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Thomas Jefferson preached that slavery went against basic human rights, but he hypocritically owned slaves himself. It was Jefferson himself who propagated the idea that “all men are created equal” However, his actions seem to constantly differ from his words regarding human rights. Jefferson wrote in his draft of the Virginia Constitutions that “No person hereafter coming into this country shall be held in slavery.” Despite his strong public disagreements with slavery, our favorite false egalitarian owned slaves himself, and praised Virginia for their ratios of slaves to free people. When writing about the state of Virginia he makes the extreme statements regarding the “real distinctions which nature has made” between those …show more content…
Thomas Jefferson married his third cousin, Martha Wayles, in 1772. Publicly, it was known that Jefferson was devoted to Martha and did not remarry after she died, fulfilling a promise made earlier to her, however, James Thomson Callender, wrote otherwise. Callender published an article titled “The President, Again” in 1802, nearly 20 years after Martha’s death. The article recounts details of an “affair” between Jefferson and one of his hundreds of slaves, Sally Hemings. As shown in his previous actions, Jefferson clearly views slaves as being possessions. If Jefferson sees Hemings as a possession, and he uses her as a concubine, then Thomas Jefferson raped Sally Hemings. The first defense of this is that Callender was incorrect and Jefferson never had any relationship with Sally Hemings, however, DNA results show that it is highly likely that Jefferson was the father of multiple of Heming’s children. Another argument concerning the relationship with Jefferson and Hemings is that the romance between the two was consensual, but, by law, slaves were the personal property of their masters. Additionally, slaves did not have any rights, so how could Sally Hemings have legally given consent. For example, even if a relationship between a fourteen and thirty year old is verbally consensual between the two, it does not mean …show more content…
Jefferson’s ideological promiscuity continues with his presidency and other political positions. Arguably one of the more childish actions of Jefferson, The Embargo Act of 1807 aimed to stop a seemingly approaching war with England. Jefferson thought economic sanctions would keep us out of war with England, even after it was clear that they only devastated the American
Thomas Jefferson preached that slavery went against basic human rights, but he hypocritically owned slaves himself. It was Jefferson himself who propagated the idea that “all men are created equal” However, his actions seem to constantly differ from his words regarding human rights. Jefferson wrote in his draft of the Virginia Constitutions that “No person hereafter coming into this country shall be held in slavery.” Despite his strong public disagreements with slavery, our favorite false egalitarian owned slaves himself, and praised Virginia for their ratios of slaves to free people. When writing about the state of Virginia he makes the extreme statements regarding the “real distinctions which nature has made” between those …show more content…
Thomas Jefferson married his third cousin, Martha Wayles, in 1772. Publicly, it was known that Jefferson was devoted to Martha and did not remarry after she died, fulfilling a promise made earlier to her, however, James Thomson Callender, wrote otherwise. Callender published an article titled “The President, Again” in 1802, nearly 20 years after Martha’s death. The article recounts details of an “affair” between Jefferson and one of his hundreds of slaves, Sally Hemings. As shown in his previous actions, Jefferson clearly views slaves as being possessions. If Jefferson sees Hemings as a possession, and he uses her as a concubine, then Thomas Jefferson raped Sally Hemings. The first defense of this is that Callender was incorrect and Jefferson never had any relationship with Sally Hemings, however, DNA results show that it is highly likely that Jefferson was the father of multiple of Heming’s children. Another argument concerning the relationship with Jefferson and Hemings is that the romance between the two was consensual, but, by law, slaves were the personal property of their masters. Additionally, slaves did not have any rights, so how could Sally Hemings have legally given consent. For example, even if a relationship between a fourteen and thirty year old is verbally consensual between the two, it does not mean …show more content…
Jefferson’s ideological promiscuity continues with his presidency and other political positions. Arguably one of the more childish actions of Jefferson, The Embargo Act of 1807 aimed to stop a seemingly approaching war with England. Jefferson thought economic sanctions would keep us out of war with England, even after it was clear that they only devastated the American