Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves - Master of the Mountain

It is amazing to me that this book is controversial. And, yet, that explains so much. The reality of slavery is that human beings are treated like property that can be well taken care of or not, sold or not...etc...according to the whim of the owner. A person is not an old towel or a prized jewel.

Anyhow, I found the book well-written, well-researched and truthful. The author sees the slavery under Jefferson for exactly what it is -- human beings held in bondage with no rights of their own. This included, for Jefferson and many other slave owners, the propagation of children with these human beings and the keeping and/or selling of such children as possessions. That enslaved people were sometimes freed is a testament to the fact that even in our very worst moments, we can act with a spirit of compassion.

Jefferson is still a hero for his leadership in establishing our country, and I think that Wiencek gives him credit for that. But Jefferson might have been a bigger and better man and done more. I recommend this book to anyone interested in Jefferson.

I thought the writing was poor, the book was redundant, and the whole thing read like a university thesis. i did not enjoy reading the book. I think the question the author was trying to answer was not really answered and I didn't care anyway. Thomas Jefferson was a brilliant man and his ideals lead this great country. Yes, he may have been a hypocrite, and he was also a man of his time. While slavery is and always will be abhorrent, he did react as a man of that culture.

First, I read this book with little curiosity to gather greater details on the DNA evidence linking Jefferson to the Hemmings. The nature of the times and Jefferson's behavior towards the Hemmings has leaned me in the direction that he fathered the children. His own self interested attitude towards slavery only confirms to me that the gift of freedom which he bestowed upon the children at a financial cost to him had a significant and personal reason which aligns with fathering them. Jefferson seems to have been a shrewd individual who was able to emotionally detach himself from the ills of slavery experienced by his slaves if there was a financial gain for him. As a lawyer he was well versed in argumentation and used the written and spoken word very shrewdly to paint both a longing for freedom of slaves and also maintaining the institution of slavery. This is somewhat disappointing to me because from childhood I have admired Jefferson, believed he was a man of pure conviction, and have visited Monticello multiple times in appreciation of his life. This book clearly informs me that there were many more enlightened individuals such as George Washington, and others whose opposition to slavery was not only a deep seated conviction but also backed by action. A revealing book that brings Jefferson back from the clouds with regard to slavery.

Author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson is indisputably one of America's favorite Founding Fathers; his lovely home, Monticello, celebrated for its beauty, the intricacies of Jefferson's designs, inventions, and expansive collection of artifacts. However, Master of the Mountain and the exhaustive research upon which the book is built, has caused me to take a second look at Jefferson the man, and all he represents.

For those who might excuse Jefferson for his failure to free his slaves, while dismissing Wiencek's work as "presentism," the record, as painstakingly set forth in his book, refutes the charge. During the four years that Jefferson lived in France (where slavery was banned) as Minister to that country, he was surrounded by French "Americanists," including the Marquis de Lafayette, all outspoken opponents of slavery, who fully expected Jefferson to do something to end slavery. But despite pressure received from such historical figures as well as American contemporaries such as George Washington, William Short, Thomas Coles, among others - the fact remains that "he did nothing to hasten slavery's end during his terms as a diplomat, secretary of state, vice president, and twice-elected president."

In my view, Mr. Wiencek has provided a service to history by shedding light on the true and paradoxical nature of Jefferson's character; in short, the troubling, egregious violations of principles of this iconic American giant. As I read Master of the Mountain, Monticello increasingly began to take on the patina of a Grimm's fairy tale for me: the Master of the Mountain waited on by his enslaved chattel (meticulously listed as valuable assets in his ledger), in many cases his own kin, consciously hidden from view by clever devices of architecture; in short, a double life, which today one might even venture to call twisted.

The trend to live in an alternate reality in the furtherance of self-interest, in short, personal pocketbooks, continues today. One can only hope that Wiencek's book will serve as a catalyst for change.

Master of the Mountain is a masterly work: so elucidating, so deeply affecting, and so very important.

Why are the Founding Fathers such a touchy subject? Is it because we have all been indoctrinated with tales of cherry trees and kites? Is it a holdover from the Cold War? Has Americana become a secular religion? The surprising thing about the Thomas Jefferson slave controversy is that there are still apologists for the "Peculiar Institution" over 150 years after the commencement of the Civil War. But Henry Wiencek is not one of them. In `Master of the Mountain' this author gets down to brass tacks. And what we find is not a pretty picture.
For the longest time Thomas Jefferson has been portrayed as a frustrated humanist who was held back by the reactionary forces of his day from achieving the goal of full equality for all Americans. He was made out to be a compromiser who accepted defeat in one battle, (the ending of slavery), in order to achieve victory in the big war, (the formation of a free republic).
In 1974 Fawn Brodie released `Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History', which was the first major blow against the Thomas Jefferson image. The backlash was severe but Ms. Brodie was sustained, (long after her own death), by DNA testing that proved that our third president did indeed procreate children with his slave Sally Hemings. (Or to put it a better way, the testing proved that Jefferson, or a close relative, had been involved.) It has been the view ever since, (by some), that Jefferson's ardent abolitionism was tamed by his desire to keep his loved ones near, (or some approximate version thereof).
According to Mr. Wiencek Mr. Jefferson's motives were much more American than that. You see, it all comes down to profit. The youthful idealogue gave way to the elder plantation owner. There was money in slavery, (and exploitation and cruelty). The "Man of the People" figured out that considering for a normal reproduction rate among his slaves he could count on a 4% yearly growth rate for his "operation". Earlier promises to international colleagues, (like Lafayette and Kosciusko), to end slavery, were postponed indefinitely. In fact, our great liberationist was in favor of extending the institution into the territories acquired in the Louisiana Purchase, (which happened during his presidency).
The author here has not been fooled by the Jeffersonian rhetoric. That has been the biggest problem up until now. Words have obfuscated actions, (which is true of all politicians). But let us not rationalize here because Jefferson was not like any other politician. This is a big deal. The conscience of the American experiment has always been The Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, (Jefferson's major contributions). What had been left out came back to haunt us. Now we can clearly see the reason for the omissions, (the maintenance of privilege).
Part of the Monticello marketing plan was the design itself. Guests were driven in on roadways that bypassed the "dirty side" of the property, (the slave quarters and the production and manufacturing buildings). Jefferson hired brutal overseers who whipped children who didn't produce enough. He bought and sold humans at will, often breaking up families. He tracked down runaways. In other words, this may not be the Jefferson you have been familiar with. If you want to find out the truth, read this book.

"Master of the Mountain" is a book that focuses on Thomas Jefferson and his slaves. I am reading this book just a few months after visiting Monticello which peaked my interest in this subject. Because Jefferson was so thorough with his records, we can learn much about the slaves at Monticello. This book helps put the reader into the mindset of the people living in the late 18th century and early 19th century to better help understand the "whos", "whys", and "hows" of slavery. Overall, "Master of the Mountain" is a very good book that is recommended for anyone interested in learning more about Jefferson and his slaves.

I grew up in Virginia and made several pilgrimages to Monticello as a child. I was taught that Thomas Jefferson was one of the geniuses of the Revolution, the Founder of the University of Virginia, the Founder of the Library of Congress, and the smartest man of any room he entered.

As an adult I learned about Sally Hemmings and the possibility that our 3rd President was also a rapist and a supporter of slavery while having a relationship with a slave woman. President Jefferson has held a place in my brain ever since.

When I heard about this book I bought it immediately. I wanted to know more about his view of slavery. In 2010 I read The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery by Eric Foner and highly recommend it. President Lincoln's views on slavery shows a clear arc from not liking slavery to believing that slavery could not survive in a free nation.

President Jefferson gives us a more complicated path. Simply put, his livelihood depended on a constant supply of slave labor. We'll never know his views on slavery in the depths of his soul, but we can know his public views. He needed to claim that slaves were inferior only because any claim of equality would require him to free them and lose his source of income. He somehow had to believe they were inferior while having a sexual relationship with one of their numbers.

The best part of this book was the idea I gleaned that he lived his life balancing two mutually exclusive beliefs.

The book is worth its price for the facts it gave that I didn't know. Jefferson's father in law was John Wayles (Jefferson's wife was Martha Wayles Jefferson). John Wayles fathered several children by the slave Elizabeth Hemmings; one of their children was Sally Hemmings. This means that Jefferson's wife and Sally Hemmings were half sisters.

Of the children born to Sally Hemmings (who were purportedly fathered by Thomas Jefferson), Madison Hemmings (1805-1877) claimed in 1873 to be the son of Thomas Jefferson. His claim to be white is interesting. By having a white father he could claim to be 50% white; it's not that simple. His mother (Sally Hemmings) was born of the union of John Wayles (white) and Elizbeth Hemmings (black). That means that of his 4 grandparents, 3 were white (Peter Jefferson, Jane Randolf, and John Wayles) and only 1 was black (Elizabeth Hemmings). That makes Madison 75% white and 25% black.

Being an American in the 21st Century means, on some level, we need to face up to the America of the 18th and 19th Century with all of its light and shadows. This book is an important part of that process.

While I know that many of our founding fathers owned slaves, and that a slave was considered to be 3/5 of a person in our Constitution, I suppose that through years of viewing them as such heroes I came to think of them as being apart from the true horrors of owning slaves, and thought that they had seen slavery as a necessary evil, an institution that should be abolished as soon as possible.

Well, this book puts that little misconception to rest. What an astounding account of just how callous Mr. Jefferson felt toward his slaves, how very much he was involved in their commerce, and how brutally disregarded they were as people. From the account of his foreman settling a debt by taking a 4 year old little girl from her family and giving it to the person to whom the debt was owed, to Mr. Jefferson taking a pregnant 13 year old girl to the White House during his presidency to cook for him (then perhaps taking her back to Virginia away from her baby, who subsequently died), this book is packed with facts that will have you reading passages over again, then rushing to tell others what you've read, and to read the book.

Difficult to believe that this is the man who penned the words "we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal". I guess our gods do indeed have clay feet.

This book is awesome. It awakens the reader to Jefferson's duplicity and his apologetics for slavery even while he maintained a high moral tone. The author examines in detail how Jefferson treated his own slaves and how he served as the new country's leading deflector of criticisms about slavery. A skilled lawyer and writer, he crafted many replies to European and American figures who pressed him on how the United States could proclaim itself a bastion of freedom while enslaving a vast number of people. He deplored slavery in the abstract, but found countless reasons why it was necessary in the present. The slaves were not ready for freedom; they were childlike in their focus on the present. And, above all, Jefferson hated miscegenation, even while he, as the whole world now knows, fathered children with Sally Hemmings, one of his slaves.

The author also shows how Jefferson's apologetics intersected with his own self-interest in maintaining slaves. Jefferson realized the huge value in an asset that self-reproduced quite apart from the market; his slaves reproduced themselves, increasing his wealth regularly and most gratifyingly, even while they did all the work of building and maintaining Jefferson's luxurious estate. The book is powerful and driving in its revelations of Jefferson's dishonesty, cruelty, and manipulativeness in managing the slaves of Monticello to increase his own wealth and power. Really, there was nothing he would not do, including selling a four-year old girl away from her family.

This book's moral clarity will make you see Jefferson in a whole new way. He was not just a product of his time, as Washington (among others) chose to emancipate his slaves, while Jefferson did not--and in fact, urged others not to. The book concludes with an argument that Jefferson burns more brightly in American consciousness than any other founding father due to his ability to cover the deepest moral faults with the most skilled rationalizations. Read this book.

Master of the Mountain examines what might be considered Thomas Jefferson's legacy: a liberty-obsessed reluctant slave owner, philosopher-founder, and defeated abolitionist caught in a system he could not change. It then strongly suggests that this is all nonsense.

Henry Wiencek wrote An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves And The Creation Of America, so he is well-researched when it comes to our founders and the human beings that they owned. I assume that after writing An Imperfect God, he decided he was not finished disrupting the mythology surrounding the founding fathers.

"Fathers" is a particularly important concept in Jefferson's case. He was almost certainly the father of a number of his slaves. We know the story by now. Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson likely had a relationship and children together after Jefferson's wife passed. What this book labors to elaborate is what exactly that meant. Wiencek argues that this relationship was a contractual one (and more than an ownership contract). Their relationship began in France where Hemings could have stayed as a free person, but she returned to slavery and Virginia on the promise of her children's emancipation at 21. Wiencek further describes how this agreement affected the lives of the humans involved in it. Hemings and her children accepted her place as a concubine and did not leave any evidence of a romanticized view of their relationship. The children, knowing they would be freed one day, did not develop close relationships or marry while on the plantation. And while freed, Jefferson's children were technically left on his register as runaway fugitives.

Wiencek presents the narrative of the myth as we know it today with quotes from Jefferson's own correspondence and other Jefferson historians. He then systematically dismantles them in an effective (if not sometimes redundant) manner. We learn time and time again what Jefferson said about slavery was nearly always the opposite of what he did concerning slavery. Some of the concepts explored here such as the buying and selling of family members and the brutality of a race-based slavery that Jefferson profited from are truly disturbing.

In summation, I would have to wholly recommend this book to every American. It is illuminating. Our education regarding our founding fathers is at best incomplete and at worst manipulative lies. A quote from another history in the last chapter nearly perfectly encapsulates the revelations in this book. "In short, beneath his sanctimonious and sententious exterior lay a thoroughly adaptive and amoral public figure—like so many of the present day."

Henry Wiencek observes in his "Master of the Mountain" that "Scandal sells" (p. 195). This is so true, and as well as accepting the scandalous claims about Thomas Jefferson, Wiencek berates him for being a slaveholder. While Wiencek points out the danger of "presentism," he indulges in it by applying politically correct "present" standards to the behavior of Founding Father Jefferson.

Can we really believe that it was intentionally "dishonest" not to announce that a thirteen-year-old slave's child was the first infant born in the White House? Or if Jefferson had publicly condemned slavery, this would have persuaded the Republic to change? Pointing to the emancipation actions of other Virginian planters, Wiencek assumes this when describing how Lafayette and others repeatedly urged Jefferson "to do something about slavery" (p. 260). Contrary to their and Wiencek's wishes, Jefferson had decided that the slavery issue would not be changed in his lifetime and so decided to devote his final years to founding the University of Virginia.

Wiencek quotes selectively from sources in a way that alters their meaning. For example on p. 213, he writes of Jefferson's daughter Martha Randolph: "She unburdened herself to her children.'My mother, as she has often told me, was very indignant, even exasperated,' the granddaughter Ellen [Coolidge] wrote. One day Martha and Jefferson's private secretary confronted Jefferson with a widely published, highly insulting poem about him and [Sally] Hemings. In silence, Jefferson 'smiled at their annoyance' " (p. 213).

When one goes to the source Wiencek is quoting from, one reads the following from Ellen Coolidge in regard to her mother's reaction to the scandalous poem about Jefferson: "My mother, as she has often told me, was very indignant, even exasperated -- So was the excellent and honest Mr. William Burwell, who had been my grandfather's private secretary.... But the injured individual only smiled at their annoyance, and was not himself in the smallest degree annoyed. He was too much accustomed to virulent abuse to pay much attention to it. He knew that it came in general from disappointed and angry men and was prepared for it" (Virginia Burton, "Jefferson Vindicated," 2005, p. 80).

Referring to the famous "wolf by the ear" remark of Jefferson about slavery, Wiencek mentions that "an unpublished letter in 1810 records another remark that is less known: upon learning that a relative thought of selling his slaves, Jefferson said that 'it wou'd never do to destroy the goose' " (p. 251). In the footnote, one learns that Jefferson did not write the phrase in a letter, but is quoted as saying it in a letter his neighbor Elizabeth Trist wrote.

Wiencek's book is marred by his acceptance of the claims of the DNA study and Annette Gordon-Reed, by his distortion of evidence, and by his wearying and unjust denunciations of Jefferson.

I heartily recommend this book for any interested in Jefferson and the subject of slavery. I just finished and am sorry I have!

First of all, for those of you who haven't read the book and have just read Annette Gordon Reed's Slate piece or the New York Times story on the controversy over this book, it is important to note that this Wiencek offers multiple facts, stories to back his point of view and the critics seem only able to refute one or two (and their refutations seem fairly weak anyway). The point is the book overwhelmingly makes the case that Jefferson was - when you look at his actions and not his words -- a promoter of slave power and not people power. It is not a close call. Jefferson was a southern plantation owner who relied on his slaves for his business and personal needs and, despite many chances, did nothing to free his slaves or ultimately to end slavery in our country. And, in fact, by pushing to allow slavery in the Louisiana Territory did much to expand the reach of slavery in our country. The historical record is, unfortunately, clear.

The book is quite a good read. It is tough going in the first part part (just like in Wiencek's Washington book) but then becomes a real page turner. He offers some really incredible anecdotes (my favorite - Jefferson speeding down his mountain roundabouts and relying on a trailing slave to right his reckless driving and his carriage). Just like Wiencek's anecdote about Washington's dentures (made from slave's teeth not wood as many of us were taught).

Wiencek is not kind to the Jeffersonian history industry. I can see why many of them got pretty mad (he is rough on them). But, I am appalled that Gordon Reed and the others attacked this important book when they purport to care about bringing a fuller story to life about Jefferson and the history of slavery in this country. It is a shame that the Jon Meacham Jefferson hagiography is everywhere and this book is - despite some good press -- not that well known. I suspect, just as with Wiencek's earlier Washington book (which is fantastic) that this book is going to, ultimately, have a big impact.

The Smithsonian has a large excerpt of the book online, if you want a sample.

Thomas Jefferson, the man who, when he woke up each morning said to himself: "What can anybody do today for Thomas Jefferson"?

A human flesh merchant, a liar of the first order, a vile hypocrite, he had no use for anyone unless you could serve him or his goals.
Henry Wiencek sets the record straight about the so-called "Apostle of Democracy", an apostle who whipped children chained in slavery.
Nothing was ever too good for the Apostle, as long as others would pay the price and carry the burden.

Master of the Mountain should be required reading in every US High School.

Really a detailed accounting of all the very complicated dynamics of the time. An amazing look into the time and thinking of those years in America. Jefferson's conflict within his own mind about the slave trade, practice etc. Sometimes he was such a staunch proponent of abolishing but then he still participated in the pratice of slavery. Seems his own finances, ambitions and goals outweighed his distaste for the practice. So many different levels of slaves, So many relationships and family members who were black and native Americans.

I have read several books about Thomas Jefferson, and although recognizing him to be extraordinary I have always come away thinking that something was wrong. Mr. Wiencek has shown me what it was. Thomas Jefferson was a hypocrit, a self-grandiser, an egotist, a greedy man, non-compassionate, a liar, a seducer,( and somewht of a coward in that he would have his overseers perform whippings etc, that he himself had a distaste of) an intellectual, a master politician, and a genius at all of them. Thomas Jefferson probably led the way to the politician of today whose motto is "tell them what they want to hear", for that was what he practiced. Here was a man who had all the great minds of Europe, and some in the United States (just think of the egos that were surrounding him, i.e. Adams,(who probably actually was the brain behind the revolution), Hanmilton, Geo.Washington, Adams, Burr, Arnold, Paine, Franklin; a massive collection of egos, telling him that he was wrong in doing what he was doing, but he ignored what they were advising him, because his own welfare and the luxuries the slaves were providing him were more important. At the same time telling them they were probably right. The myth of Thomas Jefferson that we have all been living with is no longer. Thank God for Abraham Lincoln! This book should be required reading in all highschool history classes.

The only other biographies I have read on Thomas Jefferson were way back in 1996 by Willard S. Randall, copyright 1993 and Conor Cruise O'Brien's "The long affair, T.J. and the French Revolution 1785-1800", copyright 1996, which I read in 1999. But lately I have heard that Willard Randall's credibility is suspect due to what he has written on George Washington. I also took a peek at Jefferson's Notes on the State of VA but thought the book looked too dry (and disingenuous) for my tastes. Nevertheless, after reading that T.J. book by Randall, I decided to give T.J. credit for the Kentucky resolutions of 1798 and perhaps also his plan for the western lands when in the Continental Congress in 1784. So T.J. is for the most part dispensable? That's right, T.J. is and has been way overrated. Many of the philosophical things that T.J. has written never did add up in my opinion.

Henry Wiencek has written another flawless book with no typos, with one exception. On page 265 he has endnote #36. But when I go to page 303 looking for the endnote, it is not there,...surprise, surprise.

Henry's book merely confirms what I already knew, namely that T.J. was an arrogant megajerk and hypocrite on a grand scale. But there were also a lot of other things I didn't know that Henry brought to light. There's no point in reading anything further on T.J. from what I can see.

In 2001, I read the biography "John Marshall, Definer of a Nation" by Jean Edward Smith, copyright 1996. In that book is mentioned how John Marshall thought his second cousin T.J. was not an honest man after hearing from his sister-in-law, the oldest of the Ambler sisters, how T.J. attempted to (or actually did) date-rape her. If there is a defense for T.J. in regards to his sexual issues--it would be that in the Southeastern Folkway, as mentioned in David Hackett Fischer's book Albion Seed, such sexual indiscretions were more likely to be tolerated as compared to the Folkways in the Northeast or Delaware region. The Albion Seed book has William Byrd II as a prime example of such predatory behavior.

I bought this book to increase my understanding about Jefferson, and was not disappointed. The book is very detailed and was an excellant read. I'm not a scholar, just like to real well written books on American history. Jefferson was definately a man of his age and lived his life to the fullest. I pass no judgement on him for his faults, passion or intelligence. His actions continues to have an impact on our present day lives. I also think he would feel the deepest dispair about the state of the nation today and current politics.

Very interesting so far.I never knew how deceptive he was. A true lover of money and power over the well being of life.It makes you question what "equality of all men" meant to him stated when he wrote the declaration.he is remebered for creating his own version of the bible leaving important parts out.I dont think hes a fan of loving his neighbor.

Who knew: Thomas Jefferson has always been one of my heroes. Talk about feet of clay! This book doesn't negate the great things he did but it brings into sharp focus his not-so-great behaviors and decisions.. H seemed to be able to rationalize his personal choices differently from what he recommended for others and what he purported to represent. .(He wrote the Declaration of Independence for heaven's sake and owned slaves for life.) It's a lesson for modern day politicians and "role Models"e

A fascinating look into the real life and times of Thomas Jefferson and a thoroughly enjoyable read. Really made me think about our need to more closely examine our historical figures and learn from lessons from them that may differ from tha traditional. Highly recommend this book.

This book is a great example of compliling others' works. Parts of this tome may also border on fiction. It's also quite obvious that those who have given Wiencek five stars have never read a serious work on Jefferson; however, those at the bottom of this list, who have given it one star, appear to have been much better read on this subject. I gave it five stars only that my comments wouldn't sink to the bottom of this page. Many who are really interested in Jefferson should keep right on reading . . .

During a public appearance by this acerbic author in the Kansas City Library, he confessed his research "hadn't gotten that far" when I related detailed consequences of one act of Jefferson's generosity--specifically TJ's co-signing for a huge loan on which the borrower later defaulted. Hmm.

David Barton has much more fact based information on this subject. Many of the things stated as fact in this book have been proven to be untrue. It seems to me the author was out to make the "facts" he used meet his agenda.

Sad that the lie about Thomas Jefferson and his 'supposed' children of slaves continues to taint this incredible man and founder of America. The so-called 'DNA' connection can no way tie directly to anything more than the family and not specifically, so it amounts to hearsay evidence at best. It plays more into the authors 'seek and destroy' mission to paint the man into what he wants to see. Nothing to see in the book but railings against our founders once again. Save your money and spend it on real history.

Anyone interested in the Non-fiction side of Thomas Jefferson should read:
Thomas Jefferson : Writings : Autobiography / Notes on the State of Virginia / Public and Private Papers / Addresses / Letters (Library of America) by Thomas Jefferson http://www.the store.com/Thomas-Jefferson-Writings-Autobiography-Addresses/dp/094045016X/ref=la_B001H6KQFU_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1351480918&sr=1-2 Or The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson http://www.the store.com/Autobiography-Thomas-Jefferson/dp/1619492636/ref=la_B001H6KQFU_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1351480918&sr=1-8