a civil litigator and former prosecuting attorney, Hyland presents his case as it would be presented in a court of law. Reliance on the facts, eyewitness testimony, the elimination of hearsay evidence and the impeachment of witnesses are integral in the making of Hyland's case. In Defense, opens two specific areas of research that, in my opinion, have been lacking in some other analyses dealing with Jefferson-Hemings. First, Thomas Jefferson's state of health is brought to the fore. Hyland postulates that it would be unlikely that Jefferson, at age 64 and in poor health, would have been able to father Eston Hemings, who was born in 1808. Eston of course was the only one of Sally's children that can be linked to a Jefferson family male via DNA tests. Second, Hyland introduces the viable possibility that Jefferson's younger brother, Randolph, or one of Randolph's sons, may in fact have fathered Eston. Randolph, along with his sons would fit the Y chromosome DNA match. Hyland deserves high grades for incorporating these topics into his book as both are essential to any reasonable discussion of the facts associated with this debate. In Defense also examines the views and opinions of many major Jeffersonian biographers and scholars. Some have steadfastly maintained one particular position over the years, while others have reversed themselves, both pro and con. Hyland delves into the possible motivating factors for these reversals of opinion. I found this particular aspect of the book to be very interesting and enlightening. Finally, no book on this topic would be complete without a discussion of the DNA evidence presented to the world by Dr. Eugene Foster in 1998. Mr. Hyland covers the DNA question extensively with quotations, thoughts and opinions of those who actually participated in the study. These are only a few areas where, In Defense of Thomas Jefferson excels. I encourage anyone interested in the Jefferson-Hemings debate to read this book. In Defense of Thomas Jefferson will not settle this debate, in fact, it will probably intensify it. However, Mr. Hyland's effort, I believe, offers yet another path of research to all who wish to approach the study of Jefferson-Hemings in a fair and unbiased way. I encourage all new comers to this area of study to read all the major works on this topic, both pro and con, and draw your own conclusions.

Mr. Hyland has covered a topic filled with deceitful manipulations by some foundations, some members of academia, certain book authors and some of the misguided media. Individuals researching the slavery issue have "piggy backed" upon this controversy to tie the two together. This tactic has failed and Mr. Hyland names those responsible. If you are a contributor or visitor to Monticello you may wish to carefully read of their input to this FIASCO. A major agenda (in the name of slavery research) was launched in Oct. 1992 by Professor Peter Onuf, UVA History Department (his history chair sponsored by Monticello), and is covered in "Jefferson Legacies." Lucia Stanton, senior Monticello researcher, states on pages 173-174, "Oral traditions originating with the children of Sally Hemings strongly support the connection, (her earlier statement that Fawn Brodie revived the old James Callender claim that suggested a romantic claim). The next year, 1993 Dianne Swann-Wright was hired by Monticello to head the Getting Word Project (10 prominent African-Americans including NAACP Chairman, Julian Bond). Mrs Swann-Wright was appointed Chairman of their study group that has been charged with biased and one sided reporting and with a preconceived opinion on how the study should come out. One Monticello senior employee reported (slapping down a document on the table)........."NOW WE HAVE HIM"..........it's all covered in the book. My own copy of an Eston Hemings family letter states the long believed oral family claim that he descended from "a Jefferson uncle or nephew." This is a reference to Mr. Jefferson's much younger brother, Randolph and his sons, who came among the slaves and danced and played the fiddle until late night hours. My research reveals that they are probably correct.........the CHOSEN DNA of Eston Hemings descendant, John Weeks Jefferson, was the ONLY DNA connected to the Hemings and Dr Foster was well aware of this and I knew if his DNA went to Nature without a genealogical history explanation, as I had suggested, and an almost GUARANTEE there would be a match...and there was. He never submitted the Randolph and sons information to Nature until a later issue (Jan 7, 1999), too late to stop the original false headline. All of this and other deep details of this vast agenda to degrade Mr. Jefferson is well covered in this book. Every American should read it and demand from Monticello a more FULL detailed and UNBIASED research. They own his home but they do not own his legacy....we all do. Annette Gordon-Reed's books and misguided statements that Thomas Jefferson fathered 7 of Sally's children is a disgrace to the American public, YET she was awarded several book awards.........where was the research that these boards did?? There is absolutely NO proof anywhere (including Monticello), that proves Thomas Jefferson fathered slave children. You will be proud that Mr. Hyland has exposed this FALSE claim of various people. Herb Barger Founde