NEGRO PRESIDENT

Thomas Jefferson was called the “Negro President” because he received an electoral majority inflated by the constitutionally permitted use of virtual negro votes, where slaves were part of the state’s population. Wills’s book deals with the nascence of the “three-fifths provision” to Article 11 of our Constitution, a compromise added to bring equality of representation between the more populated Northern states and the rural Southern states. The author pronounces every syllable of every word, a vocal style that slows him to an unnatural pace and produces a stilted listening experience that is not helped by the tedious use of quotes from hundreds of little-known authors. Although accurate for historians, the low entertainment value of pure fact delivered in monotone makes learning painful. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 04]