Jefferson's irony: Voice of liberty, slave owner

(CBS News) Founding Father and Third President. Author of the Declaration of Independence and eloquent proponent of the rights of man. That's how most Americans have viewed Thomas Jefferson for most of our history. Martha Teichner now, with another view:

Thomas Jefferson's view from Monticello was as perfect as his high ideals. But at Monticello today, it is the imperfect Jefferson we see, and must judge for ourselves.

The author of the Declaration of Independence, who wrote that all men are created equal, owned 600 slaves over his lifetime, and in addition to his legitimate children almost certainly fathered at least six children borne by his slave, Sally Hemings.

For generations, descendents of Sally Hemings told stories implicating Jefferson as father of her children. DNA proved a connection in 1998.

Is Thomas Jefferson any less great because the understanding we have of him now is three-dimensional?

"Most human beings I know are quite capable of denial and hypocrisy," said Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham. "I think Jefferson's virtues were enormous, and his vices were equally enormous.

Meacham has just published a best-selling biography of our third president: "Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power" (Random House).

"Looked at in full, you find a man whose life was made possible by slavery, who had misgivings, who as a young man attempted, however feebly, to reform the institution," said Meacham. But in the end, Jefferson "allowed himself to be trapped by the economic, political and cultural circumstances into which he was born."

Web exclusive video: To watch an extended interview with author Jon Meacham click on the video player below.

Elizabeth Chew, curator at Monticello, said that Jefferson's earliest memory was of being handed up on a pillow as a toddler to a slave on a horse. "And we know that his last words were asking Burwell Colbert to adjust his pillow," she told Teichner.

Jefferson's butler, Burwell Colbert, was also a slave. "There would have been an intimate relationship really, from birth to death," said Chew.

The joinery, or furniture-making woodshop at Monticello, was in Jefferson's later years run by a slave named John Hemings, who made many pieces of furniture that are in Monticello today. Chew showed Teichner some of Hemings' beautifully crafted work. "He was very highly skilled, and he was freed by Jefferson in his will and was given the tools of his trade," Chew said.

John Hemings is remembered because of his craftsmanship, unlike so many other Jefferson slaves.

"To be able to sort of have an image of Jefferson that we all know, and behind him the names of the 600 people that he owned in his lifetime, really means that we have to understand slavery in order to understand Jefferson," said Lonnie Bunch, who heads the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture - sponsor of a traveling exhibition about slavery at Monticello.

"What's powerful is, quite candidly, we only know the first names," said Bunch. "And there are some that we just have as 'Unknown,' because we don't even know."

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[Justmewriting]

The "noted" historian David Barton changes history to fit his conservative ideology. He interprets all actions by our Founding Fathers as worthy of sainthood and builds hem to the point on infallibility, while ignoring any facts that are contrary to the mythology he is creating. For example, he also argues that our founders--even Jefferson--did not want a separation of church and state and that we are a Christian nation, even though neither God, Jesus nor Christianity are mentioned in the Constitution.

[sofdof66]

An interesting and important story. Very bad timing on the part of CBS to air this show--after a very divisive election. This election has left most very unsettled, and now CBS questions our very foundations as a country.

Here is an seasonal alternative. We do not hear more about--or perhaps the enormity of the task has been lost over time--the monumental challenge of undoing the understanding of the order of the world created by Hegel. Even after all this time, the struggle against the masterful argument by Hegel silently creates disharmony in our country. Many factors had to come together to allow the creation of this country--most notably, a group of amazingly intelligent men of conviction. Maybe for the holiday season a story about the unsurpassed gift to us made available by these incredible men, and their risk to lose everything by changing how the people of this country understood the world.

[Andy7065]

Exactly! America has been broken up into factions that are all against one another. Gender, race, class, religion, and so on. Even diseases are this way now. Cancer is broken up into all different causes based on which ethnicity and gender it affects. It is the perfect recipe to divide and conquer.

[123xmarksthespot]

Not time like the present. Not sure why this election would have been any more unsettling than any other election. If it is to you, then you should analyze what is within yourself to make it so. The country has always had problems, nothing new here.

[jyurkoski]

Speaking as another descendant of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson,a fifth-great granddaughter from Madison, I really appreciate the wonderful quality and dynamic interpretations of the Jefferson and Hemings relationship and his struggle with hypocrisy displayed here. I watched an interview with John Meachum a few weeks ago while I was traveling and I immediately found and read his book. Amazing work.

[twoman82]

I am very curious how that this story can be aired s=showing all of the evidence as 100% true and correct. How come there was not even an examination into the fact that while the Hemmings do have Jefferson DNA they have no way or proving it is Thomas Jefferson's without exhuming his body and taking a bone sample. Another issue was the new article they referenced outing Thomas Jefferson's relationship. New Papers of that time were highly unregulated and slanderous. The other issue is the man who wrote the article was upset because Jefferson did would not give him a position in his cabinet. Do not misunderstand me, I do agree they are decedents of the Jefferson line but I just wash the media would show both possibilities instead to running with one idea that is based on circumstantial evidence at best.

[missyfive]

I recall where the DNA test was done from a bone sample from Jefferon and there was a high probabability that Jefferson fathered children with Sally Hemmings. The problem was the "Jefferson" descendants didn't believe the results of the DNA test and said it was Jefferson's brother who fathered the children. Last I heard, the Jefferson descendants have yet to be convinced that Jefferson could have had children with a slave.

[Meezermom1951]

Once again, unless we were there, this is still unprovable. The Hemmings story is just that, a story. All that was proven was Sally Hemming had children with a Jefferson male and that does NOT mean it was TJ. He had a brother who was a known frequenter of the slaves while TJ was not. There are a lot of maybes,supposed-lies, a could have been's in this history but no one knows for sure. The Hemming's family have a proud history of their own but why they all feel it is necessary to be hitched to the history of Jefferson is surprising to many. They are still just people and as that, should be accepted and admired for that. A family with a long history that can be traced back a couple hundred years. For some of us who can't go past grandparents, that is a real accomplishment!

[13searchfortruth]

I suggest reading the book written by the noted historian, David Barton, "The Jefferson Lies". This book will open your eyes to the True Character of this Great leader. David Barton does painstaking research and cites PRIMARY-SOURCE DOCUMENTS. He is not a historian that writes from the works of contemporary historians. This book details the DNA testing that does more to prove that it was Jefferson's younger brother that fathered these children and not Jefferson himself. It seems that in the last 100 years, many in this country would rather tear down what Greatness our Founding Fathers built than really study the writings of the time. Critical thinking is missing in our current culture. We don't stop to look at the flip side of any argument. I suggest that we start asking about peoples' motivations when they start "changing our history".

[signseeker1717]

There is a VERY high probability Jefferson fathered Sally Hemmings' children (almost to the point of certainty); it is NOT a "story" based on "lies" and "maybes", but based on DNA and other empirical studies. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation (see the Monticello website posted below), and most scholars and historians agree that Jefferson did indeed father Sally Hemmings' six children.

The "brother" you mention, Samuel (?) or Peter (?) Carr does not have the correct DNA match, and neither man was present at Monticello during the times ALL six children were conceived. Jefferson WAS.

http://www.monticello.org/site/plantation-and-slavery/thomas-jefferson-and-sally-hemings-brief-account

Another reputable source is Fawn M. Brodie's Thomas Jefferson, An Intimate History. She provides an extensive discussion on this topic, with footnotes and bibliography for further verification.

[123xmarksthespot]

Sally Hemmings gave birth to her first child shortly after arriving back from Paris in which she was there only with Jefferson and not his brother. How do you explain this?

[123xmarksthespot]

signseeker1717 - Agreed. She gave birth to her first child after spending about 2 years I think in Paris with Jefferson and not his brother. I feel the ONLY reason for the denial is related to being afraid to have to share any wealth related to Jefferson with the Hemmings. This to me is the primary point of not accepting the truth.

[Justmewriting]

The "noted" historian David Barton changes history to fit his conservative ideology. He interprets all actions by our Founding Fathers as worthy of sainthood and builds hem to the point on infallibility, while ignoring any facts that are contrary to the mythology he is creating. For example, he also argues that our founders--even Jefferson--did not want a separation of church and state and that we are a Christian nation, even though neither God, Jesus nor Christianity are mentioned in the Constitution.