Thus, they were deleted. Also, his draft of the Northwest Ordinance called for the exclusion of slavery in lands both north and south of the Ohio River. His proscription on territory south of the Ohio was deleted. He thought or allowed himself to hope that abolition of the slave trade would gradually lead to the abolition of slavery itself, a hope that tragically proved to be in vain. It is true that in his later years, Jefferson pulled back from some of his more radical, abolition-sounding rhetoric with respect to slavery.
Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other.
The wonder is not that slavery and racism had its defenders in late 18th or early 19th century America, and that Jefferson is among them. The more startling wonder is that at the end of the 20th century, racism still pervades the American scene. Something about beams and motes comes to mind. On Jefferson s fanatical defense of the French Revolution , O Brien appears to be engaging in that bit of revisionism largely alone. Jefferson did feel strongly about liberty, a fact for which most Americans are profoundly grateful.