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Negro President: Jefferson and the Slave Power Audiobook
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(3.04) - 117 listener ratings
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In "Negro President" the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Garry Wills explores a pivotal moment in American history through the lens of Thomas Jefferson and the now largely forgotten Timothy Pickering, and "prods readers to appreciate essential aspects of our distressed but well-intentioned representative democracy" (Chicago Tribune). In 1800 Jefferson won the presidential election with Electoral College votes derived from the three-fifths representation of slaves - slaves who could not vote but were still partially counted as citizens. Moving beyond the recent revisionist debate over Jefferson's own slaves and his relationship with Sally Hemings, Wills instead probes the heart of Jefferson's presidency and political life, revealing how the might of the slave states remained a concern behind his most important policies and decisions. In an eye-opening, ingeniously argued exposE, Wills restores Timothy Pickering and the Federalists' dramatic struggle to our understanding of Jefferson, the creation of the new nation, and the evolution of our representative democracy.
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"Interesting take on the long term affects of the 3/5 compromise. Gave the South a political power unwarranted by their free population, the effects which are still seen today..."
— Jim (4 out of 5 stars)
Negro President Listener Reviews
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" One of myriad means of reminding yourself the extent to which our political system is built upon slavery. The Founders are not entitled to reverence. "
— Billy, 6/19/2013 -
" More brilliant insight into our third president - and this extremely complicated election - from a writer i really admire. "
— Martin, 6/6/2013 -
" I read this while President Obama was running. "
— Tony, 3/1/2013 -
" The three-fifths clause of the Constitution gave the slave-holding aristocracy an iron grip on the government of the U.S. far in excess of what they would have had otherwise. It guaranteed the protection of slavery and dominated public policy until the Civil War. "
— Don, 2/6/2013 -
" I give this a 3.5. Parts of it are absolutely fascinating--the powerful political influence of slaves' 3/5 vote. "
— Linda, 11/11/2012 -
" Excellent! It will change your view of certain people in American history. "
— Kyle, 10/12/2012
About Garry Wills
Garry Wills is a historian and the author of the New York Times bestsellers What Jesus Meant, Papal Sin, Why I Am a Catholic, and Why Priests?, among others. A frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books and other publications, Wills is a Pulitzer Prize winner and a professor emeritus at Northwestern University. He lives in Evanston, Illinois.