Jefferson and Slavery

Thomas Jefferson enslaved more than six hundred people in his lifetime, a fundamental contradiction to his iconic proclamation that “all men are created equal.” Although Jefferson publicly opposed slavery (describing the institution as a “hideous blot” and a “moral depravity”), he also profited from enslaving people. Inheriting his land and 52 enslaved persons upon the death of his father Peter, a prominent Virginian land speculator and slaveholder in 1757, Jefferson became one of the largest planters in Virginia by 1776. The labor for his corn, tobacco and wheat crop fields on his two plantations (Monticello and Poplar Forest) was entirely undertaken by enslaved individuals. He profited also from the economic value of enslaved persons and their reproduction as they could be bought, sold, leased, mortgaged, willed or given away as his property. Most historians and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation now believe that after his wife Martha’s death, Jefferson had a long term relationship with her half sister, Sally Hemings, who was enslaved at Monticello, and fathered six children with her.

Jefferson consistently advocated for the abolition of slavery, yet the institution became more widespread and lucrative. In a 1787 letter to Edward Rutledge, Jefferson stated about slavery that “this abomination must have an end.” From the mid 1770s until his death, he pushed for a plan of the progressive emancipation of enslaved individuals, which included the “improvement” of the practice of slavery, such as mitigating physical punishments and bettering living conditions until the ultimate abolishment of the institution. Yet, while his peers freed many slaves in his home state of Virginia, Jefferson only freed two slaves during his lifetime. Jefferson was fully aware of the harm of slavery to the nation as he correctly predicted that continued adherence to the institution would eventually lead to civil war.

References and Further Reading
Bernstein, Richard B. Thomas Jefferson. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Bickford, John H, and Ryan C. Henrickson. “An Inquiry into Liberty, Slavery, and Thomas Jefferson’s Place in American Memory.” The Social Studies 111, no. 1 (2020): 1-10.

Gordon-Reed, Annette. Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy. Charlottesville and London: University Press of Virginia, 1997.

Thomas Jefferson Foundation. “Jefferson’s Attitude Towards Slavery.” Accessed August 22, 2022. https://www.monticello.org/thomas-jefferson/jefferson-slavery/jefferson-s-attitudes-toward-slavery/.


Wikipedia
Thomas Jefferson and slavery - Wikipedia