“ I advance it therefore as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind. ”
Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (1785). copy citation
| Author | Thomas Jefferson |
|---|---|
| Source | Notes on the State of Virginia |
| Topic | suspicion racism endowment |
| Date | 1785 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/jefferson/jefferson.html |
Context
“To our reproach it must be said, that though for a century and a half we have had under our eyes the races of black and of red men, they have never yet been viewed by us as subjects of natural history. I advance it therefore as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind. It is not against experience to suppose, that different species of the same genus, or varieties of the same species, may posses different qualifications. Will not a lover of natural history then, one who views the gradations in all the races of animals with the eye of philosophy, excuse an effort to keep those in the department of man as distinct Page 154”
source
Meaning and analysis
