Thomas Jefferson was the 3d President of the United States. He was a well-educated man in math and science. He read law with George Wythe; the greatest law teacher at that time in Virginia Jefferson went on to become a successful lawyer.
Jefferson served as a magistrate and a county Lieutenant of Albemarle County. He was elected to the House of Burgess at the age of twenty- five years old and was effective as a committeeman.
During the Revolution era, Jefferson stood with his countrymen, using his wide knowledge of English history and political philosophy. He wrote a powerful pamphlet to the cause of the Patriot’s, “ A Summary View of the Rights of British American.”
Jefferson and Ben Franklin debated who would draft the Declaration of Independence. Ben said he wouldn’t do it so the drafting was stuck on Jefferson. In this document, decided by the founding fathers, it said that all men were equal in rights, regardless of birth, wealth, or status. Jefferson always wanted to free his slaves he would never resolved the issue.
When George Washington was President, he appointed Jefferson as his Secretary of State. Jefferson wasn’t pro- French, and wasn’t anti- British, even though he did have monarchical tendencies. This would cloud his attitude in later partisan struggles.
Jefferson won Vice President, just short of three electoral votes of beating John Adams. In 1800 the title changed to President.
Jefferson’s title to Presidency wasn’t established for some weeks after the election. There wasn’t a majority vote so the decision was up to the House of Representatives. A political compromise was reached and it was because some House members didn’t vote that Jefferson finally carried a two third majority vote for President.
Jefferson’s first term was a time of international calm. By working through the Republican leaders in Congress, Jefferson’s influence on that Congress was to be matched in future administrations. Because of Jefferson’s commitment to the policy of power between the executive and legislative branches, his leadership wasn’t admired. He didn’t like the way the federal government operated in this country. Jefferson’s popularity increased with the Louisiana Purchase. Instead of owning the mouth of the Mississippi River, Thousands of acres were added to America.
During Jefferson’s second term he found great difficulty in foreign affairs, Britain and France were seizing American ships and impressing American sailors into their navies. Rather than deal with a blockade, Jefferson imposed an embargo to safeguard American lives and shipping. This embargo was more of a hardship on American merchants. Jefferson believed that colonist should make a personal financial sacrifice on patriotic grounds. Many did so, but Jefferson had to repeal the embargo to save the Union.
In retirement Jefferson couldn’t stop his way of life of always striving for more knowledge. He resigned as president of the American Philosophical Society, but he still kept an interest in all branches of human studies. Jefferson inspired Legislation for a University of Virginia and he had it located near his home, Monticello. Jefferson’s academic plan at this college was that a person wouldn’t have a specific amount or time to learn in, but instead could learn at their own discretion.
Just before Jefferson’s death his financial affairs were finally catching up with him. He sold his collection of over four thousand books to the United States government, which in turn was the start of the Library of Congress.
It is now one hundred and eighty six years since the death of Thomas Jefferson. This has given historians a long time to paint Jefferson as a great man. When Jefferson wrote that all men are equal, why didn’t he free his slaves? If Jefferson hadn’t helped to draft the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution, he may have been just another well off landowner. Did Jefferson personal believe in these two most important documents in US history or was he just another Caucasian hypocrite.

All men are created equal...

Did Jefferson really view his slaves as men, as people? No. Like the culturally accepted view of the time, Jefferson saw his slaves as property. Therefore, it was very easy for him to keep his slaves. His point of view and what was culturally acceptable was different in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.

Another point that I neglected to make in my previous post...

The Enlightenment in Europe had only occurred two to three hundred years ago. With only the rich having access to new philosophers' ideas and with the level of censorship of these ideas on the part of absolute monarchs, at the time of Jefferson the lower class were first learning about these new principles. Even the upper class, which would have included Jefferson, was only beginning to come to a full understanding of these principles.

Think about the French Revolution that was occurring during this time and the reign of terror. Poor people of European descent would have been thrilled that their government recognized that they had rights! It would take a further understanding of these principles for the American government to realize that this applied to black slaves too, and not just the poor white people who were first getting rights. That understanding would not begin to come about in government until over fifty years later when the first step toward black civil rights occurred - the Emancipation Proclamation. It took a long time even after black slaves in the US were freed for white society to accept them as men created equal to themselves.

just one short comment, everyone. Only the winners write the history books. The losers are trying to put their lives back together. Just thought would throw that in. Nothing to do with Jefferson but the title suggested more. I agree with the argument that suggests that Jefferson saw slaves as property and less than human, but I don't believe that excuses his behavior to the obvious.

It is important to keep in mind that Jefferson condemned slavery in the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, but due to disagreements from the Southern States', and in order to compromise in order to get the ball rolling on gaining Independence (and preserve a union between North and South), the clause was eventually (and unfortunately) removed from the DoI.

Ironically, the wording and compromises with the South made within the Constitution helped eventually end slavery.

It turns out that the South wanted to count blacks as whole persons in order to increase its political power. The North wanted to count blacks as nothing, not for the purpose of rejecting their humanity, but in order to preserve and strengthen the anti-slavery majority in Congress. It was not a pro-slavery southerner but an anti-slavery northerner, James Wilson of Pennsylvania, who proposed the three-fifths compromise.

The effect of the compromise was to limit the south's political representation and thus its ability to protect the institution of slavery.(Emphasis added.)

Some other points:

All three clauses ["the three fifths compromise", "the importation of slaves", and "the fugitive-slave law"] referred to slaves as "Persons" and not property...

The Constitution neither authorized or prohibited slavery. The Framers had not expected to outlaw slavery, but came to the Convention to create a Constitution for the country as they knew it existed and also as is would exist in the future. Since slavery was part of the Union, it had to be dealt with tactfully, and the Framers chose to do this by not explicitly using the words "slave" or "slavery," but by creating several compromises...

The Constitution and the Framers were criticized as treating slaves as property, but a careful explanation of this clause will prove the opposite. The allocation of seats in Congress and the number of people to be taxed, although it was only three-fifths of the slaves, acknowledged that slaves were considered human beings and not merely property. They were included as people in the total number of those to be represented and taxed, not as the possession of a master. If they had not been included, they then may have been viewed as property, but since they were included, they were considered humans.

Above quotes from this site.

Should the Founders have taken up arms to forcibly end slavery? I wouldn't fault them if they did. But they chose another route in order to try and preserve the Union (something Lincoln also tried to do) while weaking the pro-slave South's strength in Congress. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Good points, Galt.

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826. John Adams last words were "Thomas Jefferson still survives." not knowing he had passed a few hours earlier. A certain sense of poetic and fitting rightousness in that. Thier lives and their deaths both intertwined.