Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States of America, was an intellectual giant. Today he is an iconic figure in American history; even elementary school students know him as the author of the Declaration of Independence. In addition to writing, Jefferson was also skilled in science, architecture, law, and politics.[1] For a man to be remembered and celebrated so far beyond the extent of his life, he must have been a remarkable individual. While that is true in many positive respects, it seems that Jefferson was also remarkably flawed. Despite his famous rhetoric of liberty, equality, freedom, and self-rule as the principles upon which our nation was founded, Thomas Jefferson was a slave holder-and thus, a hypocrite- until his death in 1826.
Taken out of context, portions of Jefferson’s A View on the Rights of British America could be mistaken for excerpts of abolitionist literature. Jefferson writes, “The abolition of domestic slavery is the great object of desire in those colonies where it was unhappily introduced in their infant state.”[2] He also writes, “History has informed us that the bodies of men as well as individuals are susceptible to the spirit of tyranny.”[3] Throughout the text, Jefferson repeatedly equates Britain’s treatment of the colonies to a master’s arbitrary oppression of slaves. Based on these strong statements, it seems that Jefferson would be staunch advocate of the physical and intellectual freedom of every person, regardless of creed, race, or religion.
In practice, however, Jefferson fails to adhere to his own principles. According to their best estimates derived from Jefferson’s own meticulous record-keeping, historians estimate that Jefferson owned at least 200 slaves at any one time and around 700 slaves in his lifetime.[4] While this may not seem like such an egregious offense for a wealthy man living in the 18th century, Jefferson was a respected public figure who regularly made statements regarding the impropriety of the practice of slavery.[5]
If Jefferson was truly in favor of emancipation, why did he keep such a large number of slaves in his possession? It seems that there is no clear answer to this question, but there are a few distinct possibilities. The first possibility is Jefferson’s financial situation. It is no secret that Jefferson had a serious problem regarding personal debt.[6] Since “slaves pass[ed] by descent and dower as lands [did],” it is probable that Jefferson mortgaged his personal property, which included his land as well as his slaves. By mortgaging his slaves to his creditors as payment for his debts, Jefferson would not have had the authority to free them had he wanted to. However, Jefferson freed a handful of his favorite slaves before his death, so his finances could not have been a completely dictatorial force.[7]
Another possible explanation of why Jefferson kept slaves is that his writings regarding his “hopes” for the emancipation of slaves may have been insincere because he actually believed that blacks are inherently inferior to whites. For instance, in his Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson writes “Never yet could I find that a black had uttered a thought above the level of plan narration; never seen any elementary trait of painting or sculpture.”[8] The observer would likely argue that it would be a unrealistic to expect any enslaved person to excel in academic or artistic pursuits, and that this is not an accurate evaluation of the potential or capacity of an individual let alone an entire race of people. However, Jefferson is armed against this potential objection to his view, and he argues that “the improvement of the blacks in body and mind, in the first instance of their mixture with the whites, has been observed by every one, and proves that their inferiority is not effect merely of their condition of life.”[9]
Jefferson also argues that proof of the innate inferiority of blacks can be derived from a comparison of the Romans’ slaves-white men who were treated much more harshly than the “mild treatment our slaves experience”-and black slaves in America. [10] “Yet notwithstanding…discouraging circumstances among the Romans, their slaves were often their rarest artists. They excelled too in science, insomuch as to be usually employed as tutors to their master’s children.”[11] Rather than attributing this disparity to a difference between the Roman and American cultures, Jefferson thinks it proof that whites, even when subjugated, are superior to blacks.
Jefferson goes so far as to describe an anomaly in the skin pigmentation of a small number of black slaves under the heading of “indigenous animals” in his Notes on the State of Virginia.[12] As we would expect, maladies affecting white Americans do not appear under the same heading. Although most of Jefferson’s observations on Virginia are scientific and likely derived from thorough evidence, his observations regarding blacks are purely speculative. For example, since Jefferson had never witnessed a black man or woman carving or creating sculptures, he concludes that they must not have the capacity for art.[13]
Considering this opinion, one would be disinclined to assume that Jefferson would favor the emancipation of slaves in America, but it seems that Jefferson’s opinion differs when his audience changes. For example, in a letter to Benjamin Banneker, a free-born black, Jefferson writes:
“No body wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given to our black brethren, talents equal to those of the other colors of men, and that the appearance of a want in them is owing merely to the degraded condition of their existence… no body wishes more ardently to see a good system commenced for raising the condition both of their body & mind to what it ought to be, as fast as … circumstances will admit.[14]” Taken in isolation, Jefferson’s statement seems believable. However, when analyzed along with his detailed explanation of the inferiority of blacks (while addressing a foreign audience), it seems that Jefferson was simply telling Banneker exactly what he wanted to hear.
Although the argument that Jefferson saw blacks as second-class citizens and thus individuals able to be owned by others is a rather convincing one based on his writings, the modern historian cannot view Jefferson as though he were a citizen in modern America. Jefferson’s views on the differences between blacks and whites may seem like bigotry to the 21st century observer, but they were not uncommon in Jefferson’s time. The variation in Jefferson’s writings on the subject may simply reflect his uncertainty about how the issue of slavery ought to be handled.
Therefore, a third possible explanation of why Jefferson kept slaves throughout the duration of his life is that, while he felt that emancipation was inevitable and justified, he also felt that America was not ready for it yet. In his letter to Edward Coles, Jefferson explains his hope that the cause of emancipation of slaves will be taken up by the next generation of Americans: “I had always hoped that the younger generation receiving their early impressions after the flame and liberty had been kindled in every breast, & had become as it were the vital spirit of every American, that the generous temperament of youth, analogous to the motion of their blood, and above the suggestions of avarice, would have sympathized with oppression wherever found, and proved their love of liberty beyond their own share of it.[15]”
However, as Jefferson explains, emancipation may not naturally occur in the hands in the next generation, either. “My intercourse with [younger Americans], since my return has not been sufficient to ascertain that they had made towards this point the progress I had hoped.”[16] From this statement it is evident that, as he matures, Jefferson realizes that emancipation will be more of a struggle to accomplish than he had originally anticipated.
Rather than recognizing the urgency for the process to begin in earnest with his generation in order to expedite the acquisition of freedom for the enslaved, Jefferson seems to resign to old age. Surprisingly, Jefferson underestimates the value of his own influence. Instead of concluding that he could lead by the example of freeing his many slaves, he assumes that there is nothing he can do to help bring about the emancipation: “This enterprise is for the young; for those who can follow it up, and bear it through to its consummation. It shall have my prayers, & these are the only weapons of an old man.”[17] His only advice to Coles is to “reconcile [himself] to [his] country and its unfortunate condition.”[18]
It is almost unfathomable that Jefferson, a man so passionate about his many goals, and so successful in their acquisition, would be content to give up when an opportunity arose to positively impact the future of mankind. Jefferson writes, “My opinion has ever been that, until more can be done for them, we should endeavor, with those whom fortune has thrown on our hands, to feed and clothe them well, protect them from ill usage, require such reasonable labor only as it is performed voluntarily by freemen, & be led by no repugnancies to abdicate them.”[19] From this statement, Jefferson paints a portrait of himself as a charitable guardian of the hundreds of slaves in his possession. Despite their forced labor in his factory and on his repeated lavish improvements to his home, Monticello, Jefferson views himself as a benevolent protector for his inferior slaves until sometime in the future when conditions are more favorable for their emancipation.[20]
Shockingly enough, Jefferson’s paternalistic rationale for retaining ownership of his slaves sounds more like Jules Ferry, the 19th Century French Imperialist, than an American Revolutionary leader. In his On French Colonial Expansion, Ferry writes:
“The superior races have a right because they have a duty. They have the duty to civilize the inferior races… In the history of earlier centuries these duties, gentlemen, have often been misunderstood; and certainly when the Spanish soldiers and explorers introduced slavery into Central America, they did not fulfill their duty as men of a higher race…. But, in our time, I maintain that European nations acquit themselves with generosity, with grandeur, and with sincerity of this superior civilizing duty.[21]” If a few of Ferry’s phrases were altered, it would be difficult to prove that this excerpt was not derived directly from one of Jefferson’s correspondences on the issue.
Although Thomas Jefferson was a man worthy of admiration for many of his accomplishments (drafting the Declaration of Independence, serving as President, and founding the University of Virginia to name a few), he failed to seize the opportunity to lead America into a new age, an age of universal freedom. Whether his main motivation for retaining his slaves for the duration of his life was based on his finances, his belief that blacks are inferior to whites, his fear that America was not ready for emancipation, or some unknown factor is up for debate. Most likely, each of these factors contributed to his actions. Unfortunately, Jefferson did not translate his rhetoric of freedom and equality into action when it came to his slaves. Because of the incongruity of his words and his actions, Thomas Jefferson was a hypocrite.
[1] Jefferson, Thomas. “Notes on the State of Virginia.” The Portable Thomas Jefferson. Ed. Merrill D. Peterson. New York: Penguin, 1975. 198
[2] Jefferson, Thomas. “A View of the Rights of British America.” The Portable Thomas Jefferson. Ed. Merrill D. Peterson. New York: Penguin, 1975. 14
[3] Ibid, 7.
[4] “Jefferson, Thomas.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 19 Feb. 2008 .
[5] Ibid.
[6] Malone, Dumas. Jefferson the Virginian. Vol. 1. Lebanon, IN: Little, Brown and Company, 1948.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Jefferson, Thomas. “Notes on the State of Virginia.” The Portable Thomas Jefferson. Ed. Merrill D. Peterson. New York: Penguin, 1975. 188
[9] Ibid, 190.
[10] Ibid, 127.
[11] Ibid, 191.
[12] Jefferson, Thomas. “Notes on the State of Virginia.” The Portable Thomas Jefferson. Ed. Merrill D. Peterson. New York: Penguin, 1975. 104.
[13] Ibid, 188.
[14] Jefferson, Thomas. “Letters.” The Portable Thomas Jefferson. Ed. Merrill D. Peterson. New York: Penguin, 1975. 454.
[15] Jefferson, Thomas. “Letters.” The Portable Thomas Jefferson. Ed. Merrill D. Peterson. New York: Penguin, 1975. 545.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Jefferson, Thomas. “Letters.” The Portable Thomas Jefferson. Ed. Merrill D. Peterson. New York: Penguin, 1975. 546.
[18] Ibid, 547.
[19] Ibid, 546.
[20] “Jefferson, Thomas.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 19 Feb. 2008 http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-61879>.
[21] Jules François Camille Ferry, “Speech Before the French Chamber of Deputies, March 28, 1884,” Discours et Opinions de Jules Ferry, ed. Paul Robiquet (Paris: Armand Colin & Cie., 1897), -1. 5, pp. 199-201, 210-11, 215-18.
