The Hemings Controversy: The Presidency Of Thomas Jefferson
Joe Catanzaro
Thomas Jefferson Essay
10.19.2005
The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson
The presidency of the United States is more or less considered the premier position of power in the world today. Back in the days when the United States was just a new, developing nation however, it was much more than that. Being president of the United States in those days meant you were the overseer of the very activities that would shape the past and future of one of the now most powerful world powers known to man. One such overseer, the third president of our United States, was none other than Thomas Jefferson. Though there were two previous presidents before him, President Jefferson was the first to have the privilege of life in the newly constructed …show more content…
In fact, one of his major flaws was an unfortunate excellence in Hypocrisy. Although Jefferson was one of the main supporters of the anti-slavery movement, he was an avid slave-owner and slave-trader. It is surprising that voters did not see this as a negative trait in Jefferson, enough to the point to vote for the other of the candidates; it must have been Hamilton's strict interpretation of the current matters of the time that pushed voters away from Hamilton and toward Jefferson. While Jefferson was very against slavery, he also was involved in what is now called the Sally Hemings Controversy'. Contained in this scandal is the question of whether or not Jefferson fathered any of Sally Hemings', one of Jefferson's slaves, children. Certain, later discovered, biological evidence would link Jefferson's Y-Chromosome to that of the child(ren) in question. In any event, it is plain to see that Jefferson displayed blatant and ridiculous hypocrisy in that he was so against slavery, to the point where he put a bill that would abolish any new acquisition of slaves in the state of Virginia. At the same time, he had slaves of his own. And to top it all off, he fathered the children of one of his 180-odd slaves. Apparently, Jefferson was also excellent in
Thomas Jefferson Essay
10.19.2005
The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson
The presidency of the United States is more or less considered the premier position of power in the world today. Back in the days when the United States was just a new, developing nation however, it was much more than that. Being president of the United States in those days meant you were the overseer of the very activities that would shape the past and future of one of the now most powerful world powers known to man. One such overseer, the third president of our United States, was none other than Thomas Jefferson. Though there were two previous presidents before him, President Jefferson was the first to have the privilege of life in the newly constructed …show more content…
In fact, one of his major flaws was an unfortunate excellence in Hypocrisy. Although Jefferson was one of the main supporters of the anti-slavery movement, he was an avid slave-owner and slave-trader. It is surprising that voters did not see this as a negative trait in Jefferson, enough to the point to vote for the other of the candidates; it must have been Hamilton's strict interpretation of the current matters of the time that pushed voters away from Hamilton and toward Jefferson. While Jefferson was very against slavery, he also was involved in what is now called the Sally Hemings Controversy'. Contained in this scandal is the question of whether or not Jefferson fathered any of Sally Hemings', one of Jefferson's slaves, children. Certain, later discovered, biological evidence would link Jefferson's Y-Chromosome to that of the child(ren) in question. In any event, it is plain to see that Jefferson displayed blatant and ridiculous hypocrisy in that he was so against slavery, to the point where he put a bill that would abolish any new acquisition of slaves in the state of Virginia. At the same time, he had slaves of his own. And to top it all off, he fathered the children of one of his 180-odd slaves. Apparently, Jefferson was also excellent in