Master of the Mountain : : Thomas Jefferson and his Slaves

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Call Number: 973.46 Wi
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	973.46 Wi	4-week checkout	On Shelf

"This steep, savage hill" -- "Let there be justice" -- Pursued by the black horse -- "We lived under a hidden law" -- "The hammer or the anvil" -- The Bancroft paradox -- "To have good and human heart" -- What the blacksmith saw -- What the colonel saw -- A mother's prayers -- "I will answer for your safety -- banish all fear" -- "To serve you faithful" -- The double aspect -- America's Cassandra -- The man in the iron mask -- "I only am escaped alone to tell thee" -- "The effect on them was electrical" -- "Utopia in full reality" -- Jefferson anew.
"Master of the Mountain," Henry Wiencek's eloquent, persuasive book--based on new information coming from archaeological work at Monticello and on hitherto overlooked or disregarded evidence in Jefferson's papers--opens up a huge, poorly understood dimension of Jefferson's world."-- Publisher's description.

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A painful but truthful history submitted by Jen Chapin-Smith on July 17, 2020, 3:14pm As our nation reckons with its current and historic racism, this book gives a fresh perspective on the person who wrote eloquently for equality while also enslaving other people.
Many people try to excuse Jefferson's hypocrisy wherein he advocated for freedom while enslaving people. This book eviscerates all those excuses with real, historic proof that Jefferson was well aware that enslaving people was immoral. The book also points out people, including George Washington, whom Jefferson knew personally and who freed their slaves either during their own lifetimes or, as in Washington's case, in their wills. The author also demonstrates how Jefferson used enslaved people to increase his own personal wealth, such as his calculation of how much his wealth increased annually as those he enslaved had children. For those who attempt mental gymnastics to insist that Thomas Jefferson did not have children with Sally Hemings, a woman whom he enslaved who was also his late wife's half-sister, the author points to actual historical documents, in addition to DNA evidence, that Jefferson did indeed impregnate her several times, including when she was in her early teens.
As people across our nation tear down monuments to and statues of people who fought to continue the legal practice of enslaving others, this book uses facts to help tear down the virtual monument our nation has created of Jefferson.