POINTS TO PONDER  CXXXVII

Thomas Jefferson, penner of the immortal words, "all men are created equal" had over 600 slaves in his lifetime, and did not free them in his will - as many other slaveholders did. This inescapable irony can be understood, like so many other injustices, in the context of its time. But it is also also interesting to consider that in justifying breaking away from British rule, Jefferson's concept of the equality of men was not about slaves - but about the rejection of the idea of hereditary royalty.