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00:07I have missed you, my love.
00:18Now, the president will deny it, of course.
00:23But I went to Monticello.
00:28Visited a nearby tavern there.
00:31Had the same lurid tale time and again.
00:36Thomas Jefferson's bed is kept worn by one Sally Hennings.
00:41A light-skinned woman in his employ.
00:47You're a goddamn liar.
00:49Am I?
00:52You grew up close to Jefferson's plantation in Virginia, didn't you?
01:00You must have heard the stories.
01:04She and his little brood of mulattoes.
01:09If you squint a bit, you can see the likeness.
01:18But then, what is the point in being the president if you can't take a slave into your bed,
01:27sire your children with her?
01:34You know, during my time in the old me,
01:41I was called upon to kill
01:43a number of men.
01:49Not one of that deaths cost me a
01:53moment's sleep.
02:06You'd kill me because I tell the truth about the president.
02:10Why not, I'll have to kill you, Mr. Callender.
02:14You'll do that all by yourself.
02:26Have another drink on me.
02:33I won't be silenced, Mr. Lewis.
02:36Tell the president
02:38James T. Callender is coming for him!
03:01Mr. President, sir.
03:03Good morning, John.
03:06What a beautiful day.
03:08It surely is.
03:23Sally Hemings was one of the young female slaves
03:27who lived at Monticello,
03:29which, of course, was owned by Thomas Jefferson.
03:34Sally was a mixed-race slave
03:38with a white father
03:41and an enslaved African mother.
03:44But Hemings was also
03:47the half-sister
03:48of Jefferson's wife.
03:52So Thomas Jefferson
03:54married one sister
03:57who was free
03:58and then
04:00took as a concubine
04:02the other sister.
04:04And there are some accounts
04:07that she resembled
04:08Thomas Jefferson's wife.
04:29not that basket.
04:32That's the master's basket.
04:34All the servant's clothes
04:35go in the other one.
04:39You must be that new man-servant
04:41we all heard about.
04:43Yes, I am.
04:45John.
04:46John Freeman.
04:47Well,
04:49John Freeman.
04:53You can quit staring
04:55and help me dry some laundry.
04:59Melinda Colbert
05:01is Sally Hemings's niece
05:03and she was given
05:05as a wedding present
05:08when she was about nine years old
05:10to Maria Jefferson.
05:13One of her jobs
05:14was to be
05:15the body servant,
05:16to be the companion
05:17of Thomas Jefferson's daughter.
05:19So,
05:20Melinda
05:21worked inside the house
05:23and she was
05:25a friend
05:25of Sally.
05:28You didn't have
05:29to do this.
05:32Well,
05:34I figured I'd do
05:35something for you
05:36and you do
05:37something for me.
05:38And what is it
05:39you want from me,
05:40John Freeman?
05:41I want to know
05:42what's going on
05:43with the master
05:43and that woman.
05:45Well,
05:45you playing with fire there.
05:48You don't talk about that
05:49at Monticello
05:50unless you're absolutely sure
05:52no one is listening.
05:57She has two kids,
05:59both his.
06:01There were more,
06:02but some died young.
06:05And nobody knows
06:07about this?
06:08Some of her friends,
06:09maybe.
06:10The Madisons,
06:11for sure.
06:12They're here
06:13all the time.
06:17Sally
06:18has her own cabin
06:20away from the house
06:21in the slaves' quarters,
06:23but there's a private
06:24passageway.
06:26Leads to the master's property,
06:28makes it possible
06:29for her to visit his rooms
06:30when nobody is looking.
06:33Jefferson had successfully
06:35kept his relationship
06:36with Sally Hemings
06:37a secret.
06:38However,
06:41Jefferson does have enemies.
06:43There are people
06:45in the United States
06:46who do not like
06:48Thomas Jefferson
06:48and are looking for
06:50anything
06:50they can find
06:51to help tear him down.
06:59Captain Lewis,
07:02I'm disappointed.
07:05you're supposed to be
07:06a man of action.
07:07I expected you to return
07:08from your mission victorious,
07:09not waving the white flag
07:11of surrender.
07:13I made their proposal
07:14to Callender.
07:15As you asked,
07:18he declined.
07:21There's a trouble
07:22with drunks.
07:23There's no reason
07:24it will.
07:27You made a number
07:28of malicious accusations
07:31about your household staff,
07:34about your relationship
07:35for one
07:37in particular.
07:41No one will ever believe him.
07:43Let him
07:44shoot his mouth off.
07:45Are you certain,
07:47Mr. President?
07:50There are
07:51other more
07:53persuasive avenues
07:54that could be explored.
08:00I don't think
08:01there'll be a need
08:01for violence, Captain.
08:05At least not yet.
08:09No,
08:09Callender's a loud mouth.
08:12Give him a week
08:13and he'll come crawling back,
08:15beg him for that
08:16$50.
08:27General,
08:28Cousin Leverture
08:29has almost complete
08:30control of the island.
08:32He's freed over
08:33half a million slaves,
08:34including the ones
08:34that he's released
08:35from Santa Domingo.
08:37Now the French Emperor
08:39Napoleon Bonaparte
08:40has sent a fleet
08:40of 20,000 men
08:41to retake the colony
08:43from the rebel slaves.
08:45The Southern Plantation
08:47owners are worried,
08:48Thomas.
08:49Haiti is offering
08:50citizenship to anyone
08:51black who can make
08:52it to their shores.
08:58Haiti is a very small island
09:00about a thousand miles
09:02away from Washington,
09:03but a very big problem
09:04for the Jefferson administration.
09:07It was actually the location
09:10of the first truly successful
09:12slave revolution.
09:14And one of the things
09:16slave-holding white Americans
09:19and plantation owners knew
09:21is that if just one slave revolution
09:25was successful,
09:26it could topple the entire system
09:28in the United States.
09:33Freeman!
09:35Over here!
09:37Now!
09:42Look at me.
09:45How much of our conversation
09:47did you hear?
09:48Most of it.
09:51I see.
09:53Do you know about the slave
09:55rebellion in Haiti, Freeman?
09:58I guess I do.
10:00There ain't too many
10:00black folk
10:01that I haven't heard.
10:03And what do they say
10:04about it?
10:06It's all right, John.
10:08You may be candid.
10:12Well, I guess most folk
10:13think the Haitians are heroes.
10:16Like Spartacus
10:17and his followers
10:18back in the Roman times.
10:20Except Spartacus was what?
10:22Didn't stop the Romans
10:23from killing them, though,
10:24did it?
10:28Go on.
10:30Maybe the Romans
10:31were scared.
10:32What a slave might do
10:34to those who kept them
10:35in chains.
10:37And maybe slavery
10:38ain't a black or white thing.
10:40It's about
10:41people making money.
10:44Pure and simple.
10:48Truth is, sir,
10:50I believe in all those
10:51powerful things you said
10:53about we all being born equal.
10:57That's a world
10:58to look forward to.
11:07I'm sorry, sir.
11:09My mouth just runs off
11:10with me sometimes.
11:12Become a politician,
11:13we get paid for it.
11:17All right, John.
11:24Well, Thomas,
11:27what are we going to do
11:29about Haiti?
11:31Thomas Jefferson
11:32does not want
11:34a Haitian revolution
11:35happening in the United States.
11:37Even as he's arguing
11:39and writing the Declaration
11:40of Independence,
11:41over his lifetime,
11:43he's holding
11:44maybe 600-plus slaves.
11:46He's using slaves
11:49for his plantation,
11:51Monticello.
11:52He's using slaves
11:53at the White House.
11:55He doesn't want them
11:56thinking about revolution.
11:58So he decides
11:59to act like Haiti
12:01doesn't exist.
12:02He doesn't acknowledge
12:03Haiti as a country
12:04at all.
12:06The time is coming
12:08when we will need
12:09to expand our nation.
12:12It is not practical.
12:14or reasonable
12:17to expect
12:18whites,
12:20blacks,
12:21Indians
12:22to coexist
12:23if populations
12:24grow as they are.
12:26We need space
12:28to breathe.
12:30Yeah.
12:33Space to contain.
12:44It is well known
12:45that the man
12:46whom it delighteth
12:47the people to honor
12:48keeps
12:49and for many years
12:50past has kept
12:51as his conculine
12:53one of his own slaves.
12:55Her name is Sally Hemings.
12:57By this wench,
12:59our president
12:59has had several...
13:10By this wench,
13:12our president
13:13has had several children.
13:15There is not
13:16an individual
13:17in the neighborhood
13:17of Charlottesville
13:18who does not believe
13:19this story.
13:21Not a few
13:21who know it.
13:23The Black Venus
13:27is set to officiate
13:30as housekeeper
13:31at Monticello.
13:34When Mr. Jefferson
13:36reads this article,
13:38he will have leisure
13:39to estimate
13:40how much
13:42is lost
13:42or gained
13:44by so many
13:46unprovoked attacks
13:49upon
13:50J.T.
13:52Callender.
13:54In 1802,
13:56James Callender
13:56writes this story
13:57about Thomas Jefferson
13:59and Sally Hemings
14:01and it's going to become
14:02the first
14:03presidential sex scandal.
14:04What will you do?
14:09Nothing.
14:14I shall hold
14:16my peace.
14:20Callender wants
14:21to burn
14:21everything down.
14:24I will deny
14:26him that oxygen.
14:28It's the talk
14:30of Washington,
14:30but Jefferson
14:32ignores it.
14:33He never
14:34talks about it
14:35publicly
14:36one way
14:37or the other.
14:39And in fact,
14:40until DNA,
14:42there were
14:42noted historians
14:44who were denying it.
14:45Oh, Jefferson,
14:46our boy Jefferson
14:47would never
14:48have done that.
14:48And there were
14:49those of us
14:49saying,
14:50oh,
14:51yes,
14:51he could.
14:57I knew
14:58deep down
14:59that someday
15:00the truth
15:00would come out.
15:02That one of
15:03his opponents
15:04would discover
15:05our relationship,
15:07use it
15:08to shame him.
15:11I just never
15:12guessed it
15:12would hurt
15:13this bad.
15:15stupid,
15:16stupid
15:17Sally.
15:19He will
15:20never
15:22acknowledge
15:23me
15:25or the
15:26children.
15:28My greatest
15:29fear now
15:30is that
15:31he will
15:32send us
15:33away,
15:35sell us,
15:37worse,
15:39separate me
15:39from the
15:40children.
15:41you could
15:42run away.
15:45And how
15:46far do you
15:46think I
15:47would get
15:47with no
15:49money and
15:50the president
15:50of the United
15:51States chasing
15:52after me?
15:55That's
15:56always
15:56hating.
15:59Anyway,
16:01what's happening
16:02with you and
16:02that,
16:02John Freeman?
16:03I saw you
16:04both coming
16:05out of the
16:05laundry room
16:06together.
16:06You know
16:07that's a place
16:07where stuff
16:08is supposed
16:08to get
16:09cleaner,
16:09not dirtier.
16:11I like
16:12him a lot.
16:16Do you
16:17think you
16:18could speak
16:19with the
16:19master about
16:20taking me
16:21into his
16:21service at
16:22the White
16:22House with
16:24John?
16:25Seriously?
16:27No harm in
16:28asking,
16:28is there?
16:41Secretary of
16:42State.
16:43Mr. Monroe,
16:45glad you
16:45could make
16:45it.
16:46What do you
16:46know about
16:47Haiti,
16:48Mr. Monroe?
16:49James Monroe was
16:51a revolutionary
16:51war hero.
16:52He cuts his
16:53teeth as a
16:54diplomat in
16:54France during
16:55the 1790s.
16:56I know
16:57that Napoleon
16:57Bonaparte's
16:58forces there
16:59have been
16:59decimated
17:00by disease
17:01and if he
17:02loses Haiti,
17:03he might
17:04rethink France's
17:05ambitions in
17:06the new
17:07world.
17:08Napoleon tried
17:10to retake
17:11Haiti from
17:12enslaved rebels
17:13who had
17:14declared Haiti
17:16autonomous of
17:17France and
17:18it failed
17:19spectacularly.
17:21What Napoleon
17:23really needs
17:23now is
17:24money.
17:25France
17:26controlled
17:27land in
17:28the United
17:28States.
17:29The entire
17:30territory was
17:31called
17:32Louisiana.
17:33Today it
17:33covers about
17:3415 U.S.
17:35states from
17:36the Gulf of
17:37Mexico up
17:38to Canada,
17:39from the
17:39Mississippi
17:40River out
17:41to the
17:41Rocky Mountains.
17:44I'm sorry
17:45sir, did
17:47you just
17:47ask me to
17:48go to
17:48France and
17:49buy New
17:50Orleans?
17:50Exactly
17:51that.
17:51You are
17:52authorized to
17:53offer $10
17:53million.
17:54but he has
17:56to throw in
17:56West Florida.
17:57That is
17:57insane,
17:58Thomas.
17:58We don't
17:58have anything
17:59like that
17:59in ready
18:00cash.
18:00And even
18:01if we
18:01did,
18:01is it
18:01even legal
18:02for the
18:03president
18:03to purchase
18:03territory
18:04without approval
18:05from Congress?
18:06It is the
18:07destiny of this
18:07country to
18:08grow larger.
18:09That cannot be
18:10achieved if we
18:10allow foreign
18:11powers to
18:12control our
18:12waterways.
18:13Napoleon will
18:14listen.
18:15He's busy
18:16conquering
18:17Europe.
18:17God knows
18:17he needs
18:18the money.
18:19Courage,
18:19my friends.
18:21It's my
18:21proof.
18:22Don't come
18:23back empty
18:24handed.
18:41You see,
18:42this is
18:43what Captain
18:44Lewis writes.
18:47Is the
18:48James River
18:49capable of
18:51cleansing
18:52your soul?
18:59Now,
19:00I don't
19:00know about
19:01you,
19:02but that
19:03sounds a
19:03lot like
19:04a threat.
19:07Calendar's
19:08report on
19:09Sally Hemmings
19:10is a great
19:11threat to
19:11Thomas Jefferson.
19:13Jefferson
19:14himself is
19:15furious that
19:15this is
19:16reported in
19:16the news.
19:20Maybe I
19:21should ask
19:21the fool
19:22himself.
19:24No one
19:25would publish
19:26Calendar.
19:27I mean,
19:27he was
19:27persona non
19:28grata to
19:29everybody because
19:30he could turn
19:31from one side
19:31to the other.
19:39Oh,
19:41George!
19:47When your
19:47own lawyer
19:48beats you
19:48up,
19:49as George
19:50Hay did,
19:51you're
19:52probably not
19:52a great
19:52guy.
19:55I'm sorry,
19:56gentlemen.
19:56I think there's
19:57been some
19:57confusion.
19:58You did
19:58just say
19:5915 million.
20:00I did.
20:01You offered
20:02Napoleon
20:0315 million
20:04dollars for
20:05New Orleans
20:05and West
20:06Florida when
20:07we agreed
20:0810 was
20:09our limit.
20:10I'm sorry,
20:10Thomas.
20:11You misunderstand.
20:12The 50 million
20:13dollars isn't
20:15for New Orleans.
20:16Well,
20:16why in the name
20:17of haters is it
20:17for them?
20:28I don't
20:30understand.
20:32Are you
20:32saying it,
20:34Thomas?
20:34That crazy
20:36French bastard
20:37offered us
20:38the whole
20:39of Louisiana
20:41for 15
20:43million
20:44dollars.
20:46Jefferson's
20:47greatest
20:48accomplishment
20:49was the
20:50Louisiana
20:50purchase,
20:51without a
20:51doubt.
20:53The real
20:53estate
20:54to steal
20:55of the
20:55century
20:55of 15
20:57million
20:57dollars
20:58for this
20:59huge tract
21:00of land
21:00that effectively
21:01doubled the
21:02size of the
21:03country.
21:04Even
21:05through an
21:06cup of
21:06champagne.
21:14You
21:15don't look
21:16happy,
21:16but
21:17weren't
21:18you
21:18happy?
21:20This
21:20is a
21:21good
21:21thing.
21:22This
21:22is an
21:23amazing
21:23thing.
21:24Jefferson
21:25has made
21:25his
21:26reputation
21:27as a
21:27strict
21:28constructionist
21:30of the
21:30Constitution.
21:32The
21:33government
21:33cannot do
21:34anything
21:35that is
21:36not
21:36explicitly
21:37mentioned
21:39in the
21:40Constitution.
21:40now he's
21:43spent $15
21:44million
21:45purchasing
21:46Louisiana,
21:47and there's
21:48nothing that
21:49says the
21:49president
21:50can do
21:50this.
21:51we are
21:54this
21:54close to the
21:56greatest prize
21:57in history,
21:58a vast
21:58expanse that
21:59will make
22:00America
22:00the most
22:01powerful nation
22:02on earth.
22:04We just have
22:05to make sure
22:06we bring
22:06everyone on
22:07board.
22:08Nothing
22:09can derail
22:10this.
22:12Nothing.
22:35James,
22:36would you
22:37care to
22:38explain why
22:39we're meeting
22:39in a church?
22:41Why all the
22:42cloak and
22:43dagger?
22:46I have
22:46bad news.
22:49Something I
22:50thought better
22:50discussed away
22:51from the
22:51White House.
22:56It's
22:56Calendar.
22:58He
22:58approached me
22:59wanting to
22:59speak.
23:00He's in
23:01possession of
23:02letters written
23:02by you to him
23:03before the
23:04election.
23:05Letters that
23:05prove that
23:06you paid for
23:06his articles
23:08attacking
23:08John Adams.
23:11Impossible.
23:13There are
23:14no such
23:14letters.
23:19I have read
23:20them, Thomas.
23:21They are
23:22undeniably
23:22authentic.
23:24Your hand.
23:26Calendar says
23:27that he has
23:27countless others
23:28hidden away.
23:30He's threatening
23:30to release them
23:31all to the
23:32press.
23:40Well,
23:43that's that.
23:47He said he
23:48would ruin me.
23:50Now he can't.
23:55this gets
23:56out, the
23:56Louisiana deal
23:57collapsing.
24:06Maybe he can be
24:08reasoned with.
24:11That has been
24:12attempted.
24:14It's not a man to be
24:15recently.
24:19Then we should
24:20just have to
24:21hope for some
24:22miracle.
24:43Then we should just
24:47continue.
24:58I
25:01have to
25:02come and
25:02move out of here.
25:02потому
25:10that
25:10I
25:10have to
25:10watch.
25:13I
25:13know them
25:14see
25:15the
25:15come and
25:15see
25:15they're
25:30Try to sneak up on a man, would you?
25:34Ah, you.
25:36I sent you again, did he?
25:38Well, you can tell him to go to hell.
25:44Finally found your balls, did you?
26:18James, your letter says you have found a solution to our Louisiana conundrum.
26:25Yes.
26:27Well, your opponents in New England are refusing to support the Louisiana Purchase.
26:33Some fear that the power of the existing states will be diluted, that their economic dominance will be curtailed.
26:39Others insist that the Constitution gives you no such power.
26:43Now, Napoleon Bonaparte has told our French embassy that unless we pay up immediately, the deal is off the table.
26:49Dear Lord, James, none of that sounds like a solution.
26:52We need to reframe the conversation.
26:54The Constitution says that the President has the power to make international treaties.
27:03How does that help us?
27:05Well, we need to think of the purchase not as a transaction, but as a treaty with France.
27:14James Madison is adamant that this is a treaty and that land exchanges have always been parts of treaties and
27:20international negotiations.
27:24That is brilliant.
27:30You are a genius.
27:40James, is this something else?
27:44James Callender is dead.
27:48They found him drowned in the James River.
27:50Oh, that's terrible.
27:55Alcohol-related? Seems that way.
27:59They found him drowned in three feet of the James River.
28:06And they declared it death by misadventure,
28:10that he had gotten drunk, stumbled into the water,
28:14passed out, and died from this.
28:18The Federalists had a different interpretation
28:21that foul play had been involved by someone devoted to Jefferson,
28:27but it never went anywhere.
28:29Well, the world moves on.
28:34We have great tasks to perform.
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