The Jeffersons

• Blog – Exploring Connections #4 on p. 491

The image of Jefferson’s decedents is a very different one than would be expected from his writings. In fact his writings do support what I learned in history about Jefferson. Jefferson’s racism clearly shows him as a hypocrite because he owed slaves and suggested to emancipate them. He also said that slaves should not mix with whites but at the same time fathered several illegitimate children with one of his slaves, clearly showing the inconsistencies between what he wrote and what he practiced. It was interesting to not that the photo of Jefferson’s decedents was not one of just a bunch of white people but a diverse range of black and white which shows how clearly the country has changed since the time of Jefferson. It shows an interesting irony in the ideal world of Jefferson and the actual world of today which clearly is against every part of jefferson’s predictions and suggestions.