Thomas Jefferson’s Thoughts On Freedom And Equality
Thomas Jefferson was one of the most influential and inspiring of the Founding Fathers. Jefferson is credited with being the author of the declaration of independence, the Third President of the United States, and for his major contributions in influencing religious freedom as well as equality and liberty rights. However there are many misconceptions on how universal Jefferson expected freedom and equality to be. Society today criticizes Jefferson due to his slave ownership and his failures instead of recognizing his much more significant accomplishments in freedom and equality. What society is unaware of is that Jefferson’s philosophies are from the 18th century. Thus Jefferson’s universal ideals on liberty and equality rights are influential on the world of today and his opinions should be critiqued not by present day standards but rather by his own time period’s standards. …show more content…
Jefferson believed America would someday abolish slavery but that if he drafted a statement abolishing slavery altogether at the time it would be largely voted against and Jefferson would lose popularity and the trust of the people. Another reason Jefferson didn 't propose an end to slavery because he though it would be a democratic process in which landowners as a whole would have to give up their human property and abolish slavery themselves. Proof of Jefferson’s belief in equality of all men but specifically blacks is evident in a letter from Jefferson to Benjamin Banneker, Jefferson says, “No body wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given to our black brethren, talents equal to those of the other colors of men, and that the appearance of a want of them is owing merely to the degraded condition of their existence, both in Africa and America” (Pg 454 The Portable Thomas Jefferson). This letter shows Jefferson was public about his beliefs against slavery and notion that all men are created
Thomas Jefferson was one of the most influential and inspiring of the Founding Fathers. Jefferson is credited with being the author of the declaration of independence, the Third President of the United States, and for his major contributions in influencing religious freedom as well as equality and liberty rights. However there are many misconceptions on how universal Jefferson expected freedom and equality to be. Society today criticizes Jefferson due to his slave ownership and his failures instead of recognizing his much more significant accomplishments in freedom and equality. What society is unaware of is that Jefferson’s philosophies are from the 18th century. Thus Jefferson’s universal ideals on liberty and equality rights are influential on the world of today and his opinions should be critiqued not by present day standards but rather by his own time period’s standards. …show more content…
Jefferson believed America would someday abolish slavery but that if he drafted a statement abolishing slavery altogether at the time it would be largely voted against and Jefferson would lose popularity and the trust of the people. Another reason Jefferson didn 't propose an end to slavery because he though it would be a democratic process in which landowners as a whole would have to give up their human property and abolish slavery themselves. Proof of Jefferson’s belief in equality of all men but specifically blacks is evident in a letter from Jefferson to Benjamin Banneker, Jefferson says, “No body wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given to our black brethren, talents equal to those of the other colors of men, and that the appearance of a want of them is owing merely to the degraded condition of their existence, both in Africa and America” (Pg 454 The Portable Thomas Jefferson). This letter shows Jefferson was public about his beliefs against slavery and notion that all men are created