The Wonderful Lousy Man

We always hear about many leaders who are the main characters of the past. In this case, the main character is Thomas Jefferson. Now that I have read various texts, including “Jefferson Is America and America Is Jefferson,” “The Sublime Oxymoron,” “The Argonauts of 1776,” “Flawed Founders” and “The Declaration of Independence,” I can say that Jefferson was a wonderful man, but at the same time he was a lousy man. Jefferson had a lot of contradictions in himself. However, these contradictions make us think and continue studying people from the past until now.

            First of all, Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 in Albemarle County, Virginia. His father’s name was Peter Jefferson and his mother was Jane Randolph. Thomas Jefferson always tried to be perfect and looked for perfection. He was a lawyer, philosopher, political writer, architect, archeologist and paleontologist. I think that he had a great love of learning; as a result, I can say that Thomas Jefferson was an educated person. Also, Thomas Jefferson built his house 8 times just changing it to make it better than before. For that reason, I believe that if all mankind were like Jefferson, this world would be better. In addition, Jefferson believed that the government must protect our rights. Otherwise, we have the right to change the system of this government and make it better. However, we can not change it for weak reasons, but for strong reasons. Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. The famous phrase of the Declaration of Independence is, “All men are created equal,” in which the word “Men” leaves no doubt that Jefferson meant slaves.

            Furthermore, Thomas Jefferson had many contradictions in his life because he said something about liberty and rights and did something different with them. For example, in the essay “The Sublime Oxymoron” the author Charles Krauthammer talks about Jefferson’s contradictions and he used a phrase to refer to Jefferson’s main contradiction, which was “Prophet of freedom, owner of slaves.” We can not understand Thomas Jefferson very well because of his contradictions between his thoughts and actions. Moreover, Thomas Jefferson saw black people as inferior to white people. According to Jefferson, black people have the same capacity to memorize things as white people, but not to reason. Therefore, I believe that people of the present time are racists. Another aspect why we can not understand Jefferson is because he was racist, but he had a romance with Sally Hamings, a black woman, and probably they had children together. I really say that Jefferson is an amazing man because of his ideas about liberty, freedom and rights. Also, Jefferson knew how to live his life. Therefore, he always kept doing something and searching for things not to be in a world of ignorance.

            I see Thomas Jefferson as an excellent man who tried to reach something that is impossible to reach, just like us. Also, I like most of his ideas which make me think and try to figure them out. However, I do not like some of his ideas that I do not agree with. I really was surprised when I heard that Thomas Jefferson dedicated 15 hours studying each day. Consequently, I believed that Jefferson was an educated person. Additionally, I can not comprehend how someone can live so long with contradictions in his mind, just like Thomas Jefferson did. I from the bottom of my heart know that I cannot keep an idea and do something different so long. In contrast to me, Thomas Jefferson contradicted himself because if I have an idea to do something, I just do it. Likewise, Thomas Jefferson said that we have to change something not for weak reasons or for temporary reasons, just like I change some of my ideas that are not clear for others that are better. In addition, Thomas Jefferson was awful and at the same time intelligent to me because he used slaves to do all the chores in his house. On the one hand, he was intelligent because he took advantage of his slaves. On the other hand, he was awful because he had slaves and according to God human beings can not enslave other humans no matter what.

            In conclusion, Thomas Jefferson is a wonderful man, but at the same time he is lousy. I really liked the story of Jefferson’s life. Also, I could not understand how someone can live with an ironic idea. I suggest to you to read those essays if you want to understand just a bit about Thomas Jefferson. Of all I have read about Thomas Jefferson, I sincerely like just the phrase “All men are created equal.” Honestly, Thomas Jefferson did a good job writing the Declaration of Independence. Thanks to him, the United States could get independence from England. Also, I love when Jefferson said that if we want something that is our right; we must fight furiously to get it no matter who or what stands in our way. I openly agree with Jefferson when he said that if you want to end a relationship, you have to let others know why you are ending this relationship; you must give reasons why you want to be independent, just like he did to England. Additionally, Thomas Jefferson is someone who people must study him to comprehend his life and not to commit the same mistakes as he did in his life.