Thomas Jefferson: Notes on the State of Virginia

( 1784 ) Commentary by Sharon T. Glass, Winthrop University

Questions for Further Study

1. How would you explain Thomas Jefferson’s attitude toward slavery, especially considering that he owned slaves?
2. If Jefferson supported the gradual emancipation of slaves, why did he propose sending them away rather than incorporating them into the social and economic system of the United States?
3. To what extent do you believe that Jefferson’s attitude toward African Americans was a product, at least in part, of the time and place in which he lived?
4. Many people at the time opposed slavery as much for the effects it had on slave owners as for the effects it had on the slaves. How, in Jefferson’s view, did slavery affect the white population?
5. Several African Americans responded to Jefferson’s Notes, including Benjamin Banneker in his Letter to Thomas Jefferson (1791), Richard Allen in his “Address to Those Who Keep Slaves and Uphold the Practice” (1794), and David Walker in his Appeal to the Coloured Citizens of the World (1829). Compare this document with one of those listed. How did the later writer respond to Jefferson?

Thomas Jefferson (Library of Congress)

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