Jefferson And Wheatley's Attitudes Towards Slavery

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Thomas Jefferson and Phillis Wheatley share their attitudes towards slavery in their writings. Jefferson addresses slavery in his unedited version of the “Declaration of Independence”, which reveals his attitude about the issue. Jefferson’s position on slavery was very unique in the fact that he owned slaves, but directly objected the institution of slavery. He writes in a passage that was later removed from the document that slavery was a violation of basic human rights to have a free life. In the “Declaration of Independence” it states that slavery is “violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people”. Jefferson wrote this passage to document his objection to the whole institution of slavery, but he
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