More broadly, even before his story ended so sadly, all our expectations for a visionary Jefferson, defending the principles he so lyrically declared in 1776 against the most obvious exception to his own founding creed, have been shattered beyond recognition. The arc of his career as a critic of slavery is all downward after 1785; the dominant direction is retreat; the final destination is a Virginia-writ-large version of America already auditioning for its role as a keystone in the Confederate States of America. Jefferson seems destined to disappoint all but his most ardent disciples.
