Mr. Dixon,
A very interesting query. I don't have a ready answer; but there is a
well documented case you might look at--the case of Thomas Howell, an
indentured servant, whom TJ himself represented. Howell was indentured
because he had one black ancestor, a situation TJ thought to be "wicked."
TJ strove to get the man out of his indenture and into legal whiteness.
You can read the arguments at
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/images/vc36p1.jpg
Also see Paul Finkelman, __Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in
the age of Jefferson__
HW
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