Front cover image for Mr. Jefferson's Lost Cause : Land, Farmers, Slavery, and the Louisiana Purchase

Mr. Jefferson's Lost Cause : Land, Farmers, Slavery, and the Louisiana Purchase

Thomas Jefferson advocated a republic of small farmers--free and independent yeomen. And yet as president he presided over a massive expansion of the slaveholding plantation system--particularly with the Louisiana Purchase--squeezing the yeomanry to the fringes and to less desirable farmland. Now Roger Kennedy conducts an eye-opening examination of that gap between Jefferson's stated aspirations and what actually happened. Kennedy reveals how the Louisiana Purchase had a major impact on land use and the growth of slavery. He examines the great financial interests (such as the powerful land co
eBook, English, 2003
Oxford University Press, USA, Cary, 2003