Thomas Jefferson and His Relationship with Slavery

Thomas Jefferson had an illustrious career in the U.S government throughout his life. Jefferson was born on April 13th, 1734 in Central Virginia. This is the moment when Jefferson's complicated relationship with slavery began, as he was born on his fathers plantation. Jefferson got to see the negatives of slavery first hand and was able to build sympathy for his fathers slaves. As a result of Jefferson being raised on a plantation, Jefferson never knew any other way of life until he was able to travel when he got older. All throughout Jefferson's formative years he was surrounded by slavery, it was all he knew. This is what I believe is the main reason that Jefferson took so long to take a stand on his beliefs about slavery and eventually freeing his slaves when he died. 

Jefferson was consistently against slavery throughout his political career calling it "moral depravity" and a "hideous blot" on the United States. This shows that although Jefferson was sadly not brave enough or strong enough to take a stand. In Jefferson's later years he finally proposed a national plan to end slavery. This plan entailed the federal government buying all slave children for $12.50, raise them as freemen and train them for careers as freemen. This motion was denied but it goes to show Jefferson's true beliefs and shows the guilt he felt about not standing up for slaves in the past when he had more leverage.

Thomas Jefferson in most people's minds directly coincides with the constitution as he was the one who wrote it. This also means Jefferson goes hand in hand with the phrase "All men are created equal." It doesn't get more simple than that. Jefferson believed that slavery was morally wrong and that African Americans were equal to White Americans. I believe that it is pretty clear to see, that throughout Jefferson's political career and even his life in general he was very anti-slavery, as he even made a family with a slave, having four children after his wife passed away and said on multiple occasions that slavery was simply not right. But because of Jefferson's unwillingness to voice his true opinions on slavery, he is then often seen as just another racist president who owned slaves.

https://www.monticello.org/thomas-jefferson/jefferson-slavery/jefferson-s-attitudes-toward-slavery/  

https://www.umbc.edu/che/tahlessons/pdf/historylabs/Where_Did_Thomas_Jefferson_Stand_on_the_Issue_of_Slavery.PrinterFriendly.pdf