The Deleted Passage from the Declaration of Independence

The Alleged Proof that Thomas Jefferson Opposed Slavery

Original by Thomas Jefferson et al.; Engraving & facsimile by William J. Stone (1798–1865). Created in vector format by Scewing, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

When Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, he was 33 years old. He was in his fourth year of marriage to Martha Wayles. At the time, they had one daughter, also named Martha, and had lost a daughter, Jane, the year before due to illness. When Thomas married Martha, he became the second-largest slave owner in Albemarle County. When Martha’s father, John Wayles, died in 1773. Jefferson inherited even more slaves, including Betty Hemings and her ten mixed-race children. The six youngest were Martha’s half-siblings as Betty was repeatedly raped over the years by Martha’s father, John Wayles. The youngest was a girl named Sally Hemings, who learned to walk at Monticello. Sally was three years old when the Declaration of Independence was signed.

This deleted portion of the Declaration is often offered as proof …