First Known Use: 14th century
The term hierarchy means, “sacred order.” The social order in Virginia depended on a white/black division, with the large class class at the bottom. Edmund Morgan, the historian, has even argued that the democratic movement in Virginia, was a white movement based on the feeling of white equality. The plantation owners and the chattels were a threat to white land-owners in the valley and the west. Liberals such as Jefferson and Mason, knew the threat that slavery posed for Virginia, in large part because the number of blacks made emancipation impossible. British slave-traders has “dumped” surpluses in Virginia, which is the reason why Jefferson’s draft was so bitter against it. Still Jefferson had a low opinion of blacks as persons, comparing them unfavorably with the Indians. Virginia seemed locked into slavery by the nature of things, not the least of which was Jefferson’s estimate of blacks as “natural slaves.”
hi·er·ar·chy
noun
\ˈhī-(ə-)ˌrär-kē also ˈhi(-ə)r-ˌär-\plural hi·er·ar·chiesDefinition of HIERARCHY
1: a division of angels2a : a ruling body of clergy organized into orders or ranks each subordinate to the one above it; especially : the bishops of a province or nation...
Origin of HIERARCHY
Middle English ierarchie rank or order of holy beings, from Anglo-French jerarchie, from Medieval Latin hierarchia, from Late Greek, from Greek hierarchēsFirst Known Use: 14th century
“The term hierarchy means, “sacred order.”
And the term “straw man” means “man made of straw.”
In 21st century America, hierarchy means “order.” Not one person in 10 million would think “sacred order” upon hearing that word.
That said, Mark Twain was very wise in saying, “To arrive at a just estimate of a renowned man’s character one must judge it by the standards of his time, not ours.”
Jefferson was not perfect. He was no saint. He was just exactly as bad and good as he really was, and straining to make him appear worse is not an ethical act.