Thomas Jefferson

Question 1

What was Jefferson’s view of government?

Answer 1

Order and law needed; “They are to be led to duty and to enterprise by personal influence and persuasion.”

Question 2

What were Jefferson’s goals?

Answer 2

Observe, classify, maintain social order; “I advance it therefore as a suspicion only, that the blacks… are inferior to the whites…”

Question 3

What did Jefferson fear?

Answer 3

Social upheaval, racial mixing;
“This unfortunate difference of color… is a powerful obstacle to the emancipation of these people.”

Question 4

What were Jefferson’s blindspots?

Answer 4

Overlooked enslaved peoples’ experiences; “Whether originally a distinct race… they are inferior to the whites.”

Question 5

What motivated Jefferson?

Answer 5

Curiosity, classification

Question 6

How is Jefferson morally seen as?

Answer 6

Slaveholding elite;

Question 7

What was Jefferson’s immediate impact?

Answer 7

Influenced Virginia racial ideas; “I believe there are… varieties in the race of man, distinguished by their powers both of body and mind.”

Question 8

Jefferson in one line?

Answer 8

racially prejudiced;