Thomas Jefferson is perhaps our most polarizing founding father. No discussion of our nations’ founding can be had without bringing up the author of the Declaration of Independence. What's more, it seems no discussion of the author can pass without reference to his apparent hypocrisy on the issue of slavery.
Calls to remove statues of him and other slave holding founders have only intensified in recent years. Last November, the city of New York removed his statue in City Hall where it had stood for over 187 years. During the summer 2020 BLM protests, protesters toppled a statue of Jefferson as they raged against racial injustice in America. With every new discussion on racial disparities in this country, Jefferson reliably falls in the crosshairs. But is he really a fair target?
Critics of Thomas Jefferson are quick to point out that due to his status as a slave owner, his claim that all men are created equal lacks any credibility. Some have even suggested that he wasn’t referring to “all men” at all — only all white men. On the surface, this may seem like a legitimate criticism. However, upon closer look, it becomes abundantly clear that not only did Jefferson stand in opposition to slavery (in spite of being a slave owner himself), he helped create a nation that could deal a death blow to the wretched institution.
When we recount the story of American Independence, it is easy for us to gloss over the events surrounding the 4th of July and rush to the grand event — the vote for Independence itself. But giving the events of these weeks proper attention can tell us much, specifically about Thomas Jefferson’s intention and vision for the United States.
Jefferson's condemnation of slavery
Jefferson, known for his command of the written word, was selected to be the primary author of the document, with some editorial assistance from John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. After hours of pouring his heart into what would be the crowning achievement of his life, he submitted the document to the committee, and what they read left them stunned.
Several grievances were listed against the King, but one section in particular stood out:
“He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it’s most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce…”
In this draft, not only did Thomas Jefferson seek to condemn slavery as “a cruel war against human nature itself,” he sought to lay it at the foot of the King as the greatest grievance in the document. This is an important detail for several reasons.
The Declaration of Independence was always much more than a notice of separation. Jefferson knew that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to take the principles and values he held near and dear to him and turn them into a national ethos. If they were going to do something as dramatic as separate from the most powerful Empire in the history of the world, it needed to be established on a new set of principles. Jefferson’s draft informs us that abolition was chief among those principles.
Jefferson's character revealed
It also tells us something about Jefferson’s own character. As a slave-owning Virginian, it would have been in his self interest to remain silent on the issue. Furthermore, Jefferson was early in his political career. This wasn’t the President of the United States yet. At this point, rather, he was a quiet, anxious delegate from a colony very supportive of the institution. Spending much political capital on this issue was risky at best.
Yet, that’s exactly what he did, and it’s what he’d continue to do throughout much of his career. Years later, John Adams would recall how impressed he was with the position his Virginian friend was taking: “I was delighted with its high tone, and the flights of Oratory,” he wrote to a friend, referring to Jefferson’s draft, “especially that concerning Negro Slavery, which though I knew his Southern Bretheren would never suffer to pass in Congress, I certainly never would oppose.”
As we now know, this clause was not included in the final version that was adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776. After Congress reconvened to address the issue of Independence once and for all, they voted to separate from Great Britain on July 2nd. The following days were spent debating Jefferson’s document, and predictably, his clause on slavery was at the center of that debate.
Abolition of slavery didn't make the cut
Jefferson himself would later reflect on the debate surrounding his draft, highlighting an unfortunate truth of the political environment of the day. He suggested that the clause “was struck out in compliance to South Carolina and Georgia, who had never attempted to restrain the importation of slaves, and who on the contrary still wished to continue it.”
Certainly, there were those who lent their hand in forming this nation who had no intention of ending slavery. However, when we reflect on the importance of the Declaration of Independence today, it should be abundantly clear that slavery had no place in the America that Thomas Jefferson envisioned for the future.
Institutionalized slavery was never going to have a simple solution. There was, and is to this day, a lot of discussion surrounding Jefferson’s thoughts on how to move forward. Yet, when it comes to the question of whether or not Jefferson had a clear moral compass on the issue, it’s cut and dried: Jefferson viewed slavery as nothing less than abhorrent and envisioned a nation where it could one day be abolished. It is that vision that inspired generations to rise up and realize the potential of what America could become. It’s what defines the spirit of Independence Day, and it’s why America is worth celebrating.
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