Continuing with TJ’s legacy from the first two tidbits:
12.In 1784, TJ introduced legislation designed to abolish slavery in “every territory that would eventually become a state in the new nation” (pg.137, Barton). In that legislation, he boldly declared, “after the year of 1800 of the Christian era, there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the said states.”
“Jefferson’s law fell one vote short of passage” (pg137, Barton). Incredibly, TJ introduced this legislation prior to the passage of the Northwest Ordinance(1789), which prohibited several  states from entering the union as slave states.
   Later, TJ lamented, “There were ten states present. Six voted unanimously for it, three against it, and one was divided. And seven votes being requisite to decide the proposition affirmatively (to pass the measure), it was lost… Thus we see the fate of millions unborn hanging on the tongue of one man, and heaven was silent in that awful moment! But it is to be hoped it will not always be silent and that the friends to the rights of human nature will in the end prevail”  (pg138, Barton).
   While TJ’s lament was understandably difficult for him, it is yet another example of a ‘lifetime’ spent attempting to free the slaves. On the other hand, this piece also reveals his slight misunderstanding of God’s providence. In fact, heaven was not silent at this moment, but in fact, God was very much present, bringing about His great will for America, Blacks, Whites, and the world**! It other words, in His perfect timing, God makes all things good (Rom8:28)…even the evil of slavery!
 
13.In 1786, a French official, named Louis Dominique de Meunier, wrote an article criticizing Virginia for its refusal to free the slaves. Because TJ was an ambassador to France at the time, he responded:  “But we must wait with patience the overruling Providence*** and hope that it is preparing the deliverance of these our suffering brethren when the measure of their tears shall be full—when their groans shall have involved Heaven itself in darkness—doubtless a God of justice will awaken in their distress”  (pg138, Barton).
Please, notice TJ called the slaves his “brethren”!

14.In 1788, another Frenchman, Pierre de Warville, started an anti-slavery society in France, and invited TJ to be part, to which he declined because he thought it inappropriate to take-on personal endeavors as a public servant. Yet, in he responded: “You know that nobody wishes more ardently so see an abolition not only of the trade but of the condition of slavery and certainly nobody will be more willing to encounter every sacrifice for that object” (pg 139, Barton).

15.In 1787, incredibly Congress adopted TJ’s 1784 antislavery legislation, and imported it into the Northwest Ordinance of 1785 (pg139, Barton). In 1789, the Congress reaffirmed TJ’s proposal and it passed into law 1789, as the Northwest Ordinance. As a result, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, all entered the Union as free states.

Along with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, the Northwest Ordinance is one of America’s three official founding documents. Notice TJ had hands on two of the three documents; he wrote the D.O.I., and America used his 1784 legislation as the model for the N.O. This is important because it reveals one of the primary reasons behind the contemporary attack on Thomas Jefferson. Using ‘Historical Revisionism’, liberalism desires to re-make America as an atheist state. To best accomplish this task, they need to first discredit America’s Founding Fathers. Liberalism has discovered the best method to achieve their diabolical objective is  slavery and White Supremacy.

16.In 1805, and now president of the United States, TJ declared: “I have long since given up the expectation of any early provision for the extinguishment of slavery among us. While there are many virtuous men who would make any sacrifices to affect it, many equally virtuous persuade themselves either that the thing is not wrong or that it cannot be remedied”  (pg139, Barton).

17.In 1806, TJ encouraged Congress to “ban the slave trade as soon as constitutionally permissible” (pg139, Barton). In 1789, Congress passed an ordinance to end the slave trade in 20 years, which would go into effect in 1808. It was believed in 1789, that the south would then be ready to abolish slavery.

18.In 1807, Congress passed the ban on the slave trade and Jefferson signed it (pg 140, Barton) to go into effect January 1, 1808. He wrote a letter to the Quakers: “Whatever may have been the circumstances which influenced our forefathers to permit the introduction of personal bondage into any part of these states… we may rejoice that such circumstances and such a sense of them exist no longer…I sincerely pray with you, my friends, that all the members of the human family may, in the time prescribed by the Father of us all, find themselves securely established in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and happiness” (pg 140, Barton).
   May I remind you, Thomas Jefferson began public ministry in 1769 introducing legislation against slavery, and by 1808 had logged over 40 years of fighting slavery!
​
…to be continued!
 
*Facts in this tidbit taken from historian David Barton’s incredible book “The Jefferson Lies”. It is a must read.
**see my last tidbit, and how God intended to end slavery worldwide through the efforts of America!
***You see, TJ rebounded quite nicely from his previous misunderstanding of God’s providence in point 12.
 
Quotebit
The big challenge is to become all that you have the possibility of becoming. You cannot believe what it does to the human spirit to maximize your human potential and stretch yourself to the limit.                 -Jim Rohn

   In my last tidbit, I wrote that Thomas Jefferson fought ‘against’ slavery for over 40 years.  I began in 1769 with his first year in public office, and left-off in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence. Let’s continue.
   After the Declaration was signed in 1776, it birthed one of the most amazing movements in all of human history! Without coercion, and of their own free-will, after the DOI was signed, the states began to abolish slavery! Vermont abolished slavery in 1777; Pennsylvania and Massachusetts in 1780; New Hampshire in 1783; Connecticut and Rhode Island in 1784; New York in 1799; and New Jersey in 1804.
   In addition, the Northwest Ordinance was passed in 1789 by the same Congress that passed the first Amendment to the Constitution. Through the Northwest Ordinance, Illinois; Indiana; Michigan; Ohio; Wisconsin; Iowa, all became states forbidding slavery!  
 
Why is this so amazing?
1.No state, nation, or country--in the history of the world--had ever abolished    slavery!!
2.No state, nation, or country--in the history of the world--had ever abolished slavery  through the conscience of the slave holder!!
 
   Remember, the colonies(states) were like small sovereign countries, and each colony(state) enacted their own laws. Although the southern colonies (states) did not follow suit with the northern colonies(states), it did not detract from what the northern states accomplished! The achievement of the colonies made the United States the first among the nations of the world to officially abolish slavery…I repeat, in all of human history!
   If you never understood why America is exceptional—now you have at least two great reasons! These ‘two firsts’ are irrefutable evidence of God’s Providence in the birth of America! In other words, ‘GOD’ created America!** And one of His sovereign purposes for the United States of America was to affect the end of slavery…all over the world! In other words, The Declaration of Independence was a God-ordained document—not only for the USA…but for the world!
   Abraham Lincoln recognized America’s prophetic God-ordained call to freedom declaring: "The Declaration of Independence gave liberty not alone to the people of this country, but hope to all the world for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance. This is the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence...".
 
   Incredibly, God sovereignly chose and used Thomas Jefferson to start ‘HIS’ world-wide freedom revolution!!!
 
Let’s continue with TJ’s legacy.  
  9.Leaving 1776, let’s now move forward to 1778 where TJ introduced a bill on slavery in the Virginia legislature. Although a small step, his legislation was a first in Virginia to ban importation of slaves from other countries. The bill passed and TJ wrote, “This passed without opposition and stopped the increase of the evil by importation, leaving to future efforts its final eradication” (pg 136, Barton).
 
10.Also in 1776, TJ was elected governor of Virginia, and in 1777 he introduced yet more legislation that would fall under the category of “future efforts” for “slavery’s eradication”. In the legislation, he called for Virginians to “emancipate all slaves born after passing the act” (pg 136, Barton).  Like his previous efforts, he was again rejected, and his legislation failed to pass into law. Remaining faithful to his call however, he later wrote, “Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free” (pg 137, Barton).
 
11.In 1781, TJ wrote ‘Notes on the State of Virginia’, considered by some to be one of his greatest achievements. Barton quotes him at length on page 137: “The whole commerce between master and slave is…the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other…. And with what execrations (denunciations) should the statesman be loaded who permits one half of the citizens thus to trample on the rights of the other…. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis—a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever…. The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a contest…. The way, I hope, is preparing under the auspices of Heaven for a total emancipation.”  (Emphasis mine)
 
   Notice, TJ’s desire for a “total emancipation” of the slaves! This is all the more amazing considering this was 1781--in the middle of slavery--five years after he wrote the Declaration of Independence; 8 years before the Constitution was ratified; and 80 years before the Civil War!!!
 
The actual truth about Thomas Jefferson unveils him in quite a different light than liberal revisionist historians portray him!
 
*Facts in this tidbit taken from historian David Barton’s incredible book “The Jefferson Lies”. It is a must read.
**Acts17:26,27
 
Quotebit
Leaders are readers; and readers are leaders. -Unknown