"Jefferson owned slaves. He did not believe that all were created equal. He was a racist"
- Stephen Ambrose
About this Quote
This quote by Stephen Ambrose highlights the hypocrisy of Thomas Jefferson, among the Founding Fathers of the United States. In spite of his famous words in the Declaration of Independence that "all guys are created equivalent," Jefferson owned servants and was a racist. This quote acts as a tip that even the most influential people in history can have defects and contradictions in their beliefs. It is likewise a reminder that the perfects of flexibility and equality that the United States was founded on were not always applied to everybody. Despite Jefferson's words, he did not believe that all individuals were equivalent and he was a racist. This quote works as a suggestion that even the most influential people in history can have defects and contradictions in their beliefs.
This quote is written / told by Stephen Ambrose between January 10, 1936 and October 13, 2002. He/she was a famous Historian from USA.
The author also have 43 other quotes.
"The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other. Our children see this, and learn to imitate it"
"The perfection of our union, especially our commitment to equality of opportunity, has been a story of constant striving to live up to our Founding principles. This is what Abraham Lincoln meant when he said, 'In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free - honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve.'"
"Our enemies are Medes and Persians, men who for centuries have lived soft and luxurious lives; we of Macedon for generations past have been trained in the hard school of danger and war. Above all, we are free men, and they are slaves"