NEXT: Racism in Jefferson's "Notes on the State of Virginia"
In his only published book, Jefferson shared his belief that blacks were likely inferior to whites.
Enlightenment philosophy strongly influenced Jefferson’s ideas about two seemingly opposing issues: American freedom and American slavery. Enlightenment thinkers argued that liberty was a natural human right and that reason and scientific knowledge—not the state or the church—were responsible for human progress. But Enlightenment reason also provided a rationale for slavery, based on a hierarchy of races.
Detail of "Liberty in the Form of a Goddess of Youth" by Edward Savage, 1796.