DOCUMENT 1
Jefferson was a hypocrite for many reasons. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas
Jefferson states that all men are created equal. If he really believed this, he would end slavery right then
and there. Even though Jefferson accomplished many things in his presidency, like writing the
Declaration of Independence, he had mixed views on slavery and never fully made up his mind.
Sometimes Jefferson would refers to slaves as dull, tasteless, and having no imagination, and other times
he thought he was "protecting" them. Thomas Jefferson wrote this in a letter to Edward Bancroft in
document 6, "as far as I can judge from the experiments which have been made, to give liberty to, or
rather, to abandon a persons who's habits have been formed in slavery is like abandoning children." This
quote means that Jefferson thinks that by keeping slavery, he is helping the slaves because they don't
know anything else. Even if the slaves wouldn't be able to survive by themselves in the real world, the
choice should be up to them. By keeping slavery they are still being abused and kept against their will. In
conclusion, Thomas Jefferson is a hypocrite because even if he thinks he is protecting the slaves, he is
holding them against their will which is not treating all men as equal.
1 – List 3 characteristics that make the above paragraph a good piece of writing
2 – Name 2 ways to make the above writing better
DOCUMENT 2
From reading all these documents, Thomas Jefferson was a hypocrite. Jefferson was a hypocrite
because he said all men are created equal but he owned 600 slaves. Thomas Jefferson was the 3 rd
president of the United States and wrote the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson’s views on slavery
were mixed. He though all men should be created equal but he still owned 600 slaves. Jefferson didn’t
treat his slaves with cruelty but he wouldn’t give them freedom. In document3, in the letter wrote by
Thomas Jefferson, sent to Marquis de Chastellux, it states, “…I believe the Indian then to be in body &
mindequal to the whiteman. I have supposed the black man, in his present state, might not be so.”
(Jefferson). This quote’s meaning is that Jefferson didn’t think African Americans were equal to Indians
and white men. This quote make Jefferson look like a hypocrite because he said all men are equal in the
Declaration of Independence but in the letter he thinks white men and Indians are more superior than
African Americans. In conclusion, Jefferson seems to be a hypocrite.
1 – List 3 characteristics that make the above paragraph a good piece of writing
2 – Name 2 ways to make the above writing better
DOCUMENT 3
America’s third president, Thomas Jefferson, is known for writing the Declaration of
Independence and his library was the original Library of Congress. In his salad days, he was the second
Vice President and third President of the United States. He wrote the Declaration of Independence and
is notorious for keeping approximately 600 slaves during his lifetime and writing out that “all men are
equal.” This makes him a hypocrite because even he says that “all men are equal,” and by men, he
means free, land-owning adult males, it is commonly interpreted as humanity as a whole and that
interpretation just stuck. In Document Two, Jefferson began writing his book, Notes on the State of
Virginia, “Comparing them (blacks) by their faculties of memory, reason, and imagination, it appears to
me that in memory they are equal to whites; in reason much inferior…and that in imagination they are
dull, tasteless, and anomalous (Jefferson).” This quote means that in Jefferson’s opinion, black people
are lower than white people on the social hierarchy, but “all men are equal.” Those two ideas are clearly
contradictory, and thus makes Jefferson a hypocrite.
1 – List 3 characteristics that make the above paragraph a good piece of writing
2 – Name 2 ways to make the above writing better
DOCUMENT 4
As that there are alot of people (weather they are philosophers or not) there
are many exceptions to moral rules or laws. One thing I find interesting
about Immanuel Kant, are his strong feelings toward not lying at any time
ever no matter what and not to deal with the consequences and the
considerations of individual situations and circumstances and possible
exceptions that need to be accounted for when making a decision of morality
and ethics. Immanuel Kant felt strongly that lying was always wrong, he was
against it. But whose to say? Wasn�t lying just Kants biggest how shall I say
"pet-peeve"? "No lying ever, no exceptions" needs to be addressed more
seriously in the future by later philosophers, if you ask me its worth a
try. Immanuel Kant was probably one of the most supportive philosiphers of
absolute rules in the ethical and moral decision-making systems of thought I
have studied.
1 – List 3 characteristics that make the above paragraph a bad piece of writing
2 – Name 2 ways to make the above writing better
DOCUMENT 5
The amount of grammer and usage error�s today is astounding. Not to mention
spelling. If I was a teacher, I�d feel badly that less and less students seem
to understand the basic principals of good writing. Neither the oldest high
school students nor the youngest kindergartner know proper usage. A student
often thinks they can depend on word processing programs to correct they�re
errors. Know way!
Watching TV all the time, its easy to see why their having trouble. TV
interferes with them studying and it�s strong affect on children has alot to
due with their grades. There�s other factors, too, including the indifference
of parents like you and I. A Mom or Dad often doesn�t know grammer
themselves. We should tell are children to study hard like we did at they�re
age and to watch less TV then their classmates.
1 – List 3 characteristics that make the above paragraph a bad piece of writing
2 – Name 2 ways to make the above writing better