Essay Sample: Thomas Jefferson on the Reasons Why Slavery Existed

Thomas Jefferson pointed out that the reason why slavery existed was not as a result of the conditions in which the African Americans were in but that of their nature. He further illustrated that their nature has made them less abundant regarding how they perceive certain circumstances. As a result, they have been portrayed as thieves and as people who lack a sense of morality. According to Jefferson, these attributes only relate to the kind of situation they are in and not in any way related to their morality. Furthermore, he mentioned that in such cases, an argument must be presented in the form of fundamental principles which in turn can be considered as rightful and just regarding the law implemented.

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In his opinion, Thomas Jefferson regarded slavery as an influence creates a negative impact on the society in general thus more often bringing unsatisfying results. The reason for this is because it underestimates the values associated with mannerism and moral principles of a person. Nevertheless, children often tend to imitate such actions since it has always been a human nature to learn through imitation and interpreting what others do to enhance their learning capabilities. Parents need to be reasonable regarding how they can approach such a situation, that is, by considering certain facts such as modestly treating the slave.

The main difference that distinguishes African Americans from the rest of the people mainly is their color. In Jefferson's point of view, he describes that physical distinctions play a key role regarding the difference of race. Moreover, he states, "African Americans have less hair on both the face and body in comparison to other human races." At the same time, he depicts African American men as being more passionate towards their women. However, he further illustrates that to them, they only see love as a strong desire without considering a certain tender, delicate mixtures such as sentiment and sensation. This explains why their existence tends to participate in the form of sensation rather than reflection.

African Americans have the same memory quality as the European Americans. However, the main difference is associated with their reasoning and imagination. For instance, their reasoning is often depicted as much inferior compared to the European Americans and also, in imagination, they are often dull, tasteless and anomalous. On the contrary, they are known to be gifted specifically in music. In general, they are more exceptional as well as being capable of imagining a small catch in such a way that it creates an exceptional melody. Their mixture of the European Americans has enabled them to show an exceptional improvement both intellectually as well as physically over time. As a result, this certain fact showed that their inferiority is not associated with their fundamental capabilities rather the conditions of life that they were raised in.

The concept of slavery has always remained a major issue for discussion. Slavery came into existence due to specific reasons such as poor living conditions and the nature of the African Americans. African Americans are often considered as inferior compared to European Americans due to specific reasons such as the concept of reasoning and imagination. However, slavery is widely regarded as an evil to the society as it underestimates the moral principles and mannerism of a person. The mixture of these two races has exceptionally changed the way African Americans reason both in body and mind. In turn, this has proven that the conditions of life one are raised in play an important role in determining the success of the individual.