Original subtitles

(audience cheering and clapping)

(soft music)

- I have missed you, my love.

(soft music continues)

(president jefferson chuckles)

(soft music continues)

- Now the president will deny it, of course,

But I went to monticello,

Visited a nearby tavern there,

At the same lurid tale time and again.

Thomas jefferson's bed is kept warm by one sally hemings,

A light-skinned woman in his employ.

- You're a goddamn liar.

- Am I?

You grew up

Close to jefferson's plantation in virginia, didn't you?

You must have heard the stories.

Seen his little brood of mulattos.

If you squint a bit, you can see the likeness.

(child giggling)

But then,

What is the point in being the president

If you can't take a slave into your bed,

Sire your children with her? (laughing)

- You know,

During my time in the army,

(gun clunks)

I was called upon to kill number of men.

(gun clicking)

Not one of their deaths cost me a moments sleep.

(quiet music)

- You'd kill me because I tell the truth

About the president?

- I doubt I'll have to kill you, mr. Callender.

You'll do that all by yourself.

(chair scoots)

Have another drink on me.

(coin clunks)

(footsteps clunking)

- I won't be silenced, mr. Lewis.

Tell the president james t. Callender is coming for him.

(door clunks)

(soft intense music)

(dramatic upbeat music)

(dramatic upbeat music continues)

(dramatic upbeat music continues)

(birds chirping)

(chickens clucking) (dramatic music)

(axe thudding)

- Mr. President, sir.

- Good morning, john.

What a beautiful day.

- Surely is.

- Oh,

Are they for me?

Oh, well, thank you, honey.

They're almost as pretty as you.

- Sally hemings was one of the young female slaves

Who lived at monticello, which of course,

Was owned by thomas jefferson.

Sally was a mixed race slave

With a white father and a enslaved african mother,

But hemings was also the half-sister

Of jefferson's wife,

So thomas jefferson married one sister who was free,

And then took as a concubine, the other sister.

- And there were some accounts

That she resembled thomas jefferson's wife.

(birds chirping)

(door squeaking)

(soft music)

- Not that basket.

That's the master's basket.

All the servant's clothes go in the other one.

You must be that new man servant we all heard about.

- Yes, I am.

John, john freeman.

- Well, john freeman,

You can quit staring and help me dry some laundry.

- Melinda colbert is sally hemings's niece,

And she was given as a wedding present

When she was about nine years old

To maria jefferson.

- One of her jobs was to be the body servant,

To be the companion of thomas jefferson's daughter,

So melinda worked inside the house

And she was a friend of sally.

(wheel squeaking)

- You didn't have to do this.

- Well,

I figured I'd do something for you

And you do something for me.

- What is it you want from me, john freeman?

- I wanna know what's going on

With the master and that woman.

- Well, you playing with fire there.

You don't talk about that at monticello

Unless you're absolutely sure no one is listening.

She has two kids,

Both his.

There were more, but some died young.

- And nobody knows about this?

- Some of their friends maybe,

The madisons for sure.

They're here all the time.

Sally has her own cabin

Away from the house in the slaves quarters,

But there's a private passageway,

Leads to the master's property,

Makes it possible for her

To visit his rooms when no body is looking.

- Jefferson had successfully kept his relationship

With sally hemings a secret.

- However, jefferson does have enemies.

There are people in the united states

Who do not like thomas jefferson

And are looking for anything they can find

To help tear him down.

(horse hooves clomping)

(gentle music)

- Captain lewis,

I'm disappointed.

You're supposed to be a man of action.

I expected you to return from your mission victorious,

Not waving the white flag of surrender.

- I made the proposal to callender, as you asked.

He declined.

- That's the trouble with drunks.

There's no reasoning with 'em.

- He made a number of malicious accusations

About your household staff,

About your relationship

To one in particular.

- No one would ever believe him.

Let him shoot his mouth off.

- Are you certain, mr. President?

There are other more persuasive avenues

That could be explored.

- I don't think there'll be a need for violence, captain.

At least not yet.

No, callender's a loud mouth.

Give him a week and he'll come crawling back,

Begging for that $50.

(birds chirping) (dramatic music)

(ash shovel scraping)

(james vocalizing)

- Has almost complete control of the island.

He's freed over half a million slaves,

Including the ones that he's released from santa domingo.

Now the french emperor, napoleon bonaparte,

Has sent a fleet of 20,000 men

To retake the colony from the rebel slaves.

The southern plantation owners are worried, thomas.

Haiti is offering citizenship to anyone black

Who can make it to their shores.

(reflective music)

- Haiti is a very small island,

About 1,000 miles away from washington,

But a very big problem for the jefferson administration.

(chain clanking)

- It was actually the location

Of the first truly successful slave revolution,

And one of the things slave-holding white americans

And plantation owners knew

Is that if just one slave revolution was successful,

It could topple the entire system in the united states.

(reflective music continues)

- Freeman!

Over here, now.

Look at me.

How much of our conversation did you hear?

- Most of it.

- I see.

Do you know about the slave rebellion in haiti, freeman?

- I guess I do.

Ain't too many black folk that haven't heard.

- And what do they say about it?

It's all right, john, you may be candid.

- Well, I guess most folk think that haitians are heroes,

Like spartacus and his father was back in the roman times.

- Except spartacus was white.

- Didn't stop the romans from killing him though, did it?

- Go on.

- Maybe the romans were scared

Of what a slave might do to those who kept them in chains.

Maybe slavery ain't a black or white thing.

It's about people making money,

Pure and simple.

Truth is, sir,

I believe in all those powerful things you said

About we all being born equal.

That's a world to look forward to.

I'm sorry, sir.

My mouth just runs off on me sometimes.

- Become a politician, we get paid for it.

(james chuckling)

All right, john.

- Well, thomas,

What are we going to do about haiti?

- Thomas jefferson does not want

A haitian revolution happening in the united states.

Even as he's arguing and writing

The declaration of independence, over his lifetime,

He's holding maybe 600 plus slaves.

He's using slaves for his plantation, monticello.

He's using slaves at the white house

And he doesn't want them thinking about revolution,

So he decides to act like haiti doesn't exist.

He doesn't acknowledge haiti as a country at all.

- The time is coming when we will need to expand our nation.

It is not practical

Or reasonable to expect

Whites, blacks, indians to coexist.

If populations grow as they are,

We need space to breathe.

Space to contain.

(lively music)

(staff laughing)

- Go on. What does it say?

- "it is well known that the man,

Whom it delighted the people to honor,

Keeps, and for many years past

Has kept as his concubine one of his own slaves.

Her name is sally hemings,

(staff laughing)

And by this wench, our president has had several..."

(lively music continues)

(paper crinkling)

- "and by this wench,

Our president has had several children,

And there is not an individual

In the neighborhood of charlottesville

Who does not believe this story,

Not a few who know it."

- "the black venus

Is said to officiate as housekeeper at monticello.

When mr. Jefferson reads this article,

He will have leisure to estimate how much is lost or gained

By so many unprovoked attacks upon jt callender."

- In 1802, james callender writes this story

About thomas jefferson and sally hemings

And it's going to become the first presidential sex scandal.

- What'll you do?

- Nothing.

(paper crinkling)

I shall hold my peace.

Callender wants to burn everything down.

I will deny him that oxygen.

- It's the talk of washington, but jefferson ignores it.

He never talks about it publicly one way or the other.

- And in fact, until dna,

There were noted historians who were denying it.

Oh, jefferson, our boy jefferson would never have done that.

And there were those of us saying, "oh, yes he could."

(dramatic music) (heartbeat thumping)

- I knew deep down that someday the truth would come out,

That one of his opponents would discover our relationship,

Use it to shame him.

I just never guessed it would hurt this bad.

Stupid, stupid sally.

He will never acknowledge me

Or the children.

My greatest fear now is that he will send us away,

Sell us.

Worse,

Separate me from the children.

- You could run away.

- And how far do you think I would get with no money

And the president of the united states chasing after me?

- There's always haiti.

- Ugh. (chuckling)

Anyway, what's happening with you and that john freeman?

I saw you both coming out of the laundry room together.

You know that's a place

Where stuff's supposed to get cleaner, not dirtier.

(both chuckling)

- I like him a lot.

Do you think you could speak with the master about

Taking me into his service at the white house with john?

- Seriously?

- No harm in asking, is there?

- Oh. (both giggling)

(intense music)

(bird chirping)

- Secretary of state.

Ah, mr. Monroe, glad you could make it.

What do you know about haiti, mr. Monroe?

- James monroe was a revolutionary war hero.

He cuts his teeth as a diplomat in France during the 1790s.

- I know the napoleon bonaparte forces,

They have been decimated by disease,

And if he loses haiti,

He might rethink France's ambitions in the new world.

- Napoleon tried to retake haiti from enslaved rebels,

Who had declared haiti autonomous of France,

And it failed spectacularly.

What napoleon really needs now is money.

- [narrator] France controlled land in the united states.

The entire territory was called louisiana.

- Today it covers about 15 us states

From the gulf of mexico up to canada,

From the mississippi river out to the rocky mountains.

- I'm sorry, sir.

Did you just ask me to go to France and buy new orleans?

- Exactly that. You are authorized to offer $10 million.

- Thomas, that is-

- But he has to throw in west florida.

- That is insane, thomas.

We don't have anything like that in ready cash,

And even if we did, is it even legal for the president

To purchase territory without approval from congress?

- It is the destiny of this country to grow larger.

That cannot be achieved if we allow foreign powers

To control our waterways.

Napoleon will listen.

He's busy conquering europe.

God knows he needs the money.

(president jefferson speaking french)

Don't come back empty-handed.

(gentle music)

(broom whooshing)

(dramatic music)

(cart rattling)

(patrons chattering)

- You see this is what captain lewis writes.

"is the james river capable of cleansing your soul?"

(paper crinkling) (hand pounds)

Now, I don't know about you,

But that sounds a lot like a threat.

- Hmm.

- Callender's report on sally hemings is a great threat

To thomas jefferson.

Jefferson himself is furious

That this is reported in the news.

(cup banging)

- Maybe I should ask the fool himself.

- No one would publish callender.

I mean, he was persona non grata to everybody

Because he could turn from one side to the other.

(door slams)

(fist pounds)

(scene buzzing)

- Oh.

George.

(footsteps clunking)

Aah.

- When your own lawyer beats you up, as george hay did,

You're probably not a great guy.

(lively music)

- I'm sorry, gentlemen, I think there's been some confusion.

You did just say 15 million.

- I did.

- You offered napoleon $15 million for new orleans

And west florida when we agreed 10 was our limit.

- Sorry, thomas, you misunderstand.

The $15 million isn't for new orleans.

- Well, what in the name of hades is it for then?

(soft music)

(james chuckling)

I don't understand.

Are you saying? (james vocalizing)

- That crazy french bastard offered us the whole

Of louisiana for $15 million. (laughing)

- Jefferson's greatest accomplishment

Was the louisiana purchase, without a doubt.

Real estate, the steal of the century,

Of $15 million for this huge tract of land

That effectively doubled the size of the country.

- He even threw in a pint of champagne.

(all laughing)

You don't look happy.

What?

Why aren't you happy?

This is a good thing.

This is an amazing thing.

- Jefferson has made his reputation

As a strict constructionist of the constitution.

The government cannot do anything

That is not explicitly mentioned in the constitution.

Now, he spent $15 million purchasing louisiana

And there's nothing that says the president can do this.

- We are this close to the greatest prize in history,

A vast expanse that will make america

The most powerful nation on earth.

We just have to make sure we bring everyone on board.

Nothing can derail this.

Nothing.

(bells tolling)

(door squeaks and slams)

(soft music)

James,

Would you care to explain why we're meeting in a church?

Why all the cloak and dagger?

- I have bad news,

Something I thought better discussed

Away from the white house.

It's callender.

He approached me wanting to speak.

He's in possession of letters written by you to him

Before the election, letters that prove that you paid

For his articles attacking john adams.

- Impossible.

There are no such letters.

(gentle pensive music)

- I have read them, thomas.

They are undeniably authentic, your hand.

Callender says that he has countless others hidden away.

He's threatening to release them all to the press.

- Well,

That's sad.

He said he would ruin me, now he can.

If this gets out, the louisiana deal will collapse.

(fist bangs)

- Maybe he can be reasoned with.

- That has been attempted.

He's not a man to be reasoned with.

- Then we should just have to hope for some miracle.

(eerie music)

(thunder rumbling)

(dramatic music)

(door clunks)

(eerie music continues)

(callender grunts)

(intense music) (footsteps thumping)

(intense music continues)

(intense eerie music continues)

- Oh.

(intense music continues)

Try to sneak up on a man, would you?

Uh-uh, you.

He sent you again, did he?

Well, you can tell him to go to hell. (laughs)

Finally found your balls, did ya?

(club pounds) (dramatic music)

(bird chirping)

(soft music)

- James.

Your letter says you have found a solution

To our louisiana conundrum.

- Yes.

Well, your opponents in new England

Are refusing to support the louisiana purchase.

Some fear that the power

Of the existing states will be diluted,

That their economic dominance will be curtailed.

Others insist that the constitution gives you no such power.

Now, napoleon bonaparte has told our french embassy

That unless we pay up immediately,

The deal is off the table.

- Dear lord, james, none of that sounds like a solution.

- We need to reframe the conversation.

The constitution says that the president

Has the power to make

International treaties.

- How does that help us?

- Well, we need to think of the purchase

Not as a transaction,

But as a treaty with France.

- James madison is adamant that this is a treaty

And that land exchanges have always been parts of treaties

And international negotiations.

- That is brilliant.

You are a genius.

(intense pensive music)

James, is there something else?

- James callender is dead.

They found him drowned in the james river.

- Oh, that's terrible.

Alcohol-related?

- Seems that way.

- They found him drowned in three feet of the james river

And they declared it death by misadventure,

That he had gotten drunk, stumbled into the water,

Passed out and died from this.

The federalists had a different interpretation,

That foul play had been involved by someone

Devoted to jefferson, but it never went anywhere.

- Well,

(heartbeat thumping)

The world moves on.

We have great tasks to perform.

(heartbeat thumping continues)

(dramatic music)

- One person dies, another is born.

(gunfire bangs)

- I've already buried two children,

And now we're gonna have another.

Thomas, make us free.

- 12 years is a reign and I refuse to become

What we set out to overthrow.

Repair and Synchronization by Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0