Thomas Jefferson, the slaveholder

It has become popular these days to reduce Jefferson to being a slaveholder.
As they say, in hindsight we are all wiser! The hindsight bias or fallacy as it may apply to Thomas Jefferson! Jefferson was a too complex a genius to fit any simple templates. 

What kind of a slaveholder was Jefferson or the other slave holding Founding Fathers and Mothers? As far as I know, no one has ever made a serious, verifiable claim that Jefferson was a brutish, inhumane slaveholder! On the contrary, he may have been rather the opposite.

At the time of Jefferson it was probably not unreasonable to propose a gradual instead of a radical emancipation of slaves as there were e.g. some not entirely unfounded concerns whether African people e.g. were able or capable to live in a more advanced or very different society and to live harmoniously with their former slave owners.

We also learn that Jefferson had a significant rapport with some of his slaves.

"Despite working tirelessly to establish a new nation founded upon principles of freedom and egalitarianism, Jefferson owned over 600 enslaved people during his lifetime, the most of any U.S. president.
The enslaved individuals working for Thomas Jefferson accompanied him during each phase of his career, including his time at the White House. ...
At the very least, Jefferson’s attitudes toward slavery were complex and he articulated different ideas about the institution at various points. ...
Jefferson argued for gradual emancipation and an end to slavery in his 1785 book, Notes on the State of Virginia. However, within the same document, he also perpetuated racial prejudices about the inferiority of the enslaved based on their skin color ...
While it is often difficult to use historical records to learn about the enslaved individuals who worked in the White House, Thomas Jefferson’s presidency is an exception. He was a meticulous record keeper, tracking everything from the daily weather to his wine purchases and dinner guests. In addition to his record keeping, he also wrote thousands of letters during his lifetime ...
The enslaved people working in the White House appear in these records frequently, allowing the opportunity to piece together their life stories with perhaps greater historical detail and precision than enslaved individuals who worked during other presidential administrations. ...
When Jefferson moved to the President’s House in March 1801, he did not immediately bring any enslaved workers with him. Initially, his household staff only consisted of around five people and eventually expanded to approximately twelve.
In fact, he made a deliberate effort to keep the enslaved population at Monticello separate from the White House and intentionally did not bring along the enslaved individuals with whom he had developed significant rapport. ...
Jefferson also feared that the Monticello community would become enamored with ideas of freedom and equality in the nation’s capital, a city with a strong and thriving free black population. Jefferson had good reason to worry about his enslaved staff’s exposure to a free population. When Jefferson served as Foreign Minister in France, he brought Sally Hemings and her brother, James Hemings, to Paris. James trained in the art of French cooking while Sally served as a nurse for Jefferson’s daughter. Both were exposed to a free black community. Although Sally and James both returned to the United States with Jefferson, their newfound exposure to freedom allowed each to negotiate with Jefferson to improve their circumstances. Eventually, Jefferson agreed to free James on the condition that he would train another enslaved individual at Monticello in the style of French cooking. After James trained his brother, Peter, Jefferson signed manumission papers. ...
Jefferson ultimately preferred white servants to run the presidential household ...
Despite his position as an enslaved man, Freeman became a favorite of Jefferson and even traveled with the president back and forth between Monticello and the White House. Eventually, at Freeman’s request, Jefferson purchased him from Baker in 1804, agreeing in the contract to grant his freedom in 1815. Later, Jefferson sold Freeman to incoming President James Madison, who abided by the original contract and freed Freeman in 1815 ..."

White House: The Enslaved Household of President Thomas Jefferson (accessed 11/12/2022)

Monticello: Thomas Jefferson: Liberty & Slavery (accessed 11/12/2022)