White supremacists and counter protesters clash in Charlottesville

[Rev. Rye]

Jefferson's views on slavery were kind of complicated, and mired in contradictions. He originally wrote a passage condemning slavery into the Declaration of Independence, but between Southerners refusing to support such a passage, and others, presumably including quite a few Northerners, pointing out the blatant hypocrisy of someone who not only owned slaves, but was one of the biggest planters in his state, condemning slavery, it was removed.

It seems he considered slavery a necessary evil, actually making slave importation illegal during his presidency, but, by his death, he still had 133 of them. It seems his debts partly influenced his failure to actually free his slaves, and I suppose his assumption that they were inherently of inferior intelligence might not have helped matters. And I'm not sure how his long-term affair with Sally Hemmings would fit into the whole debate (whether it points to a more nuanced view of things or if he simply used her as a handy orifice like so many slave owners did that the average black American has the equivalent of 1/8 European ancestry in their DNA).

Also, to anyone who claims the North started the Civil War, you may want to do a bit more research on the battle of Fort Sumter. It turns out that, while the North did not approve of the secession of the South at all, they took great pains to ensure they did not actually fire the first shot. In fact, after Lt. Henry S. Farley fired the first shots, it took 2 1/2 hours for the Union to return fire, even if it was largely because they needed something to actually fire.