Monticello, Slave Row Gallery

I left slave row for last, as it is by nature an issue still being resolved today through the “Black Lives Matter” and similar movements.  It was easy to find a quote by Thomas Jefferson about slavery, but the point that he owned and used slavery to advance his life made that almost mute.  The quote that I’m offering from him, I think reflects more the contradiction of the time he found himself in, without excusing the way he lived.  While the Fredrick Douglass quote reflects the advancement of a people moving out of this terrible injustice.  

The love of justice and the love of country plead equally the cause of these people, and it is a moral reproach to us that they should have pleaded it so long in vain

Thomas Jefferson

Educate your sons and daughters, send them to school, and show them that besides the cartridge box, the ballot box, and the jury box, you also have the knowledge box.

Fredrick Douglass

Thank you and be free!