What makes Thomas Jefferson so controversial? - Frank Cogliano

He was part of America's fight for freedom and equality. But were his enlightened principles outweighed by participation in a greater injustice? Find out on History versus Thomas Jefferson.

Order! Order! Hey, that’s one of the guys from Mt. Rushmore. Ahem. This is Thomas Jefferson, founding father of the United States of America and primary author of the Declaration of Independence. The document that established the US as a democratic republic on the principle that everyone is created equal. If by “everyone” you mean property-owning white men.

At the time Jefferson was writing, one fifth of the colonies’ population was enslaved. Surely he couldn’t be expected to single-handedly overturn the institution of slavery? Couldn’t he have just written that into the Declaration? It wasn’t that simple, Your Honor. Jefferson was one of five authors, and the document had to be ratified by the Continental Congress. He included a clause opposing the slave trade, but state delegates removed it.

Nevertheless, Jefferson recognized slavery as an immoral institution and condemned it throughout his life. But Jefferson’s words never came close to matching his actions! As Virginia’s governor, he did nothing to change the state slave laws. And in his personal life, he held over 600 people in slavery. Furthermore, he believed Black people were intellectual inferiors who, if emancipated, should return to their countries of origin.

Frankly, there’s no argument that Jefferson did anything significant to combat slavery. It’s true, Your Honor. But Jefferson did make important contributions to religious, financial, and gender equality. He led the charge for separating church and state, removing government funding for Virginia’s Anglican Church, and paving the way for our modern understanding of religious freedom.

Jefferson also drafted laws that weakened the power of inherited wealth and pushed for the state-funded education of boys and girls. All valuable reforms, but you’re avoiding the fundamental issue here. None of this benefited enslaved people or Indigenous Americans, and it’s ridiculous to argue that Jefferson was pursuing equality when his policies frequently harmed non-white groups.

Policies such as authorizing the military to exterminate Indigenous communities during the Revolutionary War. Objection! Those Northwestern tribes were allied with the British. In peacetime, Jefferson did his best to avoid conflict with Native Americans and believed they could be equal to whites. “Could be equal”? Listen to yourself! Are you defending his attempts to forcibly assimilate Indigenous communities?

Jefferson’s recommendations even formed the basis for the Indian Removal Act years later. Recommendations? Why not laws? Thomas Jefferson served as a diplomat and Secretary of State before being elected as Vice President under John Adams in 1796. A role in which he undermined the President’s authority.

Jefferson argued that states should have the power to overrule federal laws they deemed unconstitutional— an argument some Southern states would cite while seceding from the Union 70 years later. I think it’s a little unreasonable to lay the entire Civil War at Jefferson’s feet. Besides, his defense of states’ rights was motivated by the president’s overreaching central government.

As part of Adams’ preparations for war with France, he signed legislation that tightened restrictions on immigrants and limited criticism of the government. Jefferson was just trying to protect the public. And ultimately, his efforts were so popular that he was elected as the next president. A dubious victory.

He only won because states were allowed to count enslaved people towards their population without giving them voting rights. This system gave states that held people in slavery additional voting power in the Electoral College until the Civil War. Be that as it may, Jefferson was a popular president.

He worked to prevent the country from taking on too much debt, and successfully led the US through the Napoleonic and the Barbary Wars. Plus, he dramatically expanded the country’s territory through the Louisiana Purchase. Where he once again failed to stop slavery from taking hold.

I’ll remind you that President Jefferson signed a law forbidding the importation of enslaved people in 1807. And yet he continued to enslave those already on American soil— including his own flesh and blood. Pardon? Following his wife's death, Jefferson began a relationship with her half-sister and maid, Sally Hemings.

Jefferson fathered six children with Hemings and kept the entire relationship secret, while continuing to publicly denounce the personhood of Black Americans. Jefferson freed several members of the Hemings family, including his children with Sally— while refusing to free anyone else. Despite enslaving over 600 people, Jefferson only freed 10.

Five during his life and five in his will— all members of the Hemings family. Even I have to admit, this seems indefensible. It’s true, Your Honor. Despite pursuing what he believed to be equality, Jefferson failed to uphold his own ideals. Ultimately, he was a man of his time— living in an economy that relied on exploitation and enslaved labor.

That’s hardly a defense when many of Jefferson’s contemporaries opposed slavery and took action to abolish it. Even if some people considered him a great man in his time, he doesn’t have to be an icon in ours. Well, I hear Mount Rushmore has a problematic past, too. Can we judge historical figures by modern standards?

And what responsibilities do powerful people have to the future? Answering these questions is all part of putting history on trial.