Celebrating the Birthday (1/19) of a True American Hero

Dr Bob, Me thinks you have an autograph picture of Daisy Moses hanging right over your shotgun in the parlor!!!

 

Sounds much like Washington and (gasp) Lincoln and — in his honest moments, Jefferson.

 

Not that I know of. He wrote letters condemning the practice (and warning of its dire effects) but never — so far as I can tell — lifted a finger to support abolition.

His admirers say he didn't take public action because he thought it would do more harm than good.

Detractors say he was a pure and simple hypocrite and political opportunist unwilling to take a stand that would have cost him political capital.

FWIW, I think he was deeply conflicted. He never was able to reconcile his role as the author of the Declaration — and a theoretical belief in equality — with his practical enjoyment with being at the top of the societal system. In addition, he was always scraping for money, and his slaves constituted a huge amount of his wealth.

Jefferson is the great Rorschach test of American politics: Whatever you already believe, you can see in him.

 

I wish to correct an earlier statement. I said Jefferson did not lift a finger to abolish slavery. That is not strictly true. He did draft a plan for the Northwest Territories that would prohibit slavery a number of years later. Realistically, had slavery been introduced, would it have been abolished anytime soon?

In addition, as Gary Wills has pointed out, Jefferson and his party had a vested interest in slavery because of the three-fifths provision of the Constitution. Without that provision, John Adams would have had a second term because the states Jefferson carried would not have had enough electoral votes to take him to the White House.