Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. 

Thomas Jefferson was the author of American freedom. 

Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. 

Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. 

Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. 

Thomas Jefferson was a man ahead of his times.

Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. 

Thomas Jefferson was well-read, intelligent and reflective.

Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. 

Thomas Jefferson wrote “A Summary View of the Rights of British America,” sparking the flames for American independence.

Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. 

Thomas Jefferson was a man of science and learning. 

Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. 

Thomas Jefferson championed religious freedom and the rights of people to follow their faith without fear of persecution. 

Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. 

Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States and the father of the Jeffersonian doctrine that shaped our government and protected personal liberty.

Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. 

Thomas Jefferson expanded the United States and opened up the western territories in one of the most shrewd international deals in history. 

Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. 

Thomas Jefferson championed higher learning and founded the University of Virginia. 

Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. 

Thomas Jefferson opposed slavery and on March 2, 1807, signed the Act Prohibiting Import of Slaves into the U.S., legally abolishing the slave trade. 

Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. 

It can be argued that slave trade in the U.S. would have not ended were it not for Jefferson. It can be argued that Jefferson’s opposition to slavery shaped the thinking of abolitionists who followed him, whose work eventually gave us the Emancipation Proclamation. Still, it cannot be denied that Jefferson, despite his record of opposition, owned slaves who worked his lands. 

When the people we admire and respect have warts, did unthinkable things, and despite shaping history stood on the wrong side of history, it is disheartening, disconcerting and difficult to reconcile. 

Jefferson was a study in contrasts. 

His legacy is undeniable. 

The fact that legacy is tarnished, is also undeniable. 

He is not honored because he defended slavery. He did not. 

He is not honored because he fought a war against his own country. He did not. 

He is not honored because he lost a war. He did not. 

He is not honored because he was an insurrectionist. He was not. 

He is not honored because he held slaves. He has held an honored place in American history despite of that blight, not because of it. 

In fact, he opposed slavery and fought against it, seeking to abolish slave importation in Virginia as early as 1778.

Despite being the architect of freedom, putting an end to legal slave trade and speaking out against the atrocities of slavery, it cannot be ignored that Thomas Jefferson owned slaves and owned them until he died.