Although I may have learned in previous history classes that Thomas Jefferson was a slaveholder, it must have just not stuck with me. Now in this class I'm starting to see in inconsistencies and hypocrisies embedded into the much simpler version of history that I remember most. And it wasn't just Jefferson, but Madison and Washington too. Most of the wealthy landowners and influential politicians had slaves.
Although I can't think of any moral justification for owning another person, slavery at that time did make economic sense. Without slave labor, Virginia would not have been able to be so successful with tobacco. Also, wealthy landowners didn't have the time to keep up with their own property, garden, or care for livestock. Without slavery, the first settlements and colonies would mostly likely have crumbled fairly quickly.
In Upton's "An American Icon" he describes Thomas Jefferson's life and property. His large estate was kept up by many slaves, but he wished to deny their presence to his guests, and even more so probably to himself. Even though he needed slaves to run his property, he's rather not see them. This could be part of a widely held racist point of view. It could also be a little guilt. He fought for freedom for the settlers, but not for slaves who had little to no freedom.
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