Thomas Jefferson??/?

Question

"the amalgamation of whites with blacks produces a degradation to which no lover of his country, no lover of the excellence in the human character, can innocently consent."

I know this quote is from Thomas Jefferson....but what document is it from?

Answer 1

This is a quote from a letter written by Jefferson to one Edward Coles, dated August 25, 1814. I am not sure if the entire letter was in regards to the marriage of blacks and whites, but the section this was taken from did deal with that subject matter.

It's a surprising read since it is a known fact and has been proven by DNA testing that Jefferson had children with his black slave, Sally Hemings.

Answer 2

In 1781, Jefferson, in his "Notes on Virginia," wrote that blacks were decidedly inferior to whites, but that offspring would benefit from being mixed with whites. A first generation coupling, Jefferson thought, would be bad for the white but good for the black: "The improvement of the blacks in body and mind, in the first instance of their mixture with the whites, has been observed by everyone." From that point on, everything depended on which way the next offspring mated. Thirty years later--in 1814-- he wrote: "The amalgamation of whites with blacks produces a degradation to which no lover of his country, no lover of excellence in the human character, can innocently consent."

And, in 1809 Jefferson wrote about equality, after receiving Gregorie's volume of "Literature of Negroes":

"Be assured that no person living wishes more sincerely than I do, to see a complete refutation of the doubts I have myself entertained and expressed on the grade of understanding allotted to them by nature, and to find that in this respect they are on a par with ourselves... My doubts were the result of personal observation on the limited sphere of my own State, where the opportunities for the development of their genius were not favorable, and those of exercising it still less so. I expressed them therefore with great hesitation; but whatever their degree of talent it is no measure of their rights. On this subject they are gaining daily in the opinions of nations, and hopeful advances are making towards their re-establishment on an equal footing with the other colors of humanity." [25 Feb 1809, Thomas Jefferson to Henri George]