Not All Men Were Created Equal

When Thomas Jefferson wrote one of the most famous lines in the Declaration of Independence, implying that “all men are created equal,” he did not have enslaved Americans in mind. Many argue that despite owning other human beings, Jefferson was adamant about the abolition of the slave trade, even calling it an “abominable crime.” While he was a staunch opponent of it in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, taking his writings as gospel would only be holding him to his words, and not his actions.

Nearly two hundred people were enslaved on Jefferson’s Monticello plantation near Charlottesville, VA after America won its independence. Even when he did talk about the abolition of the slave trade, it was revealed in his writings that he did not desire freed Americans to be a part of the new society. He instead preferred them removed to Africa, believing that there could be no peace between white and black Americans. In his Notes on the State of Virginia, under “Laws,” Jefferson wrote the following:

“Deep rooted prejudices entertained by the whites; ten thousand recollections, by the blacks, of the injuries they have sustained; new provocations; the real distinctions which nature has made … will divide us into parties, and produce convulsions which will probably never end but in the extermination of the one or the other race.”

In short, Jefferson believed there would simply be too much bad blood for there to ever be peace between whites and blacks. Again, we know this from his writings (See Notes on the State of Virginia), and from his actions. The same worldly and eloquent man that wrote the Declaration of Independence, was the same man who had an affair with one of his slaves, had children with her, and still held them in bondage.

While this founding father was without question ambitious and accomplished, he was also unquestionably a racist. We have statues, paintings, and monuments dedicated to a man that wanted to either keep black Americans as slaves or have them removed altogether. Have we as a people ever really considered how it feels for many of our countrymen when they see these things?

Yes, the founding fathers absolutely set up the groundwork for the government we have, but the liberties that are in place today are the result of us expanding on their original train of thought. These were freedoms that we deemed necessary as we evolved beyond their initial prejudice and ignorance.

In today’s world, can we truly afford to deify men who had such outspoken negative views of their own countrymen? It is not a simple question…but evolving our understanding of history is most certainly the embodiment of what America is. We have the opportunity to create something better than the founding father had ever imagined. If we are too afraid to acknowledge and learn from our past, our past becomes a ball and chain, rather than a guiding compass.