With all that has been discovered and written about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, it's unfortunate that the movie did not stick to facts. The acting was good.
1. It's unclear whether there was a first son Tom who survived. Thomas Woodson was shown through DNA testing NOT to be related to the male Jefferson line.
2. While the movie had to come up with material for times when Jefferson was away, the circumstances of Sally Hemings' status at Monticello make it unlikely that she was attacked and whipped in the way shown.
3. The slaves at Monticello were NOT sold until after Jefferson's death, when they were auctioned off and Monticello was sold. Jefferson had allowed Beverly and Harriet to "run away" years before that, when Harriet was 21.
4. He freed Eston and Madison Hemings in his will. They shared a house in Charlottesville. Martha gave Sally Hemings "her time" (an indirect kind of freedom) and she lived in Charlottesville with her free sons until her death. Thus, all of the Hemings nuclear family were freed - something that points to the special relationship they had with Jefferson.
5. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which runs Monticello, and the National Genealogical Society have both stated that the preponderance of historic evidence (supported by the DNA results) is that Jefferson fathered all of Sally Hemings' children, as noted above. Descendants of Eston Hemings were found to be related to the Jefferson male line, and Thomas Jefferson was the most likely candidate as the father of him and the other children. Four Hemings children survived to adulthood, and three of those: Beverly, Harriet and Eston and his descendants, passed into white society. They were 7/8 white by heritage.
6. The Carr nephews were shown by DNA testing NOT to be possible ancestors to the Hemings children.
7. As others have recommended, read Annette Gordon-Reed's book "Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy". It's a good analysis of the evidence and how historians tried to avoid the obvious for years.
1. It's unclear whether there was a first son Tom who survived. Thomas Woodson was shown through DNA testing NOT to be related to the male Jefferson line.
2. While the movie had to come up with material for times when Jefferson was away, the circumstances of Sally Hemings' status at Monticello make it unlikely that she was attacked and whipped in the way shown.
3. The slaves at Monticello were NOT sold until after Jefferson's death, when they were auctioned off and Monticello was sold. Jefferson had allowed Beverly and Harriet to "run away" years before that, when Harriet was 21.
4. He freed Eston and Madison Hemings in his will. They shared a house in Charlottesville. Martha gave Sally Hemings "her time" (an indirect kind of freedom) and she lived in Charlottesville with her free sons until her death. Thus, all of the Hemings nuclear family were freed - something that points to the special relationship they had with Jefferson.
5. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which runs Monticello, and the National Genealogical Society have both stated that the preponderance of historic evidence (supported by the DNA results) is that Jefferson fathered all of Sally Hemings' children, as noted above. Descendants of Eston Hemings were found to be related to the Jefferson male line, and Thomas Jefferson was the most likely candidate as the father of him and the other children. Four Hemings children survived to adulthood, and three of those: Beverly, Harriet and Eston and his descendants, passed into white society. They were 7/8 white by heritage.
6. The Carr nephews were shown by DNA testing NOT to be possible ancestors to the Hemings children.
7. As others have recommended, read Annette Gordon-Reed's book "Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy". It's a good analysis of the evidence and how historians tried to avoid the obvious for years.