Thomas Jefferson's Ethics and the Politics of Human Progress: The Morality of a Slaveholder

Could Jefferson claim any consistency in his advocacy of democracy and the rights of man while remaining one of the largest slaveholders in Virginia? This extensive study of Jefferson's intellectual outlook suggests that, once we fully acknowledge the premises of his ethical thought and his now outdated scientific views, he could. Jefferson famously thought the human mind to be “susceptible of much improvement … most of all, in matters of government and religion.” Ari Helo's thorough analys...