Thomas Jefferson Thesis

Through the late 1700’s and early 1800’s slavery was a major issue of discussion in America. The treatment of slaves and black rights sparked the American Civil War. Thomas Jefferson was a historical figure who became president in 1801. Many accusations were made about Jefferson throughout his presidency and after his presidency. Although Thomas Jefferson was known as a racist slave owner, he was a influential president in his time serving in the position. These accusations can be proven false through evidence of the accomplishments made during his leadership role. Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13th, 1743, in Shadwell, Virginia. He was the third of ten children in the family. Jefferson was born into a very rich family. Jefferson’s father,

In fact, it was very normal to be a slave holder in the 1800’s. Thomas Jefferson was a slaveholder, he also was a racist and thought the African American were child-like. He profited money off his plantations in which the slaves worked on. He had a mistress that was a slave as well. “Few of us entirely escape our times and places. Thomas Jefferson did not achieve greatness in his personal life. He had a slave as mistress. He lied about it. He once tried to bribe a hostile reporter.” Although all these statements are true, throughout his writings you can see that he knew slavery was wrong. Thomas Jefferson knew what he was doing was wrong but thought that in his life time he could not see himself or America abolishing slavery. He writes that he thought the era of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s generation would be the ones to end slavery. Jefferson also questioned the topic of women rights. He would ignore the subject until out of office for he didn’t want to deal with the issue. “The author of the Declaration of Independence threw up his hands at the question of women’s rights”. It is as if the subject never came up. Another racial and moral problem was left untouched as well; the treatment of the Native Americans. Even though he did a terrible thing by being a slave owner, he still was a man of principal. His civic duties were very important to