Recommendable! Food for thought!
Why did Thomas Jefferson hold slaves? "Thomas Jefferson held over 600 people in slavery throughout his life primarily due to extreme debt, reliance on enslaved labor to maintain his lifestyle at Monticello, and a belief that immediate emancipation was impossible." (Google AI search result)
What nature was the affair between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings? Like between a slaveholder and a slave or more like between lovers? How did Jefferson treat Ms. Hemings? What did he learn from Ms. Hemings?
"... As a student at the College of William and Mary and as an apprentice lawyer, Jefferson studied under William Small and George Wythe, two antislavery thinkers who shaped his views on the immorality of slavery.
As a young legislator in Virginia, Jefferson pioneered efforts to facilitate both individual and statewide emancipation, although without success.
Jefferson began composing Notes in 1780, and he spent years revising the manuscript. In the mid-1780s, Virginia loosened legal restrictions on manumission. Dozens of people—many inspired by religion—freed their enslaved workers. Jefferson updated Notes to take advantage of this turn in public opinion. He argued for both emancipation and colonization. ..."
A c.1804 caricature of Sally Hemings, the only known contemporary image of the subject (Source)
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