What did Thomas Jefferson mean by this statement?
2006-12-30 13:04:35 · 6 answers · asked by Sadie 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Quotations
comparing the existence of slavery
2006-12-30 13:10:15 · update #1
Jefferson is presenting the Southern States position. Not his own which he notes in the same letter.
Southerners realized that slavery was evil as by religious or moral logic but the consequences of ending slavery were just a disaster ffor the South. Jefferson in the next sentence used the words "justice" and "self-preservation" .
"Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other"
Jefferson sincerely belived that freeing the slaves would lead to racial war.
2006-12-30 13:59:07 · answer #1 · answered by cruisingyeti 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If one continues to hold the Wolf...the wolf gets angry, and the holder tires and becomes weak...
If one lets the wolf go...then the wolf attacks the holder, and the holder has no chance to survive, even if the holder wants nothing but the best for the Wolf...
It was the issue of Slavery that he was speaking about..
Slavery was a necessity for the Southern way of life...but he also knew it was wrong to enslave a people....
2006-12-31 08:35:42 · answer #2 · answered by Christopher H G 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Either way, it's going to hurt. He meant slavery couldn't last-- couldn't be held-- and when freedom came, it wouldn't be an easy process. Blood would be shed.
2006-12-30 13:07:59 · answer #3 · answered by princessmikey 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually, he could have held him, but he did not want to go to the trouble.
2006-12-30 13:08:47 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, I THINK it meant that something is really wild and you can't control it, but you can't just let it go. Maybe its money...or people....
2006-12-30 13:08:17 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
He must be killed, for their collective safety.
2006-12-30 13:06:33 · answer #6 · answered by furiousstyles22003 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋