GENEALOGY-DNA-L Archives

Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2001-05 > 0989046491


From: "A. Devilliers" <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] Tom and Sally
Date: Sat, 05 May 2001 00:08:11 -0700


Here are the main reasons:

1. Unfortunately, black persons back then were considered to be akin to
animals and were sometimes referred to as "monkeys." Even more unfortunate,
some people, even today, still feel that way, even though they might not say
it because there would be hell to pay. Therefore, for those people, to hear
that Jefferson had sex with Sally is quite unsavory and would indicate to
them that he engaged in a serious breach of good judgement.

2. If he actually had sex with her when she was still in her teens,
particularly when he was so much older than she was, then the man could be
considered a pedophile. Do you think that many people want to think of dear
old Thom, the venerable writer of significant portions of the Constitution,
as a nasty pedophile?

3. Having sex with Sally would mean that he was a rapist, since a slave had
no right to deny consent to sex from the master, or any white man, for that
matter. Do many people want to view Thom as a rapist?

There are other reasons as well, but these are probably the main impediments
to people accepting the fact that the man probably did have sex with her and
had mulatto children.

---Original Message Follows----
From: "Ralph Turner" <>
...What I want to know is why the question of Thomas Jefferson and Sally
Henning's relationship is so highly charged?...
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com

This thread: