Thomas Jefferson commited Adultery, had children with his Black slaves?

Question

So did George Washington so were these Men of Honor or Heathens that needed forgiveness? or maybe they just were using thier personal convictions of common sense?
Jefferson said-Christianity is the most perverted system that ever shone on man." Is that why he could cheat on his wife make a a baby with his slave? He also said-"The Christian god can easily be pictured as virtually the same god as the many ancient gods of past civilizations. The Christian god is a three headed monster; cruel, vengeful and capricious. *SO what was the reason he beat and killed his slaves?*
Jesus said that men would be known by their fruits..."Ye shall know them by their fruits..." (Matthew 7:16).

Everyone who deny's GOD makes an excuse for thier bad behaviour

Are you showing your fruits?

Answer 1

Hang on a second, I seem to remember you being immensely patriotic a second ago. Now you're slagging off the founders of your country?

Yeah, Jefferson was a bit of a hypocrite. But even a Brit like me, a citizen of the country he fought against, can see that his good sides far outweigh the bad. He was certainly more moral than a good number of Christians I can mention. Gandhi was a 'heathen', as you put it, but where was his bad behaviour?

Answer 2

So... everyone who owned slaves and treated them badly in the 1700's in the United States did not believe in God?

There were also religious slave holders who justified their bad behavior with the notion that they were doing the slaves a favor by bringing them to a Christian land.

Besides, I find it unlikely that Jefferson would have ill-treated his slaves as he was far from comfortable with owning them in the first place. According to an article on wikipedia, his situation was this, "Biographers point out that Jefferson was deep in debt and had encumbered his slaves by notes and mortgages; he chose not to free them until he finally was debt-free, which he never was.[47] Jefferson seems to have suffered pangs and trials of conscience as a result.[48] He wrote about slavery, ""We have the wolf by the ears; and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other."[49]"

There was no doubt that Jefferson was a racist. In some ways he was a man of his time. But in other ways he was well ahead of it.

Further, just because someone has not led a life free of cruel acts does not mean they can't legitimately see cruelty elsewhere.

Finally, I don't believe in God and when I do something wrong, I own up without excuse.

Answer 3

If you're talking about Sally Hemings, (1) whether Jefferson had sex with her is still up for debate and (2) if he did, it was after his wife was dead. So it would not have been adultery.

If you're thinking of Maria Cosway, the married woman he met in France, there's also no evidence that they had sex. All we know is that they were very fond of each other.

I doubt that Jefferson's belief or lack thereof had much to do with it. He was just a man wrestling with his passions. I can pretty much guarantee that he never said "I hate God, so I'm gonna go screw around."

As for being a slave owner, remember that the Bible condones owning slaves. The slave owners cited this fact time and time again in the years leading up to the Civil War.

You say: "Everyone who deny's GOD makes an excuse for thier bad behaviour." Then how do you explain the bad behavior of Christians, right here on this forum, every day?

Answer 4

Is that your new tactic? When you thought they supported your argument you used them, and now that they don't, you call them immoral?

The entire country was immoral back then, and in a few hundred years, people will be saying the same things about homophobes like you.

And guess what? Your god condones slavery... in the Old AND New Testaments. Does that sound like a God of Honor to you? Have a look at Luke 12:47-48, where Jesus himself condones the beating of slaves.

The affair with Sally Hemings occurred *after* the death of Jefferson's wife, btw. Also, I'm interested in any source you can produce that will confirm that Jefferson killed his slaves.

Your fruits are covered in mold, so I'd have to agree with Jesus on that point.

Answer 5

I wish your teachers could see your question; it would certainly reveal the sorry fruits of all their efforts to educate you to think intelligently and rationally about your world. I mean, seriously, your rambling rant is so disjointed that it is difficult to understand what your question is, much less the point of your tirade. One can only assume that it makes you feel important in an otherwise totally unimportant and meaningless life. Nonetheless, many people choose to use their minds and think rationally about the issues they face, rather than blindly submitting to the irrational dogma and primitive superstitions that some archaic book, such as the bible, promotes. Those who are so desperate to find comfort that they will cling to Stone Age LIES will be left behind as human civilization continues to evolve. Perhaps someday, we will place religious people, such as you, on display in a museum or a zoo. Maybe some kind person will even throw you a peanut from time to time.

Answer 6

You're comparing a man to a god? Seems like a pitiful argument. Besides, whether he had faults or not (I agree with some-not all you said), it really doesn't make what he said untrue.
I've never heard that he killed any slaves. There are plenty of tales of polygamy and some incest in the Bible AND there's a verse that says something about it's OK to beat your slave unconscious...as long as he/she gets up in a few days. Nice.
BTW, you'll never win a religious argument attacking someones character. Better stick with what they talk about.

Answer 7

Jefferson never denied god. He was worried about the institution of religion. Never once did he claim to be an atheist and originally was going to be trained for positions inside the church. Those quotes are often used out of context and (as now) miss understood as to what his intent was.

Good job taking the time to actually learn about the founding fathers. Too bad you can't keep your own person judgments out of the way long enough to actually learn something. (Didn't you just support them in your previous questions?)

Answer 8

Well, I never heard that about George washington, so I'm going to have to abstain from that one.

From my understanding, Jefferson's soiree with Sally Hemings was consensual, and started in Paris when he was ambassador and she was technically free under french law. It was after his wife had died (Sally was his wife's half sister, a part of the dowry his father-in-law had given him). She stayed with him for the rest of his life.

It's my understanding that there was only one perfect human in history. Does a personal morality that does not meet our 21st century standards erase the obvious positive contributions that these men have given to Mankind, History and the United States?

Answer 9

I am not aware that Jefferson ever committed adultery while he was married to Martha Wayles, but he did indeed take a mistress after her death--the woman's name was Sally Hemings and she was, in fact, the half-sister of his dead wife.

Ms. Hemings was only 1/4 black, as her mother and her grandmother had liaisons with white men--her grandmother was the child of slave who had come directly from Africa, and in her adulthood she produced one child--the mother of Sally--from a long-term affair with a sea captain named Hemings (first name unknown to me), and reached a point in his life when he was in such bad financial straits that he sold his only child to a man named Wayles, with one stipulation attached--that was that his daughter would go by the surname of Hemings, not be referred to merely by her first name (I think it might have been Sarah) or given the surname of Wayles.

This young woman produced a large family with her master, and, when his daughter Martha married, he gave her some of the Hemings family as a portion of her wedding gift. After the death of her first husband, a man whose surname was Skelton, she brought Sara and some of her children to Monticello; Sally was either born there or arrived as a very young child.

Answer 10

Sister! Sister! you ask a lot of heavy questions and you put your self on the line. Are you a Devout Christian Lady?
Never sinned? David did, Jacob did, Abraham did,
But there is a thing called repent.