but instead he did nothing; and slavery spread deeper into the Louisiana Territory, leading to the debate over the Missouri Compromise.  Jefferson sadly viewed the opposition to slavery in 1819 as a "fire bell in the night" and bemoaned that the children of the Revolution would destroy the nation over slavery; but of course the irony is he might have done something to head this off; but he did not. 


*************************************************
Paul Finkelman, Ph.D.
President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
Albany Law School
80 New Scotland Avenue
Albany, NY 12208

518-445-3386 (p)
518-445-3363 (f)

[log in to unmask]
www.paulfinkelman.com
*************************************************
________________________________________
From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Henry Wiencek [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2011 12:56 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Hemings-TJ, Charlottesville newspaper

Jurretta --
There is evidence that Jefferson's plan was more than an impulsive
burst of idealism. It comes up in other correspondence and he
discussed it with his secretary, William Short, and with Thomas Paine,
both of whom took the plan seriously. When President Jefferson
purchased Louisiana some two decades later, Paine wrote to Jefferson
begging him not to admit slavery in the Territory, reminding Jefferson
of his Bancroft plan, and suggesting that Louisiana offered the
perfect opportunity to put the Bancroft plan into action--send slaves
there on something like an indentured basis, train them, and free
them.

Henry Wiencek

______________________________________
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html

______________________________________
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html