Inspired By and a Confusing Man

Lately, I’ve been linking up with Kym at A Fresh Cup of Coffee for her year long series of Twenty-Six Lists. This week’s “Historical Figures” prompted me to write about a confusing man. Kym’s lists range from Goals and Accomplishments (seen here) to things like “Lucky Days,” “Music on Your Playlist,” and “Blog Reading List.” I decided to combine fashion posts with the list posts. But, since I’m now part of the Style Imitating Art curators, I think my 26 list post will be just a list. If you’re a fan of lists, head over to Kym’s blog and click on Twenty Six Lists. If you scroll down to the bottom of the post, you will find the entire list so you can be prepared.

A truly confusing man…

Recently, Nigel and I watched a documentary about Thomas Jefferson. I knew he was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, had red hair, and was the third President of the United States. Beyond that, I really didn’t know much. The documentary I linked is by Ken Burns so I’m confident it’s a pretty spot-on portrayal of one of our Founding Fathers. Jefferson was born on his family’s plantation, Shadwell, on April 13, 1743. If you do the math, you’ll discover he was only 32 years old when the Second Continental Congress convened in 1775. Between June 11th and 28th, 1776, Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. He was heavily influenced by the writings of John Locke and the Enlightenment. This is the man who wrote:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”

And, yet…

Thomas Jefferson owned over 600 human beings in the course of his life. Given the words he wrote in the Declaration of Independence, one would wonder how he could feel it was right to take away the “liberty” of another man. Jefferson didn’t consider black people to be equal to white people. You can read his own words on the matter here. By 1808, importing slaves was illegal. Jefferson, as well as other slaveholders, had the answer to that. They relied on their female slaves to provide the next generations of enslaved people. “‘I consider a woman who brings a child every two years as more profitable than the best man of the farm,’ Jefferson remarked in 1820.  ‘What she produces is an addition to the capital, while his labors disappear in mere consumption (source).'”  It’s interesting to note Jefferson most likely fathered several children with his slave, Sally Hemings. Jefferson freed ten people out of the over 600 slaves he owned over the course of his life. Sally was not one of them; however, some of her sons and other relatives were. You can read more about Jefferson and slavery here.

A little more…

Equally controversial were Jefferson’s statements on religious freedom. In Query XVII: “”Religion,’ he defended a separation of church and state, arguing that ‘it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.'” Most experts consider Jefferson a theist rather than a Christian. He believed in a higher power but not necessarily in the resurrection of Christ nor the trinity. It would seem Jefferson did believe in a stricter sense of church and state separation than many do today.

A confusing man…

Thomas Jefferson was definitely a confusing and contradictory man. It is so easy to say, “Well, that’s the way things were back then.” Jefferson was really only agreeing with the prevalent thoughts of the enlightened minds in Europe. Does that make it right, though? And, do we hold these men to a higher standard than others? I think it’s time to look at US history without those rose-colored glasses and recognize the past was filled with amazingly brave moments and people as well as inescapably horrid events. I think I would have to say Jefferson was a product of his times, an extremely intelligent man who understood the evils of slavery but was able to reason away the inhumane treatment of another human being by reducing them to non-humanity. Jefferson was a genius with his hands yet could never quite get a handle on his own expenses. Jefferson was, indeed, an enigma wrapped in a conundrum.

Inspired by…

I promise this wasn’t clickbait! Last week, Sally, from Within a World of My Own, put together an almost all black look. I decided to use her outfit as a jumping off point for this outfit. I don’t usually or consciously create looks based on another blogger’s outfit. But, something about Sally’s challenged me to come up with an outfit similar in theme to hers. While Sally went “long over lean,” I decided to go “long over flowy.” I know that’s the opposite of what you’re supposed to do, but I really like going against the rules with flowy pants! I shall wear what I want! In today’s look, I’m wearing the Signature Side Slit Ankle pant and the Side Ruched Cap Sleeve top (both by Clara Sunwoo). I love the ankle length because they are usually regular length on me. Over the top of this, I added a long merino wool cardigan by J Jill. I actually pulled this out of my donation pile for this photo shoot.

These ankle length pants are just a bit shorter than ankle pants usually are on me. That meant I had to find some flatter shoes or boots. I wanted to stay with the all black theme. I tried a couple of other shoes/mules. They weren’t quite what I wanted. Then, my L’Artiste Rodeha boots raised their toes and said, “Hey, what about me?” They were the perfect choice. Rather than using a scarf, I decided to just go over the top with different necklaces that sparkled and broke up the all black expanse of my outfit. The two pearl necklaces are from Stella & Dot. The long sparkly one is from Banana Republic. The two sparkly bracelets are from Premier Designs, and the cuff is from Kendra Scott as are the earrings. The only new items are the earrings purchased after Christmas during the buy more, save more sale.

Wrap it up, Marsha!

I honestly should have started this off with my look, right? It’s a little disappointing when you discover your “heroes” are, in fact, human after all. While I don’t consider Thomas Jefferson a personal hero, I do believe he played a pivotal and important role in the creation of the United States. So, can we talk? Do you believe the past should be accepted as it was? Or, do you believe we should look beyond the accepted beliefs to the sometimes ugly truths that could be there? And, what do we do with those ugly truths? Please leave me a comment, or two, and we can talk. I promise to respond as soon as possible.

Thank you!

I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for reading, commenting, subscribing or emailing! It truly means so much to me! If you’d like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me here.

Affiliate links, discount codes, and such:

Just a reminder that Marsha in the Middle may use an affiliate link. Those links are usually italicized. If you click or make a purchase from an italicized link I provide, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for your support. I am an April Cornell Brand Ambassador for another season. You can use my code, MARSHA15, for $15 off any order over $100. Use Marsha12 for 12% off any order of $65 or more at Buykud. I also have an affiliate code for Kantha Bae! Use MarshaintheMiddle in the promo code box for $5 off any order (excluding Bestie restocks)! I have also become a Halftee Partner. Use the code, MARSHA2098, for 20% off any purchase. I am also an affiliate with Clara Sunwoo. You can use my code, MARSHA10, for 10% off your entire order. For the Zuvi Halo Hair Dryer, use Marsha12 to get 12% off your order at this link: https://www.zuvilife.com/products/buy-zuvi-halo-hair-dryer?sca_ref=4039595.v4RNNsWxxF. If items are on sale, you can use Marsha5 for an extra 5% off sale prices. In case you didn’t know, bloggers must disclose the use of affiliate links. That’s why I include this in each post.

Where you can find me:

Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion Style,  Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, Shelbee on the Edge, Chez Mireile, The Grey Brunette, and Away from the Blue as well as Deb’s World and A Fresh Cup of Coffee. I also link up with This Blonde’s Shopping Bag, Doused in Pink, I do deClaire, Mummabstylish, and Style Splash. Please check out these wonderful ladies and their blogs! I also am a co-host for Ageless Style on the third Thursday of the month and Songful Style on the last Monday of the month. I co-host Traffic Jam Weekend every Thursday with Melynda, Lisa, and Sue. I also host Final Fridays on the last Friday of the month as well as 10 on the 10th on the 10th of the month! I do hope you’ll check out all of these blogs and link parties!

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