What Is Thomas Jefferson's Response To The Abolition Of Slavery

Thomas Jefferson wrote a passage on the abolition of slavery in his draft of the Declaration of Independence. He had hoped his passage would help to end slavery and bring liberty and freedom to African Americans, but these hopes died when his passage was taken out of the final draft of the Declaration. Jefferson blamed the removal of the passage on delegates from South Carolina and Georgia and Northern delegates who represented merchants who were involved in slave trade. This passage started the most intense debate among the delegates, and was the most important section that was removed from the document. Jefferson’s passage on slavery was replaced with a passage about King George’s incitement of “domestic insurrections among us.” Abolition of slavery was a pugnacious topic of discussion in the colonies during this …show more content…
The north was in favor of abolition while the south was very much the opposite, especially southern plantation owners. Southern plantations heavily relied on slave labor in order to be economically successful. Many politicians in early North America were divided on the topic. They knew the plantation would not be able to survive without an inexpensive source of labor, but they also saw how the newly written proclamation called on freedom and liberty for all mankind. Thomas Jefferson owned over one hundred slave himself and would often speak out against the enslavement of African Americans. People would often view Jefferson as a hypocrite because he owned so many slaves, and was also fighting to abolish slavery at the same time. However, Jefferson treated his slaves fairly and would even prepare them for life after slavery. He would help set up jobs for them once they were freed. The way Jefferson treated his slaves just goes to show that Jefferson understood that Africans Americans were people, and not tools