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>They are masters of their own persons... Wise words, from a slave owner. Better a hypocritical slave owner than not, of course, but I still have a really har

• dragonwriter 8y ago
  > Wise words, from a slave owner. Yes, the slave owner talking to us from beyond the grave about why we shouldn't be ruled from beyond the grave by his dead hand and those of his contemporaries—slave holders and their enablers, every last one—is quite wise. > Better a hypocritical slave owner than not Jefferson seemed to live in relative accord with his professed views on slavery and issues surrounding it (which, yes, included that slavery was bad, but also that “freeing” slaves unprepared to survive and sorry themselves as free citizens was bad, and that the ideal solution was for the state to acquire saves and train and then free them.) Which is not to say that Jefferson's views (other than the “slsvery is bad”) part weren't biased in favor of his own position and perhaps bolstered by some measure of racism, but hypocrisy is less evident.