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A review by jdintr
"most Blessed of the Patriarchs": Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination by Annette Gordon-Reed, Peter S. Onuf
4.0
What was Thomas Jefferson?
The epitaph he composed for himself mentioned three accomplishments, "Author of the Declaration of Independence [and] of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom & Father of the University of Virginia," but it makes no mentions of his two terms as U.S. president, his governorship of Virginia during the Revolution, or his service as Ambassador to France from 1785 to 1789.
There is another side. Jefferson was a father to three daughters by his first wife, Martha Wayles Jefferson: Martha (Patsy), Maria (Polly), and Lucy. He fathered three sons and a daughter by his mistress, Sally Hemings: Beverly, Madison, Edson and Harriet--whose elevation in the American consciousness is directly tied to co-author Annette Gordon-Reed's Pulitzer Prizewinning scholarship. Jefferson was master of Monticello, a home he built and re-built on a hill outside Charlottesville. And let's not forget, Jefferson was a master of enslaved human beings, which included his mistress, her siblings, and his four progeny who remained in slavery until his death.
In other words, Jefferson was a Patriarch.
This book is focused on the personal side of Jefferson's patriarchy, explaining how is view of himself as a widower, landowner, benevolent slave owner and politician contributed to his ability to adopt such seemingly hypocritical roles as the father of American freedom/slaveowner, political hack who had a hand in savaging John Adams and Alexander Hamilton but took exception when his own personal life was dragged into the political realm.
Gordon-Reed and Onuf bring to life the inner Jefferson here.
The epitaph he composed for himself mentioned three accomplishments, "Author of the Declaration of Independence [and] of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom & Father of the University of Virginia," but it makes no mentions of his two terms as U.S. president, his governorship of Virginia during the Revolution, or his service as Ambassador to France from 1785 to 1789.
There is another side. Jefferson was a father to three daughters by his first wife, Martha Wayles Jefferson: Martha (Patsy), Maria (Polly), and Lucy. He fathered three sons and a daughter by his mistress, Sally Hemings: Beverly, Madison, Edson and Harriet--whose elevation in the American consciousness is directly tied to co-author Annette Gordon-Reed's Pulitzer Prizewinning scholarship. Jefferson was master of Monticello, a home he built and re-built on a hill outside Charlottesville. And let's not forget, Jefferson was a master of enslaved human beings, which included his mistress, her siblings, and his four progeny who remained in slavery until his death.
In other words, Jefferson was a Patriarch.
This book is focused on the personal side of Jefferson's patriarchy, explaining how is view of himself as a widower, landowner, benevolent slave owner and politician contributed to his ability to adopt such seemingly hypocritical roles as the father of American freedom/slaveowner, political hack who had a hand in savaging John Adams and Alexander Hamilton but took exception when his own personal life was dragged into the political realm.
Gordon-Reed and Onuf bring to life the inner Jefferson here.