Thomas Jefferson was a man who was thought to be great. He was a talented, skillful writer. He wrote an autobiography. He even wrote one of the greatest documents in American history: The Declaration of Independence. However, Jefferson was not what he is thought to be. Jefferson had destroyed political traditions. From his oppositions and shortcoming his principles, Jefferson smashed the political standard and is, therefore, a hypocrite.

When Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, he included in his first draft that “all men were created equal,” including slaves. This part on slavery had to be omitted because the Americans did not treat slaves as equals. He also says; “each man has certain god given rights.” Jefferson had always struggled with this because even though he was entirely against slavery and tried to abolish it in the west, he owned slaves and become conscious of their value to the southern economy.

Jefferson lived from 1743 until 1826. His father died when he was fourteen years old. He did not have a good relationship with his mother, when his father died he said that he did not have anyone who cared for him in this world. He grew up with his best friend who always took him to the top of a big hill now called Monticello. Jefferson built his house at the top and when his friend died, he was buried there.

Jefferson was exceedingly hypocritical in the issue of slavery. Thomas Jefferson owned slaves yet was outspoken in saying that slavery was immoral and it should be abolished. He had a mansion with a plantation where slaves worked. He called his slaves his children. As a matter of fact, He had affairs with his slaves. Thomas Jefferson was against slavery his whole life, yet he never freed his own slaves. Jefferson vehemently opposed slavery, even though he was, without a doubt, a slave owner himself.

Thomas Jefferson says it himself in his autobiography that he does not want slaves:

“In 1769, I became a member of the legislature by the choice of the county in which I live, & continued in that until it was closed by the revolution. I made one effort in that body for the permission of the emancipation of slaves, which was rejected: and indeed, during the regal government, nothing liberal could expect success.” (Avalon Autobiography)

Jefferson says that although he has tried to “emancipate” or free the slaves the government rejected his cause. Jefferson also says that he wants to end the tax on owning more than a certain amount of slaves. This shows that Jefferson owned more slaves than that amount and was sick of paying the tax. He did not free the slaves because he needed them. This is a known fact because he says the following in his autobiography: “…but now it is said that the labor of the slave is the dearest.”(Avalon)

Jefferson criticized the slave owners, while he had and used slaves. He thought it was okay to have slaves but refer to them as children and brethren. Although Jefferson was apparently a “good” slave owner, his hypocritical character made him point the finger at others who owned slaves and tell to free the lot, while he owned slaves himself. The main hypocrisy was that Jefferson believed that the slaves were dependent upon the white man, whereas he, himself was dependent upon the slaves. (Avalon)

Thomas Jefferson was robustly anti-federalist. While he might have written the Declaration of Independence, he definitely did not author the Constitution. Conversely, that document was written by James Madison. Jefferson spoke against a strong federal government and instead promoted states’ rights. He was afraid of oppression of any kind and recognized only the need for a strong, central government in terms of foreign affairs. Jefferson was duplicitous in his getting hold of of the Louisiana territory. In Jeffersonian principles, large unrestrained governments were bad, and small ones were good. This was a converse of that belief. Jefferson knew that the acquisition of the Louisiana territory was advantageous to the wellbeing of the United States. Since the misuse of the Louisiana territory was important for the expansion of the United States, he temporarily dismissed his principles, therefore demolishing his own standards.(miller)

Another two-faced event during Jefferson’s management was his receiving of the National Bank. Earlier, Jefferson had debated with Hamilton on whether to have the National Bank. Jefferson had criticized the National Bank, but later Jefferson realized that the National Bank was important. He also was in favor of a national debt at this point. This is hypocritical because it disregards his principles. He wanted a small central government. A national bank would make that small government spread and therefore become a large spread out government. The Burr conspiracy depicted Jefferson as a ruthless, individual who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal. (Miller)

Jefferson wrote the following in his Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank:

…The incorporation of a bank, and the powers assumed by this bill, have not, in my opinion, been delegated to the United States, by the Constitution…

Later on, he says that he does want a national bank. Is this not hypocrisy?

It can be said that Thomas Jefferson was Thomas Jefferson was not a hypocrite because he did great things such as author The Declaration of Independence. This document is probably the most important document in the history of the United States. Jefferson writes, “All men are created equal” and argues that every man has the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Jefferson’s document shows, not only his strongly held beliefs in freedom, but also his acceptance of and belief in the views of “The Age of Reason” by Thomas Paine who was also the author of “Common Sense.” He believed that he was a person who was doing what was morally and ethically right, not for the fame that would eventually accompany it. In fact, he did not want to write the Declaration of Independence to begin with. When he did write it, he had to write it 6 times because the government wanted changes. Although all of these things about Thomas Jefferson are true, he was still a charlatan. He kept saying one thing but always meant another.

Jefferson supported civil liberties and inalienable rights. Yet, Jefferson violated civil liberties by forcing people to do things, arrested them without habeas corpus and prosecuting in his own court. Jefferson was a hypocrite from the start and he destroyed political tradition as seen during his time in office.

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