(Student’s Full Name)
It is an historical fact that sexual relationship between a dominant race and the enslaved one is “neither unusual [n]or aberrant, but normative” in the New World. When one examines the history of America then one would understand that this country is no different. In fact, there is much evidence that proves that the very founding of the United States of America involve the rejection of the inter mixing of races and the promotion of the Anglo-Saxon race above other races. It is because of this fact that many historians have been predisposed to the notion that the American Founding fathers would not have allowed themselves to, for want of a better word, contaminate the lineage of the American citizens. However, accepting this notion becomes problematic when they are forced to accept that Thomas Jefferson had a relationship with the black slave whose name was Sally Hemings. Most historians would feel comfortable to accept that this relationship was based on rape or sexual assault. In fact, earlier historians’ simplistic interpretation of Thomas Jefferson’s and Sally Hemings’s relationship is indicative of the denials of many early American historians. This is the case because they are aware of Jefferson’s role in the creation of the nation of America and the strong views he held against race-mixing.
Walker in his text explains that not all “sexual encounters” between blacks and whites had anything to do with rape. In fact, although blacks living at the time of Jefferson did not have the luxury to participate in “consensual sex” the relationship between Jefferson and Hemings can still be placed on a “continuum of sexual practices.” The historian argues that although Jefferson’s writings express his disgust at the inter-mixing of the races, it is still possible that Hemings and Jefferson were the “founding parents” of America. Walker speculates that although he was opposed to the physical features of a black person, Hemings might have been “visibly white” despite being a Negro. In order to make this assumption, one has to be aware of the fact that the definition of Negro has “changed over time.” Furthermore, Hemings was a “quadroon” because both her and “her mother’s father” were white.
It was easy for historians to deny that there was a relationship that existed between Hemings and Jefferson because of Jefferson’s rejection of race-mixing. Walker explains that early historians believed that since Jefferson was the “principal architect” of the “American nation-state” and his writings supported scientific racism, these historians did not want to accept that he was in a relationship with a Negro woman. These early historians believed that Jefferson would have been “blemished” if he had slept with a slave woman.
In conclusion, it can be argued that Walker uses his arguments to oppose early historians’ assumption that Hemings’s and Jefferson’s relationship was based on rape or sexual assault. He uses historical evidence to highlight the fact that Jefferson still had a relation with Hemings because she did not have the normal physical attributes of a Negro person since she was quadroon. In addition, Walker explains that early historians denied the fact that Jefferson had a relationship with a black woman since he was openly opposed to racial inter-mixing as demonstrated by his writings.
Reference
Walker, Clarence Earl. Mongrel Nation: The America Begotten by Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009.
