LEADER 04542nam 2200721Ia 450 001 9910969737503321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a9781283834773 010 $a1283834774 010 $a9780813929859 010 $a0813929857 035 $a(CKB)2670000000275932 035 $a(EBL)3444074 035 $a(OCoLC)820851851 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000756389 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11438072 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000756389 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10754100 035 $a(PQKB)10594717 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse24407 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3444074 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10614786 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL414727 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3444074 035 $a(Perlego)857031 035 $a(EXLCZ)992670000000275932 100 $a20080603d2009 ub 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur|n|---||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aMongrel nation $ethe America begotten by Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings /$fClarence E. Walker 210 $aCharlottesville $cUniversity of Virginia Press$d2009 215 $a1 online resource (144 p.) 225 0$aJeffersonian America 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 08$a9780813927787 311 08$a0813927781 311 08$a9780813927770 311 08$a0813927773 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [101]-122) and index. 327 $aWalker000i-xiv; Walker001-10; Walker011-56; Walker057-100; Walker101-122; Walker123-128; Walker129-130 330 8 $aThe debate over the affair between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings rarely rises above the question of "Did they or didn't they?" But lost in the argument over the existence of such a relationship are equally urgent questions about a history that is more complex, both sexually and culturally, than most of us realize. Mongrel Nation seeks to uncover this complexity, as well as the reasons it is so often obscured. Clarence Walker contends that the relationship between Jefferson and Hemings must be seen not in isolation but in the broader context of interracial affairs within the plantation complex. Viewed from this perspective, the relationship was not unusual or aberrant but was fairly typical. For many, this is a disturbing realization, because it forces us to abandon the idea of American exceptionalism and re-examine slavery in America as part of a long, global history of slaveholders frequently crossing the color line. More than many other societies--and despite our obvious mixed-race population--our nation has displayed particular reluctance to acknowledge this dynamic. In a country where, as early as 1662, interracial sex was already punishable by law, an understanding of the Hemings-Jefferson relationship has consistently met with resistance. From Jefferson's time to our own, the general public denied--or remained oblivious to--the possibility of the affair. Historians, too, dismissed the idea, even when confronted with compelling arguments by fellow scholars. It took the DNA findings of 1998 to persuade many (although, to this day, doubters remain). The refusal to admit the likelihood of this union between master and slave stems, of course, from Jefferson's symbolic significance as a Founding Father. The president's apologists, both before and after the DNA findings, have constructed an iconic Jefferson that tells us more about their own beliefs--and the often alarming demands of those beliefs--than it does about the interaction between slave owners and slaves. Much more than a search for the facts about two individuals, the debate over Jefferson and Hemings is emblematic of tensions in our society between competing conceptions of race and of our nation. 410 0$aJeffersonian America. 606 $aMiscegenation (Racist theory)$zUnited States$xHistory 606 $aWhite people$xRace identity$zUnited States 606 $aAfrican Americans$xRace identity 606 $aMultiracial people$zUnited States 607 $aUnited States$xRace relations 615 0$aMiscegenation (Racist theory)$xHistory. 615 0$aWhite people$xRace identity 615 0$aAfrican Americans$xRace identity. 615 0$aMultiracial people 676 $a306.84/60973 700 $aWalker$b Clarence E$g(Clarence Earl)$01869724 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910969737503321 996 $aMongrel nation$94477949 997 $aUNINA