It is charming to see Mr. Dixon using a source quoting a well-known American Marxist (and I think member of the CPUSA) to bolster Jefferson:
"Philip Foner, editor of “The Complete Writings of Thomas Paine,” noted that the characterization of Paine as “the first American abolitionist” was inaccurate, due to Jefferson’s 1769 effort to legalize the manumission of Virginia slaves." It is important to note that the law mentioned here would have merely allowed masters to free slaves through private manumission, if the masters chose to do so. It was not an emancipation law and would not have ended slavery.  Many masters liked such law because it allowed them to free favored slavers, often the mistresses or the children the fathered with the slaves.  In 1782 Virginia passed such a law, and except for a handful of members of the Hemings family, Jefferson never took advantage of the law to free any of his slaves. 
Support for such a law was hardly support for "abolition."  Many masters in the South (including Jefferson) freed a few slaves here and there but continued to buy and sell human beings throughout their lives.  Jefferson fits very well in this category.   
******************
Paul FinkelmanArielF. Sallows Visiting Professor of Human Rights LawCollegeof LawUniversityof Saskatchewan15Campus DriveSaskatoon,SK  S7N 5A6   [log in to unmask]
c) 518.605.0296 (US number)


      From: Richard Dixon <[log in to unmask]>
 To: [log in to unmask] 
 Sent: Monday, November 28, 2016 11:44 AM
 Subject: [VA-HIST] Censoring Jefferson
  
For those interested in the recent flap at the University of Virginia 
where professors and students objected to President Teresa Sullivan 
quoting Thomas Jefferson, the founder of the University. There is a 
response from Robert Turner, a UVA professor, which appears in the 
November 27 Charlottesville Daily Progress.

http://www.dailyprogress.com/opinion/opinion-commentary-censoring-jefferson-to-safeguard-ignorance-president-s-legacy/article_1756205c-b4a1-11e6-9510-9ffce9935918.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share


-- 
Richard E. Dixon 12106 Beaver Creek Road Clifton, VA 20124 The Virginia 
Presidents: A Travel and History Guide 571-748-7660

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