by Morgan Johnson

Created on: January 23, 2008

Thomas Jefferson was a man of great intellect, deep compassion and a prolific writer. However, he had difficulty reconciling what he learned through education with what he knew to be right.

Jefferson's reasoning was a product of the prevailing wisdom of the era. White men were the pinnacle of creation spoken of in Shakespeare's Hamlet (act II, sc 2) with Negroes somewhere between animals and them.

Attraction and beauty flowed from bottom to top. In one of his letters he wrote, "Just as the orangutan prefers the negress to females of his own species; so too the negro is drawn to the Superior beauty of flowing hair, fairer skin and a more elegant symmetry of form of whites."

However, personal observation taught him that beauty existed in the Negroes as well. He also observed intelligence and reasoning among them though not as great as White men's. His relationship with Sally Hemings reveled attraction could flow both ways.

Thomas Jefferson owned slaves, sure. As a land owner of his era he needed cheap labor to work his land to make it productive. Without slave labor he could not afford his home, land and lifestyle. Owning slaves was an ECONOMIC decision.

Yet slave labor is not "free" labor. Man or animal, laborers always need shelter, food and livery (clothing). Jefferson's compassion for his slaves sharply limited his income as he felt they should be treated decently.

He knew that as an institution slavery was immoral and ultimately limited progress for all people. He wrote "we have a wolf by the ears and we can neither hold him nor safely let him go."

Throughout his life Jefferson was saddled with a level of debt that prevented him from freeing his slaves. Yet he consistently argued that the Negro must be freed.

He agreed that the differences between Negroes and Whites were so great, natural and irreconcilable that they could never live in the same society as free men together. He proposed some form of deportation be implemented to separate the two races, by force if necessary.

Thomas Jefferson came to his conclusion through personal observation of slaves in his own state and his peers. Later he encountered educated Negroes from Free states and concluded that there were truly no more limitations to Negro intelligence than to his own.

If he were alive today he would be surprised at the progress we have made but not by the long and bloody path to change. He predicted that Whites and Blacks would not come to coexistence without violence.

Aside from being a prolific writer (probably publishing online) he would also fill his time freely pursuing the beauty of all races. He'd probably be a big fan of Beyonce Knowles.

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