Features

Thomas Jefferson was a slave holder. Allowing a Berkeley school to remain named for him is a tacit, but, powerful statement that owning more than 150 slaves was a minor or excusable part of his legacy. Citing selected pieces of his writing to characterize him as an opponent of slavery goes against the common sense notion that “actions speak louder than words.” To minimize the fact that he bought, sold and worked other human beings for his personal profit is disrespectful to the memory of those for whom slavery was not a concept to be pondered, but a life that was lived. It is equally disrespectful to the memory of the many white Americans of Jefferson’s era who actively resisted the institution of American slavery. 

Thomas Jefferson has a prominent place in American history books and has schools named for him because he owned slaves, not in spite of that fact. Slave labor was the source of his wealth; and so, also the source of his political power and his prominent place in American history books. The argument that Jefferson was “a man of his time and place” cannot be supported by history which considers the lives and actions of individuals beyond the most wealthy and powerful to which the average school textbooks are limited. Research reveals many men and women (perhaps less prominent and wealthy) of Jefferson’s time who were possessed of a morality which led them to resist, rather than personally profit from, the abomination of African-American slavery. With that information, we do not need to rely on contemporary ethics and morality to find Jefferson lacking in the integrity and courage which generally define a hero. 

Jefferson’s neighbor and friend, Edward Coles, made the bold decision to sell his plantation and move to Illinois so that he could free his slaves. Once in that free state, he gave each former slave family 160 acres of land. As the second governor of Illinois, he worked to keep Illinois a free state. His support of that cause lost him a great deal of popularity, and pretty much ended his political career. His former slaves and the state of Illinois, however, remained free because of his efforts. 

In 1794, the Society of Friends (Quakers) declared that it was wrong “to live in ease and plenty by the toil of those whom fraud and violence has put in (one’s) power.” More important than their words, brave Quakers living in Jefferson’s time had already begun the practical effort of helping slaves escape via the “Underground Railroad.” In 1786, George Washington complained that “a society of Quakers, formed for such purposes, have attempted to liberate” one of his slaves. These Americans not only declined the personal gain associated with slavery, but in many cases risked their own safety to oppose it. 

The actions of many other lesser known men and women give evidence that Thomas Jefferson was only one kind of “man of his time and place.” He was the kind of man who elicited forced labor from other individuals with the use and threat of physical violence. When one of his slaves escaped, he advertised a bounty for that man or woman’s capture and return. If the slave was caught, Jefferson ordered a severe punishment—flogging or being sold away from their family. This was an example meant to discourage other men and women from attempting to gain their freedom. Jefferson, just as all other slave holders, relied on the threat of physical violence to keep his plantation profitable. African-American slaves simply did not give up their freedom willingly to do Jefferson’s work for him. To be a slave holder, one is required to be a tyrant. 

Thomas Jefferson “talked the talk.” He did it beautifully and quotably. At no point in his life, however, did he “walk the walk.” There were many other Americans living in his era who not only knew what was right, but did what was right. They were not only “men and women of their time and place,” they were the true—if unsung—heroes of their time and place. 

It is not easy to give up long-held, sentimental misconceptions about our nation’s history and “heroes.” I believe, though, that as responsible citizens: When we have the opportunity to know the truth, we must hear it. When we have the opportunity to tell the truth, we must speak it. When we have the opportunity to respect and honor the humanity of others, we must do so expressly and openly. When we have the opportunity to exercise our own humanity, we must embrace it. These opportunities are presented to the Jefferson School community as we reconsider what kind of statement we would like to make with our school name.  

Marguerite Talley-Hughes is a second grade teacher at Jefferson School.