Sally Hemings: An American Scandal (2000)

I love this movie so much

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

With all that has been discovered and written about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, it's unfortunate that the movie did not stick to facts. The acting was good. 1. It's unclear whether there was a first son Tom who survived. Thomas Woodson was shown through DNA testing NOT to be related to the male Jefferson line. 2. While the movie had to come up with material for times when Jefferson was away, the circumstances of Sally Hemings' status at Monticello make it unlikely that she was attacked and whipped in the way shown. 3. The slaves at Monticello were NOT sold until after Jefferson's death, when they were auctioned off and Monticello was sold. Jefferson had allowed Beverly and Harriet to "run away" years before that, when Harriet was 21. 4. He freed Eston and Madison Hemings in his will. They shared a house in Charlottesville. Martha gave Sally Hemings "her time" (an indirect kind of freedom) and she lived in Charlottesville with her free sons until her death. Thus, all of the Hemings nuclear family were freed - something that points to the special relationship they had with Jefferson. 5. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which runs Monticello, and the National Genealogical Society have both stated that the preponderance of historic evidence (supported by the DNA results) is that Jefferson fathered all of Sally Hemings' children, as noted above. Descendants of Eston Hemings were found to be related to the Jefferson male line, and Thomas Jefferson was the most likely candidate as the father of him and the other children. Four Hemings children survived to adulthood, and three of those: Beverly, Harriet and Eston and his descendants, passed into white society. They were 7/8 white by heritage. 6. The Carr nephews were shown by DNA testing NOT to be possible ancestors to the Hemings children. 7. As others have recommended, read Annette Gordon-Reed's book "Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy". It's a good analysis of the evidence and how historians tried to avoid the obvious for years.

As is the the mini-series itself. Sally Hemmings was not Jefferson's "mistress". She was a 14 year-old slave of Jefferson's. A mistress, by definition, is a grown woman who willingly joins in a sexual relationship. In this mini-series, she's shown as mature beyond her years, somehow glossing over her true age, and presented as if she is lucky to be the property of the "enlightened" Mr. Jefferson. The historical truth is that Sally Hemmings was a 14 year-old child, and had no choice in the matter. Slavery is abuse, and Jefferson abused the power he had over her to have sex with her with or without her consent. This was a 43 year-old man having sex with a 14 year-old child; whom he impregnated multiple times. He never freed her, nor the children he forced her to have. Does anyone believe that she willingly consented to intercourse with a 43 year- old white adult? That she would have, had she not been a slave? This was at the same time he was writing letters and giving speeches about the evils of slavery. If a 43 year-old man had sexual relations with a 14 year-old girl he made pregnant, he would be given 20 to 30 years in prison and be a registered sex offender. Jefferson's abuse of his slave is presented as a romance in this mini-series, that avoids carefully the ugly truths: That Jefferson sexually abused a child, and was by definition of his act a pedophile. He could have just as easily abused an adult slave, but chose to abuse a little girl. Sally Hemming's voice will never be heard. As usual, the victim's voice is silent. This mini-series is a true American product; a rewriting of the truth of Jefferson's sexual abuse of a 14 year-old slave he impregnated, into a Gone With the Wind romance. It belongs next to the romance that the networks made of General Custer, presenting him as a romantic hero and no the genocidal maniac he was. I give this mini-series 0 stars. It is rank and perverted. If Sally Hemmings could be heard for 10 minutes voicing the truth of Jefferson's "relationship" to her, one wonders what the reaction would be? Would history be corrected? Or would every tape recorder and camera suddenly stop working and be erased mysteriously? And would some persuasive American historian gently be interrupting her from revealing the sick truth, saying "Now child, you don't understand. You may have been a slave, but it was love that Jefferson was showing you when he made you pregnant. Right? You see that, right?". This mini-series is exactly as sick as that.

Hello. I was very pleased with the series. I was interested in watching it because of SAM NEILL but soon found that the acting of SAM and Carmen was so well done that I actually found myself watching TJ and Sally finding each other, loving each other and was drawn in to their unique situation. I believe that the series did a good thing in bringing this relationship into the public eye and I personally have found I have a great interest in learning more about TJ, Sally (who, unfortunately, there is not a lot available) and the whole horrible slave business.There were places in the series where I was disappointed, simple things that were not realistic, but I was willing to overlook them because of the superb acting of SAM NEILL and Carmen.I recommend this series.

What a performance for Sam Neill. I thought that his portrayal of Jefferson was delightful. They could not have picked a better actor. I truly loved this mini-series. I think it is one of the best that I have seen in a while.