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Article: The Slave Families of Thomas Jefferson: A Pictorial Study Book with an Interpretation of His Farm Book in Genealogical Charts
- Article from:
- The Journal of Southern History
- Article date:
- November 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Southern Historical Association Nov 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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It has often been noted that Thomas Jefferson was an endlessly fascinating man with a range of interests that seems almost incomprehensible. Books on such topics as Jefferson and wine and Jefferson and music and Jefferson and the West only begin to suggest how many aspects there were to this man. But Jefferson was, in addition to a philosopher, architect, and statesman, also a slave owner, and scholars have long pondered how the author of the Declaration of Independence could have been one of the fathers of American liberty and at the same time buy, sell, and own slaves. It really does not suffice to say that he was complex or contradictory. Somehow we sense that in the promise and tragedy ...