A topic of Jefferson's private life was the long-rumored liaison between Jefferson and his mixed-race slave Sally Hemings. She was a half-sister to his late wife, and the daughter of John Wayles and his slave Betty Hemings; Sally was three-quarters white.
Black historians discussed "reality and inevitability." Noted historian John Hope Franklin referred to all the mulattos of the period and said, "These things [interracial liaisons] were part of the natural landscape in Virginia, and Mr. Jefferson was as likely as any others to have done this because it's in character with the times—and indeed, with him, who believed in exploiting these people that he controlled completely."