Journal:Collins, Jefferson & Hemings

Christine Sloss
Dr. Scott Lankford
English 48A

November 22, 2011

Journal:

READING #1:  Online excerpts from The Trouble with Tom Chapter One, "The End." Paul Collins

READING #2 is a video!  Watch all four parts of the PBS Front Line Documentary on Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings entitled Jefferson's Blood

Author Quote:”A typical book about America founding father doesn’t start in a gay piano bar and almost end in a sewage ditch. But then, Tomas Paine wasn’t your typically founding father.”

Internet Quote: “It seems like that way of life is being taken away. It's a different world now.”

Brief summary of what the author is saying in your own words: The trouble with Tom is that he wasn’t typical, he did not fit in societies, he was the one to push all the buttons and ask all the questions, and take on the trial and tribulations to get there, his troubles were not common, his way of thinking was not common, his actions were not common, yet he was among the founding fathers.

My thoughts: It seems that Paine could of used Jefferson’s advice by, rewriting history  to his liking. Although, Paine had a powerful a role in history similar to Jefferson, he did not take the same precaution to insure his legacy. I was thinking about this point, that if it was truly important to him, he could of revived his accomplishments in his later years, and established himself in history as a hero.  However, unlike Jefferson I do not think he cared what people thought of him, he suffered in the cold winter of the war writing “these are trying times for men’s souls” because he thought it was important for people to know what was going on, not so he would be famous. And with this in mind he did accomplished what he set out to do in life, being the voice of others who are scared to speak. And now he is unburied, unknown, and being sought out by curious authors like Paul Collins who want to know what really happened, and to revive his legacy of the man who coined the phrase “United States of America.” But, Jefferson on the other hand would prefer to let thing lay as they are in the typical history book, being a political type he cared everything about what people thought of him, and because of his habits he had secrets, lots of them, and he spent a good amount of time keeping them under wraps and in his later years he did make it a point to lock the skeltons in the closet until he was long gone. I think Jefferson was quite afraid of being exposed, why else would he build such an extravagant home with secret paths for the slaves, or ship off with to Paris with his slave Sally Hemings who was 15 years of age, who was the half-sister of Jefferson's wife and became pregnant by Jefferson in Paris.  Hmmm? I didn’t read that in my history book. But because he was (and still is) well loved in America’s eyes these little oddities are over looked. And he will always be remembered as one of America’s best founding fathers.