When I studied Thomas Jefferson in grade school, I though he was a good president because he came up with the Declaration of Independence. As a college student I look at him in a new light. He was the biggest hypocrite. He always contradicted himself. In my opinion he wanted to make himself look like a good guy, but only to the white man.
Thomas Jefferson grew up around slavery his father Peter Jefferson owned several tobacco plantations and who do you think worked on those plantations? Slaves. He was a critic and a defender of the native land.In the reading it states that his writing was persuasive, and I couldn’t agree anymore. To me he was trying to impress Virginia and the rest of the nation. He had the idea of freedom of religion, freedom of education and equal representation of the law. There is no way this related to all men. Probably all white men because even after the fiftieth anniversary of the declaration of Independence when Thomas Jefferson died he still owned over one hundred slaves.
I laugh when I hear that he stated that all me are equal. I think that he believed that all white men are created equal. Better yet I believe that he meant all white men that own land are created equal, and by owning land you are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In the Declaration by the Representatives, he said “For the truth of which we pledge a faith yet unsullied by falsehood”, to me he was talking about himself. He talked about freedom this and freedom that but in the end there was still slavery ( Andrews ,1998 pgs 34-41).
Citations
Andrews , William L (1998). The Literature of the American
South. Noth Carolina: W.W. Norton and Company.
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7 comments:
I feel the same way, everyone is tought in highschool and middleschool that Thomas Jefferson is an impressive guy along with John Smith. It is scary how we insist on keeping our youth misinformed. Is it really that imperitive that we teach them false history so that they can think everything is a love story, or has a happy ending? I think that through this process we our causing people to become pesimistic. I know that I was pretty disapointed when I found out Christopher Columbus really didnt discover America. We expect people to be trustworthy and truthful when we have the people they rely on for information lieing to them.
According to many studies, at the time that the declaration of independence was written, a man was considered a "white, property owning male." So as far as I am concerned, you could not be more right when you say that you think that is what he meant.
Also, Jefferson was not really concerned with the rights of others. At the time of this piece, his main concern was the preservation of the union. He was quoted in saying that
" 'If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union...' "(http://www.brotherswar.com/Civil_War_Quotes_4c.htm)
Jefferson cared nothing about humanity or the equality of all, his only true concern was the union. This would explain some of his contradictions in a way.
Taysha, i think what you are saying really makes sense in this situation. I mean growing up i really thought the same thing about Thomas Jefferson. I thought he was a good president that wrote the declaration of independence and really had a big impact on history. Well after reading in class i have realized that he is the biggest hypocrite. I mean he is talking about all men created equal but yet he owned slaves all during his childhood he was around them and as an adult he owned slaves. Even while he wrote the declaration of independence he owned slaves. So i believe that when it comes down to it i think that he really is a hypocrite and used it to his benefit.
Taysha, i think what you are saying really makes sense in this situation. I mean growing up i really thought the same thing about Thomas Jefferson. I thought he was a good president that wrote the declaration of independence and really had a big impact on history. Well after reading in class i have realized that he is the biggest hypocrite. I mean he is talking about all men created equal but yet he owned slaves all during his childhood he was around them and as an adult he owned slaves. Even while he wrote the declaration of independence he owned slaves. So i believe that when it comes down to it i think that he really is a hypocrite and used it to his benefit.
I completely agree. He wrote the declaration to state that all men are free but in fact like you say at that time it was definately not everyone. He contradicts him self by saying that slavery is bad but in fact he has slaves. He also deosnt back him self up when he makes a statement. For example, he says that the blacks smell bad and dont need a lot of sleep when in reality it was not the blacks fault. They were forced to wake up early and work very hard thus making them smell.
I agree with you, I thought Thomas Jefferson was a hypocrite too. He only seemed to care about what others thought about him, so he would always try to make himself look good. If he cared so much about freedom for everyone, why wouldn't he speak about what he believed in? I because he was to scared about what others might think.
I wonder if Thomas Jefferson was aware of some of his hypocritical ideas. I think it would be hard to ignore the fact that he wrote 'all men are created equal,' but owned slaves himself. He had to know or be somewhat aware of the fact that some things he put into writing he did not apply in his own life. I find it interesting that you comment on his persuasive writing. I think, no matter what we may all think of Jefferson, he was a good writer and an important figure in the history of America. He is hard to ignore and the pieces he wrote do have an impact on southern lit.
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