[Jefferson, Thomas, and Sally Hemings]
John Quincy Adams' Racist Satirical Poem Mocking Thomas Jefferson After his Scandalous Affair with his Slave

Boston Gazette. Commercial and Political
Boston: Published by John Russell and James Cutler, Monday, December 27, 1802. Vol. XIII, No. 34. Printed newspaper. Folio. 4 pp. Disbound; creasing from old folds; wear along edges, affecting some text; separations along central vertical fold; spotting and mild dampstaining.

On the second page is printed John Quincy Adams' satirical poem mocking Thomas Jefferson, following reports of Jefferson's scandalous affair with his slave, Sally Hemings: "Dear Thomas, deem it no disgrace With slaves to mend thy breed, Nor let the wench's smutty face Deter thee from the deed..."

In an early September 1802 issue of The Richmond Recorder, journalist James Callendar made the shocking accusation that President Thomas Jefferson had for nearly a decade been engaged in a sexual relationship with one of his slaves, Sally Hemings. Though Callendar claimed to have come to this conclusion after observing several light-skinned enslaved children at Monticello, similar rumors had been whispered about for years, notably during the bitter 1800 presidential contest between Jefferson and then-President John Adams. What few knew was that the original source for these rumors may have been Adams himself, who had possibly hinted about the relationship in letters to his son, John Quincy Adams, following Jefferson's resignation from George Washington's cabinet as Secretary of State in 1794. Federalist newspapers across the country eagerly reprinted the story. Though aligned with Jefferson politically, the BostonGazette nonetheless reprinted a racist poem penned by the son of Jefferson's predecessor and one-time friend, openly mocking the scandal. Originally published in October, the poem was reprinted multiple times.

Jefferson denied paternity of Hemings's children, as did his children and grandchildren, however DNA evidence has since proven that Jefferson fathered six children with Hemings, four of whom survived to adulthood.

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How History Unfolds on Paper: Important Americana from the Eric C. Caren Collection, Part X

[Jefferson, Thomas, and Sally Hemings]
John Quincy Adams' Racist Satirical Poem Mocking Thomas Jefferson After his Scandalous Affair with his Slave

How History Unfolds on Paper: Important Americana from the Eric C. Caren Collection, Part X

[Jefferson, Thomas, and Sally Hemings] John Quincy Adams' Racist Satirical Poem Mocking Thomas Jefferson After his Scandalous Affair with his Slave

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[Jefferson, Thomas, and Sally Hemings]
John Quincy Adams' Racist Satirical Poem Mocking Thomas Jefferson After his Scandalous Affair with his Slave