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Gordon-Reed Analyzes Adair [AGR 185-91]
Emre Turan
[1] One charge that Annette Gordon-Reed deals with in the section on historian Douglass Adair is the claim that freeing Hemings's children was not as extraordinary as it has been represented to the public. Adair claims that Jefferson had a plan to free all Hemings males, not just Sally's sons. Actually, Adair talks about two indentures that are written by Jefferson for freeing two Hemings males. He says these indentures are important for three reasons, two of which will be discussed in this essay. First, they reveal Jefferson's policy of freeing Hemings males if they choose to be free. Second, they were the examples for Sally telling her children they would be freed at the age of twenty-one. Through this line of argument, Adair concludes that Jefferson was not the father of Sally's children.
[2] Gordon-Reed attacks Adair's first claim about Jefferson's so-called policy of freeing all Hemings males by stating that there is no document about this policy. And, on the other hand, there are two cases against this policy. First, Jefferson made Robert Hemings pay for his freedom even though he was at the age of thirty-two. Also, Jefferson did not free James when he originally asked for freedom in Paris. Both of these cases make the claim of a general policy to free all Hemings males weaker. If Jefferson really wanted to free the Hemings males immediately at the age of twenty-one or when they asked for it after that age, he would not have acted this way with both James and Robert Hemings. Freedom itself was a very important value for Jefferson. Therefore, if he had a policy of freeing all of these slaves, he would have done it without questioning anything. However, Robert was not freed because he was debauched by his employer, and James was not freed because Jefferson did not have a replacement chef. Both of these reasons are very weak for a man who intended to free these slaves according to a set policy. These examples certainly make it clear, contra Adair, that Jefferson did not want to free all of the Hemings males right away. However, there is a problem with Gordon-Reed's argument too. She claims that having no document for Jefferson's policy is a solid proof for the non-existence of a Jefferson policy. This claim is not strong at all because the policy that Adair suggested did not have to be written. It could have been a policy in Jefferson's mind if it existed. Still, the arguments that Gordon-Reed came up with are sufficient to overcome Adair's claim of a Jefferson policy.
[3] Secondly, Adair adduces that Sally Hemings promised her children that they will be free by taking James's emancipation as an example. However, Gordon-Reed strongly disagrees, claiming that as a mother Sally Hemings would not have risked lying to her children about such a life-and-death matter that might not have come true. So, there must have been something else, like a promise by Jefferson or even a contract signed by Jefferson, freeing Sally's children after the age of twenty-one. I strongly agree with this Gordon-Reed argument. When we consider the racism at that time, it would be a great responsibility for a mother to say those words to her children. Putting all the Hemings males aside, there is also a slave girl Harriett Hemings who has been promised freedom. It is very obvious that Sally Hemings would not have taken James as a model for her daughter too. Since the people discussed lived two hundred years ago, the values of the society and the women's place in the society have to be considered. Women were not equal to men at that time. Therefore, believing Sally told Harriett that she will be free just because a male Hemings has been freed would be an absolute anachronism. All this points to a possible truth of a firm promise or a contract signed by Jefferson stating all of Sally's children will be freed at the age of twenty-one. However, without that solid contract, the argument of Gordon-Reed will not be fully satisfying, since both of the arguments are just ideas.
