Thomas Jefferson’s fight AGAINST Slavery!* - 3

  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