Thomas Jefferson, the man who came up and created the most iconic phrase that shapes today's society and the Declaration of Independence “all men are created equal.” Although, despite creating this phrase, Thomas Jefferson owned a vast majority of slaves, about 175. Some professors and historians claim that “Nor was Jefferson a particularly kind master. He sometimes punished slaves by selling them away from their families and friends, a retaliation that was incomprehensibly cruel even at the time” (Finkelman, 2). Even at that particular time period, this shows that Thomas Jefferson was cruel and showed barbaric behavior, especially towards slaves. Similarly, even when Jefferson was approaching death, he specifically chose to free only 5 slaves.
