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Similarities Between Finkelman And Thomas Jefferson

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A common misconception that Thomas Jefferson brings into question is his ethical views on slavery. His statement in the Declaration of Independence, “...All men are created equal”, completely contradicts his attitude on slavery. He was an advocate for human rights, yet he himself owned slaves that he inherited and purchased. Among the numerous slaves he owned, Jefferson freed only a handful. Douglas L. Wilson and Paul Finkelman both analyze his documents and form conclusions of his views on human rights and equality. Douglas L. Wilson’s creates an ethical understanding of Jefferson’s reasoning on emancipation. He gives a multitude of cause and effect relationships on how and why he didn’t grant freedom to his slaves. Jefferson was raised with slaves, he had friends who had slaves, and also inherited slaves as well. Wilson states, “How did a man who was born into a slaveholding society, …show more content…

He believes that not only his actions show his true beliefs, but also his lacking of encouragement to free these slaves. Finkelman states, “Because he was the author of the Declaration of Independence and a leader of the American Enlightenment, the test of Jefferson's position on slavery is not whether he was better than the worst of his generation...whether he was able to transcend his economic interests and his sectional background to implement the ideals he articulated. Jefferson fails the test”. Finkelman insinuates the idea of Jefferson being a weak willed person, letting society morphe his own values into acceptable viewpoints in the eighteenth century. The interpretation of these events lead to the conclusions of Jefferson being hypocritical, and incompetent. The ethical standard Thomas Jefferson should be evaluated on is morality. Whether or not he owned slaves, he did nothing to remedy the horrid slavery conditions or speak up on their behalf, he made himself a

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Though Wills undeniably does an excellent job recounting the never ending problems of Jefferson throughout the novel, his organization and jumping of one idea to the next leave much to desire. This jumping of one subject to the other might be in place to keep the reader alert and interested, it causes for a jumble of topics that at some points make it hard to grasp the main concepts. Another flaw of Wills is not so much of the ideas but of the direct quotes from his sources that at so points in the book can confuse readers with it wide vocabulary usage. His intricate quotations help not only in supporting his ideas but allow a small challenge to be undertaken. Wills’ uses an exceedingly varied group of sources that strengthen the credibility of his book as it helps reiterate his main arguments.

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597 Words | 3 Pages

In the letter to Thomas Jefferson from Benjamin Banneker, it is evident that Banneker uses the rhetorical strategies of humility, religious references, and historical references to create a foundation for a rational and favorable argument against slavery. Banneker is clearly a well-educated man with a background of respectable talents (“…farmer, astronomer, mathematician…” etc.). However, he does not allow his knowledge to condescend towards the white man to whom he is writing. Banneker’s humility is a rhetorical device that contributes to the argument against slavery. Never in the letter does Banneker refer to Jefferson by name.

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148 Words | 1 Pages

The speaker, Benjamin Banneker, in his letter, describes the situation of the slaves and argues why he opposes it. Banneker’s purpose is to argue that slaves need their natural rights and liberties just like any other human because they are equal. During that time in the 1790’s there were many rural and urban slaves working in plantations and farms as field labors, maids, etc. They didn’t have any fair treatment or were paid, instead they were treated like animals without liberties. He adopts a disturbed tone in order to describe the horrendous treatment the slaves received to prove and discuss that to Jefferson.

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197 Words | 1 Pages

The reason Banneker says this is that Jefferson just fought for the freedom of America, why could he not free the slaves. When Jefferson reads this, he should feel horrible that he freed everyone but the slaves. Jefferson just freed a country, why could her not end slavery. Banneker also says, “the

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616 Words | 3 Pages

One of the historical references he makes is quoting a section from the Declaration of Independence. He quotes the beginning of the Declaration of Independence when it mentions that “All men are created equal” and that men have unalienable rights, which are “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” He tells Jefferson that the black men and women of America are not given these rights. They are not given the right to life because they are slaves. They are not given the right to liberty because they are slaves.

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666 Words | 3 Pages

Benjamin Banneker, an educated son of former slaves, wrote a strongly worded letter to Thomas Jefferson in which he argued the possession and oppression of slaves. With the use of tone, allusion, and parallelism; Banneker criticized the Secretary of State and framer of the Declaration of Independence for his hypocrisy and condemned him with the purpose of awakening his morals and bringing an end to this violation of life and liberty. Throughout this letter Banneker assesses the situation with a respectful, yet accusatory tone. He only addresses to Jefferson as “sir” which shows a sign of respect for Jefferson`s position, but this does not stop Banneker from condemning Jefferson for his role in slavery.

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In conclusion, the both arguments Finkelman and Wilson made were both well-supported, but Finkelman’s assertions were more supported. The four primary sources support both historians’ arguments well in different degree. All of the document seemed to support Finkelman’s explanation, and some documents like Jefferson’s letters supported more of Finkelman’s while Jefferson’s other documents seem to support Wilson’s more. Their judgment on Jefferson’s action differ because Wilson judged him in terms of morality in a historical context that he had better morality than other people in that period —“Jefferson did not take the next step of concluding that blacks were fit only for slavery” (Wilson, 1992)-- and acted for the sake of the slaves. Whereas

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405 Words | 2 Pages

They had not yet won their freedom or equality. Slavery would need to be abolished first. Benjamin Banneker wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson about this very dilemma. Banneker, always remaining respectful and aggressive, argues against slavery by using many rhetorical devices throughout his letter. “…all men are created equal...”

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651 Words | 3 Pages

Hypocrisy is one of the worst moral crimes someone can commit. Benjamin Banneker's letter to Thomas Jefferson explains that he has committed this crime. He has gone back on his morale of everyone having unalienable rights by letting slavery continue to happen, and Banneker believes he is the prime contender in allowing this crime to happen and that he should be the start and make the move to stop slavery. Banneker explains this to Jefferson in such a way that the letter is both respectful and thoughtful while also being rude due to the use of how he phrases his sentences, that his argument can not be questioned because of his use of ‘Sir’ to show his respect, and his ardent choice of words which are all collectively used to explain how Jefferson is being hypocritical and show him why he should fix this.

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In both secondary sources, both authors established an ethical standard in which they evaluated Jefferson. While Finkelman held Jefferson to today’s standards, Wilson did the opposite and held him to the eighteenth-century ethical standards. In Wilson’s article, he believed Jefferson did meet the ethical standard of his time when he asked the reader, “How did a man who was born into a slave holding society, whose family and admired friends owned slaves, who inherited a fortune that was dependent on slaves and slave labor, decide at an early age that slavery was morally wrong and forcefully declare that it ought to be abolished” (256)? Because of Wilson’s bold statement, it made sense to the author that Jefferson held his slaves because of not only his past but because of his age. However, Wilson’s argument takes a turn in the end when he admits he finds Jefferson guilty of providing adequate conditions for the slaves to live in, even for the eighteenth-century standards.

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653 Words | 3 Pages

However, he was a slave owner at the same time. Throughout his life time, he owned hundreds of African American slaves. Even after the death of his wife, Jefferson had a long-term relationship with one of his slave’s, Sally Hemings. On the other hand, as a young politician, he argued for the prohibition of slavery in new American territories, but yet he never freed his own slaves. How could a man responsible for writing the sacred words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal" have been a slave owner?

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Characterization of Jefferson 05.05.18 Jefferson is one of the two main characters in the novel “A lesson before dying” by Ernest J. Gaines so in order to truly understand the novel it is crucial to shed some light on Jefferson’s character. To begin with, Jefferson is a 21 year old, uneducated young black man, who has worked his whole life on a plantation for little money without complaining (p.196, ll.11-14). However, now being innocently involved in a shooting and robbery (p.9, ll.16-17), he is sent to death. One have to take into account that his attorney defended him by comparing him to a hog (p.12, l.5).

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470 Words | 2 Pages

Benjamin Banneker, the son of former slaves, wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson to argue against slavery. Banneker was an educated man, he was an astronomer, mathematician, surveyor, author, and farmer, yet, Jefferson had not known this information. Banneker makes his argument through the use of allusion, diction, and repetition, which causes Banneker to seem reliable and have intelligence. To remind Jefferson of his own subjugation, Banneker alludes to the British Crown. “..British Crown were exerted with every powerful effort in order to reduce you to a State of Servitude.”

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828 Words | 4 Pages

In multiple letters and notes he wrote he expressed his guilt for the slaves and once the slaves paid off their debt and Jefferson’s he hoped to free them. Jefferson and his slaves remained in debt until the day he died. Jefferson believed that slavery not only deprived blacks of their liberty but had an “unhappy” influence on the masters and their children (Takaki 63). If a master is constantly punishing a slave and cannot restrain, the child’s master will imitate and master it, resulting in a nonstop cycle of slavery.

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959 Words | 4 Pages

Introduction The stories of the founding of the United States is legendary in many regards. History places it that America was found by a group of farmers who had local political experience. This group came together in one accord and in arms to go against the monarch and tyrant to become a self-governed state. In the words of these men, “all men are created equal,” a phrase that natural elicited men and women to risk their lives for freedom .

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