Thomas Jefferson Flashcards
(35 cards)
What was Jefferson’s central dilemma when it came to slavery?
he hated slavery but thought blacks were inferior to whites
What was Jefferson’s personal involvement w/ slavery?
owned his own plantations
- keeping men/women/children fed/bed was expensive
- hated that his life depended on a system he despised
(KH)
What did Jefferson’s dependence on slavery for his income make him see slaves as?
more like objects in financial calculations
What was evidence that Jefferson sought a way out of dependence on slavery?
trying to transform his laves into tenants
- unfortunately financial considerations precluded actions
Where did Jefferson’s hate for slavery come from?
from system of politics he was mentally invested in
- natural right philosophy was governing aspect of his theology
What was Jefferson’s take on the natural rights philosophy?
he thought of natural rights in the very literal sense
- rights belonged to men as biological beings
- rights are inherent + inalienable
- to know whether certain men had natural rights one only has to inquire whether they’re human
(RRT)
What was Jefferson’s thoughts on whether slaves were considered humans entitled to natural law?
thought slaves w/o question are human beings
- knew they could never rightfully be enslaved
- felt personal guilt for slaveholding (for depriving men of rightful liberty)
What was Jefferson’s take on the injustices of slavery?
not an injustice specifically to Africans but for any member of human species
- did not see cruelty but injustice
- recognized conditions of slavery as miserable but concern reserved for evil effects of slavery upon masters
- not overly concerned about slavery’s effect on black men
(DRN)
What events was Jefferson especially horrified/scared of?
possible slave revolts
- wrote forebodings of coming takeover by slaves in the “Notes on Virginia”
What did Jefferson think about the rebellion that happened in St. Domingo?
troubled b/c he couldn’t condemn it
- he was always receptive to revolution being used as a mechanism of change
- foretold of complete expulsion of whites in Caribbean
- St. Domingo merely the first chapter in domino of coming revolts to him
(HFS)
What was Jefferson’s take on slavery at the Missouri Compromise?
adamant blacks should be free (fused obligation w/ future fact)
- said white men must liberate black men in name of justice/black men would liberate themselves in blood
- hitched fear of rebellion to antislavery cause
(SH)
How was Jefferson’s take on slavery in his youth?
had urged VA to pursue gradual emancipation
- wrote years later that VA wasn’t ready for this program
- shrunk a large portion of his Notes on Virginia since it had strong antislavery expressions
(WS)
How did Jefferson’s anti-black theory clash w/ his hatred of slavery?
had genuine doubts blacks had inherent fitness for freedom
- firmly convinced blacks could never incorporate themselves into white society on equal terms
What were some of Jefferson’s outlandish beliefs about blacks?
thought they were “naturally” different in temperament + mentality + physicality (environmentalist argument)
- required less sleep
- adventurous not out of curiosity but out of an innate lack of fear
- panic more than whites in the face of danger
(RAP)
What did Jefferson think of the mental capacity of blacks?
equal in memory but not in reason to whites
- have dull/unimaginative thoughts
- surrounded by European thoughts/ideas but have rarely adopted them for their own
(HS)
What was the one thing Jefferson believed blacks were more gifted at than whites?
music
What does Jefferson think of the black artists who had rose to fame during this time?
did not prove blacks could be on equal footing w/ whites
- dismissed Phyllis Wheatley’s poetry as elementary (not poetry)
- says Ignatius Sancho best writer of blacks but still puts him at bottom when including white writers
- suggest Sancho may not have written his work
(DSS)
What did Jefferson know about his environmentalist stance on blacks?
could make a case for black equality
- thus went to great lengths to prove black’s lack of talent didn’t stem from their treatment under slavery
- that they were just naturally inferior
(TT)
What did Jefferson use to back up his environmentalist stance?
- said Roman/Greek slavery much worse than blacks slavery
- Roman/Greek slaves still had talent + demonstrable achievement
SR
What sense did Jefferson feel was fully developed in both blacks/whites?
moral sense
- took environmentalist stance
- their disposition to theft that they’ve been branded is product of slave environment
- slaves have been stripped of all rights to own
- are they not justified in taking a little from someone who’s taken all from him?
(TTSA)
What was Jefferson’s philosophy on the moral sense?
moral sense just as part of a man as an appendage
- to say blacks had moral sense meant Jefferson believed they had a soul
- moral sense might be temporarily impaired by slavery but blacks must possess it
- if blacks don’t have this they can’t be free (couldn’t even be considered human)
- Jefferson did not make such a requirement for intellectual ability to qualify as human
(TMIJ)
What was the anti-slavery response to Jefferson’s questions about black intellect in Notes on Virginia?
Jefferson faced massive criticism
- Gilbert Imlay said Jefferson’s findings meaningless since it was a comparison between free men vs slaves
- Benjamin Franklin even said slaves environment limited their ability to acquire same social/intellectual traits as whites
- William Pinkney said blacks/whites share equal facilities in mind/body
(GBW)
Why was support for black intellectual capability gaining steam in the 1790s?
sudden rush of blacks who provided example of white intellectual equality
- Thomas Fuller known for mathematical capabilities
- Benjamin Banneker publishing the Almanac
(TB)
What was Jefferson’s response to Benjamin Banneker’s accomplishments?
confused him
- tried saying Banneker’s accomplishments were instance of moral eminence
- this explanation did not provide sufficient enough to say blacks were naturally inferior intellectually
(TT)
