Thomas Jefferson Hypocrite

Thomas Jefferson- American Hero or Hypocrite?

Thomas Jefferson has been a household name and has been greatly known by everyone in the United States since the late 1700’s. Not only was he present and play a crucial role in the American Revolution, but he also wrote the Declaration of independence and was also the third President of the United States. During his time as president his views and beliefs really countered the views of famous federalists of that time. (George Washington and John Adams) Jefferson had very passionate beliefs that favored the rights of the people and really gave the people and the states a lot more power than the Federalist Party believed they should have. “Jefferson’s political platform called for shrinking the infant

He wrote many times that salve ownership was directly against one’s personal and God given freedoms and liberties. On the contrary, he owned slaves and quite a few at that. Naturally, people are quick to label Mr. Jefferson a hypocrite because of this. But once you look deeper into Jefferson’s situation and his life you see some complications he would quickly run into if he were to release his slaves. During his lifetime, Jefferson was in a lot of debt and his slaves were his property. So his slaves acted as collateral to his debt. If he was to release his slaves then he would have run into some pretty heavy financial problems. I think that Jefferson had a big realization about deserved freedom for all humans but by the time he realized all of this it was too late. He already had an established life and if were to give it all up because of his realizations he would have been ruining his own life. He knew that he couldn’t do that to himself or his family. I don’t think we can stamp hypocrisy onto Mr. Jefferson. His heart was in the right place I think he might have just been too scared to completely give up his life for his beliefs because he knew what the consequences would

(Page 242) A lot of people say that it was pretty hypocritical for Jefferson to buy the territory of Louisiana without having permission of congress and also the permission of the American people because that’s what he said he believed in. Our textbook sides with the people that blatantly states that Jefferson is a hypocrite. It talks about how “Jefferson acknowledged that the purchase was “beyond the constitution”” and then states that Jefferson was “a velvet hypocrite” (Page 244). This decision is looked at from a lot of different viewpoints. One interesting way some people look at it is that Jefferson didn’t do anything wrong at all. They back this up by saying that the Louisiana Purchase was a treaty with France and the constitution specifically gives the President full power to negotiate treaties with other countries and that’s exactly what he did. Other people say that Jefferson saw an opportunity to better the country, and being a leader and wanting the best for the United States, he quickly took advantage of the opportunity. I think the only reason that the people that did get upset about it, got upset only because they weren’t able to feel good about themselves by being a part of such a successful and big deal. I don’t think Jefferson did anything wrong by making this decision on his own because he was simply making a decision with the country’s best interest