Essay About Thomas Jefferson And Plantation Owner

Thomas Jefferson
Essay title: Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson had destroyed political traditions. From his
contradictions and defecting his priciples, Jefferson
destroyed the political precedent and is a exemplatory hypocrite,
which can be seen throughout his administration.
Jefferson was an admired statesman who was grappling
unsuccessfully with the moral issue of slavery. Thomas Jefferson,
the author of the Declaration of Independence, opposed slavery
his whole life, yet he never freed his own slaves. He championed
Enlightenment principles, yet never freed himself of the
prejudices of his soceity. Jefferson was extremely hypocritical
in the issue of slavery. Jefferson was a plantation owner early
in his life, and had slaves working for him throughout his life.
Jefferson had tolerated while he didnt accept others who owned
slaves. Jefferson denounced the slave owners, while he was owning
and using slaves. Although Jefferson was supposedly a good slave
owner, his hypocritical nature made him accuse others not to own
slaves while he, himself was owning slaves. Another part of the
hypocrisy was that Jefferson believed that the slaves were
dependent upon the white man, while he, himself was dependent upon
the slaves. Jefferson also was hypocritcal in his acquisition of
the Loisiana territory. In Jeffersonian principles, large expansive
governments were bad, and small was good. This was a antithesis of
that principle. Jefferson knew that the acquisition of the Loisiana
territory was beneficial to the welfare of the U.S. According to
the constitution, nowhere in the constitution is the acquisition of
land a right of the government, Jeffersons predisposition was to
strictly go by the constitution (as seen with the national bank
controversy), this is another contradiction during his
administration. Since the appropriation of the Lousiana territory
was important for the expansion of the united states, he
temporarily dismissed his principles, therefore destroying
political traditions.
Another hypocritical event during Jeffersons administration
was his acceptance of the National Bank. Early in Jeffersons
political career, Jefferson had debated with Hamilton on whether to