Date

12-7-2023

Department

College of Arts and Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD)

Chair

Matthew Hill

Keywords

Thomas Jefferson, Slavery, Education, University of Virginia, Natural Aristocrats, Natural Rights, Generational Sovereignty, Nationalism

Disciplines

History

Abstract

Thomas Jefferson’s autobiography reveals his continual struggle against slavery and his frustration at the resistance of the “public mind” in Virginia, predominantly composed of slave-owning aristocrats. Despite vocal condemnations of slavery, attempts to translate his anti-slavery stance into formal documents faced significant resistance from the society he aimed to change. Even within the House of Burgess, Jefferson's support for a bill allowing individual slave owners to free their slaves was met with contempt. His draft of the Declaration of Independence, condemning the King for slavery, was revised by delegates, impeded by both northern financiers of the slave trade and southern aristocrats unwilling to denounce the institution. Jefferson's boldest anti-slavery proposal, the Report of a Plan of Government for the Western Territory, aimed to ban slavery north and south of the Ohio River but failed by one vote. Recognizing the difficulty of changing the public mind overnight, Jefferson argued for a gradual approach, emphasizing the importance of education. His 1778 Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge aimed not only at education but also at restructuring Virginia's aristocracy into a meritocracy. Jefferson envisioned natural aristocrats, leaders educated in moral principles, guiding the public mind toward embracing emancipation. He believed these leaders should be chosen based on virtue and talents, not wealth or birth, creating an enlightened society capable of bearing the proposition of emancipation. In his retirement, Jefferson looked to the next generation of Virginians as potential champions of emancipation, inspired by his own education at William and Mary. The University of Virginia, founded with the objective to instruct citizens in their rights, interests, and duties, aimed to produce statesmen capable of harmonizing societal interests. However, despite unofficial anti-slavery sentiments within the university's early leadership and professors, the institution's role in forming the natural aristocracy appeared to be compromised, echoing the challenges Jefferson faced throughout his life in trying to influence societal attitudes toward slavery.

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