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Article: Negro President: Jefferson and the Slave Power; How Thomas Jefferson Rode Into the White House on the Backs of Black Slaves
- Article from:
- The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
- Article date:
- January 31, 2004
- Author:
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Jordan, Winthrop D.
Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, The
01-31-2004
THE TITLE OF this powerful book is deliberately provocative. The term
"Negro President" has nothing to do with Jefferson's own ancestry or his
probable liaison with his slave Sally Hemings and their offspring. Nor does
the phrase refer to Thomas Jefferson's disapproval of slavery, which was
real and heartfelt especially early in his political career. Rather, the
designation Negro President was advanced by opponents of Jefferson who, in
the author's words, "were challenging his public boast that the election of
1800 was a `Second Revolution' based on the expressed will of a popularity
majority. It was no such thing, they ...