Possible Midterm Essay Topics--Tate Burwell

The first possible topic for my midterm paper is the life of Sally Hemings (1773-1835). My investigation into her life would revolve around sexual exploitation and the slave-master relationship. Sally Hemings was an enslaved mixed-race woman who was owned by Thomas Jefferson. She had 6 children, 4 of whom lived to adulthood, and all of whom are thought to have been fathered by Jefferson, who freed them upon adulthood, making them the only slave family freed by him. Scholarship of this “controversy” was revolutionized by Annette Gordon Reed who challenged previous assumptions that Jefferson did not have a sexual relationship with Hemings. A 1998 DNA test proved a link between Hemings and Jefferson descendants. Primary sources could include an 1873 Ohio Newspaper interview with her son Madison Hemings confirming the relationship, as well as Jefferson’s will. In his will he provided freedom for his children and asked for special permission for them to remain in the state. Thomas Jefferson’s farm book contain records about his slaves, and the documentation done by Dumas Malone proved that Jefferson was at his estate Monticello every time Hemings conceived a child, and she only conceived children when he was at the estate. An alternative sources could be the memoir of Isaac Jefferson, an enslaved artisan who worked for Jefferson. I could also look into the independent reviews done by both the Thomas Jefferson Foundation and the National Genealogical Society that confirmed the likelihood of the Jefferson-Hemings relationship, and see what sources they used. Potential problems with this subject choice include finding primary documents that will provide insight into her life, rather than just evidence of her relationship with Thomas Jefferson. I want to be able to find the resources to paint a more complete picture of her life, rather than focusing solely on the father of her children. I don’t know if there is anything out there to document the nature of the relationship, but that would be interesting. I don’t know if there is anything written by her/ any accounting in her voice or any accompanying details that would make for a compelling essay.

A second option would be to analyze Madam CJ Walker’s (1867-1919) rise to success. She was a very successful businesswoman and activist, who showed other black women how to become financially independent. I could analyze an ad for one of her products as a primary source to show how it was marketed, or maybe find an article about her at the time to show how she was perceived. A potential problem would be finding a primary source with enough depth for me to be able to write about it at length.

Another person I am considering writing about is Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955). Her parents had been enslaved and most of her siblings were born into slavery. She pursued an education and eventually became a teacher. She eventually started a school for black children, and worked to get donations from wealthy white donors. She was also part of many civil rights organizations. I would love to find the text of a speech given by her or a letter written by her as a primary source. A problem I could run into is narrowing the focus of my paper enough to really go in depth into one topic.