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