And his personal life was also very contradictory. He spoke and acted for the liberty of man, but at the time he thought that liberty was in fact for a small minority of the people, blacks were not included, in fact, and he owned slaves. But his Declaration of Independence, and his other ideas and writings about the rights of states and individuals freedom helped to shape the world as we know it today. Thomas Jefferson’s contradictions are part of our society and are still affecting us today. Additionally, it’s important to study about Jefferson, because this can help us to resolve our problems in society and learn from the past.
The reason that the African slaves were needed was because they were strong and good workers. The colonist had used the natives originally but they did not work as hard as they would have liked. The natives also had contracted small pox which took an enormous toll on them limiting the amount of slaves they had for labor. So they began trading and purchasing African slaves due to the fact that they had developed some immunity to these diseases. (McKay, Chap 21, pg 570) In order to get a good perspective on what being a slave was like, we will look into a narrative written by Olaudah Equiano.
Although they did open the door for many people who could not before grasp opportunities. This is when the abolitionist did feel liberation, because they received some relief on the situations. This achievement also brought them some unforeseen strain because they now had to deal with bringing the problem all the way to complete equality. Abolitionists ended the slavery for slaves but it also made the people who were for having slaves more spiteful because of this fact. The ending of slavery made it hard on the slaves even though they were more accepted because this means that they were introduced into more unforeseen problems such as disparity in wages, education discrimination, discrimination period, and social segregation.
More often than not it was a battle of wills between the slave and their master – and due to politics being dramatically unfavourable against the blacks, the masters would often abuse this political freedom in their punishment. However, this would cause a lot of expense and trouble to masters so it was soon established that slaves could cause severe inconvenience and disruption to their business if masters continued like this. Once reasonable authority was exerted by the slaves, many masters saw it easier to let them work within (comparatively) bigger perimeters. Masters tended not to push this convention as slaves had nothing to lose whereas masters had money and pride at stake if some, unspoken, boundaries weren't set. By using the same racist nicknames which whites called blacks, such as “niggers”, with each other, it ridiculed the whole scenario.
When the slave owner found about this he strongly disapproved, because he thought that if the slaves learn to then the slaves would want to escape. Still, Douglass taught himself how to read in secret and eventually taught other slave how to read the Bible. Here, he understood where and why inequality within the US was thriving. Free labor brought profits for southern plantation owners and the ideology that “non-whites” were considered not to be equal. “Frederick Douglass was the most important African American leader and intellectual of the nineteenth century.
The desire of being free resembled the awful conditions that some of them had. Nevertheless, numbers of slaves claimed that they would want to go back in time and visit their owners since they treated them well enough. A variety of slaves experienced various types of slavery and each of the stories represented unique lifestyles that each of them had. The slaves had not only described their working conditions, but as well as the Majority of the slaves suffered during the times they were enslaved while the rest had a fairly good time. The slaves that were being interviewed had various answers about whether or not they had hard times back then.
1503870 During the late 1700’s slavery was a large industry in early America and also controversial practice that challenged many people’s moral and ethics codes. One person who opposed this industry was Benjamin Banneker. Benjamin Banneker himself was a free African American who lived during these times of slavery and knowing the joys of freedom that he gets to enjoy he was inspired to write a letter to Jefferson to urge Jefferson to end slavery in America. In Banneker’s letter he uses elements of logos which include a very powerful quote and he also uses elements of pathos and ethos to persuade Jefferson’s emotionally both Banneker hoped would ultimately convince Jefferson to end slavery. Banneker used elements of Logos to give his letter a more sophisticated feel to giving his letter more credibility and respect from a highly educated and intellectual President Thomas Jefferson.
Now this story may seem like someone who’s failed completely, and was just another crazy person dong something ridiculous in a lost cause, but John Brown wasn’t a complete failure. In fact John Brown’s actions turned out to be a success in the bigger picture because he shook up the foundation of slavery that was so deeply planted in America. He got people thinking that maybe black slaves did deserve to be free and that slavery was morally wrong (Source B). Not only that, but he was one of the few that took action against something he felt was wrong (source A). To me I think this is a huge success during this time period and it let people know that its ok to try and change something that is wrong.
Lee concluded that slavery would help both white and black races grow equally. In the letter Lee also questions the motivations and morals of the founding fathers about what equality really meant to them. The letter seems to be ironic, reason being Robert E. Lee should be the biggest supporter of slavery for the South but seems to be torn on the issue (Fair Use
Another propaganda the US Government used was the idea they were fighting for freedom and human rights, yet the black soldiers fighting were not completely free and were having their own human rights abused back in America. As well as the fact the fact that despite the US welcomed the extra soldiers but still treated them unequally sparked something amongst the black community. And so began the Double V Campaign. It stood for Victory Abroad, Victory at Home. It meant they wanted Victory against Nazi Germany and the Axis, and Victory for Civil Rights.