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Throughout history, there have been many controversial discussions on the topic of Thomas Jefferson. However, most people are not aware of these opposing opinions about as they see him simply as just one of the country's founding fathers. With that limited extent of knowledge, the majority would assume that Jefferson was, in essence, a good person. Following that ideal, he would’ve lived up to those promises he so wrote in the Declaration of Independence. However, this is not the reality. On the contrary, Jefferson was quite hypocritical when it came to his beliefs and actions. Therefore, I do not believe he lived up to the many ideals and beliefs he supposedly believed in.

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The aforementioned quote is one that is found within the Declaration of Independence, something Jefferson wrote and allegedly believed in. However, his actions did not match his words as he himself owned over eighty slaves. Like almost any other slave owner at the time, he treated his slaves inhumanely, despite his belief that all men are equal. One piece of text evidence from Document 4 to support this is, “About eighty slaves lived and worked at Monticello...slaves who didn’t obey were punished. And Jefferson only granted freedom to only seven slaves.” This shows that Jefferson either did not truly believe, or did not completely understand what it meant for all men to truly be equal. In the end, actions speak louder than words and his words were worth nothing when compared to what he actually did. Therefore, I do not believe he lived up to this ideal he stated in the Declaration of Independence..

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Being a Democrat-Republican, Thomas Jefferson believed in a strict interpretation of the Constitution. A strict interpretation meant that if it wasn’t directly stated in the constitution, it was not allowed. However, despite this, during the Louisiana Purchase he went against his own belief and allowed for an assumption of powers. One piece of text evidence to support this is, “Nowhere in the constitution could Jefferson find mention of the purchase of land from foreign powers. Jefferson struggled over whether to suggest an amendment or whether to finalize the deal without constitutional approval...Eventually, Jefferson was convinced by advisers, including Thomas Paine (common sense) that the transaction was not beyond the scope of the constitution.” So, in summary, Jefferson was hesitant to proceed with the Louisiana Purchase without an amendment explicitly stating that this was alright to do. However, in the end he was convinced otherwise by his advisers and assumed the powers of the Constitution, which was something he was allegedly against. Therefore, he basically disregarded his own belief and chose to do whatever was more comfortable for him in that situation, which means that he did not live up to his ideals.

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It is a rather known fact that Jefferson had several children with one of his slaves, Sally Hemings . This was considered unacceptable at the time, but if it were the only thing he did, this topic would be irrelavent to my agruement. However, Jefferson had previously states that he believed it to be wrong for people of different skin tones to be together, which makes this incident that much worse. Document two states the following as Jefferson's own words, "Their combination with the other color produces a disgrace which no lover of this country, no lover of excellence in the human character can innocently approve of." This shows what Jefferson's alleged opinion was about people of different skin colors dating each other. Of course, what he said is horrible and in no way right, but what makes it even less acceptable is that he did the very thing he despised. Not to mention that he made the aforementioned statement after he said that "all men are equal" so in this situation, he has broken more than one of his supposed ideals/beliefs. By now, it should be blatantly clear that Jefferson was simply a hypocrite whose actions did not match his words. Therefore, he once more did not live up to his ideals and beliefs.

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To encapsulate, Thomas Jefferson was a plain hypocrite that did not live up to his ideals and beliefs. Several times, he simply took the route that was easiest for him, regardless of whether it aligned with his beliefs or ideals. This is exactly why I believe that the majority of the time, he did not live up to the ideals and beliefs he supposedly had.

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Sally Hemmings, the slave that Jefferson had children with.