Thomas Jefferson and slavery: Difference between revisions

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== Following the War ==
== Following the War ==


In 1784, Thomas Jefferson introduced a bill to abolish slavery to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Congress Continental Congress]. The proposed law read, "That after the year 1800 of the Christian era, there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said States, otherwise than in punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted to have been personally guilty." The bill was defeated by one vote.<ref>Journals of the Continental Congress, Volume XXVI, pp. 118-119, Monday, March 1, 1784. </ref>
In 1784, Thomas Jefferson, now U.S. Congressman from Virginia, introduced a bill to abolish slavery to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Congress Continental Congress]. The proposed law read, "That after the year 1800 of the Christian era, there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said States, otherwise than in punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted to have been personally guilty." The bill was defeated by one vote.<ref>Journals of the Continental Congress, Volume XXVI, pp. 118-119, Monday, March 1, 1784. </ref>


In 1784, Jefferson drafted a law of what became the [[Northwest Ordinance]] stipulating that "there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude" in any of the new states admitted to the Union from the [[Northwest Territory]].<ref>[http://www.econlib.org/library/ypdbooks/lalor/llCy787.html Ordinance of 1787] Lalor Cyclopædia of Political Science</ref>
In 1784, Congressman Jefferson drafted a law of what became the [[Northwest Ordinance]] stipulating that "there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude" in any of the new states admitted to the Union from the [[Northwest Territory]].<ref>[http://www.econlib.org/library/ypdbooks/lalor/llCy787.html Ordinance of 1787] Lalor Cyclopædia of Political Science</ref>


In 1792, Thomas Jefferson began selling his slaves to pay off his debts at Monticello.<ref>{{cite web
In 1792, Thomas Jefferson began selling his slaves to pay off his debts at Monticello.<ref>{{cite web

Revision as of 05:18, 8 July 2009

Template:Rescue Slavery, unconscionable to modern day people, was a commonplace though still controversial institution in Thomas Jefferson's time; slavery continued long past his death. A leader in the American Revolution who served as the third United States President, he owned many slaves, and yet worked for many years, ultimately successfully, to repeal the slave trade in his state, and slave ownership in any states admitted to the Union after 1787.

Historical Background

In 1692, the Virginia legislature placed an economic burden on any slave owner who emancipated his slaves, in order to discourage owners from freeing their slaves. [1] This law stated:

[N]o Negro or mulatto slave shall be set free, unless the emancipator pays for his transportation out of the country within six months. [2]

Other laws imposed limiting provisions that a slave could not be freed unless the slave owner paid for the education, livelihood, and support of the freed slave. The slave owner was forced to ensure that the former slave(s) would not become a burden to the community or to the society. [3]

In 1723, A Virginia law was passed which forbid the emancipation of slaves by their owners under any condition, including last will and testament. The only exceptions were for cases of "meritorious service" by a slave where State Governor and his Council made the emancipation decision, not the slave owner, on a case by case basis. [4]

Early Years

At the time Thomas Jefferson was born, slavery was an imbedded institution in the Virgina Colony.

On April 13, 1764, Thomas Jefferson's 21st Birthday, Jefferson received an inheritance from his father. The inheritance included 5000 acres, approximately half of these acres were situated about the Rivanna River near Shadwell, 52 slaves, considerable livestock, his father's library, and a grist mill.[5][6] Thomas Jefferson starting in childhood had always wanted to build a beautiful mansion on this property one day. Four years later he started the construction of Monticello in 1768. He wanted to build a Mountain Top home within site of Shadwell.[7]

In 1769, as a member of the House of Burgesses, Jefferson proposed for that body to emancipate slaves in Virginia, but he was unsuccessful.[8]

Revolutionary Period (1775-1783)

In 1776, Thomas Jefferson's writes the Declaration of Independance, denouncing the slave trade and accusing King George III of propagating the slave trade. [9]

He [King George III] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people which never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium [disgrace] of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian King of Great Britain. He has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain an execrable commerce [that is, he has opposed efforts to prohibit the slave trade], determined to keep open a market where men should be bought and sold.

The American Colonies before the American Revolution attempted to abolish slavery. The King overturned their laws, thus enraging Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence.[10]

In 1776, Thomas Jefferson owned approximately 117 slaves.[11][12]

In 1778, the Virgina Legislature passed law that bans further importation of slaves into Virginia by land or sea. [13]

In 1782, the Virginia State Legislature allowed slave owners to emancipate their slaves by will or deed. This repealed the 1732 law that made only the Governor and his council to emancipate slaves. Part of the law reads as follows," "any person by will or other instrument in writing under his hand and seal attested and proved in the County Court by two witnesses or acknowledged may emancipate and set free his slaves who shall thereupon be entirely and fully discharged from the performance of any contract entered into during servitude and enjoy as full freedom as if they had been particularly named and freed by this."[14]

Following the War

In 1784, Thomas Jefferson, now U.S. Congressman from Virginia, introduced a bill to abolish slavery to the Continental Congress. The proposed law read, "That after the year 1800 of the Christian era, there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said States, otherwise than in punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted to have been personally guilty." The bill was defeated by one vote.[15]

In 1784, Congressman Jefferson drafted a law of what became the Northwest Ordinance stipulating that "there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude" in any of the new states admitted to the Union from the Northwest Territory.[16]

In 1792, Thomas Jefferson began selling his slaves to pay off his debts at Monticello.[17]

The amount of slaves Thomas Jefferson owned doubled from the 117 slaves in 1776. Jefferson's chattel slave "family", as he called his slaves, grew to its maximum of 250.[18]

As President

On Apr. 30, 1803 the United States purchased from France the Louisiana Territory for 60 million francs, or about $15,000,000. The area of the land was 2,000,000 square kilometers or 800,000 square miles. This was known as the Louisiana Purchase. [19] No provision was made to prohibit slavery or the importation of slaves. [20]

On March 3, 1807, President Thomas Jefferson signs into law a bill ending the importation of slaves into the United States. Congress had passed the bill on March 2, 1807. His desire to abolish the slave trade was finally realized.[21][22]

President Jefferson, anticipating the passage of the bill remarked:

"I congratulate, you fellow citizens, on the approach of the period at which you may interpose your authority constitutionally to withdraw the citizens of the United States from all further participation in those violations of human rights which have been so long continued on the unoffending inhabitants of Africa, and which the morality, the reputation, and the best interests of our country have long been eager to proscribe." [23]

Posthumous

Thomas Jefferson was greatly in debt at the time of his death in 1826. He spent lavishly on his Monticello Estate in order to create a neoclassical environment, based on his study of the brilliant architect Andrea Pallidio and The Orders. The 150 slaves that he owned at the time of his death were to be sold to settle debts with creditors. [24]


  1. ^ >David Barton (2001). "George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, & Slavery in Virginia". Retrieved 2009-07-03.
  2. ^ W.O. Blake, The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade; Ancient and Modern. The Forms of Slavery that Prevailed in Ancient Nations, Particularly in Greece and Rome. The African Slave Trade and the Political History of Slavery in the United States (Ohio: J. & H. Miller, 1857), pp. 373-374.
  3. ^ Blake, The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade, p. 381
  4. ^ George M. Stroud, A Sketch of the Laws Relating to Slavery in the Several States of the United States of America (Philadelphia: Henry Longstreth, 1856), pp. 236-237.
  5. ^ Malone, TJ, 1:114, 437-39
  6. ^ McLoughlin, Jefferson and Monticello, 34.
  7. ^ TJ to John Minor August 30, 1814 Lipscomb and Bergh, WTJ 2:420-21
  8. ^ The Works of Thomas Jefferson in Twelve Volumes at the Library of Congress.
  9. ^ Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1906), Vol. V, 1776, June 5-October 8, p. 498, Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence.
  10. ^ Benjamin Franklin, The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Jared Sparks, editor (Boston: Tappan, Whittemore, and Mason, 1839), Vol. VIII, p. 42, to the Rev. Dean Woodward on April 10, 1773.
  11. ^ Peterson, TJ, 28,40, 161-62
  12. ^ Malone, TJ 1:441-45
  13. ^ Dubois, 14; Ballagh, A History of Slavery in Virgina, 23.
  14. ^ Virginia reports: Jefferson--33 Grattan, 1730-1880,Thomas Johnson Michie, Thomas Jefferson, Peachy Ridgway Grattan, The Michie Co., 1904, pp. 241–242.
  15. ^ Journals of the Continental Congress, Volume XXVI, pp. 118-119, Monday, March 1, 1784.
  16. ^ Ordinance of 1787 Lalor Cyclopædia of Political Science
  17. ^ Library of Congress. "Life and Labor at Monticello". Retrieved 2009-07-06.
  18. ^ Lucia Stanton, 'Those who labor for my happiness': "Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves" in Onuf Jeffersonina Legacies, 148. 152-153.
  19. ^ Gateway New Orleans (1994–2008). "Louisiana Purchase". Retrieved 2009-07-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date format (link)
  20. ^ Roger G. Kennedy (April 2003). "The Louisiana Purchase". Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  21. ^ Martin Kelly. "Thomas Jefferson Biography - Third President of the United States". Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  22. ^ Robert MacNamara. "Importation of Slaves Outlawed by 1807 Act of Congress". Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  23. ^ Fred L. Israel and J. F. Watts, Thomas Jefferson's recommendation to end the African slave trade (1806)2000, pg 38
  24. ^ Charles Giuliano (2008-06-06). "Thomas Jefferson's Monticello An American Masterpiece by a Founding Father". Retrieved 2009-07-05.
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