From about this period until his death, according to the historian Lucia Stanton’s research, Thomas Jefferson would own more than 600 slaves.61 He inherited 15062 (from his father and his father-in-law) and bought roughly 2063; most of the others were born into slavery on his lands.64 From 1774 to 182665, Jefferson tended to have about 200 slaves at any one time (the range ran from 165 to 225). When he served at the highest levels as a diplomat, as a member of George Washington’s cabinet, as vice president, as president, and, in his retirement at Monticello, as an American sage, Jefferson was
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