What may now seem problematic about Jefferson's views — say, on the one hand, drafting the Declaration and, on the other, failing to free his slaves either before or at his death — should not be misinterpreted as simply anomalous to him. His legacy cannot be merely credited to his own brand of eccentricity. As a personal exemplar of his generation, he comes into sharpest relief against the political, ideological and cultural background of chattel slavery. It is only within the broadest context of the society which evolves out of this system of servitude that the full measure of him — man of letters, prominent member of Virginia elite and builder of enduring state institutions, son of the Enlightenment, at times prosperous master of Monticello, at other times desperate spendthrift on the verge of bankruptcy, reckless slaveowner — can be taken. As a true son of the Enlightenment, he used his enormous and dazzling rhetoric abilities to craft the emblematic statement that characterizes the human spirit of the modern world: "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Not even a decade later, he would also pen his ideas on race, the reigning views on those of African descent throughout the Americas: "Whether the black of the negro resides in the reticular membrane between the skin and scarf-skin, or in the scarf-skin itself; whether it proceeds from the colour of the blood, the colour of the bile, or from that of some other secretion, the difference is fixed in nature, and is as real as if its eat and cause were better known to us." Indeed Jefferson is most disturbed by differences in skin color, what he calls the "immovable veil of black." Just as the famous words of the Declaration would be heard all over the world, so too would the racism of human difference, their legacy obvious especially in 19th century debates about the abolition of slavery and the construction of legal racial segregation.

He, along with his elite generation, imagines "freedom" and "liberty" against the backdrop of various forms of bondage in the New World: indigenous genocide, indentured servitude and, most compelling, chattel slavery. He also imagines "freedom" and "liberty" from within a white gentry and elite whose family lives were cushioned by the invisible labors of nameless slaves. Just consider his incredible anecdote, recounting his earliest childhood memory, of being carried as an infant on a pillow by a slave from his father's house.

Jefferson absolutely remains an icon today, but in complicated ways. From the nickel to his home Monticello, from the University of Virginia to representations of his relationship with Sally Hemings, his life yields a prismatic effect, allowing us to discern fully the society and culture built upon the foundation of chattel slavery in all its contradictions and peculiarities. Having just visited Monticello again in the last few months, I am reminded of slavery's intricate but invisible tentacles upholding and fostering Jefferson's life particularly and in representations of early and antebellum America generally. His "little mountain" would not have been built or maintained without slave labor, and especially the prodigious skills and imagination of trusted and beloved slaves who toiled to execute Jefferson's quirky architectural innovations even while Jefferson would be absent from Monticello for months or even years at a time. As he gazed out of his bedroom/study/laboratory, he decided that he did not want his picturesque views disturbed by the requisite slave quarters and work buildings. But his likely relationship with Sally Hemings would have also taken place in that same series of rooms. Jefferson was both completely dependent upon the system of slavery, but also simultaneously able to disavow it.

With regard to his relationship with Hemings and the centuries of controversy that continue to generate interest, fascination, denial and scandal, we make a grave error in our contemporary assessments of Jefferson to simply label him "hypocrite". From 1789 until 1860, the President of the United States was more likely to be both Chief Executive and owner of slaves than not (with father John Adams and son Quincy Adams as notable exceptions).

As master, he held full dominion over his dependents of wife and children, his slaves and his white employees. He remained free and entitled as the owner of chattel to do with his property — of which Hemings was part — what he chose, short of murder. Also, I think it is vital to remember that Hemings was Jefferson's deceased wife Martha's half-sister, daughter of Jefferson's father-in-law and a slave woman. Although no images of Sally Hemings remain, the contemporary lore spoke of the resemblance between white and mulatto sisters.

I often wonder if the failure of Jefferson to free his slaves at his death is one of the most troubling aspects of his life. How, in contemporary terms, do we make sense of that (especially in light of recent scholarship on George Washington that assiduously documents how the first President affirmatively chose to free his property)? Jefferson, in his personal finances, seems very much a man of our times: he was a profligate spender, constantly in debt, yet still buying more. Slavery as an economic system created a source of capital in the figure of the slave that might be analogous to a modern certificate of deposit with a fluctuating interest rate, a kind of long-life annuity. Ownership of slaves was a primary investment and a potentially lucrative financial risk. There remained a strong, flexible market for slaves. Ownership of slaves was like a financial trump card; their potential sale always possible in times of economic uncertainty and financial shortfalls. Was the heavily indebted state of his estate at his death in fact one of these times of uncertainty? Seeing Jefferson's life in wider focus, with the backdrop of slavery in full and crisp view helps us to understand the nature of the man and, most importantly, the times in which he lived. Finally, doing the work of bringing slavery into focus with regards to Jefferson raises a range of moral and ethical questions about our contemporary judgments of him. Acknowledging slavery should not let Jefferson off the hook of history's judgments, simply because his actions exemplify his time.

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