Whatever our views on Jefferson the slaveholder and race theorist, he is but one example--an especially riveting and poignant example, to be sure--of a more general contradiction (or tragedy) that has fundamentally shaped our country's history. How do we understand, or even describe, a nation that launched the first successful experiment in self-government (a nation of citizens, not subjects) in the modern era, yet also sanctioned slavery and was led by slaveholding presidents for most of its early history? In some ways, of course, this contradiction was "resolved" by the Civil War, but we deal with its legacies every day. The promise (explicit or implicit) of liberty and equality for all that is such an inspiring part of our heritage remains unfulfilled--a failure that is all the more painful *because* of the high expectations generated by the promise. Jefferson's life and legacy incorporate both the promise and the failure to live up to it. It's interesting to speculate about the impact a genuinely abolitionist Jefferson might have had on the course of our history, but we are stuck with the history the real Jefferson (and the rest of our ancestors on this land) helped to shape, and *that* history is difficult to appraise, I submit, precisely because it is so riddled with Jefferson-like contradictions. Douglas Deal Professor of History and Director of General Education State University of New York at Oswego Oswego, NY 13126 [log in to unmask] (315)-312-5631 (voice mail) (315)-312-3577 (FAX) To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html