Question

is thomas jefferson pro-slavery?

There is a lot of evidence that proves thomas jefferson is pro-slavery but in his writings on notes of VA, he writes that blacks are inferior??

Answer 1

It is highly debated, but it is believed that publicly, he was anti slavery

Answer 2

Pro slavery does not mean not racist. THis is important to keep in mind. At the time, it was "common knowledge" that people that weren't of European descent were inferior

Answer 3

It's difficult to know the stance of some of the founding fathers regarding slavery. Jefferson himself owned a lot of slaves and had an affair with one of his slaves (Sally Hemings)

Answer 4

im trying to argue that thomas jefferson is anti-slavery. But how can i rebuttal the points he made about blacks?

Answer 5

Say what I said. Pro slavery does not mean not racist

Answer 6

There are plenty of racist people today, but I doubt you will find many of them that support making blacks slaves (or whatever race they think is inferior)

Answer 7

Whites commonly believed they were superior to blacks at the time. Slavery was wrong not because blacks were equals, but because it was dehumanizing

Answer 8

also, i just want clarification. Im doing research on Samuel Chase and Benjamin Banneker. I have to prove each of them that they either "murdered" or didn't murder thomas jefferson? which is a prompt. these 2 make a good argument?

Answer 9

You'll notice that our Framers cleverly avoided the problem of slavery though... many had personal opinions but did not really vocally express them. They were seeking to build a nation, and could not afford to lose the support of southern states.

Answer 10

sorry @lordofpens I do now have knowledge regarding that topic. May I ask, is this AP US History?

Answer 11

This is US history 1 Honors (but we use the Apush Foner textbook)

Answer 12

I see. Well unfortunately I do not have knowledge about Samuel chase and Benjamin Banneker

Answer 13

do you happen to know if thomas jefferson dealt with Indian issues a lot?