Problem
Who was Sally Hemings, and does her life affect our understanding of her owner, Thomas Jefferson? Do some research on her and the debate over whether she did or did not have an affair with Jefferson. Although now current scholarship accepts that they did have a sexual relationship and several children together, what did the resistance of some scholars and others to this possibility say about race in contemporary America? Does the fact of their relationship affect how we, as Americans, should view this Founding Father who did so much to define and realize our rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"?