he could have freed his slaves and hired them to work his land; he could have
provided for their freedom in his will, if we could not see fit to free them in
his life; he could have gradually freed them as his need for them diminished.
The possibilities were endless and for a man of Jefferson's genius, one imagines
he could have figured it out.  He was willing to risk his "sacred honor" to fight
Britain; he was unwilling to spend any time at all to deal with slavery. As Janet
Hunter says below, quite correctly, "he made a choice."

Janet Hunter wrote:

> In a message dated 4/14/01 8:12:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask]
> writes:
>
> <<
>  His financial profligacy may have debarred him from manumitting his
>  slaves, as you suggest, but I fear it is a stretch to stand that
>  logic on its head and assert that the profligacy was somehow
>  connected in a causal way to his desire to keep his slaves in bondage.
>   >>
>
> Thomas Jefferson made a CHOICE.  He was a smart man (on that we can agree).
> George Washington had already freed his slaves when Thomas Jefferson sold his
> library after the War of 1812, although whether Thomas Jefferson could have
> freed his slaves and maintained any but a small portion of his estate at
> Monticello, without them is an open question.  Have you been there?  Who
> could he have hired to do the work?
>
> He CHOSE not only to not free his slaves, but to continue spending on
> personal items (as I noted in an earlier and less eloquent post) ie buying
> more books, and heavens knows what else.  We can all interpret that as it is,
> but there it is.  He had a weakness....he wanted wealth.
>
> At this moment, I have a daughter at the University of Virginia (Thomas
> Jefferson's University...founded by what portion of his slave's wages?), who
> is taking a course on Africa and slavery as we speak (in which they have
> talked about Roman slavery, Irish slaves on the "other island", etc.).   Said
> daughter knows she has Quaker ancestors in NC and TN that were leaders of
> manumission movements (sadly none of her VA ancestors).  I have described
> these exchanges to her (I have been feeding her wills and such on her slave
> ancestors), and she indicates that her course (and hopefully she's attending
> most classes), hasn't really dealt with differences in Virginia colonial
> leaders attitudes toward slavery.  (She CAN, count as a many step grandpa,
> John PLEASANTS of Henrico Co in the 1600s, who was with a Mr. Paggin, English
> agent, a slave trader).
>
> Always a question.... might things have been different if his wife, Martha
> Jefferson had lived a longer life?  Did Thomas spend as uncontrollably when
> he was still married to her?
>
> (Appropos of nothing, but with my purely southern roots (though all my Civil
> War Ozark ancestors were Union), I always want to ask how anyone can defend
> Sherman's march to the south, and with respect to abolition and the Civil
> War...the question in wars is always "where's the money", and despite
> widespread opposition to slavery on moral grounds in the North, my
> understanding is that what really got things going and kept them going (ie,
> money for guns and uniforms and food and horses) "behind the scenes" was that
> the North felt threatened by the fact that the South might get smart and keep
> all their fine cotton fibers amongst themselves and weave them and make
> apparel right there, killing the Northern textile industry.   Maybe a new
> thread from more knowledgeable persons than myself..just a wide read
> political scientist.  To suggest that the North, with their textile mills
> dependent on fiber from the south was not dependent on slavery is well,
> denying the facts.)
>
> I live in Alexandria VA, and have been to Mt Vernon many times, and to
> Monticello at least three times, but most recently in August  There is just
> no comparison between the two.
>
> Hope you all have a Happy Easter.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Janet (Baugh) Hunter
>
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--
Paul Finkelman
Chapman Distinguished Professor
University of Tulsa College of Law
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