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Who Was Thomas Jefferson?
 A Virginian who went to the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg
  (next door to Jamestown), the 18th century center of Virginia’s political
  world.
    He was tutored by William Small at the otherwise raucous institution (about 100
     students). Small briefly taught at the school, and then returned to England. His circle of
     English Enlightenment friends included James Watt, Erasmus Darwin, Joseph Priestley and
     Josiah Wedgwood (Randall 38). Under him, Jefferson read the most influential
     Enlightenment thinkers (ibid. 40).
    In his youth, befriended Patrick Henry.

 His famous home was Monticello near Charlottesville, VA. He owned other
  property as well.
 He was incredibly inquisitive and inventive. He owned a large library that
  became the foundation of the Library of Congress. He once said, “I cannot
  live without books” (“Jefferson’s Library”).
    A prolific letter-writer, he wrote about 28,000 (Randall 24). The Library of
      Congress’ collection of Jefferson’s writings numbers c. 27,000 pieces:
      http://goo.gl/jY3qz
 He founded the University of Virginia, and designed its famous rotunda.
 He was a statesman, not a soldier. He was also a Governor of Virginia.
Jefferson, Books and the Library of Congress

 “By 1814 when the British burned the nation's Capitol
  and the Library of Congress, Jefferson had acquired the
  largest personal collection of books in the United States.
  Jefferson offered to sell his library to Congress as a
  replacement for the collection destroyed by the British
  during the War of 1812. Congress purchased Jefferson's
  library for $23,950 in 1815. A second fire on Christmas
  Eve of 1851, destroyed nearly two thirds of the 6,487
  volumes Congress had purchased from Jefferson”
  (“Jefferson’s Library”).
 http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefflib.html
Jefferson and the gentry lifestyle
 “As a gentleman, he was supposed to eschew working for a
  living: he had read Daniel Defoe’s definition of ‘the gentry,’ the
  class to which he belonged, as ‘such who live on estates and
  without the mechanism of employment, including the men of
  letters, such as clergy, lawyers, and physicians.’ In modern
  terms, Jefferson was supposed to live on the unearned income
  of his estates; managing his lands was a permissible way of
  exercising his authority. And like the ancient Roman landed
  aristocrats whom he was educated to emulate, he was
  expected to be active in all sorts of what historian Gordon S.
  Wood categorizes as ‘commercial and entrepreneurial
  activities – breeding their cattle, upgrading their soil, . . .”
  (Randall 46).
Jefferson and slavery
 He authored the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these
  truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
 Yet, he owned about 600 slaves over the course of his life, and
  owned 200 slaves at any one time, on average (American History
  TV video, below).
    He is singled out as one of the most prominent cases of liberty-espousing
     contradiction (or hypocrisy).
    It is now nearly certain (using DNA and itinerary records) that he fathered a
     number of children by Sally Hemings, a slave woman he owned and to
     whom he was close. This took place after Jefferson’s wife had passed away.
    The following links have important recent material on Jefferson, Hemings,
     and slavery:
        American History TV video: Chttp://goo.gl/rrxOr
        “Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: A Brief Account”: http://goo.gl/soore
        Sally Hemings bio: http://goo.gl/2Lwh2
 “‘Now, with impeccable timing,’ the historian Joseph Ellis and
  the geneticist Eric Lander write in a joint commentary on the
  new report, ‘Jefferson reappears to remind us of a truth that
  should be self-evident. Our heroes -- and especially presidents
  -- are not gods or saints, but flesh-and-blood humans’” (ibid.).
 Smith, Dinitia, and Nicholas Wade. “DNA Test Finds Evidence of Jefferson Child by
  Slave.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 1 Nov. 1998. Web. 22
  Sept. 2012.
One historian’s opinion
 “The key explanation *for why so many were unable to
  give up slavery] is that they had no concept of sin and no
  scriptural belief in humans’ spiritual equality before the
  Creator God. . . . ‘It was that sense of the very reality of
  sin that is lacking in Jefferson’s religion’” (Keillor 94-5,
  emphasis added).

 However, “equality before the Creator God” is what is
  expressed in the Declaration of Independence. One
  wonders if the general population was encouraged to
  support the fight for independence based on such
  rhetoric, all the while others had their fingers crossed
  behind their backs. The issue of slavery, especially, often
  leaves me cynical. – BP
One of America’s notable historians on Jefferson

 "Jefferson was a complex person who must be measured in whole,
  not in part, in action as well as thought. There were deep
  ambiguities in his thinking, which made any effort at consistency
  impossible. Although Federalist historians have cited these
  ambiguities as evidence of a moral taint, a constitutional shiftiness of
  mind, they may in fact be traced to a continuously ambivalent
  personal and political history. . . . [F]rom the beginning he was aware
  of both the assurance of the aristocracy and the real merits and
  talents of men who came from unknown families" (Hofstadter 32).
Works Cited

 Hofstadter, Richard. The American Political Tradition and the Men Who
           Made It. 1948. New York: Vintage, 1989. Print.
   “Jefferson’s Library.” Thomas Jefferson. Library of Congress, 8 Aug. 2010.
           Web. 22 Sept. 2012.
   Keillor, Steven J. This Rebellious House: American History & the Truth of
           Christianity. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1996. Print.
   Randall, Willard Sterne. Thomas Jefferson: A Life. New York: Henry Holt
           and Company, 1993. Print.
   Smith, Dinitia, and Nicholas Wade. “DNA Test Finds Evidence of Jefferson
           Child by Slave.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company,
           1 Nov. 1998. Web. 22 Sept. 2012.
   Stanton, Lucia, and Dianne Swann-Wright. “Slavery at Thomas Jefferson’s
           Monticello.” American History TV. National Cable Satellite
           Corporation, 2012. Web. 22 Sept. 2012. <http://www.c-
           span.org/History/Events/Slavery-at-Thomas-Jeffersons-
           Monticello/10737432187/>.
Works Cited

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Jefferson, slavery and sally hemings 2

  • 1. Who Was Thomas Jefferson?  A Virginian who went to the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg (next door to Jamestown), the 18th century center of Virginia’s political world.  He was tutored by William Small at the otherwise raucous institution (about 100 students). Small briefly taught at the school, and then returned to England. His circle of English Enlightenment friends included James Watt, Erasmus Darwin, Joseph Priestley and Josiah Wedgwood (Randall 38). Under him, Jefferson read the most influential Enlightenment thinkers (ibid. 40).  In his youth, befriended Patrick Henry.  His famous home was Monticello near Charlottesville, VA. He owned other property as well.  He was incredibly inquisitive and inventive. He owned a large library that became the foundation of the Library of Congress. He once said, “I cannot live without books” (“Jefferson’s Library”).  A prolific letter-writer, he wrote about 28,000 (Randall 24). The Library of Congress’ collection of Jefferson’s writings numbers c. 27,000 pieces: http://goo.gl/jY3qz  He founded the University of Virginia, and designed its famous rotunda.  He was a statesman, not a soldier. He was also a Governor of Virginia.
  • 2. Jefferson, Books and the Library of Congress  “By 1814 when the British burned the nation's Capitol and the Library of Congress, Jefferson had acquired the largest personal collection of books in the United States. Jefferson offered to sell his library to Congress as a replacement for the collection destroyed by the British during the War of 1812. Congress purchased Jefferson's library for $23,950 in 1815. A second fire on Christmas Eve of 1851, destroyed nearly two thirds of the 6,487 volumes Congress had purchased from Jefferson” (“Jefferson’s Library”).  http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jefflib.html
  • 3. Jefferson and the gentry lifestyle  “As a gentleman, he was supposed to eschew working for a living: he had read Daniel Defoe’s definition of ‘the gentry,’ the class to which he belonged, as ‘such who live on estates and without the mechanism of employment, including the men of letters, such as clergy, lawyers, and physicians.’ In modern terms, Jefferson was supposed to live on the unearned income of his estates; managing his lands was a permissible way of exercising his authority. And like the ancient Roman landed aristocrats whom he was educated to emulate, he was expected to be active in all sorts of what historian Gordon S. Wood categorizes as ‘commercial and entrepreneurial activities – breeding their cattle, upgrading their soil, . . .” (Randall 46).
  • 4. Jefferson and slavery  He authored the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”  Yet, he owned about 600 slaves over the course of his life, and owned 200 slaves at any one time, on average (American History TV video, below).  He is singled out as one of the most prominent cases of liberty-espousing contradiction (or hypocrisy).  It is now nearly certain (using DNA and itinerary records) that he fathered a number of children by Sally Hemings, a slave woman he owned and to whom he was close. This took place after Jefferson’s wife had passed away.  The following links have important recent material on Jefferson, Hemings, and slavery:  American History TV video: Chttp://goo.gl/rrxOr  “Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: A Brief Account”: http://goo.gl/soore  Sally Hemings bio: http://goo.gl/2Lwh2
  • 5.  “‘Now, with impeccable timing,’ the historian Joseph Ellis and the geneticist Eric Lander write in a joint commentary on the new report, ‘Jefferson reappears to remind us of a truth that should be self-evident. Our heroes -- and especially presidents -- are not gods or saints, but flesh-and-blood humans’” (ibid.).  Smith, Dinitia, and Nicholas Wade. “DNA Test Finds Evidence of Jefferson Child by Slave.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 1 Nov. 1998. Web. 22 Sept. 2012.
  • 6. One historian’s opinion  “The key explanation *for why so many were unable to give up slavery] is that they had no concept of sin and no scriptural belief in humans’ spiritual equality before the Creator God. . . . ‘It was that sense of the very reality of sin that is lacking in Jefferson’s religion’” (Keillor 94-5, emphasis added).  However, “equality before the Creator God” is what is expressed in the Declaration of Independence. One wonders if the general population was encouraged to support the fight for independence based on such rhetoric, all the while others had their fingers crossed behind their backs. The issue of slavery, especially, often leaves me cynical. – BP
  • 7. One of America’s notable historians on Jefferson  "Jefferson was a complex person who must be measured in whole, not in part, in action as well as thought. There were deep ambiguities in his thinking, which made any effort at consistency impossible. Although Federalist historians have cited these ambiguities as evidence of a moral taint, a constitutional shiftiness of mind, they may in fact be traced to a continuously ambivalent personal and political history. . . . [F]rom the beginning he was aware of both the assurance of the aristocracy and the real merits and talents of men who came from unknown families" (Hofstadter 32).
  • 8. Works Cited  Hofstadter, Richard. The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It. 1948. New York: Vintage, 1989. Print.  “Jefferson’s Library.” Thomas Jefferson. Library of Congress, 8 Aug. 2010. Web. 22 Sept. 2012.  Keillor, Steven J. This Rebellious House: American History & the Truth of Christianity. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1996. Print.  Randall, Willard Sterne. Thomas Jefferson: A Life. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1993. Print.  Smith, Dinitia, and Nicholas Wade. “DNA Test Finds Evidence of Jefferson Child by Slave.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 1 Nov. 1998. Web. 22 Sept. 2012.  Stanton, Lucia, and Dianne Swann-Wright. “Slavery at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.” American History TV. National Cable Satellite Corporation, 2012. Web. 22 Sept. 2012. <http://www.c- span.org/History/Events/Slavery-at-Thomas-Jeffersons- Monticello/10737432187/>.