re: #96 freetoken

There has been very much written about TJ, Sally Hemmings, all the evidence, etc.

I think it is appropriate for a teacher to ask a student to cite sources for any claim.

FWIW, age 14 was old enough for females, even white females, to be married off in many cultures.

I’m not saying it is right. I think it is wrong.

What I am saying is that when we are going to write about the past we need to cite evidence, then evaluate it in a context that includes the period as well as our own beliefs.

Does the student also need to cite sources for the following claims?

1. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941
2. Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth
3. Barack Obama was elected the 45th President of the United States
4. Will Chamberlain kicked rebel ass

Hennings was 14 years old and a slave when Jefferson first sexually violated her. That Jefferson was also a prodigious slut doesn’t do anything to mitigate that. He raped her. That society was OK with that at the time just underscores how twisted and degraded US society was by misogyny and slavery.