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A review by patmcmanamon
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed
5.0
An incredible piece of scholarship and research. And a book that at times make you sick to read.
The story of Thomas Jefferson and the enslaved Hemmings family at Monticello deserves to be heard. To think that the author of the Declaration of Independence and a former president had an entire clan of mixed-race slaves walking around his mountain-top home -- some of whom looked very much like our third president -- is hard to reconcile with Jefferson's emphasis and belief in individual liberty. The man impregnated a slave several times, then kept his children as slaves. And after his death when debt overwhelmed his estate, there was an auction of his remaining 130 slaves -- when some children were separated from their families. Stomach-turning.
The book is detailed and lengthy. There are times when Gordon-Reed lapses into interpreting the thinking of decisions of certain people, but because there are few written records of how slaves felt or thought, it's hard to be too critical of her for that. That being said, the parts where historical narrative was available and included were easier to read and follow.
I've read some reviews that Gordon-Reed overdid the criticisms of slavery. That we all know it was awful and we don't need to read it over and over. Respectfully, I disagree. If a Black woman wants to stress the evils and horror of slavery, I am not one to say she shouldn't. As she points out again and again, slaves were treated as possessions, not as human beings. It is our country's shame.
I feel it important for us to understand this history. I can't say I enjoyed reading everything in this book, but I certainly agree with Gordon-Reed's point that the least we can do to those who were brought to this country against their will in slave ships and who experienced the worst of human nature is to learn about and understand their experience.
This book is a treasure -- to be read and understood as best we can.
The story of Thomas Jefferson and the enslaved Hemmings family at Monticello deserves to be heard. To think that the author of the Declaration of Independence and a former president had an entire clan of mixed-race slaves walking around his mountain-top home -- some of whom looked very much like our third president -- is hard to reconcile with Jefferson's emphasis and belief in individual liberty. The man impregnated a slave several times, then kept his children as slaves. And after his death when debt overwhelmed his estate, there was an auction of his remaining 130 slaves -- when some children were separated from their families. Stomach-turning.
The book is detailed and lengthy. There are times when Gordon-Reed lapses into interpreting the thinking of decisions of certain people, but because there are few written records of how slaves felt or thought, it's hard to be too critical of her for that. That being said, the parts where historical narrative was available and included were easier to read and follow.
I've read some reviews that Gordon-Reed overdid the criticisms of slavery. That we all know it was awful and we don't need to read it over and over. Respectfully, I disagree. If a Black woman wants to stress the evils and horror of slavery, I am not one to say she shouldn't. As she points out again and again, slaves were treated as possessions, not as human beings. It is our country's shame.
I feel it important for us to understand this history. I can't say I enjoyed reading everything in this book, but I certainly agree with Gordon-Reed's point that the least we can do to those who were brought to this country against their will in slave ships and who experienced the worst of human nature is to learn about and understand their experience.
This book is a treasure -- to be read and understood as best we can.