Thomas Jefferson: The Man, The Myth, and The Morality
             Thomas Jefferson was a man of the greatest moral character who has been
             excoriated routinely over the last 30 years by historical revisionists
             and presentists. His commitment to America and his vast contributions to
             the framing of society as it is today are overlooked in favor of base
             analysis of his character that, while not flawless, is that of a morally
             upright person who has deeply held convictions and lives by them.
             Jefferson was born to a prominent family of Virginia tobacco growers.
             Plantation life is based largely around the work of slaves, so Jefferson
             was surrounded by them from the time of his birth in 1743 until the day
             he died. One of the harshest criticisms of Jefferson comes from the fact
             that, while he vehemently opposed slavery, was indeed a slave owner
             himself. As historian Douglas L. Wilson points out in his Atlantic
             Monthly article "Thomas Jefferson and the Character Issue", the question
             "...[T]his was of asking the question... is essentially backward, and
             reflects the pervasive presentism of our time. Consider, for example,
             how different the question appears when inverted and framed in more
             historical terms: How did a man who was born into a slave holding
             society, whose family and admired friends owned slaves, who inherited a
             fortune that was dependent on slaves and slave labor, decide at an early
             age that slavery was morally wrong and forcefully declare that it ought
             Wilson also argues that Jefferson knew that his slaves would be better
             off working for him than freed in a world where they would be treated
             with contempt and not given any real freedoms.
             Another way that Thomas Jefferson shows his moral character is in his
             most famous achievement, the drafting of the Declaration of
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