08-25-2017, 11:22 AM
(08-25-2017, 11:02 AM)Au165 Wrote: My understanding of the phrase as written by Jefferson was it did include them, however various versions were modified in southern states to say all free men. Maybe he did mean that, but it is curious that the southern states threw a fit about it if the large assumption was that it did not include slaves.
Edit to edit: Historian John Chester Miller laid out that Jefferson did actually seek to end the slave trade with the statement. It is kind of a weird dynamic to own slaves, but to also want to eliminate it. Kind of an "I'll eliminate it but I want everyone else to otherwise I am staying with the norm" idea. While he may have felt white people were better it does not mean he can't think they were equal in requirement of certain rights. Many people feel that rich are better than poor, but those same people wouldn't say the poor don't deserve certain rights. It really is a complex, but interesting subject.
Because of the southern states, the founding fathers definitely deferred the issue of slavery to future generations. Jefferson's own history on the subject is very uneven. He introduced legislation in Virginia to abolish the practice, but didn't push hard for it at the national level. I think he firmly believed it needed to be left up to each state to handle the issue in their own time and at their own pace. Another reason he didn't push much for it in later years was because he was seriously in debt. His slaves and Monticello were his only real assets, and an end to slavery would have left him destitute.
Regardless of all of that, I don't think it can be denied that there was an undercurrent of racism that existed within Jefferson. As I said, many people at the time, and in the years after, saw slavery as immoral and many even felt that they were entitled to equal rights under the law. That definitely doesn't mean they didn't have the same racist views, because many did when you examine their writings. R.E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, the men whose statues really stirred up this latest round of dialogue, could have the same said about them. Both were slave owners, both saw it as immoral, both saw it as something Virginia needed to come to terms with on its own, and both saw black people as inferior to white people. They were just on the losing side of history and so more people are more inclined to tear down their monuments than others.
