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In Praise of Thomas Jefferson
American Thinker.com ^ | December 15, 2021 | Paul Krause

Posted on 12/15/2021 3:09:53 AM PST by Kaslin

The anti-American Left constantly lies. This is not surprising. What is troubling, however, is their bid to twist all American history into the narrative of the 1619 Project -- something that many historians have critiqued as containing misleading and factual inaccuracies. Case in point is the man whom Democrats once revered: Thomas Jefferson.

To say that Jefferson was a complex and complicated man is an understatement… and virtually everyone knows that Jefferson was a complex and complicated man. New York City’s recent removal of his statue from their city hall indicted his legacy of slavery as the main reason.

While it is true that Jefferson owned slaves, that is not his legacy regarding slavery. In fact, Jefferson was the most ardent abolitionist and anti-slavery politician in the early republic. His early draft of the Declaration condemned slavery and blamed the English Crown for its imposition in North America and the filth that it brought.

In 1778, in the midst of the American Revolution, Jefferson lobbied and successfully convinced the Virginia Legislature to ban the import of slaves into the state. It was the first state after the Declaration of Independence to outlaw the slave trade. As governor, as the war ravaged the southern states, Jefferson supported African Americans serving in the Virginia militia to be compensated with land and money for their service to advance the cause of liberty.

After the Constitutional Convention and the formation of the American republic, the expansion of slavery was a contentious issue as involved the westward expansion. Jefferson took his stand against the expansion of slavery when he authored the Northwest Ordinances, thus preventing the Midwest from having the peculiar institution expanding into its lands.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: thomasjefferson

1 posted on 12/15/2021 3:09:53 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Where were our people?


2 posted on 12/15/2021 3:20:54 AM PST by DIRTYSECRET
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To: DIRTYSECRET

good question!


3 posted on 12/15/2021 3:38:23 AM PST by Loud Mime (A living and breathing Constitution empowers evil; living and breathing Commandments do was well. )
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To: Kaslin

Bookmark


4 posted on 12/15/2021 6:34:19 AM PST by Southside_Chicago_Republican (The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog. )
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To: DIRTYSECRET

Angrily blogging, never more.


5 posted on 12/15/2021 12:54:27 PM PST by GingisK
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To: Kaslin
The Northwest Ordinance did ban slavery north of the Ohio River, which meant that the states created from the Northwest Territory became free states, but as I recall Jefferson was not the author of the final version of the Ordinance.

His earlier version would have banned slavery in all the territories west of the Appalachian Mountains, but only after 1800 I think. That probably would have failed to prevent the spread of slavery in the Southwest as it was settled by people moving there from Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland, bringing slaves with them. But his earlier draft may have been the reason why the Northwest Ordinance banned slavery north of the Ohio.

6 posted on 12/15/2021 3:32:07 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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