Thomas Jefferson wrote about the evils of slavery, yet he owned slaves. What were his real views?

by Youtoo2

I made a post in /r/TodayIlearned and we got a lot of response from amateurs about Thomas Jefferson and slavery. He owned slaves, but supposedly he wanted to add an accusation to the Declaration of Independence accusing Britain of instituting slavery. Is this accurate?

Here is my post: https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/9epn0x/til_jeffersons_first_draft_of_the_declaration_of/e5r4jhp/

Thank you. On other subs its hard to get past people's political views. So I am looking for a historians views on this.

Skipp_To_My_Lou

While not the final say on the matter, u/uncovered-history wrote an answer to a similar question here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4qxzdx/how_did_thomas_jefferson_reconcile_all_men_are/?utm_source=reddit-android

u/sowser also contributed to that answer, & referred to an earlier answer that many have found useful in understanding Jefferson's views on slavery here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/48p4tp/did_the_british_royal_family_ever_own_slaves/?utm_source=reddit-android

uncovered-history

Hey there, great question. Let me know if our links to other questions answered your question. If not, let me know and I’ll try to clarify!