Jefferson’s reply, dated August 30, 1791, is fascinating for its ambivalence on the scientific question of whether blacks’ status stemmed from biological or social disadvantage. “Nobody wishes more than I do, to see such proofs as you exhibit, that nature has given to our black brethren talents equal to those of the other colors of men; and that the appearance of the want of them, is owing merely to the degraded condition of their existence, both in Africa and America.”
