and who nevertheless could not imagine the possibility of a peaceful emancipation. “We have a wolf by the ears, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other.” For Jefferson, who was speaking at the time in the 1820 congressional debate about extending slavery to Missouri (which he supported, as he supported the right of Missouri settlers to refuse to admit free blacks to the new state), emancipation could be envisioned only if it was accompanied not only by just compensation for the slaveowners but also by immediate
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