Thomas Jefferson Racist Thinking Analysis

7-1: Milestone Four: Rough Draft
Thomas Jefferson was both a philosopher and a politician. It could be argued that he was one of the best political minds of the eighteenth century. His genius was, “Broadly put, philosophers think: politicians maneuver. Jefferson’s genius was that he was both and could do both, often simultaneously.” He had struggles in his lifetime, was curious and had knowledge on almost every subject, having read 6,487 books, that were just in his home library. Yet, despite his expansive knowledge on just about every subject of the eighteenth century, one problem he could not solve by reading a book, was his struggle with slavery. Jefferson, knowing that owning a human being in bondage, was morally wrong, could not …show more content…
He believed it was wrong to be a slave owner, as well as the slaves being inferior, but if they became free they could not live among the white race as their equals, “…the freed slaves had to be removed from the country because of “deep rooted prejudices entertained by the whites; ten thousand recollections, by the blacks, of the injuries they have sustained; the real distinctions which nature has made; and many other circumstances which will divided us into two parties.” Even if slaves were emancipated Jefferson realized the prejudices that the emancipation was going to create among the population. He believed, as Magnis stated, that the two races would be unable to live together under the canopy of freedom. At the time, the fear was that there were too many differences that were by default of nature, which made the white race superior, and the slaves