USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Jefferson wrote that maintaining slavery was like holding “a wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go.”17 He thought that his cherished federal union, the world’s first democratic experiment, would be destroyed by slavery.

Detailed explanation-2: -Mr. Turner states, “The reason Jefferson did not free but five of his own slaves in his will was simple: Under Virginia law at the time, slaves were considered ‘property, ’ and they were expressly subject to the claims of creditors. Jefferson died deeply in debt."

Detailed explanation-3: -Thomas Jefferson freed two people during his life. He freed five people in his will. He allowed two or three people to escape without pursuit, and recommended informal freedom for two others. In total, of the more than six hundred people Jefferson enslaved, he freed only ten people – all members of the same family.