Thomas Jefferson’s Life Vs His Idealism
Examine Jefferson’s life and times to discuss the conflict between the ideals he described in writing and the life he lived. In his lifetime, equal rights were legally guaranteed to no one but white, male, landowners, and Jefferson not only owned slaves but also referred to Native Peoples as “merciless Indian savages” instead of people with unalienable rights. How can an examination of Jefferson’s life and other writings help us learn something about him as well as about American ideology? For this topic, use the Declaration of Independence in the introductory paragraph to define the ideals that Jefferson prescribed in that document. The body paragraphs will contain research that shows both his violation of those ideals, as well as other writers’ perspectives concerning the conflict between Jefferson’s actions and his ideals.