Slave Emancipation

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the work of Thomas Jefferson who is considered by many modern-day politicians and statesmen to have been the greatest President of the United States. The paper discusses how Jefferson's penchant for human rights and civil liberties and the value he placed on human freedom was in strong contradiction of the fact that he owned slaves who worked his vast plantations. The paper discusses this stirring contradiction in two essays, the first by Dumas Malone "The Hopes and Fears of a Slaveholder ", and William Cohen's "Thomas Jefferson and the Problem of Slavery."

From the Paper:

"Jefferson had only relied on moral persuasion as powerful convincing mechanism underlying the emancipation process. In this tenet alone, Jefferson has been lambasted for being a dreamer and that his idealistic notions of emancipation would surely go down the drain without a more concrete plan of action. In fairness to Jefferson however, he was the first to admit that his plan of emancipation would probably not take root during his lifetime, with most of the slave owners raised within the paradigm of the slave-slave owner relationship. He then focused his slave emancipation ambitions on the new generation, highly educated men and women who were perhaps just as idealistic as he is, so that during their time his plan of action may finally see fruition."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Cohen, William. Thomas Jefferson and the Problem of Slavery. Alamo Community Colleges. 5 December 2007 <http://www.accd.edu/sac/history/Regan/jefferson.pdf>
• Malone, Dumas. The Hopes and Fears of a Slaveholder. Alamo Community Colleges. 5 December 2007 <http://www.accd.edu/sac/history/Regan/jefferson.pdf>

More papers on Slave Emancipation:

• Comparison Essay # 6669 : "Strategy for Slave Abolition"
• Essay # 68430 : "Free or Slave State?"
• Analytical Essay # 50750 : "Harriet Jacob's "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl"

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