Thomas Jefferson
Born in Virginia, 1743, to Peter Jefferson and Jane Randolph, Thomas Jefferson became a philosopher, a politician and the third President of the United States of America. Jefferson was a lifelong owner of slaves although he helped to declare, “all men are created equal” when writing the “Declaration of Independence." Jefferson felt that slavery was cruel and degrading. Jefferson also condemned slavery as economically unwise as well as morally wrong. He states that it is a “perpetual exercise” (pg. 214) brought on as a product of imitation through the generations. Jefferson was a believer that slavery could be abolished if Congress had sufficient power of the states to declare all men free. Yet he was an advocate of states' rights and he opposed the kind of centralized power that would be required to end slavery by legal action. However, Jefferson’s belief that the differences in color and his observations of the blacks seemingly lack of equal faculty would cause a severe obstacle in their emancipation. According to the Portable Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson expressed in the “Notes on the State of Virginia” his observations of blacks or African-Americans as being “inferior to the whites
in both the body and mind” (pg. 192-193), and that “nature has been less bountiful to them in the endowments of the head” (pg. 191). Jefferson also felt that it was necessary in the American society that freed slaves needed to be removed beyond the reach of “mixture” into the populace (pg. 193). To support this theory he explains that when the Romans would free their slaves, the slaves would be let back into society and mix with the populace however this was made possible because at that time the slaves were “white” making them easier to blend in. Jefferson felt that the blacks were incapable of colonizing on their own without first being educated and then heavily assisted after being freed. Jefferson proposed that the “whites” should do this however Jefferson also expressed that in order to do this it would take time else the hatred among the different races would inevitably bring an end to one or the other. As much as he desired an agricultural nation he also sought to promote the industrial development of America, although he hesitated to do so in that he believed such progress would perpetuate slavery. And Jefferson believed that God’s judgment on the issue of slavery would possibly be “an exchange of situation” (pg. 215), made possible by God’s supernatural interference. United States History. 11/11/03, http://www.ushistory.com. Thomas Jefferson considered himself neither Federalist nor Anti-Federalist. In a letter to Francis Hopkinson, Jefferson defends his political position by stating “if I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all” (pg. 435). Jefferson felt that because he opposed some of the Federalists ideas and many more of the Anti-federalists ideas that he could not be grouped with either party or in between the parties. Jefferson proved to be on the side of the people and was not afraid to voice his opinions or ideas especially when he felt they would benefit the people of America.
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Approximate Word count = 1667
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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