Thomas Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration of Independence will undergo several dozen deletions and edits before it was agreed upon unanimously in 1776. The portion that we were given that begins "He has waged cruel war..." was the one change Jefferson fought against harder than any other suggestion made by his colleagues in the Second Continental Congress.
Share in the comments why you believe that Thomas Jefferson, a captor of enslaved Americans himself, fought to keep this alleged grievance against the King of England in the Declaration of Independence.
As is our practice well will respond to at least two of our classmates.
I think Thomas Jefferson fought to keep this grievance blaming the King of England for slavery in order to move towards abolishing slavery in independence. By writing that slavery was an evil of the king, Thomas is effectively writing that America will abolish the institution of slavery. The text states, "the Christian king of Great Britain...[determining to keep open a market where MEN should be bought and sold]" Jefferson is also addressing the hypocrisy of fighting for "life liberty and the pursuit of happiness" while also enslaving people on their own soil. This would be a difficult for Jefferson to fight for as all of the colonies voting on the declaration were built on slavery, and their economy was run on the enslavement of people.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it is very hypocritical to write that "All men are created equal" and not address slavery, which is the opposite of equality.
DeleteIt is interesting that you said he is suggesting the removal of slavery after freedom, perhaps suggesting that the reason slavery is in place is because they are still colonist, even further blaming it on England.
DeleteI totally agree. By saying that England is to blame for slavery, it indicates that if they were to join the American side, it would be abolished.
DeleteInteresting how "All men are created equal" but the fact that slavery still is a major part of the colonies...
DeleteI agree, he appears to have attempted to blame slavery on the influence of England, and how "all men are created equal" with the addition of pinning blame on Britain makes it seem as though they plan to abolish slavery in the future.
DeleteI think Thomas Jefferson fought to keep this grievance in because he wanted slaves to not rebel, like Lord North wanted them to, and so he blamed it on King George. If King George had the blame for slavery then it is less likely slaves would want to fight for him.
ReplyDeleteI think that is interesting to think that this passage might be speaking to enslaved people, trying to persuade them not to rebel.
DeleteI agree, though I did not mention it in my response, this passage may be a plea for slaves to sympathize with the white colonists and slaveholders, in an attempt to get them to fight against the British and think twice before rebelling.
DeleteThat's an interesting thought, that it was done in order to appease people rather than out of any actual belief.
DeleteThat makes a lot of sense. It would be very beneficial to give enslaved people as few reasons as possible to join the British.
DeleteI didn't think of that at first, but that is a good point. Pinning the blame on the British would technically get slaves to go against them rather than side with them.
DeleteThat seems like what it is to me.
DeleteThe reason I believe Jefferson was so keen to keep this part of the declaration untouched was because it portrayed the British royalty as the instigators of slavery, while he and fellow slave-owners could be seen as mere chess pieces who had no control over the system. During his lifetime, Thomas Jefferson said that he only agreed with slavery only as an economic system, and wrote several times that the practice was evil. He was friends with slaves during his childhood, but still grew to be a slaveowner in his adulthood. His life was simply one great contradiction, so it is unsurprising that this line is so important to him because it shifts the blame of something he knew was wrong to a common enemy.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree.Jefferson's declaration against slavery has no value if the United States does not abolish slavery after independence, which clearly did not happen.
DeleteI agree. Jefferson may have wanted to blame the British as the people who started slavery and that he didn't want to take the blame.
DeleteThis is a point I didn't think of, not that he opposed slavery but that he wanted to blame the entire thing on the British! That's a good idea.
DeleteI think this is a very important distinction, between the people who started slavery and those who continued it.
DeleteI agree, he definitely seemed like he wanted to spread the idea that slavery was due to the control of the British government
DeleteI agree, the grievance could simultaneously label him as innocent in the institution of a immoral practice and condemn the British, both of which would be good for the US's image
DeleteYes, I agree.
DeleteI agree, it was meant to make the king look as good as possible and himself as best as he can.
DeleteI believe perhaps Jefferson included this part of the declaration in an attempt to condemn slavery, perhaps even an attempt to begin to remove it entirely, and associate slavery with being pro-British. Although he did own slaves himself, I know there was some section that he wrote that was removed as the southern colonies might've been opposed to it, so maybe he was more anti-slavery than he seems.
ReplyDeleteMarking slavery as a British institution makes sense because it was likely to pull abolitionists or slavery-neutral people towards the American side. I'm not sure Jefferson would want to eliminate slavery because his plantations made him extremely wealthy, and giving slavery up likely meant losing a lot of money and property.
DeleteYeah, thats is what I thought. I hadn't thought of noah's point though, and it makes a lot of sense.
DeleteThinking about slavery as pro-British could be true, so I think that this could change the minds of some slaveowners, but we can't tell since it never made it to the final version.
DeleteI also believe that Jefferson wasn't as anti-slavery as he seemed and just wanted people to support him.
DeleteI think that Jefferson fought to keep his grievance as part of the declaration because it both paints the British in a bad light AND it directly goes against the reason why the colonies were seceding in the first place (life, liberty, pursuit of happiness). Slavery prohibits the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and in some instances life as well. The Declaration of Independence is all about those three rights being violated, so it is yet another example of why Britain was not upholding those rights.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this thought, it would get more people to side with the colonies.
DeleteI agree, it both condemns the British and distances the colonists from the hypocrisy of keeping people enslaved.
DeleteI think Jefferson fought to keep his grievance in the declaration to denounce the British even further. By pinning the blame on the British for the practice of slavery, it essentially gets more people to side with them. If they say that England was in favor of slavery, more people would stand at the opposing side because then technically their goal would be to abolish it. Additionally, it provides more reasons for the colonists to live a life of independence and liberty.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very good point, and it sounds like it would be effective.
DeleteThats understandable, to get more people on the American Side, to basically incentivize a reason for slaves to join the American side
DeleteThomas Jefferson must have fought to keep his grievances because it makes himself look innocent, and at the same time it makes the king look bad. It pins all the problems of slavery on the king, instead of Jefferson himself.
ReplyDeleteI agree that blaming the widespread use of slavery on the king makes him look less culpable. It is very interesting to me that the other writers fought so hard against it, and I want to know more about why they didn't want it in the Declaration of Independence.
DeleteI agree it seems as if Jefferson did not really care about the topic of slavery but only really cared about getting people to side with the revolution.
DeleteThis actually makes a lot of sense, I like this theory
DeleteI agree with this comment, because blaming Britain for slavery would have been a good narrative for Jefferson to use to make himself and the other colonists look good.
Delete@David, I agree. I feel like if he really supported abolishing slavery, he wouldn't have owned slaves. It was an interesting tactic to fuel the rebellion though.
DeleteI agree, he was trying to shift over the blame onto the King.
DeleteIt makes sense for Thomas Jefferson fighting to keep this specific grievance, as he is basically trying to sidestep all the blame to the king, we must understand that this is basically a time of war, there needs to be as much support as possible, so garnering the Slaves Support can be crucial to the war effort.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this, and this was something I didn't really thinking about, rallying slaves to help fight against the British by including them in the part of "All men are created equal".
DeleteI think that Thomas Jefferson wanted this grievance to be in the Declaration of Independence so badly because he wanted to make it seem like slavery was a creation of the British. By saying this, he may have been able to get more people's support for the war because the grievance makes it sound like slavery would be abolished in the new America. However, another possibility could be that he was actually anti-slavery, and saying what he truly believe in this grievance.
ReplyDeleteI agree. allegedly being anti-slavery would help him gain the support of more differing groups of Americans.
DeleteI agree. Jefferson would definitely gain many supporters and increase negative feelings towards the British.
DeleteI believe that Jefferson wanted to keep this alleged grievance against the King of England to make it seem as if Britain started the system of slavery and after America gained its freedom, slavery would be abolished. This would get more people to fight against Britain and join the side of the Americans.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the idea that he used this to get them to join the Americans but I doubt he had the idea that slavery would be abolished. He should've and probably did know that the Americans weren't going to give up there free labor.
DeleteI believe that Jefferson wanted to keep this alleged grievance so that he could shift the blame for slavery onto King George, and by doing that imply that they would end slavery with independence, which was likely an effort to gain support of slaves, because the British Army offered much better conditions for slaves who joined their side.
ReplyDeleteThis is very compelling as it is most likely that Jefferson would want to play his cards right and as slaves do make a huge part of the population, it'd be a good idea to bring them onto your side.
DeleteI think Jefferson wanted to blame King George for slavery to absolve himself of the guilt he felt of having enslaved people. He wasn't radical enough to actually do anything about it, but maybe he felt that of he blamed George people wouldn't judge him in the future as a "radical". on the other hand, it is possible he was only thinking of the benefit enslaved Americans could serve to the war effort, and its is insanely hypocritical to write about the evils of something you do nothing to change, even with the chance.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is unknown if Jefferson actually had good intentions or not with blaming King George because he did have slaves of his own and it was hypocrite of him to blame the king for something he did as well.
DeleteI agree that Thomas Jefferson may have been complacent in slavery because he did not feel strongly enough about the issue to seek the abolishing of slavery.
DeleteI completely agree. He may have been trying to eliminate all possible sources of hypocrisy on the American side. Making the system of slavery the fault of the British makes them look better.
DeleteI think that Jefferson wanted to keep this grievance in the Declaration of Independence to condemn the British and to distance himself from the hypocrisy of the situation. He likely realized that demanding freedom for themselves while keeping people enslaved was hypocritical, and to not address it could make their arguments seem invalid. So, b including this grievance he simultaneously distanced them from the possible scandal, and further demonized the British by blaming them for the institution of enslavement. He might have also just morally disagreed with enslavement.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point however I don't think he morally disagreed with enslavement as he had a series of slaves himself .
DeleteI think that Thomas Jefferson wanted to keep the alleged grievance against the King of England in the Declaration of Independence because it would put the blame of slavery towards the King. With another grievance to blame the King for it would make more people side with Jefferson because they were attempting to hold the King accountable and probably though Jefferson wanted every man to be free including the slaves.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it would make sense to put the blame on the King, as the colonists are already angry with the crown, and I like the way you included the possibility of Jefferson wanting to free every person
DeleteI believe that Thomas Jefferson fought to keep this alleged grievance against the King of England in the Declaration of Independence, though hypocritical, to show the contrast between the British and Americans, to show what the King of England had been doing to them is the same narrative the Americans are pushing on to the people they have enslaved, “captivating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation hither.” Jefferson believed in the “sacred rights of life and liberty,” so this could be his way of pushing the Americans to think about their actions, to realise it and become a better version, one with the “most sacred rights of life and liberty” for everyone, as the story that is made into images is the same one that they have committed. However, this could be an attempt to make the colonies look better and distance oneself from the blame of hypocrisy.
ReplyDeleteI believe Thomas Jefferson fought to keep the grievances because he wanted to abolish slavery. After addressing equality and stating "All men are equal" it would seem only natural to try and achieve that reality. I think he was striving to get rid od slavery because otherwise his actions would contradict his words.
ReplyDeleteI think that on paper, it seems logical that he would fight for the abolishment of slavery, but as he himself owned slaves, it doesn't seem like Jefferson was really such an advocate.
DeleteI think Thomas Jefferson fought to keep this grievance in the final version of the declaration of independence because he saw himself owning slaves as a result of circumstance, and something he couldn't control, while Britain had the power to stop slavery altogether.
ReplyDeleteJefferson fought to keep this alleged grievance to gain the support of all groups and further prove their message of liberty. Holding the British accountable for the system of slavery also eliminates the possibility of the Americans' movement being painted in a bad light because of their hypocrisy as without this grievance they would have been fighting for independence and liberty while upholding slavery.
ReplyDeleteI think that Jefferson felt this grievance was so important to keep in the Declaration of independence because by blaming the British for slavery, American slaves may be inspired to fight with the patriots. In addition, placing blame on the King further paints him in a bad light. Jefferson did this to advance the rebellion, not because he believed in it, as he himself owned slaves before and after the war.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. He himself owned slaves; I highly doubt he was a fierce civil rights activist. His goal here was an entirely political and in many ways personal one; he wanted to further put England in a negative light.
DeleteI think he was so consistent with keeping this grievance in the final draft to push the issue of slavery to the king. I think he thought that if he needed support of the slaves they would be on the side of the patriots because they would be mad that they are slaves due to the king.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Thomas Jefferson wanted to keep this part of the Declaration of Independence because it didn't seem right to fight rights and independence against the British if they are keeping a quarter of their population enslaved. It would seem hypocritical to remove the part, so Thomas Jefferson tried to keep it.
ReplyDeleteThomas Jefferson wanted to keep this alleged grievance against the King of England in the Declaration of Independence as it would cause the British to seem as if they are the reason for slavery. I think that it was an attempt to make themselves look better and excuse themselves from blame.
ReplyDeleteExactly, and he wrote it in such a way that made it seem like abolishing slavery was possible, but since it never explicitly stated that it served as an excuse to continue owning slaves.
DeleteI agree, this grievance was very much a way to rid themselves of any blame and put the negative light entirely on England.
DeleteBy blaming the British for slavery Thomas Jefferson was able to avoid how hypocritical the declaration would sound, claiming freedom and equality for all while enslaving thousands of people. He makes it seem as though slavery will be abolished in the future while not actually stating that, giving him an excuse to still own slaves.
ReplyDeleteI think Jefferson wanted to keep in this grievance so that he could further paint the British as evil or as an enemy. If he could, in a sense, blame England for slavery, then he could vilify them more.
ReplyDelete