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Showing Original Post only (View all)The Monster of Monticello [View all]
The battle of the Jeffersons -- no, not George and Weezie -- continues on the oped pages of the NY Times.
We are endlessly fascinated with Jefferson, in part because we seem unable to reconcile the rhetoric of liberty in his writing with the reality of his slave owning and his lifetime support for slavery. Time and again, we play down the latter in favor of the former, or write off the paradox as somehow indicative of his complex depths.
Neither Mr. Meacham, who mostly ignores Jeffersons slave ownership, nor Mr. Wiencek, who sees him as a sort of fallen angel who comes to slavery only after discovering how profitable it could be, seem willing to confront the ugly truth: the third president was a creepy, brutal hypocrite.
Contrary to Mr. Wienceks depiction, Jefferson was always deeply committed to slavery, and even more deeply hostile to the welfare of blacks, slave or free. His proslavery views were shaped not only by money and status but also by his deeply racist views, which he tried to justify through pseudoscience.
There is, it is true, a compelling paradox about Jefferson: when he wrote the Declaration of Independence, announcing the self-evident truth that all men are created equal, he owned some 175 slaves. Too often, scholars and readers use those facts as a crutch, to write off Jeffersons inconvenient views as products of the time and the complexities of the human condition.
Linkage: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/opinion/the-real-thomas-jefferson.html
Neither Mr. Meacham, who mostly ignores Jeffersons slave ownership, nor Mr. Wiencek, who sees him as a sort of fallen angel who comes to slavery only after discovering how profitable it could be, seem willing to confront the ugly truth: the third president was a creepy, brutal hypocrite.
Contrary to Mr. Wienceks depiction, Jefferson was always deeply committed to slavery, and even more deeply hostile to the welfare of blacks, slave or free. His proslavery views were shaped not only by money and status but also by his deeply racist views, which he tried to justify through pseudoscience.
There is, it is true, a compelling paradox about Jefferson: when he wrote the Declaration of Independence, announcing the self-evident truth that all men are created equal, he owned some 175 slaves. Too often, scholars and readers use those facts as a crutch, to write off Jeffersons inconvenient views as products of the time and the complexities of the human condition.
Linkage: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/opinion/the-real-thomas-jefferson.html
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He had also included a clause in the DOI that stated that slavery should be abolished. The anti-
sabrina 1
Dec 2012
#1
Given the science since Jefferson's time, wonder what he'd be saying today.
SleeplessinSoCal
Dec 2012
#23
after the revolution he specifically noted how profitable his slave operation was.
HiPointDem
Dec 2012
#12
....... when the love of money trumps all .... principles are just words ....
MindMover
Dec 2012
#26
Slavery was an evil that was a long standing aspect of Judeo-Christian religions and cultures.
Zorra
Dec 2012
#9
Washington was the only major planter among the seven Founding Fathers to emancipate his slaves.
HiPointDem
Dec 2012
#13
Wait, doesn't that mean that it was his wife, Martha, who freed his slaves after he died?
Zorra
Dec 2012
#44
They both had slaves which belonged to them personally. In his will GW directed that his be freed
HiPointDem
Dec 2012
#45
The best book on Jefferson was written by an African-American woman, Annette Gordon Reed.
Peace Patriot
Dec 2012
#14
living beyond his means was part of it, but he also had the misfortune to die during a long
HiPointDem
Dec 2012
#29
according to jefferson, his nailery alone provided "completely for the maintenance" of his family.
HiPointDem
Dec 2012
#30
Agreed Adams was a good President. He was honest and straight forward while Jefferson was devious.
craigmatic
Dec 2012
#36
Jefferson was a hypocrit along with most of the founding fathers which is why
craigmatic
Dec 2012
#34
I never read Zinn but it sounds like we agree on alot. The revolution was more of a coup than
craigmatic
Dec 2012
#42
LBJ slaughtered a million people in Southeast Asia AND passed the Civil Rights Act and...
Peace Patriot
Dec 2012
#43