Were the children of their masters or as at
Montichello of white workers free workers. There was no sanctity to
the black family, it had no legal standing and black
men had no role, had no authority. And
as you might suspect, it's this denial of authority, this
Emasculation which leads to what Jefferson
fears will be, just black rage. Where would
the energy for revolution come from?
Where would that servile insurrection start?
It would start in the battered selves of black men,
black men who claimed their natural rights in the only way they
could, which is through violence through destroying their masters.
That's why Jefferson says we have to act preemptively.
We have to make them independent on our terms, on terms that
do not jeopardize the sanctity of our white households and families, which
do not jeopardize the property rights we still have in our slaves.
So let's think for a minute then about that idyllic fantasy, patriarchal fantasy
that Jefferson has about his life at Monticello and
what it means for the people he owns.