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Thomas Jefferson often receives the historical spotlight during the early Republic

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Thomas Jefferson often receives the historical spotlight during the early Republic. Jefferson was a founding father, a statesman, an astute politician, and the person who wrote "all men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence. He was also a slaveholder. These identities would shape much of how he led the country. Let's start with Haiti. If you remember from the end of the documentary you just watched, the US did not recognize Haitian independence for more than sixty years. Jefferson really set the tone for this as he largely chose to ignore the new nation as his public stance. Look at these excerpts from private letters that Jefferson sent. What do they tell us about how he applied terms like "equality" and "freedom?"