After the War of 1812 Congress purchased TJ's personal library at highly
inflated prices.  Today there would have been a special prosecutor investigation
for such a purchase, at those prices, which were far above what a bookseller in
London or even Boston might have charged. But, the purchase did give TJ enough
money to get out of debt, and then, had he lived within his considerable means,
he could have died out of debt and had he been interested, freed his slaves.

But, TJ used almost all the money from Congress to buy more books.  Had he
wanted to free his slaves, he would have been able to do so, but it would have
required some planning and self-control.
Throughout his life TJ spent money on everything he wanted.  Again, with an
apology, I quote from my own book:

"Jefferson was compulsively acquisitive.  This behavior violated republican
principles, but Jefferson seemed incapable of resisting the temptation to
acquire things.  As Herbert Sloan has observed, Jefferson was "never able to
refuse himself the things he wanted and thought he deserved, even at the cost of
running up substantial debts."  Slavery and the wealth it produced fostered this
behavior.  Without his slaves Jefferson could not have purchased his wine, his
paintings, and his furniture or built Monticello to house everything.  Garry
Wills points out that while in France "Jefferson went on a buying spree" that
"was staggering in its intensity.  At times it must have looked as if he meant
to take much of Paris back with him to his mountain 'château.'"  When he left
France, he shipped eighty-six large crates back to the United States.  His
treasures included "sixty-three oil paintings, seven busts by Houdon,
forty-eight formal chairs, Sèvres table sculptures of biscuit, damask hangings,
four full-length mirrors in gilt frames, four marble-topped tables, 120
porcelain plates, and numberless items of personal luxury."  While in France and
shortly after his return Jefferson sold at least eighty-five slaves to pay his
debts, but he never considered cutting back on his luxurious life-style.
"Self-preservation" for Jefferson was at least in part economic.  He was
dependent on slaves and he might not have liked it, but he did not dislike it
enough to do anything about it.
 Along the same lines, Jefferson may have seen support for slavery as a
necessary component of his political self-preservation.  As John Chester Miller
observed, Jefferson always believed he had to "choose between the preservation
of his political 'usefulness' and active opposition to slavery."  This
conclusion of course assumes that Jefferson wanted to oppose slavery.  Other
successful Virginia politicians took more public stands against slavery.  James
Wood managed to serve as governor of Virginia as well as a vice-president of the
Virginia Abolition Society.  Judge St. George Tucker proposed a gradual
abolition scheme, while Governor Beverley Randolph praised the Pennsylvania
abolition society.  Moreover, Miller's analysis does not explain Jefferson's
refusal to take a stand against slavery after he left public office in 1809."

--
Paul Finkelman
Chapman Distinguished Professor
University of Tulsa College of Law
3120 East Fourth Place
Tulsa, OK  74104

918-631-3706
Fax 918-631-2194

E-mail:  [log in to unmask]



"Lonny J. Watro" wrote:

> As I understand it, (and I'm no authority on the subject) Jefferson was in
> financial ruin at the end of his life. Partly, I believe, due to his friend,
> Wilson Cary Nicholas, who not only over extended Jefferson's credit, but
> WCN's younger brother's, Lewis Nicholas's, credit as well. See _The Nicholas
> Family of Virginia 1722-1820_, Victor Denise Golladay, University of
> Virginia, Ph.D., 1973.
>
> Could the business speculation that TJ became involved in with Wilson Cary
> Nicholas be one of the reasons that he did not free his slaves, but sent
> them to the auction block to save himself and his Montecello? Lewis Nicholas
> of Albemarle lost his 2000 acre Berry Hill plantation on Green Mountain in
> Albemarle, and died intestate -- possibly at the home of his son, John H.
> Nicholas of Albemarle. Wilson Cary Nicholas passed hugh debts onto his
> heirs. Did TJ suffer the same fate? I don't know the answer, I'm just
> speculating the reason why he autioned his slaves.
>
> Lonny J. Watro
>
> You wrote:
>
> .  Jefferson fails the test.
> >      When Jefferson wrote the Declaration he owned over 175 slaves.  While
> many of
> > his contemporaries freed their slaves during and after the Revolution,
> Jefferson
> > did not.  In the fifty years from 1776 until his death in 1826, a period
> of
> > extraordinary public service, he did little to end slavery or to
> dissociate himself
> > from his role as the master of Monticello.  To the contrary, as he
> accumulated more
> > slaves he worked assiduously to increase the productivity and the property
> values
> > of his labor force.  Nor did he encourage his countrymen to liberate their
> slaves,
> > even when they sought his blessing.  Even at his death Jefferson failed to
> fulfill
> > the promise of his rhetoric.  In his will he emancipated only five
> bondsmen,
> > condemning nearly 200 others to the auction block."
> >
>
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