Sally Hemings
Sally Hemings was an enslaved woman owned by Thomas Jefferson who bore him six children over nearly four decades.
The relationship, which began when she was about sixteen and Jefferson was in his forties, has become central to discussions of slavery, power, and the contradictions of American founding ideals.
DNA evidence in 1998 confirmed the Jefferson paternity that historians had long debated.
Third American president
- plantationLarge-scale farming operation
- CharlottesvilleCentral Virginia college city
- VirginiaMid-Atlantic American state
- quartersAssigned living accommodations
domestic servant · chambermaid · seamstress · estate · mountaintop · heritage · preservation · historic site
Hereditary code molecule
- geneticsScience of hereditary transmission
- ancestryFamily line of descent
- paternityMale parent status
- descendantsThose who come after
Y-chromosome · mitochondrial · genealogy · heredity · mixed-race · multiracial · bloodline · progeny
Involuntary subjugation to another
- chattelMovable personal property
- servitudeCompulsory labor under masters
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- unfreedomAbsence of liberty
exploitation · power imbalance · coercion · consent · concubinage · enslaved · ownership · property
Prolonged public disagreement
- debateFormal argument on issues
- denialRefusal to accept reality
- acknowledgmentConfirmation of receipt
- oral historyRecorded interviews about the past
documentation · primary sources · historical record · scandal · suppression · revisionism · recognition · scholarship
Western European republic
- FrenchOf or from Paris's nation
- freedomAbsence of constraint
- embassyOfficial diplomatic residence abroad
- negotiationDiscussion seeking mutual accord
Abigail Adams · wages · choice · return · pregnancy · 1780s · servant · lady's maid
Thomas Jefferson
Third American president
- plantationLarge-scale farming operation
- CharlottesvilleCentral Virginia college city
- VirginiaMid-Atlantic American state
quarters · domestic servant · chambermaid · seamstress · estate · mountaintop · heritage · preservation · historic site · tourism
DNA
Hereditary code molecule
descendants · Y-chromosome · mitochondrial · genealogy · heredity · mixed-race · multiracial · bloodline · progeny · offspring
bondage
Involuntary subjugation to another
- chattelMovable personal property
- servitudeCompulsory labor under masters
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
unfreedom · exploitation · power imbalance · coercion · consent · concubinage · enslaved · ownership · property · manumission
controversy
Prolonged public disagreement
- debateFormal argument on issues
- denialRefusal to accept reality
- acknowledgmentConfirmation of receipt
oral history · documentation · primary sources · historical record · scandal · suppression · revisionism · recognition · scholarship · reexamination
France
Western European republic
- FrenchOf or from Paris's nation
- freedomAbsence of constraint
- embassyOfficial diplomatic residence abroad
Abigail Adams · negotiation · wages · choice · return · pregnancy · 1780s · servant · lady's maid · French language
Sally HemingsThomas Jefferson
Third American president
master · enslaver · Martha Washington · Abigail Adams · slaveholder
sally, sallied, sallies, sallying, hem, hems, hemmed, hemming