Jefferson was a demagogue who said he embraced the ideals of liberty, but in the end as a slaveholder could not see the inherent contradiction in his position. His failure (along with Madison and Monroe) helped assure the Civil War. He had the stature to help end it and they could have implemented such a policy.
I was just reading backwards through the thread and I saw this, so I have couple complaints with this I'll mention.
Jefferson did say somethings in the Declaration of Independence that seem hypocritical today and perhaps were in his time, too. but let's remember a couple things; 1) 12 years after the DOI, among the signers of the Constitution that made slavery legal in the U.S. were ant-slavery men such as Alexander Hamilton. They signed it because freedom for slaves was not anywhere near a priority compared to unifying the 13 states under a stronger central government. All of the signers believed in liberty, but liberty for whom and at what price? Jefferson was the only hypocrite of his time? not by a long shot. They all signed the document that eventually led to the Civil War.
The fact is that in the early republic the very small number of abolitionists were busy enough starting to end slavery in the northern states where slavery was never central to the economy. The belief that a small group, yet alone one single man had the influence at that point to end slavery in all 13 states is fanciful thinking.
If one man could have had any influence it would have been Washington rather than Jefferson because he was far more widely respected and beloved by Americans throughout the country than Jefferson was. And even he couldn't possibly have made a dent in ending slavery in that era. The only solution to ending slavery in the early USA was not to sign the Constitution, let the country split in two, call the north the USA and give the south another name as a separate nation. Sorry, but that's the reality of the situation.
And to blame Jefferson or anyone else of that period for helping make the Civil War happen is silly. No one then could have foreseen a war of such magnitude, violence, death and destruction for their was no historical precedent for such a thing. Even at the beginning of the war itself, most Americans believed the Civil War was going to be a short affair. We should actually blame TJ, Madison and Monroe for the Civil War? How could anyone bother to end slavery over a war they couldn't imagine?
Yes, Jefferson wrote that every man was entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit. Here he and everyone who signed the DOI were clear, they meant men and not women. What they were less clear about is that at best some meant white men now, blacks later. Of course some meant blacks never, but I don't think there is evidence to show that was Jefferson's position. Some things he said indicates he for was ending slavery at some point, but there more pressing matters. (You know, like starting a banking system and promoting manufacturing, or maybe that was someone other than Jefferson? )
That's not much unlike Lincoln who chose trying to save the nation from war by letting slavery exist for awhile longer and take a log term approach by beginning its eradication by keeping it contained. Of course, the slave owners weren't interested in that and the war came and Lincoln ended up with both things he wanted.
Its a lovely thought that someone should have done something early on to prevent the Civil War. But that's all it is, a lovey thought.
