Thomas Jefferson: A Hero Or A Hypocrite
Personally, I think that Thomas Jefferson was a hypocrite and a racist. Some people disagree with me and think that he was a good guy. The reason I think that he is a hypocrite is because he wrote in the Declaration of Independence “that all men are created equal,” yet he owned slaves, and that doesn’t seem very president-like in today’s society whatsoever. In my opinion it was wrong, and I’ll tell you why I think that.
The first reason on why he is a hypocrite is because he stated “that all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence even though he owned slaves himself. According to Biography. com he owned around “130 African Americans in slavery. ” He depended on them for his farming success throughout his life. He had an affair with one of his slaves, Sally Hemmings, who was fourteen-years-old which is underage and plain out wrong. Jefferson also stated that “all men are independent” which doesn’t make sense because as a slave owner he wasn’t allowing blacks to be independent and free. He made them work for him and hurt and ache each day.
The next reason is that he doesn’t see blacks as people. According to Biography. com “he believed that blacks were innately inferior to whites in terms of both mental and physical capacity. ” Jefferson didn’t want slaves to live freely, or if they were formerly a slave, he didn’t want to be associated with them. People felt that slavery was necessary because it helped farmers grow their business.
There are some that believed Thomas Jefferson thought “all men are created equal. ” In the letter from Jefferson to Benjamin Banneker he wrote, “No body wishes more than I do to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given to our black brethren, talents equal to those of the other colors of men, and that the appearance of a want of them is owing merely to the degraded condition of their existence. ’’ Additionally, in the letter he said, “I can add with truth, that no body wishes more ardently to see a good system commenced for raising the condition both of their body & mind. ’’ It also said that “he claimed to abhor slavery as a violation of the natural rights of man,” which doesn’t make me believe that he wasn’t racist. I don’t agree with those who defend him and make excuses for him. He may have said it, but he owned slaves and didn’t see them as people.
In conclusion, with everything I have said, I know and believe that Thomas Jefferson is a hypocrite and racist. He said that “all men are created equal” yet he owned a lot of slaves and didn’t see them as people and there is proof of that. If all men were created equal there would never be racism or slaves in the first place. So next time you try and defend Thomas Jefferson look at the clearly stated, and proven facts that he was in the wrong, and people shouldn’t defend him about being a good person.
