Thomas Jefferson's Antinomic Behavior Toward Slavery

Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, with his countless measures directed to the prohibition of slavery, beat a path for the abolitionists. However, the attitude of the president toward slavery is still an enigma. His vision and his deeds are contradictory. He can be best described with a series of metaphors, which were emphasized in the documentary about his life produced by Ken Burns. “If he were a monument, he would be the Sphinx. If he were a painting, he would be the Mona Lisa. If he were a character in a play, he would be Hamlet. His character was like the great rivers, whose bottoms we cannot see.”7 The antinomic behavior of Thomas Jefferson derives from the fact that although he regarded slavery as a “blot and stain upon America,” he remained a slave owner all his life and “failed to direct that his slaves be freed after his death.”BSc/BAanglisztik