According to Catherine Townsend, president of the Trust for the National Mall, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C. will feature an exhibit that will discuss the fact that Jefferson, an avowed foe of slavery, still owned slaves even after he wrote the Declaration of Independence.
The Trust is trying to head off at the pass protests from those who feel that the Jefferson Memorial has ignored the complexities attributed to Jefferson, whose passionate writing against slavery was reflected in his Report of a Plan of Government for the Western Territory in 1784, in which he favored prohibiting slavery in all new states carved out of the western territories ceded to the national government established under the Articles of Confederation; it would have outlawed slavery in all territories by 1800. It was defeated by one vote in Congress because a New Jersey representative was absent.
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