Thomas Jefferson: A Slave Holder and the Nation's Most Eloquent Champion of Equality
Thomas Jefferson and the
Character Issue
November 1992
As the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth approaches, a
Jefferson scholar reflects on Jefferson 's life and in particular on the enigma at its core: that a slave holder should be the nation 's most eloquent champion of equality. To understand how this could be so, the author explains, is to appreciate the perils of
"presentism " and the difficulties that may impede the historical assessment of motive and character by Douglas L. Wilson
"TODAY, MAKES YESTERDAY MEAN."
Emily Dickinson's gnomic utterance contains at least one undoubted truth that the perspectives of the present invariably color the meanings we ascribe to the past. Nothing confirms this so readily as the changing reputations of historical figures, whose status often appears indexed to presentday preoccupations. It may be inevitable that every age should refashion its historical heroes in a contemporary idiom, but doing so carries with it an obvious and inherent danger. In imposing Today's meanings on Yesterday, we run the risk of distorting it
whether willfully, to suit our own purposes, or unintentionally, by unwarranted assumptions and because of meager information. In this way we lose track of what might be considered the obverse of Emily Dickinson's remark: that Yesterday has meanings of its own that are prior to and necessarily independent of Today's.
Thomas Jefferson is one of the few historical Americans who need no introduction. Even the most abbreviated knowledge of American history, at home or abroad, includes the author of the
Declaration of Independence. Identified around the world with democracy and human rights,
Jefferson's name and words have been invoked for two hundred years in the cause of freedom and political reform. But here in his own country, where the name synonymous with democracy is exhibited everywhereon counties, cities,
Character Issue
November 1992
As the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth approaches, a
Jefferson scholar reflects on Jefferson 's life and in particular on the enigma at its core: that a slave holder should be the nation 's most eloquent champion of equality. To understand how this could be so, the author explains, is to appreciate the perils of
"presentism " and the difficulties that may impede the historical assessment of motive and character by Douglas L. Wilson
"TODAY, MAKES YESTERDAY MEAN."
Emily Dickinson's gnomic utterance contains at least one undoubted truth that the perspectives of the present invariably color the meanings we ascribe to the past. Nothing confirms this so readily as the changing reputations of historical figures, whose status often appears indexed to presentday preoccupations. It may be inevitable that every age should refashion its historical heroes in a contemporary idiom, but doing so carries with it an obvious and inherent danger. In imposing Today's meanings on Yesterday, we run the risk of distorting it
whether willfully, to suit our own purposes, or unintentionally, by unwarranted assumptions and because of meager information. In this way we lose track of what might be considered the obverse of Emily Dickinson's remark: that Yesterday has meanings of its own that are prior to and necessarily independent of Today's.
Thomas Jefferson is one of the few historical Americans who need no introduction. Even the most abbreviated knowledge of American history, at home or abroad, includes the author of the
Declaration of Independence. Identified around the world with democracy and human rights,
Jefferson's name and words have been invoked for two hundred years in the cause of freedom and political reform. But here in his own country, where the name synonymous with democracy is exhibited everywhereon counties, cities,