This author is ignorant of the details involved at the time.
Slaves could not be paid or taught to read or educated in any way, so they were in fact, completely helpless.
These were not random, faceless black people to him. Jefferson grew up with them, played with them as a child and knew every one personally and felt his responsibility fully.
He did what he could. He knew the Constitution virtually guaranteed the civil eventually and that change would come.
This kind of gratuitous attack burns my butt.
Not to mention the fact that I believe I’ve read that Jefferson had no ability to free his slaves because he actually didn’t own them outright.
They were mortgaged chattel. He had no right to let them go. A major point missed by the author.